DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 2/27/2026.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-14, 17-19, 23 and 25-28 are now pending. This action is made FINAL.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 4-5, 8, 10-14, 17-18, 23, 25 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al (US 20220256357 A1, hereinafter Kim).
Consider claim 1, Kim discloses a ranging method, comprising:
obtaining, by a first terminal device, an area of interest (AOI) parameter in response to a ranging service being triggered (in the V2X service such as platooning, see-through and the like, reception of a data packet valid for a partial angle section (or a partial area section) only may be performed even in a specific radius (e.g., a valid target service area) according to the aforementioned Tx-Rx distance. Therefore, ‘substantial (valid) target service area’ may be limited or specified more accurately in consideration of a specific angle range, which is an additional index, as well as a Tx-Rx distance, paragraph 167);
determining, by the first terminal device, an AOI broadcast area based on the AOI parameter (a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit, Fig. 11 and paragraph 174);
broadcasting, by the first terminal device, a ranging discovery message in response to a ranging service being triggered in the AOI broadcast area( a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit, see Fig. 11 and paragraph 174);
receiving, by the first terminal device, a ranging response message sent by a second terminal device based on the ranging discovery message (Specifically, the Tx UE additionally signals information related to a target communication area and/or RSRP information related to the target communication area, thereby requesting only a Rx UE belonging to the corresponding area to report sidelink HARQ feedback, see Fig. 11 and paragraph 174); and
performing, by the first terminal device, ranging with the second terminal device based on the ranging response message (Services such as platooning, see-through and sensor data sharing among the various services related to V2X may require an operation related to HARQ feedback to Rx UEs in a predetermined range due to the properties of a service that provides valid information to an adjacent UE or vehicles. So to speak, a sidelink signal or a data packet included in the sidelink signal may be valid for Rx UEs located in a specific radius and/or a specific direction range according to the service properties and may not be valid for Rx UEs located out of the range. In this case, only the Rx UEs for which the sidelink signal or the data packet included in the sidelink signal is valid may be specified as target Rx UEs that will transmit the feedback signal, paragraph 161).
Consider claim 4, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim discloses wherein broadcasting the ranging discovery message in the AOI broadcast area comprises: determining, based on the AOI broadcast area, at least one of a broadcast beam direction or a broadcast power; and broadcasting, based on the at least one of the broadcast beam direction or the broadcast power, the ranging discovery message (a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit, Fig. 11 and paragraph 174).
Consider claim 5, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim discloses wherein the ranging discovery message carries the AOI parameter (the Tx UE may provide reference direction, start angle and/or offset information as information related to the target communication area, paragraph 175).
Consider claim 8, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim discloses wherein the AOI parameter comprises one or more of a distance parameter, an azimuth parameter, or an elevation direction parameter (the Tx UE may provide reference direction, start angle and/or offset information as information related to the target communication area, paragraph 175; A minimum required communication range indicated by a QoS field may be a requirement for ‘distance’ (corresponding to a circle radius of FIG. 10), paragraph 170).
Consider claim 10, Kim discloses a ranging method, comprising:
obtaining, by a first terminal device, an area of interest (AOI) parameter in response to a ranging service being triggered (in the V2X service such as platooning, see-through and the like, reception of a data packet valid for a partial angle section (or a partial area section) only may be performed even in a specific radius (e.g., a valid target service area) according to the aforementioned Tx-Rx distance. Therefore, ‘substantial (valid) target service area’ may be limited or specified more accurately in consideration of a specific angle range, which is an additional index, as well as a Tx-Rx distance, paragraph 167);
determining, by the first terminal device, an AOI broadcast area based on the AOI parameter (a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit, Fig. 11 and paragraph 174); and
broadcasting, by the first terminal device, a ranging discovery message in the AOI broadcast area, so that each terminal device located in the AOI broadcast area is capable of serving as a second terminal device to send a ranging response message to the first terminal device based on the ranging discovery message (a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit. Specifically, the Tx UE additionally signals information related to a target communication area and/or RSRP information related to the target communication area, thereby requesting only a Rx UE belonging to the corresponding area to report sidelink HARQ feedback, see Fig. 11 and paragraph 174).
Consider claim 11, and as applied to claim 10 above, Kim discloses wherein broadcasting the ranging discovery message in the AOI broadcast area comprises: determining, based on the AOI broadcast area, at least one of a broadcast beam direction or a broadcast power; and broadcasting the ranging discovery message based on the at least one of the broadcast beam direction or the broadcast power (a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit, Fig. 11 and paragraph 174).
Consider claim 12, and as applied to claim 10 above, Kim discloses wherein the ranging discovery message carries the AOI parameter (the Tx UE may provide reference direction, start angle and/or offset information as information related to the target communication area, paragraph 175).
Consider claim 13, and as applied to claim 10 above, Kim wherein the AOI parameter comprises one or more of a distance parameter, an azimuth parameter, or an elevation direction parameter (the Tx UE may provide reference direction, start angle and/or offset information as information related to the target communication area, paragraph 175; A minimum required communication range indicated by a QoS field may be a requirement for ‘distance’ (corresponding to a circle radius of FIG. 10), paragraph 170).
Consider claim 14, Kim discloses a ranging method, comprising:
receiving, by a second terminal device, a ranging discovery message broadcast by a first terminal device, wherein the ranging discovery message is broadcast by the first terminal device in an area of interest (AOI) broadcast area, and the AOI broadcast area is determined by the first terminal device based on an AOI parameter (in the V2X service such as platooning, see-through and the like, reception of a data packet valid for a partial angle section (or a partial area section) only may be performed even in a specific radius (e.g., a valid target service area) according to the aforementioned Tx-Rx distance. Therefore, ‘substantial (valid) target service area’ may be limited or specified more accurately in consideration of a specific angle range, which is an additional index, as well as a Tx-Rx distance, paragraph 167, paragraph 167; a Tx UE may form single/multiple Tx beams toward a target Rx area of a packet to transmit. Specifically, the Tx UE additionally signals information related to a target communication area and/or RSRP information related to the target communication area, thereby requesting only a Rx UE belonging to the corresponding area to report sidelink HARQ feedback, see Fig. 11 and paragraph 174); and
sending, by the second terminal device, a ranging response message to the first terminal device (Specifically, the Tx UE additionally signals information related to a target communication area and/or RSRP information related to the target communication area, thereby requesting only a Rx UE belonging to the corresponding area to report sidelink HARQ feedback, see Fig. 11 and paragraph 174).
Consider claim 17, and as applied to claim 14 above, Kim in response to the second terminal device being located in the AOI broadcast area, sending the ranging response message to the first terminal device. (if the Rx UE is located in the angle range, the Rx UE recognizes that it is a target Rx UE for the sidelink signal and may transmit a feedback signal to the Tx UE, paragraph 193).
Consider claim 18, and as applied to claim 14 above, Kim discloses wherein the AOI parameter comprises one or more of a distance parameter, an azimuth parameter, or an elevation direction parameter (the Tx UE may provide reference direction, start angle and/or offset information as information related to the target communication area, paragraph 175; A minimum required communication range indicated by a QoS field may be a requirement for ‘distance’ (corresponding to a circle radius of FIG. 10), paragraph 170).
Consider claim 23, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim discloses a terminal device, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor, connected to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor, through executing a computer-executable instruction in the memory, is configured to control transmitting and receiving of a wireless signal of the transceiver, and is capable of implementing the method according to claim 1 (see Fig. 15).
Consider claim 25, and as applied to claim 14 above, Kim discloses performing, by the second terminal device, ranging with the first terminal device (Services such as platooning, see-through and sensor data sharing among the various services related to V2X may require an operation related to HARQ feedback to Rx UEs in a predetermined range due to the properties of a service that provides valid information to an adjacent UE or vehicles. So to speak, a sidelink signal or a data packet included in the sidelink signal may be valid for Rx UEs located in a specific radius and/or a specific direction range according to the service properties and may not be valid for Rx UEs located out of the range. In this case, only the Rx UEs for which the sidelink signal or the data packet included in the sidelink signal is valid may be specified as target Rx UEs that will transmit the feedback signal, paragraph 161).
Consider claim 28, and as applied to claim 14 above, Kim discloses a terminal device, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor, connected to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor, through executing a computer-executable instruction in the memory, is configured to control transmitting and receiving of a wireless signal of the transceiver, and is capable of implementing the method according to claim 14 (see Fig. 15).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 2, 7 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Wu et al (US 20240298163 A1, hereinafter Wu).
Consider claim 2, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim dose not expressly disclose wherein the ranging discovery message comprises a first ranging service identifier, the ranging response message comprises a second ranging service identifier, and performing the ranging with the second terminal device based on the ranging response message comprises: performing ranging with the second terminal device in response to the first ranging service identifier being consistent with the second ranging service identifier.
In the same field of endeavor, Wu discloses wherein the ranging discovery message comprises a first ranging service identifier, the ranging response message comprises a second ranging service identifier, and performing the ranging with the second terminal device based on the ranging response message comprises: performing ranging with the second terminal device in response to the first ranging service identifier being consistent with the second ranging service identifier (The discovery message broadcasted by the remote UE may be referred as a solicitation message. The solicitation message may be used to request relay related information. The solicitation message may include remote UE related information. For example, the solicitation message may include an ID of the remote UE. In another example, the solicitation message may include at least one of the following information: service information, paragraph 71; After receiving the solicitation message, each relay UE may determine whether it can provide relay connection to the remote UE based on the solicitation message. For example, the relay UE may determine whether it can provide the service indicated in the solicitation message. In the case that the relay UE can provide the relay connection associated with the information included in the solicitation message, the relay UE may send a discovery response message to the remote UE. The discovery response message may include the relay related information, for example, the relay ID and/or the service information, paragraph 72; The service information of at least one service may include service ID of each of the at least one service that the relay UE can provide, paragraph 105; the remote UE may receiving the ranging information, the location information of the relay UE, the service information of at least one service, and the mapping relationship between the ranging information and each of the at least one service (in some cases) included in the discovery information of PC5-S message, the remote UE may determine whether to select the relay UE and/or access the BS based on its own location, the interesting service of the remote UE, and the discovery information. For example, the remote UE may calculate the distance between the remote UE and the relay UE, paragraph 117).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Wu with the teachings of Kim to improve technology of for UE discovery and realize a ranging based service during the discovery.
Consider claim 7, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim does not expressly disclose wherein the ranging response message comprises an identifier of the second terminal device.
Wu disclose wherein the ranging response message comprises an identifier of the second terminal device (the discovery response message may include the relay ID, paragraph 72).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Wu with the teachings of Kim to improve technology of for UE discovery and realize a ranging based service during the discovery.
Consider claim 26, and as applied to claim 25 above, Kim dose not expressly disclose wherein the ranging discovery message comprises a first ranging service identifier, the ranging response message comprises a second ranging service identifier, and performing the ranging with the first terminal device comprises: performing the ranging with the first terminal device in response to a determination by the first terminal device that the first ranging service identifier is consistent with the second ranging service identifier.
In the same field of endeavor, Wu discloses wherein the ranging discovery message comprises a first ranging service identifier, the ranging response message comprises a second ranging service identifier, and performing the ranging with the first terminal device comprises: performing the ranging with the first terminal device in response to a determination by the first terminal device that the first ranging service identifier is consistent with the second ranging service identifier (The discovery message broadcasted by the remote UE may be referred as a solicitation message. The solicitation message may be used to request relay related information. The solicitation message may include remote UE related information. For example, the solicitation message may include an ID of the remote UE. In another example, the solicitation message may include at least one of the following information: service information, paragraph 71; After receiving the solicitation message, each relay UE may determine whether it can provide relay connection to the remote UE based on the solicitation message. For example, the relay UE may determine whether it can provide the service indicated in the solicitation message. In the case that the relay UE can provide the relay connection associated with the information included in the solicitation message, the relay UE may send a discovery response message to the remote UE. The discovery response message may include the relay related information, for example, the relay ID and/or the service information, paragraph 72; The service information of at least one service may include service ID of each of the at least one service that the relay UE can provide, paragraph 105; the remote UE may receiving the ranging information, the location information of the relay UE, the service information of at least one service, and the mapping relationship between the ranging information and each of the at least one service (in some cases) included in the discovery information of PC5-S message, the remote UE may determine whether to select the relay UE and/or access the BS based on its own location, the interesting service of the remote UE, and the discovery information. For example, the remote UE may calculate the distance between the remote UE and the relay UE, paragraph 117).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Wu with the teachings of Kim to improve technology of for UE discovery and realize a ranging based service during the discovery.
Consider claim 27, and as applied to claim 14 above, Kim does not expressly disclose wherein the ranging response message comprises an identifier of the second terminal device.
Wu disclose wherein the ranging response message comprises an identifier of the second terminal device (the discovery response message may include the relay ID, paragraph 72).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Wu with the teachings of Kim to improve technology of for UE discovery and realize a ranging based service during the discovery.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Calcev (US 20200045608 A1).
Consider claim 9, and as applied to claim 1 above, Kim does not expressly disclose wherein the ranging discovery message and the ranging response message comprise a line-of-sight transmission capability identifier.
In the same field of endeavor, Calcev discloses wherein the ranging discovery message and the ranging response message comprise a line-of-sight transmission capability identifier (sending a message to a peer device which communicates with the device, wherein the message may include an indication of first path training to indicate the device sent the message supports to determine a shortest path from all the paths; and the message further may include an indication of line of sight (LOS) to indicate the device that sent the message supports to determine LOS or NLOS communication, paragraph 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Calcev with the teachings of Kim to know if signal propagation corresponds to LOS propagation in order to determine of the exact distance between the transmitter and the receiver.
Consider claim 19, and as applied to claim 14 above, Kim does not expressly disclose wherein the ranging discovery message and the ranging response message comprise a line-of-sight transmission capability identifier.
In the same field of endeavor, Calcev discloses wherein the ranging discovery message and the ranging response message comprise a line-of-sight transmission capability identifier (sending a message to a peer device which communicates with the device, wherein the message may include an indication of first path training to indicate the device sent the message supports to determine a shortest path from all the paths; and the message further may include an indication of line of sight (LOS) to indicate the device that sent the message supports to determine LOS or NLOS communication, paragraph 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Calcev with the teachings of Kim to know if signal propagation corresponds to LOS propagation in order to determine of the exact distance between the transmitter and the receiver.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Kim does not disclose determining a specific broadcast area, according to the Applicant Kim’s single/multiple beams are used for transmitting data packets based on beamforming, not for broadcasting information (pp. 9-10).
The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Kim is interested in communicating with UEs located within a specific area as shown in Fig. 11, Kim using single/multiple beams for transmitting data packets based on beamforming does not preclude broadcasting information in the the specific area .
The Applicant also argues against the combination oof Wu and Kim citing that Wu focuses on broadcasting the discovery message to as many relay UEs as possible.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, both Kim and Wu are related to V2X communication technology and Wu is directed to improving the UE discovery procedure in V2X sidelink communication.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
/GERMAN VIANA DI PRISCO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642