DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to amendment filed on 18 February 2026. Claims 1, 3-11, 13 and 15-24 are pending examination.
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendments filed 18 February 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states Tang and Su, fails to disclose claim 1, 13, and 15 element, “determining comprises mapping at least one of said determined density, number, or communication activity level to a probability of providing said assistance information, and to provide or not said providing assistance information in dependence upon said probability”. The examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant.
Tang teaches that a vehicle terminal performs sensing of a resource pool over a sensing window to determine resource usage conditions, including availability, overlap with other users, and communication activity (Tang, Fig. 3-4 and fig. 6, [0021], [0032]-[0033]).These sensed conditions correspond to communication activity level and user presence within the system.
Tang further teaches probabilities including resource reselection probability, resource conflict probability, and detection probability of other users (Tang, Fig. 3-4 and fig. 6, [0021], [0034]). These probabilities are associated with the communication conditions described in Tang. For example, when transmission resources overlap, Tang explains that conflicts occur and detection probabilities are deduced (Tang, [0034]).
Accordingly, Tang teaches associating communication (mapping), such as activity level and resource usage, to corresponding probabilities of communication success or failure. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, such association constitutes the claimed “mapping…to a probability.” Even if not explicitly labeled as a mapping operation.
Further, Tang explicitly discloses using probability to control system behavior. In particular, Tang teaches generating a random number and comparing it to a probability parameter (P_resKeep) to determine whether to reselect a transmission resource or continue using the current resource (Tang, Fig. 3-4 and fig. 6, [0031]). This demonstrates that system operation is performed in dependence upon a determined probability.
Additionally, Tang teaches that communication success depends on these probabilities. When resource conflict probability is high, transmission conflicts occur and detection probability is reduced, resulting in unsuccessful communication. Conversely, when conflict probability is reduced, successful transmission is more likely (Tang, [0034]). Thus, whether information is successfully provided depends on the determined probabilities.
Accordingly, the examiner maintains 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claim 1, 13, 15 and as well as their dependents based on Tang et al. (hereinafter Tang) (US 2020/0367113 A1), and further in view of Su et al. (hereinafter Su) (US 2022/0029761 A1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3-11,13 and 15-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang et al. (hereinafter Tang) (US 2020/0367113 A1), and further in view of Su et al. (hereinafter Su) (US 2022/0029761 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tang-Su teaches an apparatus:
comprising: at least one processor (Tang, Fig. 8, [0083]-[0085]): and
at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause (Tang, Fig. 8, [0083]-[0085]):
generating assistance information indicative of a resource conflict detected for a direct transmission from a user equipment (Tang, [0021], [0023]-[0027], [0041], [0060]-[0062]: [0021] For the mode 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle terminal adopts a combined transmission manner of sensing and reservation. The vehicle terminal acquires an available transmission resource set in a resource pool through a sensing manner, and the vehicle terminal randomly selects a resource from the transmission resource set for data transmission. Since a service in a V2X system is periodic, the vehicle terminal usually adopts a semi-persistent transmission manner, namely the vehicle terminal, after selecting a transmission resource, may continuously using the resource in multiple transmission cycles, so that probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict are reduced. The vehicle terminal may carry information for reserving a resource for next transmission in control information transmitted currently, such that another terminal may detect the control information of the vehicle terminal to determine whether the resource is reserved for and used by the vehicle terminal, thereby achieving reduction of resource conflicts.); and
determining whether or not to provide said assistance information, wherein said determining whether or not to provide said assistance information in dependence upon at least one of (Tang, [0021]-[0048]: [0048] In a second manner, the first terminal determines the first period based on configuration information, and the configuration information may be pre-configured information or information configured by a network.):
a determined received signal power at said apparatus from at least one of said user equipment in a surrounding area (Tang, [0027]: [0027] 2. If the terminal detects a PSCCH in the sensing window, where a PSSCH corresponding to the PSCCH has a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) higher than a threshold value, and there is a resource conflict between a next transmission resource reserved in the PSCCH and data to be sent by the terminal, the reserved transmission resource is excluded from the set A.);
a determined distance of said apparatus from at least one of said user equipment (Tang, Fig. 4, [0032]- [0048]: [0037] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first terminal selects the resource in the following manners. The first terminal senses a resource in a first sensing window and selects a resource in a first selection window based on a sensing result, the first sensing window corresponding to a first time range, and the first selection window corresponding to a second time range. The first time range is located prior to the second time range, and the second time range is located prior to a target moment, and the target moment indicates a moment at which service data reaches, or a time at which a high layer generates the service data.);
a determined number of user equipment in a surrounding area (Tang, [0021]-[0034]: [0029] Herein, if the number of the remaining resources in the set A is smaller than 20% of the total number of resources, the terminal may increase the threshold of the RSRP of PSSCH by 3 dB, and repeat execution of the steps 1-2, till the number of the remaining resources in the set A is greater than or equal to 20% of the total number of resources.); and
a determined communication activity level of said apparatus, wherein said determining comprises mapping at least one of said determined density, number, or communication activity level to a probability of providing said assistance information, and providing said assistance information in dependence upon said probability (Tang, Fig. 3-4 and fig. 6, [0021]-[0031], [0032]-[0048]: [0021] For the mode 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle terminal adopts a combined transmission manner of sensing and reservation. The vehicle terminal acquires an available transmission resource set in a resource pool through a sensing manner, and the vehicle terminal randomly selects a resource from the transmission resource set for data transmission. Since a service in a V2X system is periodic, the vehicle terminal usually adopts a semi-persistent transmission manner, namely the vehicle terminal, after selecting a transmission resource, may continuously using the resource in multiple transmission cycles, so that probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict are reduced. The vehicle terminal may carry information for reserving a resource for next transmission in control information transmitted currently, such that another terminal may detect the control information of the vehicle terminal to determine whether the resource is reserved for and used by the vehicle terminal, thereby achieving reduction of resource conflicts.).
Thus, Tang does not explicitly teach a determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches a density of the reference signal with the configurations, which can be seen as, determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area (Su, [0242]-[0244]: [0244] Specifically, the terminal may acquire the configuration parameters of the periodic reference signal with the second configuration according to the high layer signaling and/or in an implicit configuration manner, wherein the configuration parameters at least comprise one of: a transmission period of the reference signal with the second configuration, a bandwidth of the reference signal with the second configuration, antenna ports for the reference signal with the second configuration, a density of the reference signal with the second configuration, and a power offset of the reference signal with the second configuration. The terminal performs transmission/reception of the periodic reference signal with the second configuration according to the period of the second configuration, as shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the terminal may acquire the configuration parameters of the aperiodic reference signal with the second configuration according to at least one of the following information: downlink control information, high layer signaling, and an implicit configuration manner. The configuration parameters of the aperiodic reference signal with the second configuration comprise at least one of: a request or trigger message for the reference signal, a bandwidth of the reference signal with the second configuration, antenna ports for the reference signal with the second configuration, and a density of the reference signal with the second configuration.).
Also, Su does not explicitly teach the term probability, however similar to Su, Tang teaches probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict along with the detection probabilities of other users (Tang, [0021], [0034]), which can be seen as, probability.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize density information as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Claim 2 cancelled.
Regarding claim 3, Tang-Su teaches the apparatus according to claim 1:
wherein said determining comprises determining a probability value to map said at least one of said determined density, number, or determined communication activity level to in dependence upon at least one of (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: See above for paragraph [0021].):
probability mappings generated at said user equipment (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: [0034] In some cases, the transmission resources selected by the UE1 and the UE2 may overlap, for example, the resource 102 overlaps or partially overlaps with the resource 112. As a result, there is a transmission conflict between the UE1 and the UE2 all the time in the subsequent X transmission periods, so that the detection probabilities of other users are reduced, and the UE1 and the UE2 cannot sense the existence to each other. In view of this, the embodiments of the disclosure provide a new resource reservation method.);
Thus, Tang does not teach preconfigured probability mappings stored within said user equipment; probability mappings provided to said user equipment by another user equipment; and probability mappings provided to said user equipment by a communication network.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches multiple copies of mapping units of the reference signal with the first configuration on several antenna ports on different sub-carriers, which can be seen as, preconfigured probability mappings stored within said user equipment (Su, [0024]-[0038]: [0026] In some examples, the reference signal transmitted on the resources which are configured according to the second configuration parameters is obtained by performing duplicate mapping on the reference signal transmitted on the resources which are configured according to the first configuration parameters in a frequency domain many times.);
probability mappings provided to said user equipment by another user equipment (Su, [0023]-[0026], [0049]-[0050], [0246]-[0247]: [0246] In particular, the reference signal with the second configuration may be transmitted only on certain one or more antenna ports defined for the reference signal. Transmission of the reference signal with the second configuration on a certain antenna port (denoted as antenna port i) may refer to that the reference signal with the second configuration is transmitted on a time domain symbol used on the antenna port i of the reference signal in the first configuration, and/or the reference signal with the second configuration is transmitted using a code sequence used by the antenna port i of the reference signal in the first configuration. In particular, the reference signal with the second configuration may be obtained by performing duplicate mapping on the reference signal with the first configuration in a frequency domain many times. FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram in which the reference signal with the second configuration is multiple copies of mapping units of the reference signal with the first configuration on several antenna ports on different sub-carriers in the same time domain symbols.); and
probability mappings provided to said user equipment by a communication network (Su, [0168], [0246], [0252]: [0168] In some examples, the reference signal transmitted on the resources which are configured according to the second configuration parameters may be obtained by performing duplicate mapping on the reference signal transmitted on the resources which are configured according to the first configuration parameters in a frequency domain many times.).
Also, Su does not explicitly teach the term probability, however similar to Su, Tang teaches probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict along with the detection probabilities of other users (Tang, [0021], [0034]), which can be seen as, probability to said user equipment.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize mappings as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 4, Tang-Su teaches the apparatus according to claim 3:
Further configured to, following said determining of whether or not to provide said assistance information to determine (Tang, [0021]-[0031]):
Thus, Tang does not teach whether other user equipment transmitted said assistance information and to update said probability mappings accordingly.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches control unit updating parameters of each tap based on the feedback signal until that the feedback signal strength of the feedback is at a certain threshold, which can be seen as, whether other user equipment transmitted said assistance information and to update said probability mappings accordingly (Su, [0712]-[0724]: [0719] Specifically, the digitally assisted analog cancellation unit in the analog cancellation module may adopt an implementation as shown in FIG. 40. The gain of each tap in the digitally assisted analog cancellation unit is adjusted by the control unit based on the feedback signal. The control unit iteratively updates parameters of each tap based on the feedback signal until that the feedback signal strength of the feedback is below a certain threshold or that the feedback signal to interference plus noise ratio is above a certain threshold.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize mappings as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 5, Tang-Su teaches the apparatus according to claim 1:
Further configured to, following determining not to provide said assistance information for a detected resource conflict to determine whether said user equipment have resolved said detected resource conflict and where not to update said probability mapping for at least one of (Tang, [0021]-[0048]: [0048] In a second manner, the first terminal determines the first period based on configuration information, and the configuration information may be pre-configured information or information configured by a network.):
providing said assistance information for said detected resource conflict and providing said assistance information for a future detected conflict (Tang, [0021]: [0021] For the mode 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle terminal adopts a combined transmission manner of sensing and reservation. The vehicle terminal acquires an available transmission resource set in a resource pool through a sensing manner, and the vehicle terminal randomly selects a resource from the transmission resource set for data transmission. Since a service in a V2X system is periodic, the vehicle terminal usually adopts a semi-persistent transmission manner, namely the vehicle terminal, after selecting a transmission resource, may continuously using the resource in multiple transmission cycles, so that probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict are reduced. The vehicle terminal may carry information for reserving a resource for next transmission in control information transmitted currently, such that another terminal may detect the control information of the vehicle terminal to determine whether the resource is reserved for and used by the vehicle terminal, thereby achieving reduction of resource conflicts.).
Also, Tang does not explicitly teach the term mapping, however similar to Tang, Su teaches distributed mapping and uplink frequency hopping along with mapping on the reference signal transmitted on the resources (Su, [0093], [0166]-[0170]), which can be seen as, mapping.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize mappings as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 6, Tang teaches the apparatus according to claim 1:
wherein said determining a number or density of user equipment in said surrounding area is by at least one of (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: [0021] For the mode 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle terminal adopts a combined transmission manner of sensing and reservation. The vehicle terminal acquires an available transmission resource set in a resource pool through a sensing manner, and the vehicle terminal randomly selects a resource from the transmission resource set for data transmission. Since a service in a V2X system is periodic, the vehicle terminal usually adopts a semi-persistent transmission manner, namely the vehicle terminal, after selecting a transmission resource, may continuously using the resource in multiple transmission cycles, so that probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict are reduced. The vehicle terminal may carry information for reserving a resource for next transmission in control information transmitted currently, such that another terminal may detect the control information of the vehicle terminal to determine whether the resource is reserved for and used by the vehicle terminal, thereby achieving reduction of resource conflicts.):
a sidelink channel busy ratio CBR (Tang, [0018]-[0028], [0039]-[0045]: [0042] 3. The first terminal performs S-RSSI detection on remaining resources in the set A, sorts the resources according to their energy in a descending order from high to low, and puts Q% of resources (i.e., the number relative to that of the resources in the set A) having a lower energy into a set B, for example, Q=20.);
a number of detected transmissions (Tang, [0018]-[0031]: [0020] For the mode 3, as shown in FIG. 1, a transmission resource of a vehicle terminal is allocated by a base station (such as an Evolved NodeB (eNB) in LTE). Specifically, the base station transmits a control message for indicating a grant resource to the vehicle terminal through a Down Link (DL), and then the vehicle terminal sends data in an SL according to the resource allocated by the base station. In the mode 3, the base station may allocate a resource for single transmission to the vehicle terminal, or may also allocate a resource for semi-persistent transmission to the terminal.);
a number of physical sidelink feedback channel PSFCH occupied resources (Tang, [0018]-[0031], [0052]-[0059], [0064]-[0072]: [0027] 2. If the terminal detects a PSCCH in the sensing window, where a PSSCH corresponding to the PSCCH has a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) higher than a threshold value, and there is a resource conflict between a next transmission resource reserved in the PSCCH and data to be sent by the terminal, the reserved transmission resource is excluded from the set A.);
a number of detected post-collision indications; or
a number of detected transmitting and receiving user equipment pairs within a surrounding area.
Regarding claim 7, Tang teaches the apparatus according to claim 1:
Said apparatus being further configured to: detect a resource conflict (Tang, [0021], [0023]-[0027], [0041], [0060]-[0062]: See above for paragraph [0021].).
Regarding claim 8, Tang teaches the apparatus according to claim 7:
Wherein in response to said detecting a resource conflict detecting multiple conflicts in a same resource, said determining comprises determining whether or not to provide said assistance information for each of said detected conflicts (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: See above for paragraph [0021].).
Regarding claim 9, Tang teaches the apparatus according to claim 8:
wherein in response to said determining comprising determining to provide said assistance information to a plurality of user equipment, said apparatus is configured to multiplex a plurality of said assistance information into one message, said one message being transmitted by broadcasting or groupcasting said one message (Tang, [0018]-[0031]: [0020] For the mode 3, as shown in FIG. 1, a transmission resource of a vehicle terminal is allocated by a base station (such as an Evolved NodeB (eNB) in LTE). Specifically, the base station transmits a control message for indicating a grant resource to the vehicle terminal through a Down Link (DL), and then the vehicle terminal sends data in an SL according to the resource allocated by the base station. In the mode 3, the base station may allocate a resource for single transmission to the vehicle terminal, or may also allocate a resource for semi-persistent transmission to the terminal.).
Regarding claim 10, Tang teaches the apparatus according to claim 1:
responsive to a stop determining indication received from a communication network to stop determining whether or not to provide said assistance information and is further responsive to a start determining indication to restart determining whether to provide said assistance information or not (Tang, [0023]-[0031]: [0031] When the terminal selects one resource for transmission, the terminal may continuously use and reserve the resource for Cresel times; where Cresel is decreased by 1 every time the data is transmitted, and when the Cresel decreases to 0, the terminal randomly generates a random number between [0,1] and compares the random number with a parameter probResourceKeep (hereinafter P_resKeep). If the randon number is greater than the P_resKeep, the terminal reselects a resource; and if the random number is smaller than or equal to the P_resKeep, the terminal continuously uses the resource and resets the Cresel.).
Regarding claim 11, Tang teaches the apparatus according to claim 1:
wherein said apparatus comprises a user equipment (Tang, Fig.4, [0032]-[0034]: See above for paragraph [0032].).
Claim 12 cancelled.
Regarding claim 13, Tang-Su teaches a method:
In response to an indication that a resource conflict has been detected for a direct transmission from a user equipment (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: [0021] For the mode 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle terminal adopts a combined transmission manner of sensing and reservation. The vehicle terminal acquires an available transmission resource set in a resource pool through a sensing manner, and the vehicle terminal randomly selects a resource from the transmission resource set for data transmission. Since a service in a V2X system is periodic, the vehicle terminal usually adopts a semi-persistent transmission manner, namely the vehicle terminal, after selecting a transmission resource, may continuously using the resource in multiple transmission cycles, so that probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict are reduced. The vehicle terminal may carry information for reserving a resource for next transmission in control information transmitted currently, such that another terminal may detect the control information of the vehicle terminal to determine whether the resource is reserved for and used by the vehicle terminal, thereby achieving reduction of resource conflicts.);
determining whether or not to provide assistance information indicative of said detected resource conflict in dependence upon at least one of (Tang, [0021]-[0048]: See above for paragraph [0048].):
a determined received signal power at said apparatus from at least one of said user equipment in a surrounding area (Tang, [0027]: See above for paragraph [0027].);
a determined distance of said apparatus from at least one of said user equipment (Tang, Fig. 4, [0032]- [0048]: See above for paragraph [0037].);
a determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area; a determined number of user equipment in a surrounding area (Tang, Fig. 4, [0032]- [0048]: See above for paragraph [0037].); and
a determined communication activity level of said apparatus, wherein said determining comprises mapping at least one of said determined density, number, received signal power, distance or communication activity level to a probability of providing said assistance information ((Tang, Fig. 3-4 and fig. 6, [0021]-[0031], [0032]-[0048]: See above for paragraph [0021].).
However, Tang does not explicitly teach determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches a density of the reference signal with the configurations, which can be seen as, determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area (Su, [0242]-[0244]: See paragraph above [0244.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize density information as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Claim 14 cancelled.
Regarding claim 15, Tang-Su teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium:
comprising a computer program comprising computer readable instructions which when executed by a processor are operable to control said processor in response to an indication that a resource conflict has been detected for a direct transmission from a user equipment, to determine whether or not to provide assistance information indicative of said detected resource conflict in dependence upon at least one of (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034, [0081]: [0081] When being implemented in form of software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, the resource reservation device of the embodiments of the disclosure may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure substantially or parts making contributions to the conventional art may be embodied in form of software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of instructions configured to enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device or the like) to execute all or part of the method in each embodiment of the disclosure. The storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk. Therefore, the embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to any specific hardware and software combination.):
a determined received signal power at said apparatus from at least one of said user equipment in a surrounding area (Tang, [0027]: See above for paragraph [0027].);
a determined distance of said apparatus from at least one of said user equipment (Tang, Fig. 4, [0032]- [0048]: [0037] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first terminal selects the resource in the following manners. The first terminal senses a resource in a first sensing window and selects a resource in a first selection window based on a sensing result, the first sensing window corresponding to a first time range, and the first selection window corresponding to a second time range. The first time range is located prior to the second time range, and the second time range is located prior to a target moment, and the target moment indicates a moment at which service data reaches, or a time at which a high layer generates the service data.);
a determined number of user equipment in a surrounding area (Tang, Fig. 4, [0032]- [0048]: [0037] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first terminal selects the resource in the following manners. The first terminal senses a resource in a first sensing window and selects a resource in a first selection window based on a sensing result, the first sensing window corresponding to a first time range, and the first selection window corresponding to a second time range. The first time range is located prior to the second time range, and the second time range is located prior to a target moment, and the target moment indicates a moment at which service data reaches, or a time at which a high layer generates the service data.); and
a determined communication activity level of said apparatus, wherein said step of determining comprises mapping at least one of said determined density, number, received signal power, distance or communication activity level to a probability of providing said assistance information, and (Tang, (Tang, Fig. 3-4 and fig. 6, [0021]-[0031], [0032]-[0048]: [0021] For the mode 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle terminal adopts a combined transmission manner of sensing and reservation. The vehicle terminal acquires an available transmission resource set in a resource pool through a sensing manner, and the vehicle terminal randomly selects a resource from the transmission resource set for data transmission. Since a service in a V2X system is periodic, the vehicle terminal usually adopts a semi-persistent transmission manner, namely the vehicle terminal, after selecting a transmission resource, may continuously using the resource in multiple transmission cycles, so that probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict are reduced. The vehicle terminal may carry information for reserving a resource for next transmission in control information transmitted currently, such that another terminal may detect the control information of the vehicle terminal to determine whether the resource is reserved for and used by the vehicle terminal, thereby achieving reduction of resource conflicts.);
generating a control signal indicating whether to provide or not said assistance information in dependence upon said probability (Tang, [0018]-[0045]: [0020] For the mode 3, as shown in FIG. 1, a transmission resource of a vehicle terminal is allocated by a base station (such as an Evolved NodeB (eNB) in LTE). Specifically, the base station transmits a control message for indicating a grant resource to the vehicle terminal through a Down Link (DL), and then the vehicle terminal sends data in an SL according to the resource allocated by the base station. In the mode 3, the base station may allocate a resource for single transmission to the vehicle terminal, or may also allocate a resource for semi-persistent transmission to the terminal.).
However, Tang does not explicitly teach determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches a density of the reference signal with the configurations, which can be seen as, determined density of user equipment in a surrounding area (Su, [0242]-[0244]: See above for paragraph [0244].).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize density information as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 16, Tang teaches the method according to claim 13:
wherein said method further comprises: generating said assistance information (Tang, Fig. 6, [0050]-[0064]: [0064] According to the embodiments of the disclosure, a first terminal sends a first channel, the first channel being used for determining information of a resource selected by the first terminal. Through the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the disclosure, the information of the resource selected by the first terminal is carried through a PSCCH and/or a PSCCH, and thus a probability that a conflict occurs between transmission resources of terminals is reduced.).
Regarding claim 17, Tang-Su teaches the method according to claim 13:
wherein said determining comprises determining a probability value to map said at least one of said determined density, number, received signal power, distance or determined communication activity level to in dependence upon at least one of (Tang, [0021]-[0034]: [0029] Herein, if the number of the remaining resources in the set A is smaller than 20% of the total number of resources, the terminal may increase the threshold of the RSRP of PSSCH by 3 dB, and repeat execution of the steps 1-2, till the number of the remaining resources in the set A is greater than or equal to 20% of the total number of resources.):
probability mappings generated at said user equipment (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: [0034] In some cases, the transmission resources selected by the UE1 and the UE2 may overlap, for example, the resource 102 overlaps or partially overlaps with the resource 112. As a result, there is a transmission conflict between the UE1 and the UE2 all the time in the subsequent X transmission periods, so that the detection probabilities of other users are reduced, and the UE1 and the UE2 cannot sense the existence to each other. In view of this, the embodiments of the disclosure provide a new resource reservation method.);
Thus, Tang does not teach preconfigured probability mappings stored within said user equipment; probability mappings provided to said user equipment by another user equipment; and probability mappings provided to said user equipment by a communication network.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches multiple copies of mapping units of the reference signal with the first configuration on several antenna ports on different sub-carriers, which can be seen as, preconfigured probability mappings stored within said user equipment (Su, [0024]-[0038]: See above for paragraph [0026].);
probability mappings provided to said user equipment by another user equipment (Su, [0023]-[0026], [0049]-[0050], [0246]-[0247]: See above for paragraph [0246].); and
probability mappings provided to said user equipment by a communication network (Su, [0168], [0246], [0252]: See above for paragraph [0168].).
Also, Su does not explicitly teach the term probability, however similar to Su, Tang teaches probabilities of resource reselection and resource conflict along with the detection probabilities of other users (Tang, [0021], [0034]), which can be seen as, probability to said user equipment.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize mappings as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 18, Su teaches the method according to claim 13:
Thus, Tang does not teach wherein said method comprises after determining whether or not to provide said assistance information determining whether other user equipment transmitted said assistance information and updating said probability mappings accordingly.
Similar to Tang, Su teaches control unit updating parameters of each tap based on the feedback signal until that the feedback signal strength of the feedback is at a certain threshold, which can be seen as, wherein said method comprises after determining whether or not to provide said assistance information determining whether other user equipment transmitted said assistance information and updating said probability mappings accordingly(Su, [0712]-[0724]: [0719] Specifically, the digitally assisted analog cancellation unit in the analog cancellation module may adopt an implementation as shown in FIG. 40. The gain of each tap in the digitally assisted analog cancellation unit is adjusted by the control unit based on the feedback signal. The control unit iteratively updates parameters of each tap based on the feedback signal until that the feedback signal strength of the feedback is below a certain threshold or that the feedback signal to interference plus noise ratio is above a certain threshold.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize mappings as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 19, Tang-Su teaches the method according to claim 13:
wherein said method comprises after determining not to provide said assistance information for a detected resource conflict determining whether said user equipment have resolved said detected resource conflict and where not updating said probability mapping for at least one of: providing said assistance information for said detected resource conflict and providing assistance information for a future detected conflict (Tang, [0021]: See above for paragraph [0021].).
Furthermore, Tang does not explicitly teach the term mapping, however similar to Tang, Su teaches distributed mapping and uplink frequency hopping along with mapping on the reference signal transmitted on the resources (Su, [0093], [0166]-[0170]), which can be seen as, mapping.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Tang with Su in order to enable the apparatus of Tang to utilize mappings as taught by Su, thereby improving system throughput and transmission efficiency (Su, [0877]).
Regarding claim 20, Tang teaches the method according to claim 13:
wherein said determining comprises determining a number or density of user equipment in said surrounding area by at least one of (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: See above for paragraph [0021].):
a sidelink channel busy ratio CBR (Tang, [0018]-[0028], [0039]-[0045]: See above for paragraph [0042].);
a number of detected transmissions (Tang, [0018]-[0031]: See above for paragraph [0020].);
a number of physical sidelink feedback channel PSFCH occupied resources (Tang, [0018]-[0031], [0052]-[0059], [0064]-[0072]: See above for paragraph [0027].);
a number of detected post-collision indications; or
a number of detected transmitting and receiving user equipment pairs within a surrounding area.
Regarding claim 21, Tang teaches the method according to claim 13:
wherein said method further comprises: detecting a resource conflict (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: See above for paragraph [0021].).
Regarding claim 22, Tang teaches the method according to claim 21:
wherein in response to detecting multiple conflicts in a same resource, said method determines whether or not to provide said assistance information for each of said detected conflicts (Tang, Fig. 2, fig.4, [0021]-[0022], [0032]-[0034]: See above for paragraph [0021].).
Regarding claim 23, Tang teaches the method according to claim 22:
wherein in response to determining to provide said assistance information to a plurality of user equipment, said method multiplexes a plurality of said assistance information into one message and transmits said one message by broadcasting or groupcasting said one message (Tang, [0018]-[0031]: See above for paragraph [0020].).
Regarding claim 24, Tang teaches the method according to claim 21:
wherein said method detects a resource conflict by at least one of detecting: reservations of resources for future transmissions, and determining said resource conflict in response to detecting overlapping reservations; a transmitting user equipment transmitting to a receiving user equipment that is itself currently transmitting (Tang, [0018]-[0031], [0034]-[0043], [0060]-[0064]: [0041] 2. If the first terminal detects a PSCCH in the first sensing window, where a ,PSSCH corresponding to the PSCCH has an RSRP higher than a threshold value, and there is a resource conflict between a next transmission resource reserved in the PSCCH and data to be sent by the terminal, the reserved transmission resource is excluded from the set A.).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Sun et al. (US 2024/0089803 A1) discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) including: receiving, from another UE, information associated with a pre-emption check procedure on another reserved resource of the abovementioned UE; and making an adjustment relating to a transmission on a reserved resource of the UE according to the information (See fig. 2 and fig. 3).
Zhao et al. (US 2023/0379887 A1) discloses a method for selecting a resource is performed by a first device, and includes: sending an assistance request for requesting a second device to provide an assistance resource set; and receiving an assistance resource report from the second device, wherein the assistance resource report indicates the assistance resource set provided by the second device (See fig. 1 and fig. 2).
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/FRANCESCA LIMA SANTOS/Examiner, Art Unit 2468
/MARCUS SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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