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 .
Continued Examination
1. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/27/2026 has been entered.
Claim Status
2. Claims 1, 7, 16, 28, and 30 have currently been amended.
Response to Arguments
3. The applicant’s arguments have been taken into consideration, but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
A. The previous claim objection and rejections under 35 USC 101 have been withdrawn.
B. In response to the applicant’s argument (disclosed on pg. 4-7 of the remarks segment) that the cited prior art fail to teach or suggest a mode of a plurality of modes for use for secure communication over a physical (PHY) channel, wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with one or more types of signals that are communicated over the PHY channel to secure and secured using one or more secret keys:
According to par [0101] of the applicant’s specification, each mode associated with one or more types of signals that are communicated over the PHY channel are drawn to one of three communication modes. The first mode being drawn to wherein the one or more types of signals comprise one or more demodulation reference signals. The second mode being drawn to wherein the one or more types of signals comprise one or more control channels or data channels and the third mode being drawn to wherein the one or more types of signals comprise both demodulation reference signals and one or more control channels or data channels.
Par [0239] of newly cited prior art reference Agarwal et al (US 2021/0152335) discloses physical layer transmission that is at least demodulation reference signal (e.g., the first mode wherein the one or more types of signals comprise one or more demodulation reference signals) modulation symbol generated and communicating the physical layer transmission that utilizes downlink control channel (e.g., the second mode wherein the one or more types of signals comprise one or more control channels or data channels) transmission.
C. In response to the applicant’s argument (disclosed on pg. 4-7 of the remarks segment) that the cited prior art fail to teach or suggest one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys:
According to par [0029] of the applicant’s specification, the techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys may include rotation and/or remapping of a modulation constellation associated with a transmitted signal and adding or inserting “artificial noise” into a transmitted signal. The examiner maintains that (using the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim limitation) pg. 1, col. 2, lines 1-10 and pg. 2, col. 1, lines 1-10 of previously cited prior art reference Ma et al, disclose OFDM System Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion modulation constellation pseudo-random rotation and adding weak artificial noise at a physical layer (e.g., techniques applied at a PHY layer) and using a secret key for physical layer encryption during constellation rotation (e.g., secure communication using the one or more secret keys using the one or more techniques, which is constellation rotation, applied at a physical layer).
Claim Rejections – 35 USC 103
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-5, 10, 15-16, and 27-30 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal et al (US 2021/0152335) in view of Ma et al (“Secure Communication in TDS-OFDM System Using Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion”).
Regarding claim 1, Agarwal et al teaches a user equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication (fig. 5-6), comprising:
at least one memory comprising instructions (fig. 12, ‘1230);
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE (fig. 12, ‘1240) to:
receive, from a wireless communication device, an indication of a mode of a plurality of modes for use for secure communication over a physical (PHY) channel (par [0239], which discloses physical layer transmission of a demodulation reference signal), wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with:
one or more types of signals that are communication over the PHY channel and secured using one or more secret keys (Abstract, lines 1-6, which discloses storing secret information, which includes secret keys, for protecting physical layer signal transmissions); and
communicate, with the wireless communication device, over the PHY channel in accordance with the mode (fig. 1-2, par [0250], lines 1-5 & par [0259], which disclose wireless communication between a portable UE via physical layer transmission using said demodulation reference signal modulation).
Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys (pg. 1, col. 2, lines 1-10 and pg. 2, col. 1, lines 1-10, which disclose OFDM System Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion modulation constellation pseudo-random rotation and adding weak artificial noise at a physical layer and using a secret key for physical layer encryption during constellation rotation).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving secure physical layer communication by implementing advanced signal transmission scrambling features, such as constellation rotation and artificial noise insertion (as disclosed in pg. 1-2 of Ma et al) because these secure features would further prevent malicious access or tampering with the secret construction of physical channels and signals being performed by Agarwal et al.
Regarding claim 2, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one technique of the one or more techniques, and the at least one technique comprises one or more of: use of noise based on the one or more secret keys or use of modified quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) points based on the one or more secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one technique of the one or more techniques, and the at least one technique comprises one or more of:
use of noise based on the one or more secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 18-34, which discloses the artificial noise insertion being impactful based on the constellation rotation secret key); or
use of modified quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) points based on the one or more secret keys.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one type of signal of the one or more types of signals, and the one or more types of signals comprise one of: one or more demodulation reference signals; one or more control channels or data channels; or both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels.
However, Ma et al teaches wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one type of signal of the one or more types of signals, and the one or more types of signals comprise one of:
one or more demodulation reference signals (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45, “demodulated signal at the receiver”);
one or more control channels or data channels; or
both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 4, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach for a first mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more demodulation reference signals; for a second mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more control channels or data channels; and for a third mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels.
However, Ma et al teaches for a first mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more demodulation reference signals (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45, “demodulated signal at the receiver”);
for a second mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more control channels or data channels (pg. 3, col. 2, lines 5-20, “channel state information”); and
for a third mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45 & pg. 3, col. 2, lines 5-20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach .
However, Ma et al teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to one or more of:
transmit on a sidelink channel;
receive on the sidelink channel;
transmit on an uplink channel (pg. 3, col. 2, lines 20-30); or
receive on a downlink channel.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 10, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach.
However, Ma et al teaches wherein the message comprises one or more bitmaps (fig. 4), wherein each value of the one or more bitmaps indicates whether to secure communication for a particular resource (fig. 4 & pg. 3, col. 2, lines 1-20, which disclose using data mappings to determine whether to implement preventive measures, such as noise insertion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving secure physical layer communication by implementing advanced signal transmission scrambling features, such as constellation rotation and artificial noise insertion (as disclosed in pg. 1-2 of Ma et al) because these secure features would further prevent malicious access or tampering with the secret construction of physical channels and signals being performed by Agarwal et al.
Regarding claim 15, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more secret keys comprise a plurality of secret keys and wherein, for the mode, different secret keys are used for different types of signals or different one or more resources.
However, Ma et al teaches wherein the one or more secret keys comprise a plurality of secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 10-25, “encrypted key…secret key”), and wherein, for the mode, different secret keys are used for different types of signals or different one or more resources (fig. 4 & pg. 3, col. 2, lines 1-20, which disclose using data mappings to determine whether to implement preventive measures, such as noise insertion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 10.
Regarding claim 16, Agarwal et al teaches a wireless communication device (fig. 5-6), comprising:
at least one memory comprising instructions (fig. 12, ‘1230);
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device (fig. 12, ‘1240) to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), an indication of a mode of a plurality of modes for use for secure communication over a physical (PHY) channel (par [0239], which discloses physical layer transmission of a demodulation reference signal), wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with:
one or more types of signals that are communication over the PHY channel and secured using one or more secret keys (Abstract, lines 1-6, which discloses storing secret information, which includes secret keys, for protecting physical layer signal transmissions); and
communicate, with the UE, over the PHY channel in accordance with the mode (fig. 1-2, par [0250], lines 1-5 & par [0259], which disclose wireless communication between a portable UE via physical layer transmission using said demodulation reference signal modulation).
Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys (pg. 1, col. 2, lines 1-10 and pg. 2, col. 1, lines 1-10, which disclose OFDM System Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion modulation constellation pseudo-random rotation and adding weak artificial noise at a physical layer and using a secret key for physical layer encryption during constellation rotation).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving secure physical layer communication by implementing advanced signal transmission scrambling features, such as constellation rotation and artificial noise insertion (as disclosed in pg. 1-2 of Ma et al) because these secure features would further prevent malicious access or tampering with the secret construction of physical channels and signals being performed by Agarwal et al.
Regarding claim 17, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one technique of the one or more techniques, and the at least one technique comprises one or more of: use of noise based on the one or more secret keys; or use of modified quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) points based on the one or more secret keys.
Ma et al further teaches wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one technique of the one or more techniques, and the at least one technique comprises one or more of:
use of noise based on the one or more secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 18-34, which discloses the artificial noise insertion being impactful based on the constellation rotation secret key); or
use of modified quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) points based on the one or more secret keys.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 18, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one type of signal of the one or more types of signals, and the one or more types of signals comprise one of: one or more demodulation reference signals; one or more control channels or data channels; or both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels.
Ma et al further teaches wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one type of signal of the one or more types of signals, and the one or more types of signals comprise one of:
one or more demodulation reference signals (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45, “demodulated signal at the receiver”);
one or more control channels or data channels; or
both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 19, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach for a first mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more demodulation reference signals; for a second mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more control channels or data channels; and for a third mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels.
Ma et al further teaches for a first mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more demodulation reference signals (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45, “demodulated signal at the receiver”);
for a second mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise one or more control channels or data channels (pg. 3, col. 2, lines 5-20, “channel state information”); and
for a third mode of the plurality of modes, the one or more types of signals comprise both the one or more demodulation reference signals and the one or more control channels or data channels (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45 & pg. 3, col. 2, lines 5-20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 27, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more secret keys comprise a plurality of secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches wherein the one or more secret keys comprise a plurality of secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 10-25, “encrypted key…secret key”), and wherein, for the mode, different secret keys are used for different types of signals or different one or more resources (fig. 4 & pg. 3, col. 2, lines 1-20, which disclose using data mappings to determine whether to implement preventive measures, such as noise insertion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 28, Agarwal et al teaches a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) (fig. 5-6), comprising:
receiving, from a wireless communication device, an indication of a mode of a plurality of modes for use for secure communication over a physical (PHY) channel (par [0239], which discloses physical layer transmission of a demodulation reference signal), wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with:
one or more types of signals that are communication over the PHY channel and secured using one or more secret keys (Abstract, lines 1-6, which discloses storing secret information, which includes secret keys, for protecting physical layer signal transmissions); and
communicating, with the wireless communication device, over the PHY channel in accordance with the mode (fig. 1-2, par [0250], lines 1-5 & par [0259], which disclose wireless communication between a portable UE via physical layer transmission using said demodulation reference signal modulation).
Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys (pg. 1, col. 2, lines 1-10 and pg. 2, col. 1, lines 1-10, which disclose OFDM System Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion modulation constellation pseudo-random rotation and adding weak artificial noise at a physical layer and using a secret key for physical layer encryption during constellation rotation).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving secure physical layer communication by implementing advanced signal transmission scrambling features, such as constellation rotation and artificial noise insertion (as disclosed in pg. 1-2 of Ma et al) because these secure features would further prevent malicious access or tampering with the secret construction of physical channels and signals being performed by Agarwal et al.
Regarding claim 29, Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one technique of the one or more techniques, and the at least one technique comprises one or more of: use of noise based on the one or more secret keys or use of modified quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) points based on the one or more secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with at least one technique of the one or more techniques, and the at least one technique comprises one or more of:
use of noise based on the one or more secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 18-34, which discloses the artificial noise insertion being impactful based on the constellation rotation secret key); or
use of modified quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) points based on the one or more secret keys.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 28.
Regarding claim 30, Agarwal et al teaches a method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device (fig. 5-6), comprising:
transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), an indication of a mode of a plurality of modes for use for secure communication over a physical (PHY) channel (par [0239], which discloses physical layer transmission of a demodulation reference signal), wherein each of the plurality of modes is associated with:
one or more types of signals that are communication over the PHY channel and secured using one or more secret keys (Abstract, lines 1-6, which discloses storing secret information, which includes secret keys, for protecting physical layer signal transmissions); and
communicating, with the UE, over the PHY channel in accordance with the mode (fig. 1-2, par [0250], lines 1-5 & par [0259], which disclose wireless communication between a portable UE via physical layer transmission using said demodulation reference signal modulation).
Agarwal et al does not explicitly teach one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys.
However, Ma et al teaches one or more techniques applied at a PHY layer to secure communication using the one or more secret keys (pg. 1, col. 2, lines 1-10 and pg. 2, col. 1, lines 1-10, which disclose OFDM System Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion modulation constellation pseudo-random rotation and adding weak artificial noise at a physical layer and using a secret key for physical layer encryption during constellation rotation).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Ma et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving secure physical layer communication by implementing advanced signal transmission scrambling features, such as constellation rotation and artificial noise insertion (as disclosed in pg. 1-2 of Ma et al) because these secure features would further prevent malicious access or tampering with the secret construction of physical channels and signals being performed by Agarwal et al.
7. Claims 6-9, 11-14, and 20-26 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal et al (US 2021/0152335) in view of Ma et al (“Secure Communication in TDS-OFDM System Using Constellation Rotation and Noise Insertion”), further in view of Zhou et al (US 2021/0297197).
Regarding claim 6, Ma et al teaches wherein teach the mode is associated with the one or more types of signals (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45) and a plurality of corresponding techniques to secure communication using the one or more secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 30-35); and
communication over the PHY channel is further in accordance with the one of the plurality of corresponding techniques (pg. 3, col. 2, lines 5-20).
Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive, from the wireless communication device, a second indication of one of the plurality of corresponding techniques.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive, from the wireless communication device, a second indication of one of the plurality of corresponding techniques (par [0043], lines 8-12, “type of direct link signals”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving communication efficiency by reducing the amount of data exchanges required between devices communicating over a channel (as disclosed in par [0041] of Zhou et al) because this approach would increase the data processing performance of Agarwal et al and Ma et al by lowering the frequency and bandwidth required to process the channel-based communication disclosed by Ma et al.
Regarding claim 7, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message configuring the UE with the plurality of modes.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message configuring the UE with the plurality of modes (par [0060], lines 16-18, “downlink configuration information and uplink configuration information”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 6.
Regarding claim 8, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message indicating a first set of resources for secure communication, and communicate over the PHY channel using the first set of resources.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message indicating a first set of resources for secure communication (par [0042], lines 5-10, “resources allocated by the scheduling entity”), and
communicate over the PHY channel using the first set of resources (par [0044], “reserves resources on a sidelink carrier”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 6.
Regarding claim 9, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the first set of resources comprises one or more of: a first set of time and frequency resources; or a first set of antenna ports of the UE.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the first set of resources comprises one or more of:
a first set of time and frequency resources; or
a first set of antenna ports of the UE (par [0029], lines 18-20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 6.
Regarding claim 11, Ma et al teaches wherein each entry of the plurality of entries is associated with one or more bitmaps (fig. 3-4), each bitmap indicating a corresponding set of resources for secure communication (fig. 3, ‘b1-‘bn).
Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table comprising a plurality of entries, and wherein the message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message identifying a first entry of the TDRA table associated with a first bitmap indicating the first set of resources.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table comprising a plurality of entries (Abstract, “TDRA table”), and wherein:
the message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message identifying a first entry of the TDRA table associated with a first bitmap indicating the first set of resources (par [0067], lines 1-5, “TDRA information may be conveyed in a DCI”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al and Ma et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving communication efficiency by reducing the amount of data exchanges required between devices communicating over a channel (as disclosed in par [0041] of Zhou et al) because this approach would increase the data processing performance of Agarwal et al and Ma et al by lowering the frequency and bandwidth required to process the channel-based communications disclosed by Agarwal et al and Ma et al.
Regarding claim 12, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the first entry of the TDRA table is further associated with a second bitmap indicating a second set of resources, and wherein the DCI message identifies the first bitmap of the first entry.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the first entry of the TDRA table is further associated with a second bitmap indicating a second set of resources (par [0066], lines 1-5, “two or more TDRA candidates”), and
wherein the DCI message identifies the first bitmap of the first entry (par [0115], “first received DCI”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 11.
Regarding claim 13, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach receiving, from the wireless communication device, a key for decoding the message, wherein the message is encoded.
However, Zhou et al teaches receiving, from the wireless communication device, a key for decoding the message, wherein the message is encoded (par [0061], lines 1-6, “decoding uplink data transmissions”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the disclosure of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 11.
Regarding claim 14, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the indication of the mode for secure communication comprises an indication of a quality of service (QOS), and determining which of the plurality of modes for secure communication correspond to the QoS.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the indication of the mode for secure communication comprises an indication of a quality of service (QOS) (par [0035], lines 14-17), and
determining which of the plurality of modes for secure communication correspond to the QoS (par [0035], lines 14-17, “relevant QOS”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 11.
Regarding claim 20, Ma et al teaches wherein teach the mode is associated with the one or more types of signals (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 40-45) and a plurality of corresponding techniques to secure communication using the one or more secret keys (pg. 3, col. 1, lines 30-35); and
communication over the PHY channel is further in accordance with the one of the plurality of corresponding techniques (pg. 3, col. 2, lines 5-20).
Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive, from the wireless communication device, a second indication of one of the plurality of corresponding techniques.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive, from the wireless communication device, a second indication of one of the plurality of corresponding techniques (par [0043], lines 8-12, “type of direct link signals”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the disclosure of Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 21, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message configuring the UE with the plurality of modes.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message configuring the UE with the plurality of modes (par [0060], lines 16-18, “downlink configuration information and uplink configuration information”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the disclosure of Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 22, Agarwal et al and Ma et al do not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to transmit, to the UE, a message indicating a first set of resources for secure communication.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive, from the wireless communication device, a message indicating a first set of resources for secure communication (par [0042], lines 5-10, “resources allocated by the scheduling entity”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 16.
Regarding claim 23, Agarwal et al, Ma et al, and Zhou et al teach the limitations of claim 16.
Ma et al further teaches wherein the message comprises one or more bitmaps (fig. 4), wherein each value of the one or more bitmaps indicates whether to secure communication for a particular resource (fig. 4 & pg. 3, col. 2, lines 1-20, which disclose using data mappings to determine whether to implement preventive measures, such as noise insertion).
Regarding claim 24, Ma et al teaches wherein each entry of the plurality of entries is associated with one or more bitmaps (fig. 3-4), each bitmap indicating a corresponding set of resources for secure communication (fig. 3, ‘b1-‘bn).
Ma et al does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table comprising a plurality of entries, and wherein the message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message identifying a first entry of the TDRA table associated with a first bitmap indicating the first set of resources.
However, Zhou et al teaches at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table comprising a plurality of entries (Abstract, “TDRA table”), and wherein:
the message comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message identifying a first entry of the TDRA table associated with a first bitmap indicating the first set of resources (par [0067], lines 1-5, “TDRA information may be conveyed in a DCI”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al in order to provide the predictive result of improving communication efficiency by reducing the amount of data exchanges required between devices communicating over a channel (as disclosed in par [0041] of Zhou et al) because this approach would increase the data processing performance of Ma et al by lowering the frequency and bandwidth required to process the channel-based communication disclosed by Ma et al.
Regarding claim 25, Ma et al does not explicitly teach wherein the first entry of the TDRA table is further associated with a second bitmap indicating a second set of resources, and wherein the DCI message identifies the first bitmap of the first entry.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the first entry of the TDRA table is further associated with a second bitmap indicating a second set of resources (par [0066], lines 1-5, “two or more TDRA candidates”), and
wherein the DCI message identifies the first bitmap of the first entry (par [0115], “first received DCI”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 24.
Regarding claim 26, Ma et al does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to transmit, to the UE, a key for decoding the message, wherein the message is encoded.
However, Zhou et al teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the wireless communication device to transmit, to the UE, a key for decoding the message, wherein the message is encoded (par [0061], lines 1-6, “decoding uplink data transmissions”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to be motivated to combine the teachings of Zhou et al within the teachings of Agarwal et al and Ma et al according to the motivation disclosed regarding claim 24.
Conclusion
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/RANDY A SCOTT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2439 20260213