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
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 - 6, 10 - 16, 21, 25, 26, and 28 - 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kiilerich, U.S. Patent No. 12,507,207.
Kiilerich teaches:
1. A method for wireless communication by a second user equipment (UE), comprising:
transmitting, to a first UE, a request for inter-UE coordination information (in an inter-UE coordination scenario, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5);
receiving a first indication from the first UE indicating a first set of resources for one or more transmissions by the second UE based on the request for inter-UE coordination information (first UE can send a set of non-preferred resources to a second UE, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5); and
transmitting, based on the received first indication of the first set of resources, the one or more transmissions using a second set of resources (second UE will take into account resource selection for its own transmission, col. 8, lines 35 – 61).
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
performing one or more channel measurements within a sensing window (coordination of resources may include determining a latency or quality-of-service for a link, col. 12, lines 26 – 48); and
determining, based at least in part on the one or more channel measurements, a set of available resources for the one or more transmissions within a resource selection window (coordination information is exchanged to determine resource allocation, col. 12, lines 26 – 48).
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining an intersecting set of resources from the set of available resources and the first set of resources (transmission resources may overlap between first and second UE, col. 1, lines 63 – 67).
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of resources used to transmit the one or more transmissions comprises one or more resources of the intersecting set of resources when the intersecting set of resources is at least a threshold percentage of the first set of resources (UE-A may include transmission resources overlapping with UE-B, col. 18, lines 31 – 41, utilizing a threshold value to determine whether to take an action is a well know technique).
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second set of resources used to transmit the one or more transmissions comprises one or more resources of the set of available resources when the intersecting set of resources is less than the threshold percentage of the first set of resources (UE-A may include transmission resources overlapping with UE-B, col. 18, lines 31 – 41, utilizing a threshold value to determine whether to take an action is a well know technique).
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of resources used to transmit the one or more transmissions comprises one or more resources of the intersecting set of resources when the set of available resources is at least a threshold percentage of a number of resources within the resource selection window (UE-A may include transmission resources overlapping with UE-B, col. 18, lines 31 – 41, utilizing a threshold value to determine whether to take an action is a well-known technique).
10. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining an amount of usable resources from the first set of resources (second UE will take into account resource selection for its own transmission, col. 8, lines 35 – 61).
11. The method of claim 10, wherein:
when the amount of usable resources from the first set of resources is less than a threshold amount of usable resources, the second set of resources comprises one or more resources from the set of available resources, and when the amount of usable resources from the first set of resources is greater than or equal to the threshold amount of usable resources, the second set of resources comprises one or more usable resources from the first set of resources (capability information is utilized to determine whether the use of certain resources is hindered by other scheduled transmissions, col. 16, line 44 – col. 17, line 30, this implies a useable set of resources are determined).
12. The method of claim 10, wherein:
determining the amount of usable resources comprises determining a set of unusable resources from the first set of resources, and the set of unusable resources comprises resources from the first set of resources that are at least one of:
outside a resource selection window associated with the second UE (inapplicable resources are reported by the second UE, col. 9, lines 6 – 29), or
excluded by the second UE based on the one or more channel measurements.
13. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting a message to the first UE, indicating a set of preferred resources selected from the set of available resources for the one or more transmissions, wherein the first set of resources is based on the set of preferred resources (second UE will take into account resource selection for its own transmission, col. 8, lines 35 – 61, after non-preferred and inapplicable resources are determined, the remainder would be considered the preferred resources).
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication indicating the first set of resources comprises a plurality of different starting slot and sub-channel positions for each different resource included in the first set of resources (slot and sub-channels are allocated to a particular type of data, col. 8, lines 35 – 61).
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication indicating the first set of resources comprises a bitmap, indicating which resources from a plurality of resources are included within the first set of resources (any digital data utilizes a bitmap to convey meaning to all information transmitted).
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication indicating the first set of resources includes additional information indicating at least one of a preference associated with each resource included within the first set of resources or a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with each resource included within the first set of resources (second UE will take into account resource selection for its own transmission, col. 8, lines 35 – 61, after non-preferred and inapplicable resources are determined, the remainder would be considered the preferred resources).
21. A method for wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE),comprising:
receiving, from at least a second UE, a request for inter-UE coordination information (in an inter-UE coordination scenario, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5); and
transmitting at least a first indication to the second UE indicating a first set of resources for one or more transmissions by the second UE based on the request for inter-UE coordination information (first UE can send a set of non-preferred resources to a second UE, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5).
25. The method of claim 21, wherein the first indication indicating the first set of resources comprises a plurality of different starting slot and sub-channel positions for each different resource included in the first set of resources (slot and sub-channels are allocated to a particular type of data, col. 8, lines 35 – 61).
26. The method of claim 21, wherein the first indication indicating the first set of resources comprises a bitmap, indicating which resources from a plurality of resources are included within the first set of resources (any digital data utilizes a bitmap to convey meaning to all information transmitted).
28. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
receiving a second message from the second UE, indicating a set of preferred resources for the one or more transmissions by the second UE, and determining the first set of resources based on the set of preferred resources for the one or more transmissions by the second UE (second UE will take into account resource selection for its own transmission, col. 8, lines 35 – 61, after non-preferred and inapplicable resources are determined, the remainder would be considered the preferred resources).
29. A second user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory comprising executable instructions (see Fig. 2); and
one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the second UE to:
transmit, to a first UE, a request for inter-UE coordination information (in an inter-UE coordination scenario, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5);
receive a first indication from the first UE indicating a first set of resources for one or more transmissions by the second UE based on the request for inter-UE coordination information (first UE can send a set of non-preferred resources to a second UE, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5); and
transmit, based on the received first indication of the first set of resources, the one or more transmissions using a second set of resources (second UE will take into account resource selection for its own transmission, col. 8, lines 35 – 61).
30. A first user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory comprising executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the first UE to:
receive, from at least a second UE, a request for inter-UE coordination information (in an inter-UE coordination scenario, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5); and
transmit at least a first indication to the second UE indicating a first set of resources for one or more transmissions by the second UE based on the request for inter-UE coordination information (first UE can send a set of non-preferred resources to a second UE, col. 8, line 62 – col. 9, line 5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiilerich as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Hui, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0389002.
Kiilerich teaches a method of scheduling data in a wireless communications network. Kiilerich does not teach utilizing a timer to determine whether to reuse resources. Hui teaches utilizing a timer to determine whether to reuse resources. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing to modify the teachings of Kiilerich to incorporate the known technique of utilizing a reuse timer as taught by Hui in order to obtain the predictable result of ensuring resources are free.
The combination teaches:
8. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining whether the first set of resources are up to date based on a timer associated with the first set of resources (resources reassigned based on expiration of inactivity timer, [0129], Hui).
9. The method of claim 8, wherein:
when the timer associated with the first set of resources has expired, the second set of resources comprises one or more resources from the set of available resources, and when the timer associated with the first set of resources has not expired, the second set of resources comprises one or more resources from an intersecting set of resources determined from the set of available resources and the first set of resources (transmission resources may overlap between first and second UE, col. 1, lines 63 – 67, Kiilerich).
Claim(s) 18 - 20, 22 - 24, and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiilerich as applied to claims 17 and 21 above, and further in view of Hwang, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2024/0381399.
Kiilerich teaches a method scheduling data in a wireless communications network. Kiilerich does not teach utilizing RSRP to determine an acceptable signal strength. Hwang teaches utilizing RSRP to determine and acceptable signal strength. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing to modify the teachings of Kiilerich to incorporate the known technique of determining the strength of a signal utilizing RSRP as taught by Hwang in order to obtain the predictable result of increasing reception probability.
The combination teaches:
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising not excluding resources in the first set of resources from the second set of resources that have reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements below an RSRP threshold (UE selects resource based on RSRP measurement value, [0176], Hwang).
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the RSRP threshold is based on a first priority associated with the one or more transmissions by the second UE (transmission is based on the priority of the sidelink data transmission, col. 6, lines 4 – 6, Kiilerich).
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the RSRP threshold is based further on a second priority associated with the resources not preferred by the first UE (transmission is based on the priority of the sidelink data transmission, col. 6, lines 4 – 6, Kiilerich, establishing a hierarchy of priorities are a matter of design choice and not given much patentable weight).
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
performing one or more channel measurements within a sensing window; and
determining, based on the one or more channel measurements, the first set of resources for the one or more transmissions by the second UE within a resource selection window (resource pool based on CBR measurements, [0059], Hwang).
23. The method of claim 22, wherein determining the first set of resources comprises excluding resources corresponding to time slots associated with a reference signal received power (RSRP) above a threshold RSRP (UE selects resource based on RSRP measurement value, [0176], Hwang).
24. The method of claim 23, wherein, at least one of:
the threshold RSRP is greater than a pre-configured RSRP exclusion threshold, or the threshold RSRP is based on an in-channel selectivity performance (UE selects resource based on RSRP measurement value, [0176], Hwang, any received signal is has a minimal threshold of clear reception).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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PETER G. SOLINSKY
Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/Peter G Solinsky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463