DETAILED ACTION
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 Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/30/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 2, 5, 7-12, 15, and 17-20 are pending.
Priority
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 9-12, 15, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US 2024/0349311), hereinafter "Sun", in view of Baghel et al. (US 2018/0234889), hereinafter “Baghel”, and further in view of Huang et al. (US 2025/0048406), hereinafter “Huang”, and further in view of Yoshioka et al. (US 2025/0287266), hereinafter “Yoshioka”.
Regarding claims 1, 11, Sun teaches:
A method of a first terminal supporting a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT (see Sun, Fig. 8, par. [0160], lines 1-7: In step 801, the UE determines availability of one or more resources for a first sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the availability is determined based on at least one of: information on one or more reserved resources for second sidelink transmission(s) associated with a second RAT), or a first terminal (see Sun, Fig. 1, item 101-A) supporting a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT (see Sun, par. [0048], lines 1-3: a UE may simultaneously perform transmission or reception using two or more RATs, for example, NR and E-UTRA (i.e. LTE)), comprising a processor (see Sun, Fig. 7, par. [0148], lines 3-4: The apparatus 700 may be or include at least part of a UE, and see Sun, par. [0149], line 1: The apparatus 700 may include a processor), wherein the processor causes the first terminal to perform (see Sun, Fig. 7, par. [0149], lines 1-4: The apparatus 700 may include a processor, which is configured to perform any of the methods described in the present disclosure, for example, the methods described with respect to FIGS. 3A-3G and 5A-6B):
determining candidate resources (see Sun, Fig. 2A, par. [0052], lines 7-9: in the period from n−Tproc,0 to n, the UE processes information sensed in the sensing window to determine which resource(s) is (are) selectable) by performing a resource sensing operation (see Sun, Fig. 2A, par. [0052], lines 5-6: In the time period from n−T0 to n−Tproc,0, the UE performs sensing) based on the first RAT (see Sun, par. [0068], lines 16-18: the UE may need to further determine whether the particular resource is selectable for NR sidelink transmission, and see Sun, par. [0055], lines 2-4: a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR) based on a sensing result of a second RAT (e.g., LTE));
performing a resource selection operation (see Sun, Fig. 2A, par. [0052], lines 1-5: When resource selection is triggered at time n, the UE shall determine the set of resources (which are, for example, the resources located at m1, m2, m3 in the selection window by its implementation) to be reported to higher layers and reserved for PSSCH transmission) based on the first RAT with respect to the candidate resources (see Sun, par. [0055], lines 2-4: a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR) based on a sensing result of a second RAT (e.g., LTE), and see Sun, par. [0156], lines 1-6: the processor is further configured to: select a resource from resource(s) determined as available for the first sidelink transmission; determine whether the selected resource is available based on information on one or more reserved resources for sidelink transmission(s) associated with the second RAT) with consideration of resources reserved for communication in the second RAT (see Sun, par. [0061]: in order to determine availability of a particular resource for NR sidelink transmission, a UE may check whether the particular resource overlaps or partially overlaps with any resource reserved for LTE sidelink transmission) and
performing sidelink (SL) communication (see Sun, Fig. 1, par. [0042], lines 6-8: The UE 101-A, the UE 101-B, and the UE 101-C may perform sidelink unicast transmission, sidelink groupcast transmission, or sidelink broadcast transmission) based on the first RAT (see Sun, par. [0068], lines 16-18: the UE may need to further determine whether the particular resource is selectable for NR sidelink transmission, and see Sun, par. [0055], lines 2-3: a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR)) with a second terminal (see Sun, Fig. 1, items 101-A and 101-B, par. [0042], lines 6-8: The UE 101-A, the UE 101-B, and the UE 101-C may perform sidelink unicast transmission, sidelink groupcast transmission, or sidelink broadcast transmission) using resources selected by the resource selection operation (see Sun, par. [0051], lines 1-2: A UE may perform a resource selection procedure to select and/or reserve resource(s) for sidelink transmission, and see Sun, par. [0055], lines 2-3: a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR))
However, Sun does not teach:
receiving information indicating enable or disable of resource sharing between the first RAT and the second RAT from a base station;
wherein, based on the resource sharing being enabled by the base station, the resource selection operation is performed with consideration of resources reserved for communication in the second RAT;
wherein, based on the resource sharing being enabled by the base station, sidelink communication based on the first RAT is performed with consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT
wherein, based on the resource sharing being disabled by the base station, the resource selection operation is performed without consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT, and the SL communication based on the first RAT is performed using resources selected by the resource selection operation without consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT, and
wherein, based on at least one candidate resource among the candidate resources overlapping with at least one resource reserved by a third terminal supporting the second RAT, and based on a priority of the at least one candidate resource being lower than a priority of the at least one resource, the at least one candidate resource is excluded from the resource selection operation based on the first RAT.
Baghel, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
receiving information indicating enable or disable of resource sharing between the first RAT and the second RAT from a base station (see Baghel, Fig. 2, par. [0045]: The first device 202 also includes a resource sharing controller 230 that can determine whether the second resource pool is being underutilized by the LTE V2X devices (e.g., the third device 206 and the fourth device 208). As discussed in more detail below, in some implementations, this may involve determining a channel busy ratio (CBR) based on the LTE V2X traffic on the second resource pool and comparing the CBR to a designated threshold. If the second resource pool is currently being underutilized (e.g., the CBR is less than the threshold), the first device 202 and the second device 204 can use the second resource pool for their V2X communication, and see Baghel, par. [0049]: For each LTE V2X transmission pool there is one channel busy ratio (CBR) parameter configured. This parameter can be read by NR V2X UEs. For example, this parameter may be broadcast (e.g., via a system information block, SIB), sent via dedicated signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) message), or pre-configuration into a device; in this case, CBR information may be provided to the UE via RRC, and the CBR information is used for determining whether a second resource pool of LTE resources can be used for communication, corresponding to the information indicating enable or disable of resource sharing between the first RAT and the second RAT);
wherein, based on the resource sharing being enabled, the resource selection operation is performed with consideration of resources reserved for communication in the second RAT (see Baghel, Fig. 2, par. [0045]: The first device 202 also includes a resource sharing controller 230 that can determine whether the second resource pool is being underutilized by the LTE V2X devices (e.g., the third device 206 and the fourth device 208). As discussed in more detail below, in some implementations, this may involve determining a channel busy ratio (CBR) based on the LTE V2X traffic on the second resource pool and comparing the CBR to a designated threshold. If the second resource pool is currently being underutilized (e.g., the CBR is less than the threshold), the first device 202 and the second device 204 can use the second resource pool for their V2X communication, and see Fig. 6, pars. [0122-0123]: At block 602, an apparatus (e.g., an NR V2X device) selects at least one resource from the resource pool. In some aspects, the selection of the at least one resource may include selecting at least one available resource from the resource pool. For example, the apparatus may select a resource that is substantially free (e.g., usage of the resource is less than or equal to a usage threshold). In some aspects, the selection of the at least one resource may include identifying at least one resource not currently scheduled for communication. In some aspects, the identification of the at least one resource not currently scheduled for communication may include: receiving at least one scheduling assignment; and identifying, based on the at least one scheduling assignment, resources of the resource pool that are being used; in this case, based on the CBR, when the second resource pool can be used (i.e. resource sharing is enabled), the resources of the first resource pool and the second resource pool can be used as part of the resource selection for communication);
wherein, based on the resource sharing being enabled, sidelink communication based on the first RAT is performed with consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT (see Baghel, Fig. 5, pars. [0112-0116]: At block 504, the apparatus compares the indication to a threshold. In some aspects, the threshold may be a CBR threshold. In some aspects, the threshold may be one of a plurality of thresholds, where a first threshold of the plurality of thresholds is associated with a first priority and a second threshold of the plurality of thresholds is associated with a second priority. In some implementations, the circuit/module for comparing 422 of FIG. 4 performs the operations of block 504. In some implementations, the code for comparing 442 of FIG. 4 is executed to perform the operations of block 504.At block 506, the apparatus determines, based on the comparison of block 504, whether to use the resource pool for communication using a second RAT. In some implementations, the circuit/module for determining whether to use a resource pool 424 of FIG. 4 performs the operations of block 506. In some implementations, the code for determining whether to use a resource pool 444 of FIG. 4 is executed to perform the operations of block 506. At block 508, the apparatus communicates data via the resource pool using the second RAT if the determination of whether to use the resource pool at block 506 indicates that the resource pool is to be used. In some aspects, the communication using the second RAT may include Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) sidelink communication)
wherein, based on the resource sharing being disabled, the resource selection operation is performed without consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT (see Baghel, Fig. 5, par. [0119]: the process 500 may include, after communicating the data: determining, from the resource pool, a subsequent indication of use of the resource pool for communication using the first RAT; comparing the subsequent indication to the threshold; and determining, based on the comparison of the subsequent indication to the threshold, to stop using the resource pool for the communication using the second RAT, and see Fig. 6, pars. [0122-0123]: At block 602, an apparatus (e.g., an NR V2X device) selects at least one resource from the resource pool. In some aspects, the selection of the at least one resource may include selecting at least one available resource from the resource pool. For example, the apparatus may select a resource that is substantially free (e.g., usage of the resource is less than or equal to a usage threshold). In some aspects, the selection of the at least one resource may include identifying at least one resource not currently scheduled for communication. In some aspects, the identification of the at least one resource not currently scheduled for communication may include: receiving at least one scheduling assignment; and identifying, based on the at least one scheduling assignment, resources of the resource pool that are being used; in this case, the second resource pool is not used for resource selection when it is determined to stop using the resource pool for the second RAT (i.e. resource sharing is disabled)), and the SL communication based on the first RAT is performed using resources selected by the resource selection operation without consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT (see Baghel, Fig. 6, pars. [0122-0123]: At block 602, an apparatus (e.g., an NR V2X device) selects at least one resource from the resource pool. In some aspects, the selection of the at least one resource may include selecting at least one available resource from the resource pool. For example, the apparatus may select a resource that is substantially free (e.g., usage of the resource is less than or equal to a usage threshold). In some aspects, the selection of the at least one resource may include identifying at least one resource not currently scheduled for communication. In some aspects, the identification of the at least one resource not currently scheduled for communication may include: receiving at least one scheduling assignment; and identifying, based on the at least one scheduling assignment, resources of the resource pool that are being used, and see Fig. 10, par. [0150-0154]: At block 1002, an apparatus (e.g., an NR V2X device) determines, from the resource pool, a subsequent indication of use of the resource pool for communication using the first RAT. In some implementations, the circuit/module for determining an indication 420 of FIG. 4 performs the operations of block 1002. In some implementations, the code for determining an indication 440 of FIG. 4 is executed to perform the operations of block 1002. At block 1004, the apparatus compares the subsequent indication to the threshold. In some implementations, the circuit/module for comparing 422 of FIG. 4 performs the operations of block 1004. In some implementations, the code for comparing 442 of FIG. 4 is executed to perform the operations of block 1004. At block 1006, the apparatus determines, based on the comparison of the subsequent indication to the threshold, to stop using the resource pool for the communication using the second RAT; in this case, communication may be performed only using the first resource pool with the first RAT based on the determination to stop using the second resource pool with the second RAT).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or first terminal of Sun with the conditionally performing sharing for resource selection and sidelink communication of Baghel with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing overhead (see Baghel, par. [0060]).
However, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel does not explicitly teach:
wherein the resource selection operation and sidelink communication are performed with consideration of resources reserved for communication in the second RAT based on the resource sharing being enabled by the base station,
wherein the resource selection operation is performed without consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT based on the resource sharing being disabled by the base station, and
wherein, based on at least one candidate resource among the candidate resources overlapping with at least one resource reserved by a third terminal supporting the second RAT, and based on a priority of the at least one candidate resource being lower than a priority of the at least one resource, the at least one candidate resource is excluded from the resource selection operation based on the first RAT.
Huang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the resource selection operation and sidelink communication are performed with consideration of resources reserved for communication in the second RAT based on the resource sharing being enabled by the base station (see Huang, par. [0138]: the network device may further send first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to enable or disable content indicated by the second information. That the first configuration information is used to enable or disable content indicated by the second information may be further understood as that the first configuration information is used to enable or disable an indication of the second information; the first configuration information is used to enable or disable a function indicated by the second information; the first configuration information is used to enable or disable a co-channel coexistence function between the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X; or the first configuration information is used to enable or disable a function of sharing a resource between the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X. In brief, disabling the second information indicates that the terminal device does not need to determine a third time unit, in other words, the terminal device does not need to consider a time unit that may be shared by the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X during data transmission. Enabling the second information indicates that the terminal device needs to determine the third time unit, and the terminal device needs to consider the time unit that may be shared by the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X during the data transmission),
wherein the resource selection operation is performed without consideration of the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT based on the resource sharing being disabled by the base station (see Huang, par. [0138]: the network device may further send first configuration information to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is used to enable or disable content indicated by the second information. That the first configuration information is used to enable or disable content indicated by the second information may be further understood as that the first configuration information is used to enable or disable an indication of the second information; the first configuration information is used to enable or disable a function indicated by the second information; the first configuration information is used to enable or disable a co-channel coexistence function between the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X; or the first configuration information is used to enable or disable a function of sharing a resource between the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X. In brief, disabling the second information indicates that the terminal device does not need to determine a third time unit, in other words, the terminal device does not need to consider a time unit that may be shared by the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X during data transmission. Enabling the second information indicates that the terminal device needs to determine the third time unit, and the terminal device needs to consider the time unit that may be shared by the LTE-V2X and the NR-V2X during the data transmission)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the resource selection operation and sidelink communication of the combination of Sun in view of Baghel with the consideration of resources in the second RAT based on resource sharing being enabled or disabled by the base station of Huang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving data transmission reliability in resource sharing scenarios (see Huang, par. [0005]).
However, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, does not teach:
wherein, based on at least one candidate resource among the candidate resources overlapping with at least one resource reserved by a third terminal supporting the second RAT, and based on a priority of the at least one candidate resource being lower than a priority of the at least one resource, the at least one candidate resource is excluded from the resource selection operation based on the first RAT.
Yoshioka, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein, based on at least one candidate resource among the candidate resources overlapping with at least one resource reserved by a third terminal supporting the second RAT, and based on a priority of the at least one candidate resource being lower than a priority of the at least one resource, the at least one candidate resource is excluded from the resource selection operation based on the first RAT (see Yoshioka, Fig. 28, par. [0185]: in FIG. 28, the resource exclusion operation may be performed in a case where at least some of the resources reserved in the LTE-SL overlaps at least some of the candidate resources of the NR-SL. The resource exclusive is also applicable to a case where the SCS is different between the LTE and the NR. For example, in a case where the SCS of the LTE-SL is SCS=15 kHz and the SCS of the NR-SL is different (for example, 30 kHz), and at least some of the symbols and/or at least some of the PRBs overlap, the slot and the sub channel in the NR-SL may be excluded from the set SA of available resource candidates, and see pars. [0209-0210]: Whether or not the resource corresponds to the “resource based on information acquired from the UE-A” (that is, whether or not the resource is to be excluded from the selection target) may be determined based on the value indicating the priority (or PPPP) related to the reservation of the LTE-SL and/or the RSRP. The details of the priority may be defined in a manner similar to that described in C) above. For example, in a case where the value indicating the priority related to the reservation of the LTE-SL is smaller than the value indicating the priority of the data to be transmitted or the threshold value corresponding to the data to be transmitted (that is, in the case where the priority is high), the resource may be excluded from the selection target, and see par. [0112]: in the case of a resource r_1 illustrated in FIG. 16, the SCI transmitted from the other terminal 20 is detected by the re-sensing, and is not included in the set SA. In a case where the preemption is enabled, and a value prio_RX indicating the priority of the SCI transmitted from the other terminal 20 is lower than a value prio_TX indicating the priority of a transport block transmitted from the local terminal, the terminal 20 determines that the preemption of the resource r_1 occurred. The lower the value indicating the priority, the higher the priority; in this case, a candidate resource of one RAT is excluded based on overlap with a resource from another RAT and the candidate resource is excluded based on priority of the candidate resource being smaller than the priority of a reserved resource).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or first terminal of the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, with the conditional candidate resource exclusion of Yoshioka with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the reliability of resource selection (see Yoshioka, par. [0230]).
Regarding claims 2, 12, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, teaches the method or first terminal. Sun further teaches:
wherein the first RAT is a new radio (NR) communication technology, and the second RAT is a long term evolution (LTE) communication technology (see Sun, par. [0055], lines 2-4: a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR) based on a sensing result of a second RAT (e.g., LTE)).
Regarding claims 5, 15, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, teaches the method or first terminal. Sun further teaches:
wherein information on the resources reserved for the communication in the second RAT (see Sun, par. [0156], lines 1-6: the processor is further configured to: select a resource from resource(s) determined as available for the first sidelink transmission; determine whether the selected resource is available based on information on one or more reserved resources for sidelink transmission(s) associated with the second RAT)
The combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, does not teach, but Yoshioka teaches:
wherein the information includes at least one of information on a time resource reserved by a third terminal (optional limitation), information on a frequency resource reserved by the third terminal (optional limitation), information on a periodicity of a resource reserved by the third terminal (optional limitation), information on an RSRP for a reserved resource (optional limitation), information on a priority of data of the third terminal (see Yoshioka, Fig. 28, par. [0185]: in FIG. 28, the resource exclusion operation may be performed in a case where at least some of the resources reserved in the LTE-SL overlaps at least some of the candidate resources of the NR-SL. The resource exclusive is also applicable to a case where the SCS is different between the LTE and the NR. For example, in a case where the SCS of the LTE-SL is SCS=15 kHz and the SCS of the NR-SL is different (for example, 30 kHz), and at least some of the symbols and/or at least some of the PRBs overlap, the slot and the sub channel in the NR-SL may be excluded from the set SA of available resource candidates, and see pars. [0209-0210]: Whether or not the resource corresponds to the “resource based on information acquired from the UE-A” (that is, whether or not the resource is to be excluded from the selection target) may be determined based on the value indicating the priority (or PPPP) related to the reservation of the LTE-SL and/or the RSRP. The details of the priority may be defined in a manner similar to that described in C) above. For example, in a case where the value indicating the priority related to the reservation of the LTE-SL is smaller than the value indicating the priority of the data to be transmitted or the threshold value corresponding to the data to be transmitted (that is, in the case where the priority is high), the resource may be excluded from the selection target), or combinations thereof (optional limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the information of the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, with the priority information of Yoshioka with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the reliability of resource selection (see Yoshioka, par. [0230]).
Regarding claims 9, 19, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, teaches the method or first terminal. Sun further teaches:
wherein when physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmission based on the first RAT overlaps SL transmission based on the second RAT (see Sun, Fig. 3B, par. [0079], lines 2-5: the corresponding PSFCH resource, i.e. PSFCH-r4, partially overlaps with resource r1′, which is reserved for LTE sidelink transmission) in SL transmission based on the first RAT (see Sun, par. [0077], lines 1-5: Resource r1 and resource r2 are resources reserved for LTE sidelink transmissions, resource r1 reserves resource r1′, and resource r2 reserves resource r2′. It is to be determined whether resource r3 and resource r4 are available for NR sidelink transmission in this example), which is performed between the first terminal and the second terminal (see Sun, Fig. 1, items 101-A and 101-B, par. [0044], lines 3-5: The UE 101-A may exchange V2X messages with the UE 101-B or the UE 101-C through a sidelink using the NR technology, and see Sun, par. [0117], lines 1-3: the UE may determine the availability of resource(s) for NR V2X transmission according to the methods as described above), the PSFCH transmission based on the first RAT is dropped or disabled (see Sun, par. [0079], lines 2-6: the corresponding PSFCH resource, i.e. PSFCH-r4, partially overlaps with resource r1′, which is reserved for LTE sidelink transmission. Therefore, resource r4 is also considered as unavailable for NR sidelink transmission, and see Sun, par. [0057], lines 8-13: Some PSFCH resources include a box with cross lines, which refers to a PSFCH resource associated with or corresponding to a resource for NR transmission. For example, the box marked by the arrow with the explanation note “PSFCH-r3” represents the corresponding PSFCH resource associated with resource r3).
Regarding claims 10, 20, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, teaches the method or first terminal. Sun further teaches:
wherein the performing of the resource selection operation (see Sun, Fig. 2A, par. [0052], lines 1-5: When resource selection is triggered at time n, the UE shall determine the set of resources (which are, for example, the resources located at m1, m2, m3 in the selection window by its implementation) to be reported to higher layers and reserved for PSSCH transmission) based on the first RAT (see Sun, par. [0055], lines 2-3: a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR)) comprises: when PSFCH transmission based on the first RAT overlaps SL transmission based on the second RAT (see Sun, Fig. 3B, par. [0079], lines 2-5: the corresponding PSFCH resource, i.e. PSFCH-r4, partially overlaps with resource r1′, which is reserved for LTE sidelink transmission, and see Sun, par. [0057], lines 8-13: Some PSFCH resources include a box with cross lines, which refers to a PSFCH resource associated with or corresponding to a resource for NR transmission. For example, the box marked by the arrow with the explanation note “PSFCH-r3” represents the corresponding PSFCH resource associated with resource r3), excluding at least one candidate resource for transmission of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) associated with the PSFCH transmission based on the first RAT among the candidate resources (see Sun, par. [0079], lines 2-6: the corresponding PSFCH resource, i.e. PSFCH-r4, partially overlaps with resource r1′, which is reserved for LTE sidelink transmission. Therefore, resource r4 is also considered as unavailable for NR sidelink transmission, and see Sun, par. [0059], lines 4-7: It is to be determined whether resource r3 (in slot n+3) and resource r4 (in slot n+4) are available for NR sidelink transmission in this example, and see Sun, Fig. 2A, par. [0052], lines 1-5: When resource selection is triggered at time n, the UE shall determine the set of resources (which are, for example, the resources located at m1, m2, m3 in the selection window by its implementation) to be reported to higher layers and reserved for PSSCH transmission).
Claims 7-8 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, as applied to claims 1-3, 5, 9-13, 15, and 19-20 above, and further in view of Dutta et al. (US 2024/0276523), hereinafter “Dutta”.
Regarding claims 7, 17, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, teaches the method or first terminal. Sun further teaches:
wherein when a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) applied to the first RAT is different from a second SCS applied to the second RAT (see Sun, Fig. 3E, par. [0057] 14-15: The sub-carrier spacing (SCS) for LTE V2X is 15 kHz, and the SCS for NR V2X may be 15 kHz or 30 KHz, and see Sun, par. [0092]: In FIG. 3E, some parameters are presented as follows: SCS for NR V2X 30kHz),
However, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, does not teach:
the selected resources include all slots overlapping with a duration corresponding to SL transmission based on the second RAT, and SL communication based on the first RAT is continuously performed over the all slots.
Dutta, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the selected resources include all slots overlapping with a duration corresponding to SL transmission based on the second RAT (see Dutta, Fig. 7, items 620 and 625, par. [0117], lines 7-11: the frequency domain resources shown in FIG. 7 as being associated with the control signal (shown by reference number 620) and the second sidelink message (shown by reference number 625) may be the set of resources associated with the second sidelink message, and see Dutta, par. [0093], lines 8-13: the first UE 605 may determine whether an amount of time since the transmission of the previous control signal satisfies a time threshold (e.g., a threshold amount of time). If the amount of time satisfies the time threshold, then the first UE 605 may determine that the control signal may be transmitted, and see Dutta, Fig. 7, par. [0116], lines 1-6: the first UE 605 may transmit a second sidelink message associated with the second RAT (shown by reference number 625) using first time domain resources that at least partially overlap with second time domain resources used for the transmission of the control signal), and SL communication based on the first RAT is continuously performed over the all slots (see Dutta, Fig. 7, items 620 and 625, par. [0117], lines 7-11: the frequency domain resources shown in FIG. 7 as being associated with the control signal (shown by reference number 620) and the second sidelink message (shown by reference number 625) may be the set of resources associated with the second sidelink message, and see Dutta, par. [0093], lines 8-13: the first UE 605 may determine whether an amount of time since the transmission of the previous control signal satisfies a time threshold (e.g., a threshold amount of time). If the amount of time satisfies the time threshold, then the first UE 605 may determine that the control signal may be transmitted).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the different subcarrier spacings for different RATs of the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, with the overlapping SL transmission on the second RAT and continuous SL communication on the first RAT of Dutta with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the ability of UEs operating using different RATs to effectively and efficiently share resources associated with the sidelink channel (see Dutta, par. [0113], lines 9-14).
Regarding claims 8, 18, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, teaches the method or first terminal. Sun further teaches:
wherein when a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) applied to the first RAT is different from a second SCS applied to the second RAT (see Sun, Fig. 3E, par. [0057] 14-15: The sub-carrier spacing (SCS) for LTE V2X is 15 kHz, and the SCS for NR V2X may be 15 kHz or 30 KHz, and see Sun, par. [0092]: In FIG. 3E, some parameters are presented as follows: SCS for NR V2X 30kHz),
However, the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, does not teach:
the selected resources include a first slot overlapping with a duration corresponding to SL transmission based on the second RAT, and SL communication based on the first RAT is allowed in the first slot.
Dutta, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the selected resources include a first slot overlapping with a duration corresponding to SL transmission based on the second RAT (see Dutta, Fig. 7, items 620 and 625, par. [0117], lines 7-11: the frequency domain resources shown in FIG. 7 as being associated with the control signal (shown by reference number 620) and the second sidelink message (shown by reference number 625) may be the set of resources associated with the second sidelink message, and see Dutta, Fig. 7, par. [0116], lines 1-6: the first UE 605 may transmit a second sidelink message associated with the second RAT (shown by reference number 625) using first time domain resources that at least partially overlap with second time domain resources used for the transmission of the control signal), and SL communication based on the first RAT is allowed in the first slot (see Dutta, Fig. 7, items 620 and 625, par. [0117], lines 7-11: the frequency domain resources shown in FIG. 7 as being associated with the control signal (shown by reference number 620) and the second sidelink message (shown by reference number 625) may be the set of resources associated with the second sidelink message).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the different subcarrier spacings for different RATs of the combination of Sun in view of Baghel, and further in view of Huang, and further in view of Yoshioka, with the overlapping SL transmission on the second RAT and SL communication on the first RAT in the slot of Dutta with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the ability of UEs operating using different RATs to effectively and efficiently share resources associated with the sidelink channel (see Dutta, par. [0113], lines 9-14).
Response to Argument
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Yang et al. (US 2024/0196374) teaches a resource selection method, an apparatus, and a terminal. The resource selection method in embodiments of this application includes: A terminal obtains resource reservation information. The terminal performs resource selection based on the resource reservation information.
Yoon (US 2023/0156670) teaches a partial sensing method and apparatus for device-to-device (D2D) communication in a wireless communication system.
Yoshioka et al. (US 2024/0422769) teaches a communication unit configured to perform transmission and reception in a first RAT (Radio Access Technology) and perform sensing in a second RAT; and a control unit configured to control communications in the first RAT.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB J BALLOWE whose telephone number is (571)270-0410. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 7:30-5.
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/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/PAO SINKANTARAKORN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
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