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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment, filed on 09/17/2025, has been entered and carefully considered.
Claim 7 has been amended and Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
In light of the amendment, said claim objection to Claim 7 is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed on 09/17/2025, with respect to Claim 1, 14 and 20 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to Claim 1, 14 and 20, Applicant argued that the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the limitation “multiple Sidelink Control Information (SCI) messages are decoded at the first UE on a single Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) resource”.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Applicant’s arguments appear to assume that the claim phrase “multiple SCI messages are decoded” requires “multiple SCI messages to be successfully decoded (e.g., CRC-passed, interference-free, or fully recovered) on a single PSCCH resource. This interpretation is not supported by the claim language.
Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the term “decoded” encompasses attempted decoding and processing of SCI messages, including blind decoding attempts, regardless of whether each decoding attempt ultimately results in a valid or successfully recovered SCI. The claims do not recite, and therefore do not require, that the decoded SCI messages be successfully decoded, error-free, CRC-passed, or subsequently used for scheduling.
As disclosed in Xue, the UE performs blind decoding of SCI on PSCCH resources, which inherently involves processing multiple SCI candidates on the same PSCCH resource. Each blind decoding attempts constitutes decoding within the meaning of the claims, even if some attempts do not result in valid SCI. Nothing in Claim 1 limits “decode” to “successfully decoded”, nor does the claim require any particular decoding outcome or performance metric.
Applicant’s attempt to read additional requirements – such as successful decoding, successive interference cancellation, or advanced hardware/software – in to the terms “decoded” improperly narrows the claim scope and is inconsistent with the broadest reasonable interpretation standard applied during examination.
For the reason stated above, the Examiner believe the rejection should be maintained.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 13, with respect to Claim 2-3, 15 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 103 rejection of Claim 2-3 and 15 have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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.
Claims 1, 11, 14, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xue et al (US 2022/0061095).
Regarding claims 1, 14, 20, Xue teaches a method/apparatus/computer-readable medium, comprising:
conducting, at a first user equipment (UE), a listen-before-talk (LBT) process on an unlicensed band ([0043], “The present application describes mechanisms for LBT aware autonomous sidelink sensing over a shared radio frequency band (e.g., in a shared spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum)”) to obtain a channel occupancy time (COT) ([0048], “A resource available via a type 2 LBT may be a resource that is shared by another UE. For instance, another UE may contend for a channel occupancy time (COT) in a channel Upon winning the contention, the other UE can transmit in the channel during the COT, and may also share the COT with other UEs”) for a sidelink transmission ([0043], “the first UE may select at least a first resource from the subset of resources and transmit a sidelink transmission to a second UE using the selected first resource”);
determining, at the first UE, based on channel sensing executed on the unlicensed band, a group of candidate sidelink resources on the unlicensed band, where each candidate side link resource is within a sidelink resource selection window ([0043], “The first UE may identify a subset of resources (e.g., candidate resources) in the sidelink resource pool that are within the resource selection window based on the sensing results”), and does not have reservation that is associated with a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) higher than a predetermined resource exclusion RSRP threshold ([0079], “In some aspects, the PHY layer 304 may exclude resources 352 in the resource selection window 344 that are reserved”; “The PHY layer 304 may exclude resources 352 in the resource selection window 344 based on resources 352 within the sensing window 342 that have signal measurements (e.g., RSRP and/or RSSI) higher than a certain signal threshold”);
selecting, at the first UE, a sidelink resource from the group of candidate sidelink resources; and performing, on the selected sidelink resource, the sidelink transmission from the first UE to a second UE, within the obtained COT ([0043], “the first UE may select at least a first resource from the subset of resources and transmit a sidelink transmission to a second UE using the selected first resource”), wherein multiple Sidelink Control Information (SCI) messages are decoded at the first UE on a single Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) resource ([0103], “For SCI decoding, the PHY layer 304 may blindly decode SCI from a PSCCH of each resource”).
Regarding claims 11 and 18, Xue further teaches that the determining step further comprises: executing, at the first UE, the channel sensing by decoding the multiple SCI messages on the single PSCCH resource, to collect resource reservation information from nearby sidelink UEs, and determining, at the first UE, based on the collected resource reservation information, the group of candidate sidelink resources ([0043], “the first UE may select at least a first resource from the subset of resources and transmit a sidelink transmission to a second UE using the selected first resource”; also see [0079], “The PHY layer 304 may use a combination of SCI decoding, signal measurements, and/or priority information to identify candidate resources. In some aspects, the PHY layer 304 may exclude resources 352 in the resource selection window 344 that are reserved”).
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.
Claims 5, 12, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue et al in view of Ekstedt et al (US 2008/0220778).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 16, Xue teaches all of the limitations as applied above, however, Xue fails to disclose that the decoding of the multiple messages further comprises decoding the multiple messages in an order of signal strength, such that an message with a higher signal strength is decoded before an message with a weaker signal strength. Ekstedt discloses that decoding the multiple messages in an order of signal strength, such that an message with a higher signal strength is decoded before an message with a weaker signal strength ([0035], “… by arranging received information in order of received signal strength and attempting to decode the information received”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Ekstedt in the system disclosed by Xue for the benefit of improving resource use efficiency. Since decoding stronger signals first can reduce processing time and computation resources, as weaker signals (which may require more error correction or retransmission) are handled later or discarded if unnecessary.
Claims 6-10, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue et al in view of in view of Selvanesan et al (US 2024/0080868).
Regarding claim 6, 17, Xue teaches all of the limitation as applied above, however, Xue doesn’t explicitly that 1) decoding, at the first UE, multiple SCI messages on a single PSCCH resource, to collect resource reservation information from nearby sidelink UEs; 2)generating, at the first UE, selection assistance information, based on the collected resource reservation information; and 3) reporting, from the first UE to a third UE, the generated selection assistance information for a sidelink reception from the third UE.
Selvanesan teaches that 1) decoding, at the first UE, multiple SCI messages on a single PSCCH resource, to collect resource reservation information from nearby sidelink UEs; 2) generating, at the first UE, selection assistance information, based on the collected resource reservation information ([0394], “UE-A generates and determines the assistance information at 402, e.g., a preferred set of resources based on sensing results. For obtaining the sensing results, UE-A performs a sensing process which uses the above-mentioned parameters, and derives the parameters required by the sensing process from the received control messages, SCIs, e.g. based on or more of the following: [0395] a priority associated with the transmission indicated in the control message, [0396] a resource reservation period indicated in the control message”); and 3) reporting, from the first UE to a third UE, the generated selection assistance information for a sidelink reception from the third UE ([0083], “the UE is to transmit a collision indication, Cl, and an assistance information, like an assistance information message, AIM, the assistance information indicating one or more preferred and/or not preferred resources for a transmission by the further UE”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Selvanesan in the system disclosed by Xue for the purpose of improving resource efficiency utilizing assistance information message between UEs.
Regarding claim 7, the aforementioned references further teach that wherein the generating step further comprises generating, at the first UE, an indication of a preferred resource, as the generated selection assistance information, and the preferred resource is a resource that is identified, based on the collected selection assistance information, as preferred by the first UE for the sidelink reception (Selvanesan, [0257]-[0258], “based on the received control messages, as preferred resources for a transmission by the further UE”).
Regarding claim 8, the aforementioned references further teach that generating, at the first UE, an indication of a non-preferred resource, as the generated selection assistance information, and the non-preferred resource is a resource that is identified, based on the collected resource reservation information, as not preferred by the first UE for the sidelink reception (Selvanesan, [0257], [0261], “as non-preferred resources for a transmission by the further UE”).
Regarding claim 9, the aforementioned references further teach that generating, at the first UE, an indication of a collided resource, as the generated selection assistance information, and the collided resource is a resource that is identified, based on the multiple SCI decoded on the PSCCH resource, as having a collision when the sidelink reception from the third UE is performed thereon (Selvanesan, [0386], “by performing a sensing process, as is indicated at 402. Responsive to detecting the collision at 400, UE-A transmits a collision indication, Cl, 404 and the assistance information, like an AIM 406, to UE-B. The Cl and the AIM may be sent by a common signaling or by a separate signaling”).
Regarding claim 10, the aforementioned references further teach that: receiving from the second UE, a report of selection assistance information indicating a preferred resource, a non-preferred resource, and/or a potentially collided resource; and selecting, at the first UE, the sidelink resource from the group of candidate sidelink resources, based on the reported selection assistance information (Selvanesan, [0211]-[0222]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 13, 15 and 19 are 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
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SIMING LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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