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
Claims 1 and 9 have been amended.
Claims 1-16 are presently pending.
Response to Arguments
1. The terminal disclaimer filed on 12/23/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. 11,172,526 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded. Therefore, the Double Patenting rejection has been withdrawn.
2. Applicant's arguments filed on 12/23/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the remarks, the Applicant argues in substance that:
The Applicant argues that the combination of Kim and Yoon do not teach or suggest “lengths of the subframe sequences are determined depending on an applicable operational scenario and configuration of the D2D communication" as recited in Applicant's claim 1, (see Remarks pgs. 5-6)
In response, Examiner respectively disagrees. Applicant is reminded that claims must be given their broadest reasonable interpretation. KIM (¶ 420-421) teaches different resources allocations for in-coverage and partial/out-of-coverage scenarios. KIM (¶ 555-562) describes that subframe patterns can be dynamically configured by the eNB or selected by the UE using specific parameters. Therefore, under BRI, timing and length of D2D subframes depend on both the configured resource allocation and whether the UE is in-coverage, partial-coverage, or out-of-coverage. Thus, the combination of Kim and Yoon meets the scope of the claimed limitation as currently presented. As such, the rejections of record are maintained.
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 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIM et al. (US 20170164381, hereinafter, “KIM”) in view of YOON (US 20150327118, hereinafter, “YOON”, provided in the IDS by the applicant).
Claim 1. KIM teaches: A communication apparatus comprising: - See Fig. 42-43, ¶ [0915], (“wireless communication system includes a base station (eNB) 4310 and a plurality of user equipments (UEs)”)
circuitry, - See Fig. 43, ¶ [0917], (“The UE 4320 includes a processor 4321, a memory…”) which, in operation, determines a plurality of subframe sequences each including a plurality of device-to-device (D2D) subframes for D2D communication, - See Fig. 21, 32-33, ¶ [0575 – 0576], (“FIGS. 32 and 33 show a subframe pattern repeated in a cycle of 8 ms (i.e., 8 subframes)…the value “1” is a subframe related to D2D transmission, and it means that a signal related to D2D transmission may be transmitted and received in a corresponding subframe”)
wherein lengths of the subframe sequences are determined depending on an applicable operational scenario - See Fig. 21, ¶ [0420 - 0421], (“FIG. 21a shows the resource allocation of D2D control information in an in-coverage scenario, that is, transmission mode 1, and FIG. 21b shows the resource allocation of D2D control information in a partial or out-coverage scenario, that is, transmission mode 2…The resource of control information in transmission mode 1 is indicated by C1 or C2, and the resource of control information in transmission mode 2 is indicated by P or S.”, Each scenario applies different subframe allocations, the resulting sequence length depends on the scenario (in-coverage or out-coverage).) and configuration of the D2D communication; - in ¶ [0555], (“a subframe pattern (or configuration) between a D2D transmission subframe in which a D2D signal is transmitted and a D2D reception subframe in which a D2D signal is received may be differently configured.”); ¶ [0557], (“an eNB can solve an interference problem…by configuring a subframe pattern to be used for D2D transmission by each of the pieces of UE…¶ [0558] the eNB explicitly notifies D2D UE of D2D transmission subframe patterns 3010 through high layer signaling, such as RRC signaling.”, The configurable subframe pattern determines the D2D sequence length and structure.) and
determines a first set of transmission subframe(s) - See Fig. 33, ¶ [0579], (“the eNB designates a D2D subframe pattern (e.g., an SF pattern #0 3220) that will be actually used by D2D UE through a PDCCH.”); ¶ [0586], (“UE may randomly select a D2D subframe pattern…that will be actually used using a UE ID and operate based on the selected D2D subframe pattern.”) in one of the subframe sequences in a time domain - See Fig. 32-33, ¶ [0575], (“FIGS. 32 and 33 show a subframe pattern repeated in a cycle of 8 ms (i.e., 8 subframes).”) according to a resource pattern selected from a plurality of resource patterns, wherein the resource patterns are respectively repeated in the subframe sequences; - See Fig. 33, 42, ¶ [0586], (“D2D UE may randomly select a D2D subframe pattern (e.g., an SF pattern #0 3320) that belongs to the candidate group of D2D subframe patterns and that will be actually used using a UE ID and operate based on the selected D2D subframe pattern.”) and
a receiver, - See Fig. 43, ¶ [0917], (“The RF unit...transmits and/or receives radio signals.”) which, in operation, receives a first signal in the first set of transmission subframe(s). - See Fig. 28-29, ¶ [0535 - 0536], (“the D2D reception UE receives SA from the D2D transmission UE through a periodically configured SA subframe…The D2D reception UE receives at least one D2D data from the D2D transmission UE using the received SA for a specific time interval”)
KIM does not explicitly teach:
wherein the resource patterns are respectively repeated in the subframe sequences;
However, YOON teaches:
wherein the resource patterns are respectively repeated in the subframe sequences; - in ¶ [0064], (“The RPT may include pattern information of a time resource and…may be defined by various patterns, and may be defined by various lengths.”); See Fig. 8, ¶ [0107], (“an RPT including K sub-RPTs may be a pattern of N/2 D2D communication resources out of N D2D communication candidate resources.”); See FIG. 10, ¶ [0110], (“An RPT may include a plurality of sub-RPTs having an identical pattern. For example, the RPT may include a first sub-RPT and the first sub-RPT”, Multiple sub-RPTs share the same pattern. The pattern is repeated across multiple segments.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KIM with YOON to include the resource patterns are respectively repeated in the subframe sequences, as taught by YOON. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable reliable D2D transmissions, as suggested by YOON, UE may execute at least one transmission of D2D data based on a predetermined resource unit that may transmit data, without a collision. Therefore, capability of D2D data transmission may be improved. - ¶ [0009]
Claim 2. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein the D2D subframes in the subframe sequence are arranged in increasing order of subframe indices. - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0083], (“FIG. 1(a) exemplifies radio frame structure type 1. The radio frame is constituted by 10 subframes. One subframe is constituted by 2 slots in a time domain.”); ¶ [0085], (“FIG. 1(b) illustrates frame structure type 2. Radio frame type 2 is constituted by 2 half frames, each half frame is constituted by 5 subframes”)
Claim 3. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein the D2D subframes in the subframe sequence are grouped in one or more frames. - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0083], (“The radio frame is constituted by 10 subframes.”); ¶ [0085], (“Radio frame type 2 is constituted by 2 half frames, each half frame is constituted by 5 subframes”)
Claim 4. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein the resource pattern is a time resource pattern that defines subframe indices of transmission subframes in the subframe sequence. - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0083], (“One subframe is constituted by 2 slots in a time domain. A time required to transmit one subframe is referred to as a transmissions time interval (TTI).”); ¶ [0086], (“In frame structure type 2 of a TDD system, an uplink-downlink configuration is a rule indicating whether the uplink and the downlink are allocated (alternatively, reserved) with respect to all subframes.”)
Claim 5. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein the circuitry, in operation, determines a second set of transmission subframe(s) in the subframe sequence according to another resource pattern, - in ¶ [0302], (“In mode 2, the resource pool for transmission of the control information and/or the resource pool for transmission of the D2D direct communication data may be pre-configured or semi-statically set. The UE receives the set resource pool (time and frequency) and selects the resource for the D2D direct communication transmission from the resource pool.”)
wherein the second set of transmission subframe(s) is different from the first set of transmission subframe(s); - in ¶ [0298], (“The eNB sets a resource pool required for D2D direct communication. Here, the resource pool required for D2D direct communication may be divided into a control information pool and a D2D data pool. When the eNB schedules the control information and the D2D data transmission resource in the pool set to the transmission D2D UE by using the PDCCH or the ePDCCH, the transmission D2D UE transmits the control information and the D2D data by using the allocated resource.”); ¶ [0302], (“The UE receives the set resource pool (time and frequency) and selects the resource for the D2D direct communication transmission from the resource pool.”) and
the receiver, in operation, receives a second signal in the second set of transmission subframe(s). - in ¶ [0300], (“The reception UEs monitor the control information pool and may selectively decode the D2D data transmission related with the corresponding control information when decoding the control information related with the reception UEs. The reception UE may not decode the D2D data pool according to the control information decoding result.”); ¶ [0302], (“The UE receives the set resource pool (time and frequency)…”)
Claim 6. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 5, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein the first set of transmission subframe(s) is for D2D transmission mode 1 - in ¶ [0297], (“Mode 1 means a mode of scheduling a resource used for transmitting data or control information for D2D direct communication.”) and the second set of transmission subframe(s) is for D2D transmission mode 2. - in ¶ [0301], (“Mode 2 means a mode in which the UE arbitrarily selects the specific resource in the resource pool for transmitting the data or the control information for D2D direct communication.”)
Claim 7. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 6, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein the D2D transmission mode 1 is a transmission mode in which the D2D communication is performed within network coverage based on network scheduling, - in ¶ [0297], (“Mode 1 means a mode of scheduling a resource used for transmitting data or control information for D2D direct communication. Mode 1 is applied to in-coverage.”) and
the D2D transmission mode 2 is another transmission mode in which the D2D communication is performed within or out of network coverage based on the communication apparatus’s autonomous scheduling. - in ¶ [0301], (“Mode 2 means a mode in which the UE arbitrarily selects the specific resource in the resource pool for transmitting the data or the control information for D2D direct communication. In the out-of-coverage and/or the edge-of-coverage, the mode 2 is applied.”)
Claim 8. Combination of KIM and YOON teaches The communication apparatus according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
KIM teaches:
wherein some of the D2D subframes in the subframe sequence are not consecutive. – in ¶ [0894], (“by variously configuring the subframe patterns (e.g., initial consecutive K subframes, offset, interlaced SF pattern, etc.), the number of SFs on which the data is transmitted within the SA period may be selected and used in various manners.”)
Claims 9-16 are rejected under the same rationale as Claims 1-8 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shima Wasel whose telephone number is (703)756-4725. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/SHIMA WASEL/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475