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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/04/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 03/04/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-11, 15-25, 29-34 under U.S.C. 102 or U.S.C. 103 as applied have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20260067911-A1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 15-16, 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 11,616,562 B1 to Pratas et al. (“Pratas”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2026/0067911 A1 to Rastegardoost et al. (“Rastegardoost”).
As to claim 1, Pratas discloses a first user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A) , comprising: one or more memories (col. 19, lines 40-45, UE, col. 20, lines 20-25, memory); and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to cause the first UE to (col. 19, lines 40-45, UE, col. 20, lines 20-25, memory…may be coupled to processor…for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor): receive, from a second UE, inter-UE coordination (IUC) information comprising first reservation information that indicates a transmit beam that is reserved for communications from the second UE (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B in the resources indicated by UE B in the IUC request), the IUC information including a providing or requesting indicator (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B in the resources indicated (i.e. providing indicator) by UE B in the IUC request (i.e. requesting indicator)); and select a receive beam paired with the transmit beam (col. 11, lines 4-65, UE A may use different Rx beams to test how well a Tx beam and Rx beam match…identify which Rx beam it should use).
Pratas does not expressly disclose the IUC information including a field comprising a providing or requesting indicator.
Rastegardoost discloses at para. 0367: the control signal (SCI/SCI format 2-C and/or MAC-CE) indicating inter-UE coordination request may comprise: a Providing/Requesting indicator field indicating a value (e.g., 1) indicating that the control signal is used to request inter-UE coordination information…. and/or Resource set type (RT) field indicating a request for inter-UE coordination information providing preferred resource set (e.g., by value 0) or indicating a request for inter-UE coordination information providing non-preferred resource set (e.g., by value 1). Furthermore, at para. 0451: The first UE may perform sensing procedure for resource selection using a first Rx beam corresponding to the first Tx beam (e.g., the first RX beam may be based on a same TCI state or QCLed with the same SL RS). For example, the upcoming transmission may be associated with a unicast link to a second UE. For example, the first UE and the second UE may have established beam pairing and determined a beam pair for their unicast communication, e.g., the first Tx beam and the first Rx beam at the first UE. In an example, the first UE may determine the first Rx beam based on beam correspondence, e.g., beam correspondence between the first Tx beam and the first Rx beam. For the said sensing procedure, the first UE may use a first spatial Rx filter (Rx beam) to receive SCIs in the resource pool.
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the inter-UE coordination request as taught by Rastegardoost into the invention of Pratas. The suggestion/motivation would have been for indicating resources for selection (Rastegardoost, para. 0368). Including the inter-UE coordination request as taught by Rastegardoost into the invention of Pratas was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Rastegardoost.
As to claim 2, Pratas and Rastegardoost further discloses the first UE of claim 1, wherein the first UE is a target UE for data from the second UE, and wherein the communications are from the second UE to the first UE, and wherein the providing or requesting indicator comprises a providing indicator (Pratas, col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B (i.e. UE A then being a target of UE B) in the resources indicated (i.e. providing indicator) by UE B in the IUC request (i.e. requesting indicator)). In addition, as the primary reference is used to teach the instant claim limitations, the same suggestion/motivation of claim 1 applies.
As to claims 15-16, see similar rejections to claims 1-2, respectively. The apparatus teaches the methods.
As to claim 29, Pratas discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a first user equipment (UE) (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A), cause the first UE to (col. 19, lines 40-45, UE, col. 20, lines 20-25, memory…may be coupled to processor…for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor; col. 25, lines 1-10, medium…carrying the program….memory…executed…non-transitory medium): receive, from a second UE, inter-UE coordination (IUC) information comprising first reservation information that indicates a transmit beam that is reserved for communications from the second UE (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B in the resources indicated by UE B in the IUC request), the IUC information including a providing or requesting indicator (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B in the resources indicated (i.e. providing indicator) by UE B in the IUC request (i.e. requesting indicator)); and select a receive beam paired with the transmit beam (col. 11, lines 4-65, UE A may use different Rx beams to test how well a Tx beam and Rx beam match…identify which Rx beam it should use).
Pratas does not expressly disclose the IUC information including a field comprising a providing or requesting indicator.
Rastegardoost discloses at para. 0367: the control signal (SCI/SCI format 2-C and/or MAC-CE) indicating inter-UE coordination request may comprise: a Providing/Requesting indicator field indicating a value (e.g., 1) indicating that the control signal is used to request inter-UE coordination information…. and/or Resource set type (RT) field indicating a request for inter-UE coordination information providing preferred resource set (e.g., by value 0) or indicating a request for inter-UE coordination information providing non-preferred resource set (e.g., by value 1). Furthermore, at para. 0451: The first UE may perform sensing procedure for resource selection using a first Rx beam corresponding to the first Tx beam (e.g., the first RX beam may be based on a same TCI state or QCLed with the same SL RS). For example, the upcoming transmission may be associated with a unicast link to a second UE. For example, the first UE and the second UE may have established beam pairing and determined a beam pair for their unicast communication, e.g., the first Tx beam and the first Rx beam at the first UE. In an example, the first UE may determine the first Rx beam based on beam correspondence, e.g., beam correspondence between the first Tx beam and the first Rx beam. For the said sensing procedure, the first UE may use a first spatial Rx filter (Rx beam) to receive SCIs in the resource pool.
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the inter-UE coordination request as taught by Rastegardoost into the invention of Pratas. The suggestion/motivation would have been for indicating resources for selection (Rastegardoost, para. 0368). Including the inter-UE coordination request as taught by Rastegardoost into the invention of Pratas was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Rastegardoost.
As to claim 30, Pratas and Rastegardoost further discloses non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein the first UE is a target UE for data from the second UE, and wherein the communications are from the second UE to the first UE, and wherein the providing or requesting indicator comprises a providing indicator (Pratas, col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B (i.e. UE A then being a target of UE B) in the resources indicated (i.e. providing indicator) by UE B in the IUC request (i.e. requesting indicator)). In addition, as the primary reference is used to teach the instant claim limitations, the same suggestion/motivation of claim 29 applies.
Claim(s) 3-4, 17-18, 31-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 11,616,562 B1 to Pratas et al. (“Pratas”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2026/0067911 A1 to Rastegardoost et al. (“Rastegardoost”) and in further view of U.S. Publication No. 2022/0286184 A1 to LI et al. (“Li”).
As to claim 3, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein the first UE is not a target UE for data from the second UE.
Li discloses the first UE of claim 1, wherein the first UE is not a target UE for data from the second UE (fig. 13, at step 3, UE2 (i.e. first UE) transmits preferred beams to UE1 (i.e. second UE), i.e. at this step, UE2 is not a target UE for data from UE1).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the UEs as taught by Li into the
invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been for beam forming in vehicle wireless communications for new radio (Li, para. 0002). Including the UEs as taught by Li into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Li.
As to claim 4, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam.
Li discloses the first UE of claim 1, wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam (para. 0144, UE1 (i.e. second UE) may fix the beam as the preferred beam (i.e. transmit beam) indicated by UE2 (i.e. reserved for communications) and transmit the RS (i.e. first reservation information) multiple times on it. Like the beam sweeping, the RS may be SL-CSI-RS or may be SL-DMRS. The RS may be transmitted standalone, or the RS may be transmitted with data or sidelink control information [para. 0087, UE1 will first send the SCI scheduling the PSSCH. In the scheduling SCI, a SCI field may be used to carry the beam index of the beam used for transmitting the scheduled PSSCH]. UE 1 may schedule one sidelink transmission which contains multiple RS transmission as shown in FIG. 14A; or UE 1 may schedule multiple sidelink transmissions where each one may contain one RS transmission as shown in FIG. 14B. In the figure, SL-CSI-RS is used as the example to be transmitted for beam refinement. The RS may also be the SL-DMRS as another option) [i.e. wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam].
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the UEs as taught by Li into the
invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been for beam forming in vehicle wireless communications for new radio (Li, para. 0002). Including the UEs as taught by Li into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Li.
As to claims 17-18, see similar rejections to claims 3-4, respectively. The apparatus teaches the methods.
As to claim 31, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein the first UE is not a target UE for data from the second UE.
Li discloses wherein the first UE is not a target UE for data from the second UE (fig. 13, at step 3, UE2 (i.e. first UE) transmits preferred beams to UE1 (i.e. second UE), i.e. at this step, UE2 is not a target UE for data from UE1).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the UEs as taught by Li into the
invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been for beam forming in vehicle wireless communications for new radio (Li, para. 0002). Including the UEs as taught by Li into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Li.
As to claim 32, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam.
Li discloses wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam (para. 0144, UE1 (i.e. second UE) may fix the beam as the preferred beam (i.e. transmit beam) indicated by UE2 (i.e. reserved for communications) and transmit the RS (i.e. first reservation information) multiple times on it. Like the beam sweeping, the RS may be SL-CSI-RS or may be SL-DMRS. The RS may be transmitted standalone, or the RS may be transmitted with data or sidelink control information [para. 0087, UE1 will first send the SCI scheduling the PSSCH. In the scheduling SCI, a SCI field may be used to carry the beam index of the beam used for transmitting the scheduled PSSCH]. UE 1 may schedule one sidelink transmission which contains multiple RS transmission as shown in FIG. 14A; or UE 1 may schedule multiple sidelink transmissions where each one may contain one RS transmission as shown in FIG. 14B. In the figure, SL-CSI-RS is used as the example to be transmitted for beam refinement. The RS may also be the SL-DMRS as another option) [i.e. wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam].
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the UEs as taught by Li into the
invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been for beam forming in vehicle wireless communications for new radio (Li, para. 0002). Including the UEs as taught by Li into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Li.
Claim(s) 5, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 11,616,562 B1 to Pratas et al. (“Pratas”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2026/0067911 A1 to Rastegardoost et al. (“Rastegardoost”) and in further view of U.S. Publication No. 2022/0255611 A1 to CHAVVA et al. (“Chavva”).
As to claim 5, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to store pairs of transmit beam and receive beam indices.
Chavva discloses UE (para. 0115) with selection module 212d schedules the scanning of the Tx and Rx beams present in the starvation queue, after every N prioritized Tx and Rx beams present in the prioritized queue, wherein N is lesser than the prioritized number of Tx and Rx beam pairs (M) (i.e., N<M). The selection module 212d may select the N number of prioritized Tx and Rx beam pairs based on a starvation cycle parameter. The starvation cycle parameter determines time required to complete one round of measurement of all the non-prioritized beams. After every Tx and Rx beam scanning, the selection module 212d updates the prioritized queue and the starvation queue (para. 0183). Further, there is a beam index (para. 0041). Tx and RX beam pairs are identified (i.e. have an index or identifier) (para. 0165) [i.e. wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to store pairs of transmit beam and receive beam indices].
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the queues as taught by Chavva into the
invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been to select a beam pair based on a metric (Chavva, para. 0003). Including the queues as taught by Chavva into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Chavva.
As to claim 19, see similar rejection to claim 5. The apparatus teaches the method.
Claim(s) 6-11, 20-25, 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 11,616,562 B1 to Pratas et al. (“Pratas”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2026/0067911 A1 to Rastegardoost et al. (“Rastegardoost”) and in further view of WO 2024/171408 A1 to SHICHIJO et al. (“Shichijo”) [Examiner cites to attached English translation].
As to claim 6, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to transmit, to a third UE, second reservation information that is based at least in part on the receive beam.
Shichijo discloses FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example (1) of a receiving operation in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 18, in a case where a certain UE#A applies different receiving beams to transmissions from UE#B and UE#C that are scheduled to be received in the same slot, the UE#A may notify UE#B and/or UE#C that there are receptions in the same slot that apply different receiving beams (page 14).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been to perform a receiving operation (Shichijo, page 14). Including the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Shichijo.
As to claim 7, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the first UE of claim 6, wherein the second reservation information indicates that the third UE is to use a transmit beam that is not paired with the receive beam.
Shichijo discloses UE#B and/or UE#C that receive the above notification from UE#A may change the transmission beam, i.e. and there is no pairing, or perform resource reselection (page 14).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been to perform a receiving operation (Shichijo, page 14). Including the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Shichijo.
As to claim 8, Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose the first UE of claim 6, wherein the second reservation information indicates a preferred transmit beam that the third UE is to use as a transmit beam, and wherein the preferred transmit beam is not paired with the receive beam.
Shichijo discloses UE#B and/or UE#C that receive the above notification (i.e. which then indicates) from UE#A may change the transmission beam, i.e. and there is no pairing, or perform resource reselection (page 14).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been to perform a receiving operation (Shichijo, page 14). Including the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Shichijo.
As to claim 9, Pratas, Rastegardoost and Schichijo further discloses the first UE of claim 6, wherein the first reservation information includes multiple reservations that are received with multiple receive beams (Pratas, col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive different Tx beamformed reference signals (i.e. reservations) from UE in the resources indicated by UE B in the IUC request…UE may use different Rx beams), and wherein the second reservation information indicates one or more preferred beams or one or more non- preferred beams based at least in part on measurements of the multiple reservations (Pratas, col. 11, liens 25-60, measuring the associated RSRP….UE A processing the received IUC request from UE B, UE A may be monitoring the resource pool while applying the identified Rx beams, associated with the identified beam pairs, to determine (non-)preferred resources for UE B to use in its transmission to UE A…and which beam pairs these refer to). In addition, as the primary reference is used in teaching the instant claim limitations, the same suggestion/motivation of claim 6 applies.
As to claim 10, Pratas, Rastegardoost and Schichijo further discloses the first UE of claim 9, wherein the measurements include signal strength measurements of the receive beams used to receive the multiple reservations (Pratas, col. 11, lines 25-45, receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B…UE A may use different Rx beams to test how well a Tx beam and Rx beam match…by measuring the associated RSRP). In addition, as the primary reference is used in teaching the instant claim limitations, the same suggestion/motivation of claim 9 applies.
As to claim 11, Pratas and Rastegardoost further discloses first UE of claim 9, wherein the one or more beams have signal strength measurements that satisfy a signal threshold (Pratas, col. 15, lines 20-54, best N links…beam index may be known… best measurement may be selected based on these being above a RSRP threshold).
Pratas and Rastegardoost does not expressly disclose non-preferred beams.
Shichijo discloses FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example (1) of a receiving operation in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 18, in a case where a certain UE#A applies different receiving beams to transmissions from UE#B and UE#C that are scheduled to be received in the same slot, the UE#A may notify UE#B and/or UE#C that there are receptions in the same slot that apply different receiving beams. The trigger for UE#A to execute the above notification may be when reservation signals received by UE#A using different receiving beams (i.e. multiple receive beams) specify or reserve the same slot (i.e. note Li discloses measuring these signals), or when the received reservation signals notify information related to different beams and specify or reserve the same slot, or when reservation signals received from multiple UEs with different information related to beams established with UE#A specify or reserve the same slot. The above notification from UE#A may be sent via PC5-RRC signaling, MAC-CE, SCI, or PSFCH, or may be sent via IUC scheme 1 or IUC scheme 2. UE#B and/or UE#C that receive the above notification (i.e. this is an indication of a preferred beam if UE#A changes transmission beam, or non-preferred beam if not (terms are not defined)), from UE#A may change the transmission beam or perform resource reselection (page 14).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been to perform a receiving operation (Shichijo, page 14). Including the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Shichijo.
As to claims 20-25, see similar rejections to claims 6-11, respectively. The apparatus teaches the methods.
As to claim 33, Pratas discloses an apparatus for wireless communication (fig. 14(a), col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A) , comprising:
means for receiving (fig. 14(a), transceiver 18), from a user equipment (UE), inter-UE coordination (IUC) information comprising first reservation information that indicates a transmit beam that is reserved for communications from the UE (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B in the resources indicated by UE B in the IUC request), the IUC information including a providing or requesting indicator (col. 11, lines 25-45, UE A may receive the different Tx beamformed reference signals from UE B in the resources indicated (i.e. providing indicator) by UE B in the IUC request (i.e. requesting indicator)); and means for transmitting (fig. 14(a), transceiver)…a receive beam, wherein the receive beam is selected by the apparatus based at least in part on being paired with the transmit beam (col. 11, lines 4-65, UE A may use different Rx beams to test how well a Tx beam and Rx beam match…identify which Rx beam it should use).
Pratas does not expressly disclose the IUC information including a field comprising a providing or requesting indicator; transmitting, to a second UE, second reservation information that is based at least in part on a receive beam.
Rastegardoost discloses [the IUC information including a field comprising a providing or requesting indicator] at para. 0367: the control signal (SCI/SCI format 2-C and/or MAC-CE) indicating inter-UE coordination request may comprise: a Providing/Requesting indicator field indicating a value (e.g., 1) indicating that the control signal is used to request inter-UE coordination information…. and/or Resource set type (RT) field indicating a request for inter-UE coordination information providing preferred resource set (e.g., by value 0) or indicating a request for inter-UE coordination information providing non-preferred resource set (e.g., by value 1). Furthermore, at para. 0451: The first UE may perform sensing procedure for resource selection using a first Rx beam corresponding to the first Tx beam (e.g., the first RX beam may be based on a same TCI state or QCLed with the same SL RS). For example, the upcoming transmission may be associated with a unicast link to a second UE. For example, the first UE and the second UE may have established beam pairing and determined a beam pair for their unicast communication, e.g., the first Tx beam and the first Rx beam at the first UE. In an example, the first UE may determine the first Rx beam based on beam correspondence, e.g., beam correspondence between the first Tx beam and the first Rx beam. For the said sensing procedure, the first UE may use a first spatial Rx filter (Rx beam) to receive SCIs in the resource pool.
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the inter-UE coordination request as taught by Rastegardoost into the invention of Pratas. The suggestion/motivation would have been for indicating resources for selection (Rastegardoost, para. 0368). Including the inter-UE coordination request as taught by Rastegardoost into the invention of Pratas was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Rastegardoost.
Shichijo discloses [transmitting, to a second UE, second reservation information that is based at least in part on a receive beam ] at FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example (1) of a receiving operation in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 18, in a case where a certain UE#A applies different receiving beams to transmissions from UE#B and UE#C that are scheduled to be received in the same slot, the UE#A may notify UE#B and/or UE#C that there are receptions in the same slot that apply different receiving beams (page 14).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost. The suggestion/motivation would have been to perform a receiving operation (Shichijo, page 14). Including the notification as taught by Shichijo into the invention of Pratas and Rastegardoost was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Shichijo.
Claim(s) 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 11,616,562 B1 to Pratas et al. (“Pratas”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2026/0067911 A1 to Rastegardoost et al. (“Rastegardoost”) and in further view of WO 2024/171408 A1 to SHICHIJO et al. (“Shichijo”) [Examiner cites to attached English translation] and U.S. Publication No. 2022/0286184 A1 to LI et al. (“Li”).
As to claim 34, Pratas, Rastegardoost and Shichijo do not further disclose the apparatus of claim 33, wherein the first reservation information includes a beam index for the transmit beam.
Li discloses: para. 0144, UE1 (i.e. second UE) may fix the beam as the preferred beam (i.e. transmit beam) indicated by UE2 (i.e. reserved for communications) and transmit the RS (i.e. first reservation information) multiple times on it. Like the beam sweeping, the RS may be SL-CSI-RS or may be SL-DMRS. The RS may be transmitted standalone, or the RS may be transmitted with data or sidelink control information [para. 0087, UE1 will first send the SCI scheduling the PSSCH. In the scheduling SCI, a SCI field may be used to carry the beam index of the beam used for transmitting the scheduled PSSCH]. UE 1 may schedule one sidelink transmission which contains multiple RS transmission as shown in FIG. 14A; or UE 1 may schedule multiple sidelink transmissions where each one may contain one RS transmission as shown in FIG. 14B. In the figure, SL-CSI-RS is used as the example to be transmitted for beam refinement. The RS may also be the SL-DMRS as another option.
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the UEs as taught by Li into the
invention of Pratas, Rastegardoost and Shichijo. The suggestion/motivation would have been for beam forming in vehicle wireless communications for new radio (Li, para. 0002). Including the UEs as taught by Li into the invention of Pratas, Rastegardoost and Shichijo was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Li.
Conclusion
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/OMAR J GHOWRWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463