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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 12/26/25, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-13, 15-20 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 newly cited portions of Wu (Pub No 20230247590).
Regarding claim 1,
Applicant argues that the prior art does not teach the cited portions of prior art Wu does not teach the amended limitations. Applicant argues that the Wu teaches a HARQ feedback and not a collision indication.
The examiner relies on newly cited portions of Wu to teach the limitations which also include a joint transmission in which a feedback is transmitted with a collision indication bit.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8, 12-13, 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wu (Pub No 20230247590)
Regarding claim 1,
Wu teaches A communication method, performed by a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
sending a potential collision indication to a second UE in response to determining an impending resource collision on a reserved resource for data transmission by the second UE, wherein the potential collision indication indicates the impending resource collision on the reserved resource for data transmission by the second UE. (interpreted as a UE (e.g., UE 120a, shown in FIGS. 1-2) may transmit joint feedback (e.g., in response to a sidelink transmission) of 1 bit to indicate HARQ feedback type (e.g., ACK or NACK) and 1 bit to indicate whether a collision has been detected in reserved resources, see para [0107]. Also see the joint feedback for the sidelink communication may include collision indication feedback that indicates whether a potential collision in a reserved resource has been detected, see para [0102])
wherein sending the potential collision indication to the second UE comprises:
sending the potential collision indication to the second UE by using a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource mapped by a first physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmission resource, wherein the first PSSCH is a PSSCH on a slot where a first physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) is located, (interpreted as The other UE transmits HARQ feedback regarding the PSSCH 854 on a PSFCH during the symbols 864 and/or 866, see para [0096. Also see the PSSCH and PSCCH being on the same slot 880 in fig 8b. Also see joint feedback with collision bit para [0107]) and the first PSCCH indicates a reserved PSSCH resource with the impending resource collision. (interpreted as The control information that the UE includes in transmission 630 reserves transmission resources on subchannels 622 and 624 during slot 608, as shown at 632. The control information in transmission 630 also reserves transmission resources on subchannels 620 and 622 during slot 612, as shown at 634, see para [0083]. Also see the joint feedback for the sidelink communication may include collision indication feedback that indicates whether a potential collision in a reserved resource has been detected, see para [0102]).
Regarding claim 13,
Wu teaches A communication method, performed by a second user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a potential collision indication from a first UE, wherein the potential collision indication indicates an impending resource collision on a reserved resource for data transmission by the second UE; and (interpreted as In aspects of the present disclosure, a UE (e.g., UE 120a, shown in FIGS. 1-2) may transmit joint feedback (e.g., in response to a sidelink transmission) of 1 bit to indicate HARQ feedback type (e.g., ACK or NACK) and 1 bit to indicate whether a collision has been detected in reserved resources, see para [0107])
performing resource selection according to the potential collision indication. (interpreted as For example, if the joint feedback indicates that the collision is detected, the transmitting UE may refrain from transmitting to the receiving UE during the resource reservation with the collision or use different resources for the sidelink transmission to the receiving UE, see para [0103])
wherein receiving the potential collision indication to the second UE comprises:
receiving the potential collision indication to the second UE by using a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource mapped by a first physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmission resource, wherein the first PSSCH is a PSSCH on a slot where a first physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) is located, (interpreted as The other UE transmits HARQ feedback regarding the PSSCH 854 on a PSFCH during the symbols 864 and/or 866, see para [0096. Also see the PSSCH and PSCCH being on the same slot 880 in fig 8b. Also see joint feedback with collision bit para [0107]) and the first PSCCH indicates a reserved PSSCH resource with the impending resource collision. (interpreted as The control information that the UE includes in transmission 630 reserves transmission resources on subchannels 622 and 624 during slot 608, as shown at 632. The control information in transmission 630 also reserves transmission resources on subchannels 620 and 622 during slot 612, as shown at 634, see para [0083]. Also see the joint feedback for the sidelink communication may include collision indication feedback that indicates whether a potential collision in a reserved resource has been detected, see para [0102]).
Regarding claim 3 and 15,
Wu teaches The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback by the PSFCH resource. (interpreted as In certain aspects, HARQ feedback transmission (e.g., in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)) may happen in a configured or preconfigured PSFCH resource, which may occur in every N slots, for example where N may be an integer (e.g., 0, 1, 2, or 4), see para [0092])
Regarding claim 4 and 16,
Wu teaches The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback and the potential collision indication by a first PSFCH format. (interpreted as That is, the feedback may consist of two bits where one of the bits is for the HARQ feedback and the other bit is for the collision indication, see para [0129])
Regarding claim 5 and 17,
Wu teaches The method of claim 3, wherein sending the HARQ feedback and the potential collision indication comprises: sending the HARQ feedback by the PSFCH resource in a first frequency domain (interpreted as The first UE may transmit a signal indicating the HARQ feedback in a first set of resources (e.g., the first set of HARQ feedback resources 930 and/or frequency domain, time domain, and/or spatial domain resources), see para [0128]) and sending the potential collision indication by the PSFCH resource in a second frequency domain. (interpreted as For certain aspects, the first UE may transmit a signal indicating the HARQ feedback in a second set of resources (e.g., the second set of HARQ feedback resources 932 and/or frequency domain, time domain, and/or spatial domain resources separate from the first set of resources) when (e.g., in response to) the collision is detected, see para [0128]. Also see For example, the feedback may consist of a bit indicating the HARQ feedback and another bit indicating whether the collision is detected between the first resource reservation and the second resource reservation. That is, the feedback may consist of two bits where one of the bits is for the HARQ feedback and the other bit is for the collision indication, see para [0129])
Regarding claim 6 and 18,
Wu teaches The method of claim 5, wherein the PSFCH resource in the first frequency domain and the PSFCH resource in the second frequency domain have a same time domain resource. (interpreted as For example, the feedback may consist of a bit indicating the HARQ feedback and another bit indicating whether the collision is detected between the first resource reservation and the second resource reservation. That is, the feedback may consist of two bits where one of the bits is for the HARQ feedback and the other bit is for the collision indication, see para [0129])
Regarding claim 8,
Wu teaches The method of claim 5, further comprising: obtaining first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information indicating the PSFCH resource used for sending the HARQ feedback and the second indication information indicating the PSFCH resource used for sending the potential collision indication. (interpreted as In certain aspects, HARQ feedback transmission (e.g., in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)) may happen in a configured or preconfigured PSFCH resource, which may occur in every N slots, for example where N may be an integer (e.g., 0, 1, 2, or 4). In an example, the resource used for HARQ feedback transmission acknowledging a PSSCH is determined (e.g., determined by the UE transmitting the HARQ feedback) based on: the time and frequency resources of the PSSCH; the transmitter UE identifier (ID); the receiver UE ID, if the HARQ feedback is for ACK/NACK based groupcast communication; and/or the type of the feedback (e.g., ACK or NACK). In an example, each HARQ feedback is transmitted in one resource block (e.g., twelve consecutive subcarriers) and two OFDM symbols in a PSFCH slot, see para [0092])
Regarding claim 12,
Wu teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the potential collision indication is 1 bit. (interpreted as In aspects of the present disclosure, a UE (e.g., UE 120a, shown in FIGS. 1-2) may transmit joint feedback (e.g., in response to a sidelink transmission) of 1 bit to indicate HARQ feedback type (e.g., ACK or NACK) and 1 bit to indicate whether a collision has been detected in reserved resources, see para [0107])
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.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (Pub No 20230247590) in view of Liu (Pub No 20230164815).
Regarding claim 7,
Wu teaches The method of claim 4, however does not teach wherein sending the HARQ feedback and the potential collision indication comprises: sending the HARQ feedback at a first moment and sending the potential collision indication at a second moment, the second moment being earlier than the first moment.
Liu teaches wherein sending the HARQ feedback and the potential collision indication comprises: sending the HARQ feedback at a first moment and sending the potential collision indication at a second moment, the second moment being earlier than the first moment. (interpreted as first PSFCH and second PSFCH 622 at different times see fig. 6)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the information in PSFCH taught by Wu with the multiple PSFCH at different times as taught by Liu with the motivation being to transmit the information using the different time domain resources.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (Pub No 20230247590) in view of Wang (Pub No 20220030613).
Regarding claim 9,
Wu teaches The method of claim 8, however does not teach wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
Wang teaches wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. (interpreted as For example, an information element or other signaled value (e.g., via RRC signalling) may carry a bitmap that conveys the resource allocation for the PSFCH 428, see para [0098])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the system taught by Wu with the RRC signaling for resource information as taught by Wang with the motivation being to assign resources to be used by the user equipment so it can transmit using the resources.
Claim(s) 10, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (Pub No 20230247590) in view of Fouad (Pub No 20220015099).
Regarding claim 10 and 19,
Wu teaches The method of claim 1, however does not teach wherein a time interval between a moment when the potential collision indication is sent to the second UE and a moment when the impending resource collision occurs on the second UE is greater than or equal to a time interval threshold.
Fouad teaches wherein a time interval between a moment when the potential collision indication is sent to the second UE and a moment when the impending resource collision occurs on the second UE is greater than or equal to a time interval threshold. (interpreted as To allow this pre-emption and resource reselection, the future reserved resources by the limited-power UE can be restricted to be at least T slots away from the current transmission, where T is the minimum time required to process a reselection/pre-emption request. That is, the neighboring UE will require at least T slots to perform pre-emption/reselection in order to avoid the potential collision. In addition, it may be required that the separation between the current slot and the upcoming resource reservation by the limited-power UE is greater than T+n slots. Subsequently, the limited-power UE should perform sensing in the n slots in order to allow UEs with higher priority traffic to indicate a pre-emption and prevent the limited-power UE from performing its transmission in order to avoid possible collision, see para [0119])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the collision information and resource reselection taught by Wu with the minimum time for resource reselection as taught by Fouad with the motivation being allow for enough time for the device to perform cell reselection to mitigate collision.
Claim(s) 11, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (Pub No 20230247590) in view of Fouad (Pub No 20220015099) and Deng (Pub No 20230164825)
Regarding claim 11 and 20,
Wu teaches The method of claim 10, however does not teach wherein the time interval threshold is determined according to an RRC signaling.
Deng teaches wherein the time interval threshold is determined according to an RRC signaling. (interpreted as According to embodiments, a (e.g., any) number of assistance resources of a set may be (pre)configured to be associated with a (e.g., specific) resource pool. According to embodiments, such a number (e.g., of assistance resources of a set) may be included (e.g., signaled) in an RRC configuration, for example, during link establishment. According to embodiments, such a number may be indicated in an assistance request from an assisted WTRU, see para [0156])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the resources for collision information taught by Wu in view of Fouad with the RRC for indicating resource as taught by Deng with the motivation being to indicate resources to the user equipment to be used for performing communications.
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 BAO G NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7732. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10pm - 6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached at 571-272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAO G NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2461
/HUY D VU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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