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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/21/23, 11/19/24 & 12/02/24 has been considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention Group l (i.e. corresponding to claims 1-14) in the reply filed on 11/10/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention Group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/10/25.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 14 recites the limitations of “wherein the sidelink control information is not monitored for the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period, on or more reselected resources of the second transmission period being randomly selected.” which appears to be missing limitations or said limitations are written incorrectly as said limitations appears to be grammatically incorrect which renders the claims indefinite.
Specifically, the claims recites first limitations indicating that the sidelink control information is not monitored but then continues to recite second limitations reciting “on or more reselected resources of the second transmission period being randomly selected.” that does not appear connected to the first limitations and as such, renders the claims indefinite as it is unclear to the examiner as to how the recited “on or more reselected resources of the second transmission period being randomly selected.” is related to the sidelink control information not being monitored.
For the purpose of the examination and the rejection provided herein, the examiner will interpret the claims to recite without the indicated second limitations (i.e. “wherein the sidelink control information is not monitored for the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period, ).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11 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.
The dependent claims 7-11 are objected as allowable because the closest prior art found fails to disclose, teach or suggest either alone or render obvious in a combined teachings of the prior art, the uniquely distinct features in the specific order, structure and combination of limitations together as a whole of the limitations recited in the dependent claims in combination with all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims in between.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WU et al. (US Patent Publication 2023/0362896 herein after referenced as Wu).
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses:
An apparatus for (Wu, [0042] discloses packet 440 is to be scheduled for a sidelink transmission (i.e. reads on sidelink) and UE 110 (i.e. reads on apparatus) selects TX resources (i.e. reads on selecting a sidelink resource) e.g., one or more slots to use to transmit packet 440; Wu, Fig. 2 & [0027] discloses system 200 can be UE 110 and a UE may be a computing electronic device such as a smart phone, cellular phone, and for simplicity purposes—may include other computing devices and system 200 may include processor 210, transceiver 220, communication infrastructure 230, memory 235, and antenna 225 that together perform operations enabling SL-DRX and corresponding power conservation and memory 235 may include random access memory RAM and/or cache, and may include control logic e.g., computer software, computer instructions, and/or data and processer 210, upon execution of the computer instructions, can be configured to perform the functionality described herein. One of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that it is inherent for a complex device such as the UE to include a processor, memory and computer instructions in order to be able to perform the disclosed functionalities).
take one or more candidate slots as a second candidate slot set of a second transmission period; (Wu, [0043] discloses to determine which candidate slots of selection window 445 to utilize for future wireless communications 120, 130, 140, or 150, UE 110 determines: i) whether sufficient history data has been stored about the candidate slots of selection window 445 over history window 450; and ii) what subset of the set of candidate slots (i.e. reads on take one or more candidate slots as a second candidate slot set) corresponding to selection window 445 (i.e. reads on a second transmission period) are likely unoccupied, and hence TX resources for transmitting packet 440; Wu, Fig. 8 & [0030] discloses selection window 345 of size [T2−T1] is shown as a subset of common TX pool structure of candidate slots 810 and an example candidate slot is identified as given candidate slot 820, which represents particular time and frequency resource that can be potentially used for wireless communication).
wherein the one or more candidate slots are (Wu, [0044] discloses UE 110 can utilize sensing history for some or all of the candidate slots (i.e. reads on wherein the one or more candidate slots) of selection window 445 (i.e. reads on second transmission period) by looking back at periods (i.e. reads on a first transmission period and N transmission periods; where, N is the number of periods spacing the second transmission period and the first transmission period apart) that are multiples of T e.g., Time of given candidate slot 820 (i.e. reads on one or more first candidate slots) —T*r where T can be multiples of 100 or any other common resource reservation interval and T and/or the length of each slot varies based on the subcarrier spacing selected for SL radio and Parameter r is a numerical sequence which is used to project given candidate slot 820 back to history window 450 and Parameter r can be a value from 1 to k, where k represents the number of periods within history window 450. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it is inherent when going back a number of periods to include a last transmission period as well as a number of periods in between from a current transmission period selection window 445).
Wu discloses in one embodiment that the UE determines a subset of slots that are unoccupied as candidate slots for sidelink transmission and discloses utilizing sensing history looking back at periods that are multiples of the given candidate slot but fails to explicitly disclose in the same embodiment that a reselection is performed or that the number of periods include a first transmission period that is utilized in obtaining the candidate slot and therefore fails to disclose in the same embodiment, the limitations of “reselecting a sidelink resource” and “wherein the one or more candidate slots are obtained based on one or more first candidate slots of a first transmission period and N transmission periods.”
In a different embodiment, Wu discloses:
reselecting a sidelink resource (Wu, Fig. 6 & [0072]-[0073] discloses At 640, UE 110 determines whether the given candidate slot, e.g., slot 820, satisfies an occupancy threshold and when the occupancy threshold is satisfied e.g., given candidate slot 820 was primarily unoccupied during the q sensed periods method 600 proceeds to 645 and Otherwise, method 600 returns to 610 (i.e. reads on reselecting a sidelink resource) and discloses At 645, UE 110 selects given candidate slot 820 and transmits a signal using the given candidate slot; Wu, [0065] discloses At 610, UE 110 randomly selects a candidate slot from selection window 445 and uses that candidate slot to transmit a signal e.g., wireless communication 120, 130, 140, or 150; Wu, [0095] discloses when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it would be within the knowledge of persons skilled in the relevant art(s) to incorporate such feature, structure, or characteristic into other embodiments whether or not explicitly mentioned or described herein).
wherein the one or more candidate slots are obtained based on one or more first candidate slots of a first transmission period and N transmission periods; (Wu, [0050] discloses if given candidate slot 820 is unoccupied (i.e. reads on based on one or more first candidate slots) for the majority of projected selection windows 447a-447c (i.e. reads on of a first transmission period and N transmission periods), the occupancy threshold is satisfied, and given candidate slot 820 can be used as a TX resource (i.e. reads on wherein the one or more candidate slots are obtained) for a future wireless communications 120, 130, 140 or 150 and Candidate slots from the slots 810 that satisfy the occupancy threshold make up a subset of candidate slots from which UE 110 chooses to transmit packet 440).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Wu to incorporate the teachings of the different embodiments for the purpose of conforming to the intent of the invention to modify and combine the various different embodiment (Wu, [0095]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of an embodiment of a UE determining a subset of slots that are unoccupied as candidate slots for sidelink transmission as taught by Wu) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a similar embodiment of a UE determining a subset of slots that are unoccupied as candidate slots for sidelink transmission with additional and/or alternative features and functionalities of the other embodiments as taught by Wu) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of an embodiment of a UE determining a subset of slots that are unoccupied as candidate slots for sidelink transmission (i.e. as taught by Wu) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 4, Wu discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein the first transmission period is a first sidelink data transmission period in performing periodic-based partial sensing, and the second transmission period is one of sidelink data transmission periods other than the first sidelink data transmission period in performing periodic-based partial sensing (Wu, [0053] discloses the SL-DRX cycle can be configured to be aligned with the periodicity of partial sensing periods and In some examples, the sensing period e.g., 310 or 410 of examples 300 and 400 is fixed as 100 subframes like LTE-V2X, but in 5G the partial sensing period can be variable).
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WU et al. (US Patent Publication 2023/0362896 herein after referenced as Wu) in view of Farag (US Patent Publication 2022/0295482 herein after referenced as Farag).
Regarding claim 2, Wu discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: (see claim 1).
(UE 110 can be configured by gNB 165 of FIG. 1 with the necessary configurations, which includes the following information: a flag that indicates whether partial sensing is enabled/disabled, partial sensing period, and the SL-DRX cycle can be configured to be aligned with the periodicity of partial sensing periods and In some examples the sensing period e.g., 310 or 410 of examples 300 and 400 is fixed as 100 subframes like LTE-V2X, but in 5G the partial sensing period can be variable; and In some embodiments, if the values p and q are the same, then a single value can be used to configure the partial sensing gap requirement; Wu, [0041] discloses UE 110 awakens in period 410a during SL-DRX Active Time 435a and monitors the Physical SL Control Channel PSCCH of a configured minimum number of slots e.g., slots 810 to be sensed and the UE 110 can decode a PSCCH of given candidate slot 820 for example, to determine whether UE 110 should take any actions with regard to given candidate slot 820 and The decoded PSCCH of given candidate slot 820 as well as the decoded PSCCH of the remaining candidate slots of the configured minimum number of slots during SL-DRX Active Time 435a can be stored in memory such as memory 235 of system 200 and Similar processes occur during SL-DRX Active Times 435b-435d).
Wu discloses performing partial sensing according to a periodic partial sensing period to sense a given candidate slot but fails to explicitly disclose that said partial sensing is performed on a monitoring or sensing slot and therefore fails to disclose “determine a first monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing for a first candidate slot set of the first transmission period, and determine a second monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing for the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period”.
In a related field of endeavor, Farag discloses:
determine a first monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing for a first candidate slot set of the first transmission period, and determine a second monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing for the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period (Farag, [0112] discloses with a partial sensing, a UE can sense some sidelink slots and Partial sensing can be periodic based partial sensing PBPS, wherein the sensed slots can occur at fixed periodic interval and Alternatively, partial sensing can be contiguous partial sensing CPS, wherein slots are sensed within a short time window before resource selection/reselection or for an initial SL transmission or for a re-evaluation or a preemption check and the determination and configuration of parameters that control the operation of periodic based partial sensing PBPS is provided, for example, the determination of the candidate slots in the resource selection window, the determination of the partial sensing periodicity, and the determination of the partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for given periodicity; Farag, [0115]-[0116] discloses Partial sensing is one of the low power sensing schemes introduce in LTE and is being considered for NR and There two types of partial sensing, periodic based partial sensing PBPS and contiguous partial sensing CPS and There are several parameters that control the operation of periodic based partial sensing PBPS such as the candidate slots in the resource selection window, partial sensing periodicity and the partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for a given periodicity and The configurability and determination of these parameters can influence the performance of partial sensing and can vary depending on the supported scenario and traffic profile and In this discourse, the configuration and determination of periodic based partial sensing PBPS parameters for flexible SL operation is provided and discloses (2) partial or reduced sensing mode: the UE senses some slots, wherein; (i) the sensed slots are repeated periodically. Also known as periodic based partial sensing PBPS; (ii) the sensed slots are aperiodic and One shot sensing and Also known as contiguous partial sensing CPS; and (iii) a combination of aperiodic and periodic sensing; Farag, [0408] discloses if a UE is transmitting aperiodic traffic, the sensing periodicity is based on the periodicity for resource reservation as given by example 5.1.3 and example 5.1.4; Farag, [0093]-[0094] discloses The resource (re-)selection is a two-step procedure: (1) the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window and Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs and The resources excluded are based on SCIs decoded in a sensing window and for which the UE measures a SL RSRP that exceeds a threshold and The threshold depends on the priority indicated in a SCI format and on the priority of the SL transmission and Therefore, sensing within a sensing window involves decoding the first stage SCI, and measuring the corresponding SL RSRP, wherein the SL RSRP can be based on PSCCH DMRS or PSSCH DMRS and Sensing is performed over slots where the UE doesn't transmit SL and The resources excluded are based on reserved transmissions or semi-persistent transmissions that can collide with the excluded resources or any of reserved or semi-persistent transmissions; the identified candidate resources after resource exclusion are provided to higher layers and (2) the second step is to select or re-select a resource from the identified candidate resources for PSSCH/PSCCH transmission and discloses During the first step of the resource (re-)selection procedure, a UE can monitor slots in a sensing window [n−T.sub.0, n−T.sub.proc,0.sup.SL), where the UE monitors slots belonging to a corresponding sidelink resource pool that are not used for the UE's own transmission; Farag, [0099]-[0100] discloses For a pre-selected resource to be first-time signaled in slot m, the UE performs a re-evaluation check at least in slot m−T.sub.3 and The re-evaluation check includes: (1) performing the first step of the SL resource selection procedure as defined in 3GPP standard specification i.e., clause 8.1.4 of TS 38.214, which involves identifying a candidate available sidelink resource set in a resource selection window as previously described; (2) if the pre-selected resource is available in the candidate sidelink resource set, the resource is used/signaled for sidelink transmission; and (3) else, the pre-selected resource is not available in the candidate sidelink resource set, a new sidelink resource is re-selected from the candidate sidelink resource set and discloses Pre-emption check occurs when a UE checks the availability of pre-selected SL resources that have been previously signaled and reserved in an SCI Format, and if needed re-selects new SL resources and For a pre-selected and reserved resource to be signaled in slot m, the UE performs a pre-emption check at least in slot m−T.sub.3).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Wu to incorporate the teachings of Farag for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide flexible sidelink operations and utilize a combination of different types of known partial sensing (Farag, [0115]-[0116]) and providing a process to determine whether to perform resource reselection (Farag, [0093]-[0094]) in on order to conform to the teachings of a known standard (Farag, [0099]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of a UE performing partial sensing for a candidate slot in a selection window as taught by Wu) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a UE performing partial sensing for a candidate slot in a selection window, wherein the partial sensing is performed on a sensing slot and the result of the partial sensing is utilized in determining whether to perform resource reselection as taught by Farag) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of a UE performing partial sensing for a candidate slot in a selection window (i.e. as taught by Wu & Farag) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 3, Wu in view of Farag discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: (see claim 2).
a monitor configured to monitor sidelink control information in the second monitoring slot set of the second transmission period, wherein the processor is further configured to perform resource reselection in the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period according to a monitoring result (Farag, [0093]-[0094] discloses The resource (re-)selection is a two-step procedure: (1) the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window and Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs and The resources excluded are based on SCIs decoded in a sensing window and for which the UE measures a SL RSRP that exceeds a threshold and The threshold depends on the priority indicated in a SCI format and on the priority of the SL transmission and Therefore, sensing within a sensing window involves decoding the first stage SCI, and measuring the corresponding SL RSRP, wherein the SL RSRP can be based on PSCCH DMRS or PSSCH DMRS and Sensing is performed over slots where the UE doesn't transmit SL and The resources excluded are based on reserved transmissions or semi-persistent transmissions that can collide with the excluded resources or any of reserved or semi-persistent transmissions; the identified candidate resources after resource exclusion are provided to higher layers and (2) the second step is to select or re-select a resource from the identified candidate resources for PSSCH/PSCCH transmission and discloses During the first step of the resource (re-)selection procedure, a UE can monitor slots in a sensing window [n−T.sub.0, n−T.sub.proc,0.sup.SL), where the UE monitors slots belonging to a corresponding sidelink resource pool that are not used for the UE's own transmission; Farag, [0099]-[0100] discloses For a pre-selected resource to be first-time signaled in slot m, the UE performs a re-evaluation check at least in slot m−T.sub.3 and The re-evaluation check includes: (1) performing the first step of the SL resource selection procedure as defined in 3GPP standard specification i.e., clause 8.1.4 of TS 38.214, which involves identifying a candidate available sidelink resource set in a resource selection window as previously described; (2) if the pre-selected resource is available in the candidate sidelink resource set, the resource is used/signaled for sidelink transmission; and (3) else, the pre-selected resource is not available in the candidate sidelink resource set, a new sidelink resource is re-selected from the candidate sidelink resource set and discloses Pre-emption check occurs when a UE checks the availability of pre-selected SL resources that have been previously signaled and reserved in an SCI Format, and if needed re-selects new SL resources and For a pre-selected and reserved resource to be signaled in slot m, the UE performs a pre-emption check at least in slot m−T.sub.3).
Claim(s) 5-6 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farag (US Patent Publication 2022/0295482 herein after referenced as Farag).
Regarding claim 5, Farag discloses:
An apparatus for reselecting a sidelink resource, comprising: a processor coupled to a memory and configured to: (Farag, [0092] discloses For resource (re-)selection (i.e. reads on reselecting a sidelink resource) or re-evaluation in slot n, a UE (i.e. reads on apparatus) can determine a set of available single-slot resources for transmission within a resource selection window [n+T.sub.1, n+T.sub.2], such that a single-slot resource for transmission, R.sub.x,y is defined as a set of L.sub.subcH contiguous subchannels x+i, where i=0, 1, . . . , L.sub.subCH−1 in slot t.sub.y.sup.SL. T.sub.1 is determined by the UE such that, 0≤T.sub.1≤T.sub.proc,1.sup.SL, and is a configured by higher layers and depends on the priority of the SL transmission; Farag, Abstract discloses a sidelink SL interface; Farag, Fig. 3 & [0051] discloses The UE 116 also includes a speaker 330, a processor 340, an input/output I/O interface IF 345, a touchscreen 350, a display 355, and a memory 360. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it is inherent for a complex device such as the UE to include a processor and memory in order to be able to perform the disclosed functionalities).
(Farag, [0092] discloses For resource (re-)selection or re-evaluation in slot n, a UE can determine a set of available single-slot resources (i.e. reads on a first candidate slot set) for transmission within a resource selection window (i.e. reads on of a first transmission period) [n+T.sub.1, n+T.sub.2], such that a single-slot resource for transmission, R.sub.x,y is defined as a set of L.sub.subcH contiguous subchannels x+i, where i=0, 1, . . . , L.sub.subCH−1 in slot t.sub.y.sup.SL. T.sub.1 is determined by the UE such that, 0≤T.sub.1≤T.sub.proc,1.sup.SL, and is a configured by higher layers and depends on the priority of the SL transmission).
Farag discloses in one embodiment that a resource reselection is performed on a set of available single slot resources for transmission within a resource selection window but fails to disclose in the same embodiment, the limitations of “determine a first monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing for a first candidate slot set of a first transmission period, and determine a second monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing of a second transmission period according to the first monitoring slot set of the first transmission period and a second candidate slot set of the second transmission period; and a monitor configured to monitor sidelink control information in the second monitoring slot set of the second transmission period; wherein the processor is further configured to perform resource reselection in the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period according to a monitoring result”.
In a different embodiment, Farag discloses:
determine a first monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing for a first candidate slot set of a first transmission period, (Farag, [0112] discloses with a partial sensing (i.e. reads on for performing partial sensing), a UE can sense some sidelink slots (i.e. reads on determine a first monitoring slot set) and Partial sensing can be periodic based partial sensing PBPS, wherein the sensed slots can occur at fixed periodic interval and Alternatively, partial sensing can be contiguous partial sensing CPS, wherein slots are sensed within a short time window before resource selection/reselection or for an initial SL transmission or for a re-evaluation or a preemption check and the determination and configuration of parameters that control the operation of periodic based partial sensing PBPS is provided, for example, the determination of the candidate slots (i.e. reads on for a first candidate slot set) in the resource selection window (i.e. reads on of a first transmission period), the determination of the partial sensing periodicity, and the determination of the partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for given periodicity; Farag, [0219] discloses Within the resource selection/reselection window, the UE determines Y candidate slots and sensing slots are determined based on each of the Y candidate slots as illustrated in FIG. 14; Farag, [0445]-[0446] discloses The above flowcharts illustrate example methods that can be implemented in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure and various changes could be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts herein and For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in each figure could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times and In another example, steps may be omitted or replaced by other steps and discloses Although the present disclosure has been described with exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art).
and determine a second monitoring slot set for performing partial sensing of a second transmission period according to the first monitoring slot set of the first transmission period and a second candidate slot set of the second transmission period; (Farag, [0112] discloses with a partial sensing (i.e. reads on for performing partial sensing), a UE can sense some sidelink slots and Partial sensing can be periodic based partial sensing PBPS, wherein the sensed slots (i.e. reads on determine a second monitoring slot set) can occur at fixed periodic interval (i.e. reads on according to the first monitoring slot set) and Alternatively, partial sensing can be contiguous partial sensing CPS, wherein slots are sensed within a short time window before resource selection/reselection or for an initial SL transmission or for a re-evaluation or a preemption check and the determination and configuration of parameters that control the operation of periodic based partial sensing PBPS is provided, for example, the determination of the candidate slots (i.e. reads on a second candidate slot set) in the resource selection window (i.e. reads on of a second transmission period), the determination of the partial sensing periodicity, and the determination of the partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for given periodicity; Farag, [0185] discloses a UE is (pre-)configured with partial sensing and are provided for the parameters of partial sensing, such as the resource selection window, the candidate slots within the resource selection window, the sensing for the candidate resources within the resource selection window, including the sensing periodicities and which periods to sense e.g., partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for a given periodicity and A UE can be further be configured to transmit periodic traffic; Farag, [0229] discloses A resource pool with periodic reservations, and for which Y candidate slots are determined in the resource selection/reselection window, wherein, the Y determined candidate slots can be expressed as: {t′.sub.y.sup.SL}, wherein y=0 . . . Y−1, wherein Y≥Y.sub.min and For each candidate slot t′.sub.y.sup.SL, one or more previous slots are sensed based on one or more periodicities as illustrated in FIG. 14; Farag, [0205] discloses For the next periodic instance of the periodic traffic, resource selection/reselection is triggered in slot n+T.sub.per. When added together, n and T.sub.per are in the same unit and The following periodic instance of the periodic traffic is triggered in slot n+2T.sub.per, and so on and A UE configured with a periodicity T.sub.per of the periodic traffic and triggered for resource selection/reselection in slot n, can determine the next slots of resource selection/reselection as n+T.sub.per, n+2 T.sub.per, . . . as illustrated in FIG. 13; Farag, [0235]-[0236] discloses For periodicity T′.sub.i, periods i.e., periodic sensing occasions 1, 4 and 5 contain slots that are sensed and For periodicity T′.sub.j, periods i.e., periodic sensing occasions 1 and 3 contain slots that are sensed and discloses the periods that are sensed such as the periodic sensed occasions are the same across all periodicities, i.e., K.sub.1=K.sub.2= . . . =K.sub.1=K. K={k.sub.0, k.sub.1, . . . }, wherein k.sub.0, k.sub.1, . . . are the sensed periods or periodic sensing occasions for any sensing periodicity; Farag, [0219] discloses Within the resource selection/reselection window, the UE determines Y candidate slots and sensing slots are determined based on each of the Y candidate slots as illustrated in FIG. 14. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the combination of the cited teachings together as a whole that there are multiple periodic sensed slots occurring at fixed intervals corresponding to multiple periodic reservations and Y candidate slots of reselection windows where a current sensed slots for a periodic based partial sensing is based on a current periodic Y candidate slots of a selection window and is also based on a previous sensed slots of a previous Y candidate slots of the previous selection window).
and a monitor configured to monitor sidelink control information in the second monitoring slot set of the second transmission period; wherein the processor is further configured to perform resource reselection in the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period according to a monitoring result (Farag, [0093] discloses The resource (re-)selection is a two-step procedure: (1) the first step (e.g., performed in the physical layer) is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window (i.e. reads on of the second transmission period) and Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs and The resources excluded (i.e. reads on according to a monitoring result) are based on SCIs decoded (i.e. reads on a monitor configured to monitor sidelink control information) in a sensing window (i.e. reads on in the second monitoring slot set) and for which the UE measures a SL RSRP that exceeds a threshold and The threshold depends on the priority indicated in a SCI format and on the priority of the SL transmission and Therefore, sensing within a sensing window involves decoding the first stage SCI, and measuring the corresponding SL RSRP, wherein the SL RSRP can be based on PSCCH DMRS or PSSCH DMRS and The resources excluded are based on reserved transmissions or semi-persistent transmissions that can collide with the excluded resources or any of reserved or semi-persistent transmissions; the identified candidate resources after resource exclusion are provided to higher layers and (2) the second step is to select or re-select a resource (i.e. reads on perform resource reselection in the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period) from the identified candidate resources for PSSCH/PSCCH transmission).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Wu to incorporate the teachings of the different embodiments for the purpose of conforming to the intent of the invention to modify and combine the various different embodiment (Farag, [0445]-[0446]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of an embodiment of a UE performing resource reselection for a candidate slot of a reselection window as taught by Farag) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a similar embodiment of a UE performing resource reselection for a candidate slot of a reselection window with additional and/or alternative features and functionalities of the other embodiments as taught by Farag) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of an embodiment of a UE performing resource reselection for a candidate slot of a reselection window (i.e. as taught by Farag) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 6, Farag discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 5, (see claim 5).
wherein the first transmission period is a periodic-based partial sensing first sidelink data transmission period, and the second transmission period is one of sidelink data transmission periods other than the periodic-based partial sensing first sidelink data transmission period (Farag, [0115]-[0116] discloses Partial sensing is one of the low power sensing schemes introduce in LTE and is being considered for NR and There two types of partial sensing, periodic based partial sensing PBPS and contiguous partial sensing CPS and There are several parameters that control the operation of periodic based partial sensing PBPS such as the candidate slots in the resource selection window, partial sensing periodicity and the partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for a given periodicity and The configurability and determination of these parameters can influence the performance of partial sensing and can vary depending on the supported scenario and traffic profile and In this discourse, the configuration and determination of periodic based partial sensing PBPS parameters for flexible SL operation is provided and discloses (2) partial or reduced sensing mode: the UE senses some slots, wherein; (i) the sensed slots are repeated periodically and Also known as periodic based partial sensing PBPS; (ii) the sensed slots are aperiodic and One shot sensing and Also known as contiguous partial sensing CPS; and (iii) a combination of aperiodic and periodic sensing).
Regarding claim 12, Farag discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to (see claim 12).
take one or more slots before (Farag, [0112] discloses partial sensing can be contiguous partial sensing CPS, wherein slots are sensed within a short time window before resource selection/reselection or for an initial SL transmission or for a re-evaluation or a preemption check and the determination and configuration of parameters that control the operation of periodic based partial sensing PBPS is provided, for example, the determination of the candidate slots in the resource selection window, the determination of the partial sensing periodicity, and the determination of the partial sensing periodic sensing occasions for given periodicity. EXAMINER’S NOTE: The examiner notes that the claims are written in an alternative limitation format requiring and contingent on the selection of only one of various alternative options presented and as such the non-selected alternative options are crossed out (i.e. the limitations reciting “and/or after resource reselection is triggered or one or more consecutive slots before and/or after a first candidate slot”) and are not given patentable weight as being directed towards limitations that are not required to be performed as is indicated in MPEP 2143.03 that recites “Language that suggests or makes a feature or step optional but does not require that feature or step does not limit the scope of a claim under the broadest reasonable claim interpretation. In addition, when a claim requires selection of an element from a list of alternatives, the prior art teaches the element if one of the alternatives is taught by the prior art” and in MPEP 2111.04, Section ll that recites “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition precedent are not met”).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farag (US Patent Publication 2022/0295482 herein after referenced as Farag) in view of WU et al. (US Patent Publication 2023/0362896 herein after referenced as Wu).
Regarding claim 13, Farag discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to (see claim 5).
Farag discloses determining whether candidate slots of a selection window should be utilized but fails to explicitly disclose “take the first candidate slot set of the first transmission period as the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period after translating the first candidate slot set of the first transmission period forwards by N current transmission periods in the time domain, where N is the number of periods spacing the second transmission period and the first transmission period apart.”
In a related field of endeavor, Wu discloses:
take the first candidate slot set of the first transmission period as the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period after translating the first candidate slot set of the first transmission period forwards by N current transmission periods in the time domain, where N is the number of periods spacing the second transmission period and the first transmission period apart (Wu, [0044] discloses UE 110 can utilize sensing history for some or all of the candidate slots of selection window 445 by looking back at periods that are multiples of T e.g., Time of given candidate slot 820—T*r where T can be multiples of 100 or any other common resource reservation interval and T and/or the length of each slot varies based on the subcarrier spacing selected for SL radio and Parameter r is a numerical sequence which is used to project given candidate slot 820 back to history window 450 and Parameter r can be a value from 1 to k, where k represents the number of periods within history window 450; Wu, [0050] discloses if given candidate slot 820 is unoccupied for the majority of projected selection windows 447a-447c, the occupancy threshold is satisfied, and given candidate slot 820 can be used as a TX resource for a future wireless communications 120, 130, 140 or 150 and Candidate slots from the slots 810 that satisfy the occupancy threshold make up a subset of candidate slots from which UE 110 chooses to transmit packet 440).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Farag to incorporate the teachings of Wu for the purpose of providing the system with an alternative means to determine whether a candidate slot of selection window should be utilized for future wireless communications based on historical information (Wu, [0044] & [0050]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of a UE determining whether a candidate slot in a selection window should be utilized as taught by Farag) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a UE determining whether a candidate slot in a selection window should be utilized, wherein the determination is based on historical information as taught by Wu) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of a UE determining whether a candidate slot in a selection window should be utilized (i.e. as taught by Farag & Wu) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farag (US Patent Publication 2022/0295482 herein after referenced as Farag) in view of AKTAS et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0132469 herein after referenced as Aktas).
Regarding claim 14, Farag discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 5, (see claim 5).
Farag discloses performing monitoring of a sidelink control information but fails to disclose “wherein the sidelink control information is not monitored for the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period,
In a related field of endeavor, Aktas discloses:
wherein the sidelink control information is not monitored for the second candidate slot set of the second transmission period, (Aktas, [0095] discloses a TX UE that is constrained from monitoring for SCI from other UEs can randomly select a resource for transmission; Aktas, [0036] discloses UE 128 can monitor a sensing window for messages e.g., sidelink control information SCI from other UEs e.g., UE 132 that reserve resources in a selection window).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Farag to incorporate the teachings of Aktas for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide UEs with the ability to perform random selection of resources for transmission (Aktas, [0095]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of a UE monitoring for SCI as taught by Farag) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a UE monitoring for SCI, wherein the process also includes providing the UE with the ability not to monitor for SCI as taught by Aktas) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of a UE monitoring for SCI (i.e. as taught by Farag & Aktas) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL Y MAPA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645