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 .
Claim Status
This office action is in response to the communication(s) filed on 03/06/2024.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are currently presenting for examination.
Claim(s) 1, 8, and 16 is/are independent claim(s).
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-12, 14, and 16-18 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 6, 13, 15, and 19-20 is/are objected to.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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, 3-4, 8, 10-11, 16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20240260059_A1_Guo (hereinafter, “Guo-59”) in view of US_20240188048_A1_Luo.
Regarding claim 1, Guo-59 discloses a method of a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting, to a second UE, first sidelink control information (SCI) including first inter-UE coordination information through a control channel (Guo-59 figure 7, figure 8 step 832, paragraph 80, “…The UE-A 702 may transmit inter-UE coordination information 706 in SCI.…a first portion of SCI (e.g., SCI-1) may be transmitted in PSCCH…”. PSCCH is a control channel); generating second inter-UE coordination information including information for preferred resources or non-preferred resources (Guo-59 figure 7, figure 8 step 844, paragraph 74, “…the UEs may coordinate among themselves by generating and sharing inter-UE coordination information with other UEs…”, paragraph 76, “’…The inter-UE coordination information 706 may indicate candidate resources for sidelink transmission or preferred resources for transmissions by UE-B 704. In some aspects, the indication of preferred resources for UE-B's transmission may be referred to as “Type A” inter-UE coordination information. The UE-A 702 may use the inter-UE coordination information 706 to inform the UE-B 704 about which sub-channels and slots may be used for communicating with the UE-A 702 and/or which sub-channels and slots may not be used because they are occupied or reserved by the UE-A 702 and/or other UEs. The UE-A may indicate a set of resources that may be more suitable for UE-B's transmission based on UE-A's evaluation…”, and paragraph 77 for non-preferred resources); and transmitting, to the second UE, second SCI including the second inter-UE coordination information through a data channel scheduled by the first SCI (Guo-59 figure 7, figure 8 step 844, paragraph 80, “…The UE-A 702 may transmit inter-UE coordination information 706 in SCI.…The UE-A 702 may transmit inter-UE coordination information 706 in a MAC-CE, e.g., on the PSSCH…”. PSSCH is a data channel), but does not explicitly disclose the information for preferred resources or non-preferred resources is offset information.
Luo discloses the information for preferred resources or non-preferred resources is offset information (Luo, abstract, “…determining an inter-UE coordination message, wherein the message includes type-1 time resource indication values (TRIVs), the number of which is expression I, and type-2 TRIVs, the number of which is expression II, and the type-1 TRIVs and the type-2 TRIVs are used to indicate slot offset values…”, paragraphs 280-281, and page 29, claim 1, “…determining contents of a second-stage SCI format for indication of a set of preferred or non-preferred… where each slot is indicated as a slot offset with respect to a reference slot of the TRIV…”).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Luo’s indicate slot offset values in Guo-59’s system to precisely align transmissions and avoid interference in Sidelink communications. This method for improving the system of Guo-59 was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Luo. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Guo-59 and Luo to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the method of claim 1, and Luo further discloses wherein the offset information indicates a slot offset, and the slot offset is an offset between a reference slot and a slot where the preferred resources or the non-preferred resources are located (Luo, abstract, “…determining an inter-UE coordination message, wherein the message includes type-1 time resource indication values (TRIVs), the number of which is expression I, and type-2 TRIVs, the number of which is expression II, and the type-1 TRIVs and the type-2 TRIVs are used to indicate slot offset values…”, paragraphs 280-281, and page 29, claim 1, “…determining contents of a second-stage SCI format for indication of a set of preferred or non-preferred… where each slot is indicated as a slot offset with respect to a reference slot of the TRIV…”).
Regarding claim 4, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the method of claim 3, and Luo further discloses wherein the slot is a first slot among slots where the preferred resources or the non-preferred resources are located, and the reference slot is a slot where the first SCI is transmitted (Luo, paragraphs 366-377, “…each of one or more slots indicated by a TRIV may be represented as an offset with respect to a reference slot….”, also read paragraphs 280-281, and page 29 claim 1).
Regarding claim 8, Guo-59 discloses a method of a second user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, from a first UE, first sidelink control information (SCI) including first inter-UE coordination information through a control channel (Guo-59 figure 7, figure 8 step 832, paragraph 80, “…The UE-A 702 may transmit inter-UE coordination information 706 in SCI.…a first portion of SCI (e.g., SCI-1) may be transmitted in PSCCH…”. PSCCH is a control channel); receiving, by the processor, from the first UE, second SCI including second inter-UE coordination information through a data channel scheduled by the first SCI (Guo-59 figure 7, figure 8 step 844, paragraph 80, “…The UE-A 702 may transmit inter-UE coordination information 706 in SCI. For example, the UE-A 702 may transmit shared sensing information, candidate resource information for a sidelink transmission, or particular resources for a sidelink transmission in SCI-2 transmitted in PSSCH..…The UE-A 702 may transmit inter-UE coordination information 706 in a MAC-CE, e.g., on the PSSCH…”. PSSCH is a data channel.); identifying, by the processor, preferred resources or non-preferred resources based on information for the preferred resources or the non-preferred resources (Guo-59 figure 7, and paragraphs 75-77, 82, 85, 87, the UE-B determines the resources for sidelink transmission according to the received inter-UE coordination information); selecting, by the processor, resources for sidelink communication in consideration of the preferred resources or the non-preferred resources (Guo-59 figure 7, “Preferred resources for transmissions of UE-B”, and “Resources not preferred for transmission of UE-B”); and performing, by the processor, the sidelink communication using the selected resources (Guo-59 figure 7, sidelink transmission).
Luo discloses the information for preferred resources or non-preferred resources is offset information (Luo, abstract, “…determining an inter-UE coordination message, wherein the message includes type-1 time resource indication values (TRIVs), the number of which is expression I, and type-2 TRIVs, the number of which is expression II, and the type-1 TRIVs and the type-2 TRIVs are used to indicate slot offset values…”, paragraphs 280-281, and page 29, claim 3, “…receive a second-stage SCI format for indication of a set of preferred or non-preferred resource(s )… where each slot is indicated as a slot offset with respect to a reference slot of the TRIV…”), and the offset information being included in the second inter-UE coordination information (Luo, page 29, claim 3, “…receive a second-stage SCI format for indication of a set of preferred or non-preferred resource(s ), and obtain contents of the second-stage SCI format, wherein, two time resource indicator values (TRIVs) are indicated in the second-stage SCI format, wherein, each TRIV indicates ml s2 slots, where each slot is indicated as a slot offset with respect to a reference slot of the TRIV…”).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Luo’s indicate slot offset values in Guo-59’s system to precisely align transmissions and avoid interference in Sidelink communications. This method for improving the system of Guo-59 was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Luo. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Guo-59 and Luo to obtain the invention as specified in claim 8.
Regarding claim 10, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 11, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 16, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 8, and Guo-59 further discloses a second user equipment (UE) comprising: a processor; and a memory storing one or more instructions executable by the processor, wherein the one or more instructions are executed by the processor (Guo-59 figure 3).
Regarding claim 18, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the limitations as set forth in claims 3 and 4.
Claim(s) 2, 9, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20240260059_A1_Guo in view of US_20240188048_A1_Luo and US_20240389114_A1_Wu.
Regarding claim 2, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the method of claim 1, but do not disclose wherein the first inter-UE coordination information is information indicating that the second SCI including the second inter-UE coordination information is transmitted.
Wu discloses wherein the first inter-UE coordination information is information indicating that the second SCI including the second inter-UE coordination information is transmitted (Wu figure 10, element 1002, “Transmit, to the second UE, a first stage SCI (SCI-1) comprising an indication indicating the inter-UE coordination message”).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Wu’s indicate slot offset values in Guo-59 and Luo’s system for efficient resource management and enhanced coordination between UEs. This method for improving the system of Guo-59 and Luo was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Wu. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Guo-59, Luo and Wu to obtain the invention as specified in claim 2.
Regarding claim 9, Guo-59, Luo and Wu disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 17, Guo-59, Luo and Wu 00disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Claim(s) 5 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20240260059_A1_Guo in view of US_20240188048_A1_Luo and US_20240179730_A1_Yue.
Regarding claim 5, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the method of claim 1, but do not disclose wherein the offset information indicates a subchannel offset, and the subchannel offset is an offset between a reference subchannel and a subchannel where the preferred resources or the non-preferred resources are located.
Yue discloses wherein the offset information indicates a subchannel offset, and the subchannel offset is an offset between a reference subchannel and a subchannel where the preferred resources or the non-preferred resources are located (Yue paragraph 142, “Alternatively, the subchannel for the PSFCH carrying coordination information can be configured by explicit subchannel location or an offset over a reference subchannel such as the PSFCH subchannel associated with initial scheduled PSSCH or the subchannel of the SCI. For example, denote f.sub.0 as the reference subchannel index. The subchannel of PSFCH(s) for coordination can be specified by subchannel offset Δf.sub.1, . . . , Δf.sub.Ms (i.e., (f.sub.0Δf.sub.1) % F.sub.Tot, . . . , (f.sub.0+Δf.sub.Ms) % F.sub.Tot, where F.sub.Tot is the total number of subchannels in resource pool, and % denotes the modulo operation”, and paragraph 115, “The coordination information sent from UE A to UE B includes the set of resources preferred and/or non-preferred for UE B's transmission.”).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Yue’s indicate slot offset values in Guo-59 and Luo’s system for facilitating efficient resource allocation and interference avoidance in sidelink communication networks. This method for improving the system of Guo-59 and Luo was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Yue. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Guo-59, Luo and Yue to obtain the invention as specified in claim 5.
Regarding claim 12, Guo-59, Luo and Yue disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 5.
Claim(s) 7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20240260059_A1_Guo in view of US_20240188048_A1_Luo and US_20240260003_A1_Guo (hereinafter, “Guo-03”).
Regarding claim 7, Guo-59 and Luo disclose the method of claim 1, but do not disclose wherein the second inter-UE coordination information further includes priority information for the second inter-UE coordination information.
Guo-03 discloses wherein the second inter-UE coordination information further includes priority information for the second inter-UE coordination information (Guo-03 paragraph 83, “…The second SCI may be of an SCI type that is dedicated to inter-UE coordination information…”, paragraph 84, “…the first SCI or the second SCI may indicate a priority for the information...”).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Guo-03’s the first SCI or the second SCI may indicate a priority for the information in Guo-59 and Luo’s system for other UEs overtaking the subchannel reserved for the information if the information has a lower priority than the data (Guo-03 paragraph 84). This method for improving the system of Guo-59 and Luo was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Guo-03. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Guo-59, Luo and Guo-03 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 7.
Regarding claim 14, Guo-59, Luo and Guo-03 disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 7.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 13, 15, and 19-20 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEIBIN HUANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3695. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30AM - 6:00PM.
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/W.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471