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 05/11/2026, with respect to the Restriction Requirement with respect to claims 1-10 and 12-20 (group I) and claim 11 (group II) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The Restriction Requirement has been withdrawn and a detailed examination of claims 1-20 appears below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/22/2024, 06/10/2024, and 06/10/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ganesan et al. (US 2023/0361955 A1; “Ganesan”).
Regarding claim 1, Ganesan teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising:
a transceiver [Ganesan ¶ 0050, Fig. 2: transmitter 210 and receiver 212 of UE may be part of a transceiver] configured to: transmit, to a second UE, a first set of reference signals, or receive, from the second UE, a second set of reference signal [Ganesan ¶ 0060: a TX UE (i.e. second UE) may transmit SL CSI-RS resources with repetition where an RX UE (i.e. first UE) can assume that the SL CSI-RS resources, e.g., in a SL CSI-RS resource set, in different symbols are transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter, e.g., same transmit beam; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative, therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references]; and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver [Ganesan ¶ 0041, Fig. 2: processor 202 is communicatively coupled to the transmitter 210 and the receiver 212 (i.e. transceiver)], the processor configured to:
identify a beam indication for transmission to the second UE, or reception from the second UE, wherein the beam indication is associated with a reference signal from the first set of reference signals or the second set of reference signals, determine, based on the beam indication, a spatial transmission filter or a spatial reception filter [Ganesan ¶ 0067: a beam correspondence is assumed, and the feedback is sent on resources with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for reception of the corresponding SL CSI-RS transmission (here, a beam correspondence is analogous to a beam indication, wherein when there is a one-to-one correspondence, the spatial filter used for feedback is determined according to the received SL CSI-RS set)], and
determine a time T to apply the beam indication, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: transmit, to the second UE, a first sidelink (SL) channel using the spatial transmission filter starting from the time T, or receive, from the second UE, a second SL channel using the spatial reception filter starting from the time T [Ganesan ¶ 0097: PSFCH resources corresponding to each transmission of PSSCH in a certain spatial direction, beam, panel, and/or spatial filter is configured with a certain offset (i.e. PSFCH is transmitted/received according to a time offset, T, related to the spatial filter); Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative, therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 12, Ganesan teaches a method of operating a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at least one of:
transmitting, to a second UE, a first set of reference signals; or receiving, from the second UE, a second set of reference signal [Ganesan ¶ 0060: a TX UE (i.e. second UE) may transmit SL CSI-RS resources with repetition where an RX UE (i.e. first UE) can assume that the SL CSI-RS resources, e.g., in a SL CSI-RS resource set, in different symbols are transmitted with the same spatial domain transmission filter, e.g., same transmit beam; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative, therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references];
identifying a beam indication for transmission to the second UE, or reception from the second UE, wherein the beam indication is associated with a reference signal from the first set of reference signals or the second set of reference signals; determining, based on the beam indication, a spatial transmission filter or a spatial reception filter [Ganesan ¶ 0067: a beam correspondence is assumed, and the feedback is sent on resources with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for reception of the corresponding SL CSI-RS transmission (here, a beam correspondence is analogous to a beam indication, wherein when there is a one-to-one correspondence, the spatial filter used for feedback is determined according to the received SL CSI-RS set)];
determining a time T to apply the beam indication; and at least one of: transmitting, to the second UE, a first sidelink (SL) channel using the spatial transmission filter starting from the time T, or receiving, from the second UE, a second SL channel using the spatial reception filter starting from the time T [Ganesan ¶ 0097: PSFCH resources corresponding to each transmission of PSSCH in a certain spatial direction, beam, panel, and/or spatial filter is configured with a certain offset (i.e. PSFCH is transmitted/received according to a time offset, T, related to the spatial filter); Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative, therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xia et al. (US 2022/0393741 A1; “Xia”).
Regarding claim 11, Xia teaches a base station (BS) comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit configuration information for a set of reference signals on a sidelink interface; and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine a beam indication, based on the set of reference signals, for a sidelink channel, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit a downlink control channel (DCI) format that includes the beam indication [Xia ¶ 0076: computer (that implements any of the disclosed methods) having processor 605 and interface 604 (see ¶ 0086: Rx 802/Tx 806); ¶¶ 0049-0050: the base station 302 can transmit first DCI to the UE 304 which can trigger the UE 304 to transmit SL-CSIRS, wherein the DCI may include a field indicating CSIRS beam pattern (i.e. beam indication), a field indicating time resource for the reference signal transmission, or a field indicating frequency resource for the reference signal transmission (i.e. reference signals for transmission/reception on sidelink channel)].
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) 5-6 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganesan in view of Wang et al. (US 2023/0119446 A1; “Wang (‘446)”).
Regarding claim 5, Ganesan teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein: the transceiver is further configured to receive a set of SL transmission configuration indication (TCI) states [Ganesan ¶ 0080: a TX UE may configure a sidelink TCI table based on its supported configuration of a plurality of sidelink reference signals like SL CSI-RS and may signal a dedicated reference signal configuration together with a TCI state table in PC5 RRC (i.e. to first UE)].
However, Ganesan does not explicitly disclose a SL TCI state, from the set of SL TCI states, includes a reference signal identifier (ID) corresponding to the first set of reference signals or the second set of reference signals.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang (‘446) teaches a SL TCI state, from the set of SL TCI states, includes a reference signal identifier (ID) corresponding to the first set of reference signals or the second set of reference signals [Wang (‘446) ¶ 0087: a sidelink TCI state may have information including: a sidelink CSI-RS resource identifier or a sidelink SSB index corresponding to the source reference signal and/or spatial receive parameters that can be derived from the source reference signal].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating a relationship between a source reference signal and quasi co-located reference signal through TCI state information as taught by Wang (‘446). The motivation to combine these references would be to improve sidelink beamforming through integration with existing LTE/NR standards thereby improving spectral efficiency [Wang (‘446) ¶ 0004].
Regarding claim 6, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the UE of claim 5, wherein: the transceiver is further configured to transmit or receive a set of activated TCI states, the set of activated TCI states is from the set of SL TCI states, and the beam indication is from the set of activated TCI states [Ganesan ¶ 0110: a separate TCI state may be signaled for a transmission of PSFCH from an RX UE to a TX UE, wherein the separate TCI state may be configured as part of the same TCI table that is configured by an PC5 RRC connection (here, the signaled TCI state is analogous to a beam indication, i.e., a beam correspondence between PSSCH transmission and PSFCH transmission)].
Regarding claim 16, Ganesan teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising: receiving a set of SL transmission configuration indication (TCI) states [Ganesan ¶ 0080: a TX UE may configure a sidelink TCI table based on its supported configuration of a plurality of sidelink reference signals like SL CSI-RS and may signal a dedicated reference signal configuration together with a TCI state table in PC5 RRC (i.e. to first UE)].
However, Ganesan does not explicitly disclose a SL TCI state, from the set of SL TCI states, includes a reference signal identifier (ID) corresponding to the first set of reference signals or the second set of reference signals.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang (‘446) teaches a SL TCI state, from the set of SL TCI states, includes a reference signal identifier (ID) corresponding to the first set of reference signals or the second set of reference signals [Wang (‘446) ¶ 0087: a sidelink TCI state may have information including: a sidelink CSI-RS resource identifier or a sidelink SSB index corresponding to the source reference signal and/or spatial receive parameters that can be derived from the source reference signal].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating a relationship between a source reference signal and quasi co-located reference signal through TCI state information as taught by Wang (‘446). The motivation to combine these references would be to improve sidelink beamforming through integration with existing LTE/NR standards thereby improving spectral efficiency [Wang (‘446) ¶ 0004].
Regarding claim 17, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting or receiving a set of activated TCI states, wherein: the set of activated TCI states is from the set of SL TCI states, and the beam indication is from the set of activated TCI states [Ganesan ¶ 0110: a separate TCI state may be signaled for a transmission of PSFCH from an RX UE to a TX UE, wherein the separate TCI state may be configured as part of the same TCI table that is configured by an PC5 RRC connection (here, the signaled TCI state is analogous to a beam indication, i.e., a beam correspondence between PSSCH transmission and PSFCH transmission)].
Claim(s) 7 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) in view of Wang et al. (US 2024/0089950 A1; “Wang (‘950)”).
Regarding claim 7, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the UE of claim 5, wherein: the transceiver is further configured to transmit or receive a set of activated TCI states [Ganesan ¶ 0110: a separate TCI state may be signaled for a transmission of PSFCH from an RX UE to a TX UE, wherein the separate TCI state may be configured as part of the same TCI table that is configured by an PC5 RRC connection (i.e. activated TCI states for PSFCH)].
However, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) does not explicitly disclose the TCI state comprising codepoints, and a TCI state codepoint from the set of activated TCI state codepoints is one of: a TCI state for the first SL channel, a TCI state for the second SL channel, a TCI state for the first SL channel and the second SL channel, or a pair of TCI states including a TCI state for the first SL channel and a TCI state for the second SL channel.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang (‘950) teaches the TCI state comprising codepoints [Wang (‘950) ¶ 0084: first UE may indicate, in a TCI field in SCI-2 transmitted to the second UE, a TCI codepoint that indicates a sidelink TCI state for a sidelink communication], and a TCI state codepoint from the set of activated TCI state codepoints is one of: a TCI state for the first SL channel, a TCI state for the second SL channel, a TCI state for the first SL channel and the second SL channel, or a pair of TCI states including a TCI state for the first SL channel and a TCI state for the second SL channel [Wang (‘950) ¶ 0088: unified TCI state may include at least one of a joint forward link and reverse link TCI state applicable to a plurality of sidelink channels on a forward link between the first UE and the second UE and a plurality of sidelink channels on a reverse link between the first UE and the second UE, a separate forward link TCI state applicable to the plurality of sidelink channels on the forward link, or a separate reverse link TCI state applicable to the plurality of sidelink channels on the reverse link].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating a relationship between a source reference signal and quasi co-located reference signal through unified TCI state through TCI codepoint information as taught by Wang (‘950). The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce signaling overhead for beam configuration in a sidelink communication system [Wang (‘950) ¶ 0088].
Regarding claim 18, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting or receiving a set of activated TCI states [Ganesan ¶ 0110: a separate TCI state may be signaled for a transmission of PSFCH from an RX UE to a TX UE, wherein the separate TCI state may be configured as part of the same TCI table that is configured by an PC5 RRC connection (i.e. activated TCI states for PSFCH)].
However, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) does not explicitly disclose the TCI state comprising codepoints, and a TCI state codepoint from the set of activated TCI state codepoints is one of: a TCI state for the first SL channel, a TCI state for the second SL channel, a TCI state for the first SL channel and the second SL channel, or a pair of TCI states including a TCI state for the first SL channel and a TCI state for the second SL channel.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang (‘950) teaches the TCI state comprising codepoints [Wang (‘950) ¶ 0084: first UE may indicate, in a TCI field in SCI-2 transmitted to the second UE, a TCI codepoint that indicates a sidelink TCI state for a sidelink communication], and a TCI state codepoint from the set of activated TCI state codepoints is one of: a TCI state for the first SL channel, a TCI state for the second SL channel, a TCI state for the first SL channel and the second SL channel, or a pair of TCI states including a TCI state for the first SL channel and a TCI state for the second SL channel [Wang (‘950) ¶ 0088: unified TCI state may include at least one of a joint forward link and reverse link TCI state applicable to a plurality of sidelink channels on a forward link between the first UE and the second UE and a plurality of sidelink channels on a reverse link between the first UE and the second UE, a separate forward link TCI state applicable to the plurality of sidelink channels on the forward link, or a separate reverse link TCI state applicable to the plurality of sidelink channels on the reverse link].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating a relationship between a source reference signal and quasi co-located reference signal through unified TCI state through TCI codepoint information as taught by Wang (‘950). The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce signaling overhead for beam configuration in a sidelink communication system [Wang (‘950) ¶ 0088].
Claim(s) 8-9 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) in view of Wang et al. (US 2023/0180132 A1; “Wang (132)”).
Regarding claim 8, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the UE of claim 5, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein: the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the first SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang teaches the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the first SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control [Wang (‘132) ¶ 0077: TCI may be configured to include the P0, alpha, and sidelink reference signal; the QCL information in RRC configured TCI states may include the P0 and alpha; ¶ 0070: power control parameters may be applied to either channel directions (i.e. first and second channel)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating power control and pathloss parameters associated with respective TCI states as taught by Wang (‘132). The motivation to combine these references would be achieve beam dependent power control in a sidelink communication system thereby reducing power consumption [Wang (‘132) ¶¶ 0003-0005].
Regarding claim 9, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the UE of claim 5, however, does not explicitly disclose herein: the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the second SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang (‘132) teaches the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the second SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control [Wang (‘132) ¶ 0077: TCI may be configured to include the P0, alpha, and sidelink reference signal; the QCL information in RRC configured TCI states may include the P0 and alpha; ¶ 0070: power control parameters may be applied to either channel directions (i.e. first and second channel)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating power control and pathloss parameters associated with respective TCI states as taught by Wang (‘132). The motivation to combine these references would be achieve beam dependent power control in a sidelink communication system thereby reducing power consumption [Wang (‘132) ¶¶ 0003-0005].
Regarding claim 19, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the method of claim 16, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein: the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the first SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang teaches the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the first SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control [Wang (‘132) ¶ 0077: TCI may be configured to include the P0, alpha, and sidelink reference signal; the QCL information in RRC configured TCI states may include the P0 and alpha; ¶ 0070: power control parameters may be applied to either channel directions (i.e. first and second channel)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating power control and pathloss parameters associated with respective TCI states as taught by Wang (‘132). The motivation to combine these references would be achieve beam dependent power control in a sidelink communication system thereby reducing power consumption [Wang (‘132) ¶¶ 0003-0005].
Regarding claim 20, Ganesan in view of Wang (‘446) teaches the method of claim 16, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein: the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the second SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Wang (‘132) teaches the SL TCI state includes power control parameters for the second SL channel, and the power control parameters include: a PO value for SL pathloss-based power control, and an alpha value for SL pathloss-based power control [Wang (‘132) ¶ 0077: TCI may be configured to include the P0, alpha, and sidelink reference signal; the QCL information in RRC configured TCI states may include the P0 and alpha; ¶ 0070: power control parameters may be applied to either channel directions (i.e. first and second channel)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of indicating power control and pathloss parameters associated with respective TCI states as taught by Wang (‘132). The motivation to combine these references would be achieve beam dependent power control in a sidelink communication system thereby reducing power consumption [Wang (‘132) ¶¶ 0003-0005].
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganesan in view of Zhang et al. (US 2022/0085921 A1; “Zhang”).
Regarding claim 10, Ganesan teaches the UE of claim 1, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the time T is based on a sub-carrier spacing configuration of a SL bandwidth part (BWP) associated with the first or second SL channel.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Zhang teaches wherein the time T is based on a sub-carrier spacing configuration of a SL bandwidth part (BWP) associated with the first or second SL channel [Zhang ¶ 0102: the PSFCH time domain resource and the PSFCH subcarrier spacing jointly determine the value of the slot offset].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining PSFCH resources and beam direction based on received sidelink reference signals taught by Ganesan, with the method of determining a slot offset for transmission of a PSFCH according to a subcarrier spacing of the carrier as taught by Zhang. The motivation to combine these references would be to improve the reliability and stability of a sidelink communication system [Zhang: Abstract].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 13-15 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 BRIAN P COX whose telephone number is (571)272-2728. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4PM EST.
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/BRIAN P COX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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