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 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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 18, 22, 23, 29 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AIBA et al. US 2022/0104238 (hereinafter AIBA), in view of HAMIDI-SEPHER et al. US 2024/0259246 (hereinafter HAM).
Regarding claim 1, AIBA teaches a user equipment (UE) [AIBA, Fig. 10, UE],
comprising:
one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and
[AIBA, Fig. 10, Memory 1005, Instructions 1007a]
one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:
[AIBA, Fig. 10, Processor 1003, Instructions 1007b, ¶225 (Instructions 1007b are instructions 1007a that have been loaded onto the processor from memory for the purpose of execution or processing.)]
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establish a wireless connection with a wireless communications device via an wireless communications channel;
([AIRA, Figs. 2 & 6, ¶52, ¶57 and ¶170-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) establishes wireless connection via a radio sidelink (SL) with the Second UE (UE-2), interpreted as the claimed wireless connection with a wireless communications device via a wireless communications channel. The wireless connection via the SL is identified in the Figure 6 below as L2. Wherein the SL is comprised of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).)
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transmit control signaling to the wireless communications device, the control signaling comprising a communications configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, the one or more constraints comprising a minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel, a Fourier transform constraint, a subcarrier spacing constraint, or any combination thereof; and
([AIRA, ¶169-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) transmits information for configuring the SL using the RRC message (interpreted as the claimed control signaling) comprising communication configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, wherein the one or more constraints comprising a single (only one) SL BWP in the SL (instead of more than one SL BWP – therefore a one SL BWP is interpreted as constraint of minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel), a subcarrier spacing (SCS) and other constraints such as the number of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) which is a bandwidth of PRBs which is also interpreted as being a form of bandwidth constraint.)
communicate one or more sidelink messages with the wireless communications device via the wireless communications channel using a set of communications parameters determined based at least in part on the communications configuration,
([AIBA, ¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) and the Second UE (UE-2) send and receive SL communications using the activated single SL BWP as configured (which is the interpreted constraint of minimum bandwidth).)
wherein the set of communications parameters comprise a subcarrier spacing.
([AIBA, ¶169-¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the set of communication parameters comprises a subcarrier spacing), but it does not teach that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum nor does it teach that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
HAM teaches that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum and that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
([HAM, ¶147 and ¶152] the wireless communications network 300 comprises a RAN providing unlicensed spectrum to plurality of UEs that coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface using physical sidelink channels operating in the unlicensed spectrum as the UEs are configured to also use WLAN resources which are unlicensed spectrum in addition to cellular radio resources. [HAM, ¶200] HAM also teaches that the set of communication parameters for low-latency transmission and reception require partitioned bandwidth of a single component carrier (claims as a component carrier bandwidth) and smaller size FFT blocks (claims as a fast Fourier transform size).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, indicating the ability to control a UE to receive information from a base station to establish a sidelink with another device while implementing one or more constraints for communicating over the wireless channel of the sidelink, with the teachings of HAM, indicating that the sidelink which is the connection between the UEs of the RAN utilized to directly connect two or more UEs via a wireless communications channel and the corresponding spectrum for the wireless communication is unlicensed spectrum of the RAN. The benefiting result would have been the ability to perform low latency communications on the sidelink [HAM, ¶71 and ¶200]
Regarding claim 22, AIBA teaches a method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
[AIBA, Fig. 10, UE]
establishing a wireless connection with a wireless communications device via a wireless communications channel;
([AIRA, Figs. 2 & 6, ¶52, ¶57 and ¶170-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) establishes wireless connection via a radio sidelink (SL) with the Second UE (UE-2), interpreted as the claimed wireless connection with a wireless communications device via a wireless communications channel. The wireless connection via the SL is identified in the Figure 6 below as L2. Wherein the SL is comprised of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).)
transmitting control signaling to the wireless communications device, the control signaling comprising a communications configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, the one or more constraints comprising a minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel, a Fourier transform constraint, a subcarrier spacing constraint, or any combination thereof; and
([AIRA, ¶169-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) transmits information for configuring the SL using the RRC message (interpreted as the claimed control signaling) comprising communication configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, wherein the one or more constraints comprising a single (only one) SL BWP in the SL (instead of more than one SL BWP – therefore a one SL BWP is interpreted as constraint of minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel), a subcarrier spacing (SCS) and other constraints such as the number of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) which is a bandwidth of PRBs which is also interpreted as being a form of bandwidth constraint.)
communicating one or more sidelink messages with the wireless communications device via the wireless communications channel using a set of communications parameters determined based at least in part on the communications configuration,
([AIBA, ¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) and the Second UE (UE-2) send and receive SL communications using the activated single SL BWP as configured (which is the interpreted constraint of minimum bandwidth) )
wherein the set of communications parameters comprise a component carrier bandwidth a subcarrier spacing.
([AIBA, ¶169-¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the set of communication parameters comprises a subcarrier spacing), but it does not teach that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum nor does it teach that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
HAM teaches that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum and that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
([HAM, ¶147 and ¶152] the wireless communications network 300 comprises a RAN providing unlicensed spectrum to plurality of UEs that coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface using physical sidelink channels operating in the unlicensed spectrum as the UEs are configured to also use WLAN resources which are unlicensed spectrum in addition to cellular radio resources. [HAM, ¶200] HAM also teaches that the set of communication parameters for low-latency transmission and reception require partitioned bandwidth of a single component carrier (claims as a component carrier bandwidth) and smaller size FFT blocks (claims as a fast Fourier transform size).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, indicating the ability to control a UE to receive information from a base station to establish a sidelink with another device while implementing one or more constraints for communicating over the wireless channel of the sidelink, with the teachings of HAM, indicating that the sidelink which is the connection between the UEs of the RAN utilized to directly connect two or more UEs via a wireless communications channel and the corresponding spectrum for the wireless communication is unlicensed spectrum of the RAN. The benefiting result would have been the ability to perform low latency communications on the sidelink [HAM, ¶71 and ¶200]
Regarding claim 29, AIBA teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to:
[AIBA, Fig. 10, Processor 1003, Memory 1005, Instructions 1007a, Instructions 1007b, ¶225 (Instructions 1007b are instructions 1007a that have been loaded onto the processor from memory for the purpose of execution or processing.)]
establish a wireless connection with a wireless communications device via an wireless communications channel;
([AIRA, Figs. 2 & 6, ¶52, ¶57 and ¶170-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) establishes wireless connection via a radio sidelink (SL) with the Second UE (UE-2), interpreted as the claimed wireless connection with a wireless communications device via a wireless communications channel. The wireless connection via the SL is identified in the Figure 6 below as L2. Wherein the SL is comprised of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).)
transmit control signaling to the wireless communications device, the control signaling comprising a communications configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, the one or more constraints comprising a minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel, a Fourier transform constraint, a subcarrier spacing constraint, or any combination thereof; and
([AIRA, ¶169-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) transmits information for configuring the SL using the RRC message (interpreted as the claimed control signaling) comprising communication configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, wherein the one or more constraints comprising a single (only one) SL BWP in the SL (instead of more than one SL BWP – therefore a one SL BWP is interpreted as constraint of minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel), a subcarrier spacing (SCS) and other constraints such as the number of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) which is a bandwidth of PRBs which is also interpreted as being a form of bandwidth constraint.)
communicate one or more sidelink messages with the wireless communications device via the wireless communications channel using a set of communications parameters determined based at least in part on the communications configuration,
([AIBA, ¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) and the Second UE (UE-2) send and receive SL communications using the activated single SL BWP as configured (which is the interpreted constraint of minimum bandwidth) )
wherein the set of communications parameters comprise a subcarrier spacing.
([AIBA, ¶169-¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the set of communication parameters comprises a subcarrier spacing), but it does not teach that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum nor does it teach that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
HAM teaches that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum and that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
([HAM, ¶147 and ¶152] the wireless communications network 300 comprises a RAN providing unlicensed spectrum to plurality of UEs that coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface using physical sidelink channels operating in the unlicensed spectrum as the UEs are configured to also use WLAN resources which are unlicensed spectrum in addition to cellular radio resources. [HAM, ¶200] HAM also teaches that the set of communication parameters for low-latency transmission and reception require partitioned bandwidth of a single component carrier (claims as a component carrier bandwidth) and smaller size FFT blocks (claims as a fast Fourier transform size).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, indicating the ability to control a UE to receive information from a base station to establish a sidelink with another device while implementing one or more constraints for communicating over the wireless channel of the sidelink, with the teachings of HAM, indicating that the sidelink which is the connection between the UEs of the RAN utilized to directly connect two or more UEs via a wireless communications channel and the corresponding spectrum for the wireless communication is unlicensed spectrum of the RAN. The benefiting result would have been the ability to perform low latency communications on the sidelink [HAM, ¶71 and ¶200]
Regarding claim 30, AIBA teaches a user equipment (UE) [AIBA, Fig. 10 depicts the UE],
comprising:
means for establishing a wireless connection with a wireless communications device via an wireless communications channel;
([AIRA, ¶44 (PC5 interface for wireless sidelink (SL) UE-UE communications))]
means for transmitting control signaling to the wireless communications device, the control signaling comprising a communications configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, the one or more constraints comprising a minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel, a Fourier transform constraint, a subcarrier spacing constraint, or any combination thereof; and
([AIRA, ¶169-¶171] AIRA teaches wherein the First UE (UE-1) comprises a transmitter that transmits information for configuring the SL using the RRC message (interpreted as the claimed control signaling) comprising communication configuration that indicates one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, wherein the one or more constraints comprising a single (only one) SL BWP in the SL (instead of more than one SL BWP – therefore a one SL BWP is interpreted as constraint of minimum bandwidth of the wireless communications channel), a subcarrier spacing (SCS) and other constraints such as the number of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) which is a bandwidth of PRBs which is also interpreted as being a form of bandwidth constraint.)
means for communicating one or more sidelink messages with the wireless communications device via the unlicensed wireless communications channel using a set of communications parameters determined based at least in part on the communications configuration,
([AIBA, ¶171, ¶225 and ¶232] AIBA teaches processor 1003 also noted as the control means 1224 performs operations/functions to control the First UE (UE-1) and the Second UE (UE-2) send and receive SL communications using the activated single SL BWP as configured (which is the interpreted constraint of minimum bandwidth).)
wherein the set of communications parameters comprise a subcarrier spacing.
([AIBA, ¶169-¶171] AIBA teaches wherein the set of communication parameters comprises a subcarrier spacing), but it does not teach that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum nor does it teach that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
HAM teaches that the wireless communications channel utilizes unlicensed spectrum and that the set of communication parameters also comprises a component carrier bandwidth and a fast Fourier transform size.
([HAM, ¶147 and ¶152] the wireless communications network 300 comprises a RAN providing unlicensed spectrum to plurality of UEs that coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface using physical sidelink channels operating in the unlicensed spectrum as the UEs are configured to also use WLAN resources which are unlicensed spectrum in addition to cellular radio resources. [HAM, ¶200] HAM also teaches that the set of communication parameters for low-latency transmission and reception require partitioned bandwidth of a single component carrier (claims as a component carrier bandwidth) and smaller size FFT blocks (claims as a fast Fourier transform size).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, indicating the ability to control a UE to receive information from a base station to establish a sidelink with another device while implementing one or more constraints for communicating over the wireless channel of the sidelink, with the teachings of HAM, indicating that the sidelink which is the connection between the UEs of the RAN utilized to directly connect two or more UEs via a wireless communications channel and the corresponding spectrum for the wireless communication is unlicensed spectrum of the RAN. The benefiting result would have been the ability to perform low latency communications on the sidelink [HAM, ¶71 and ¶200]
Regarding claim 2 and claim 23, the combination of AIBA, in view of HAM teaches the UE of claim 1 and the method of claim 22 respectively, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:
receive, from a network entity, radio resource control signaling indicating a subcarrier spacing numerology associated with one or more subcarrier spacings for communicating with the network entity; and
[AIBA, ¶166] As described by AIBA, the First UE may receive from the gNB (basestation) a RRC message including information of the SCS that is to be used for the DL communications over the link between the gNB and the First UE.
communicate one or more messages with the network entity in accordance with the one or more subcarrier spacings associated with the subcarrier spacing numerology, wherein the subcarrier spacing constraint associated with communications over the unlicensed wireless communications channel comprises an expansion of the subcarrier spacing numerology to include one or more additional subcarrier spacings within the subcarrier spacing numerology, and wherein the subcarrier spacing used to communicate the one or more sidelink messages with the wireless communications device is different from the one or more subcarrier spacings based at least in part on the expansion of the subcarrier spacing numerology.
([AIBA, ¶58-¶60] Numerologies (subcarrier spacing (SCS)) for the UL and DL communications link between the UE and the base station (gNB), interpreted as a network entity, are separately configured from the numerologies (subcarriers) configured for the UE to UE sidelink. [AIBA, ¶169-¶170] Additionally, AIBA teaches wherein the RRC message sent be the First UE to the Second UE comprises its own subcarrier spacing for the sidelink communications (interpreted as the claimed expansion of the subcarrier spacing (SCS) numerology which is an additional SCS set that is different from the SCS numerology between the gNB and First UE link because the SCS numerology between the First UE and the Second UE is a separate set of SCS numerologies). [HAM, ¶147 and ¶152] HAM is relied upon to teach that the spectrum is unlicensed spectrum.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, indicating the configuring of a sidelink between the UEs having been configured with different SCS numerologies for wireless communication, in view of HAM, indicating that the wireless communications spectrum is unlicensed. The resulting benefit would have been the ability to reduce the cost of operation as unlicensed spectrum does not require a fee for the user to operate the device.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of AIBA, in view of HAM teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: receive, from a network entity, radio resource control signaling indicating the one or more constraints for communicating within the wireless communications channel, wherein transmitting the control signaling, communicating the one or more sidelink messages, or both, is based at least in part on receiving the radio resource control signaling.
([AIBA, ¶44, ¶83 and ¶169-¶170] The terminal (the First UE) receives an information used for configuring only one sidelink BWP (interpreted as comprising at least the constraint of the minimum BW) indicated by the gNB/base station (interpreted as the network entity) through radio resource control (RRC) signaling,
but AIBA does not explicitly teach wherein the sidelink is unlicensed.
However, HAM teaches wherein the wireless communications network 300 comprises a RAN providing unlicensed spectrum to plurality of UEs that coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface using physical sidelink channels operating in the unlicensed spectrum as the UEs are configured to also use WLAN resources which are unlicensed spectrum in addition to cellular radio resources [HAM, ¶147 and ¶152].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, indicating the gNB/basestation sending RRC signaling to the UE to configure the UE which minimum bandwidth constraints to utilize for its sidelink connection to another UE, with the teachings of HAM, indicating that the RAN provides the UEs unlicensed spectrum to utilize for communication within the RAN which further comprises the UE’s sidelink connections to other UEs in the RAN. The benefiting result of the combination would have been the ability to maintain lower operating costs for the end user of the UE as operating in the unlicensed band is not fee-based.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AIBA, in view of HAM as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Talarico et al. US 2025/0106894 (hereinafter Talar).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of AIBA, in view of HAM teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code (See the rejection of claim 1 and also see Fig. 10 of the UE’s processor and instructions being executed by the UE’s processor.)
But the combination of AIBA, in view of HAM does not teach causing the UE to:
perform measurements for the unlicensed wireless communications channel; and identify, based at least in part on the measurements, a plurality of wireless communications devices including the wireless communications device that are to perform wireless communications multiplexed via the unlicensed wireless communications channel, wherein the one or more sidelink messages communicated with the wireless communications device are multiplexed with additional sidelink messages communicated with the plurality of wireless communications devices in accordance with a frequency-domain multiplexing pattern, a time-domain multiplexing pattern, or both, based at least in part on a quantity of wireless communications devices included within the plurality of wireless communications devices, an emission regulation, or both.
However, Talar teaches performing measurements for the unlicensed wireless communications channel; and
([Talar, ¶ 105] The LBT measurements may be performed over chunks of bandwidth of the unlicensed wireless communications spectrum for sidelink communications.)
identify, based at least in part on the measurements, a plurality of wireless communications devices including the wireless communications device that are to perform wireless communications multiplexed via the unlicensed wireless communications channel, wherein the one or more sidelink messages communicated with the wireless communications device are multiplexed with additional sidelink messages communicated with the plurality of wireless communications devices in accordance with a frequency-domain multiplexing pattern, a time-domain multiplexing pattern, or both, based at least in part on a quantity of wireless communications devices included within the plurality of wireless communications devices, an emission regulation, or both.
([Talar, ¶ 105] The LBT measurements may be performed over chunks of bandwidth of the unlicensed wireless communications spectrum to determine resource selection for sidelink transmissions (interpreted as sidelink messages) from the different UEs (interpreted as the claimed identified quantity of wireless communications devices) corresponding to their own sub-channel that can each be multiplexed together in the frequency domain (interpreted as being according to their claimed frequency domain pattern).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, in view of HAM, indicating the UEs connected to each other via sidelink channels, with the teachings of Talar, indicating the ability to measure the wireless channels and determine resource selection for sidelink transmissions to the UEs that will be multiplexed according to their corresponding subchannels in the frequency domain. The benefiting result of the combination would have been the ability increase spectrum utilization and resource efficiency.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AIBA, in view of HAM as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nimbalker et al. US 2019/0141647 (hereinafter Nimbal).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of AIBA, in view of HAM teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein, to communicate the one or more sidelink messages, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: transmit the one or more sidelink messages via a plurality of carriers of the unlicensed wireless communications channel.
(HAM, indicating that the RAN provides the UEs unlicensed spectrum to utilize for communication within the RAN which further comprises the UE’s sidelink connections to other UEs in the RAN)
, but it does not teach the sidelink transmission via a plurality of carriers of the channel using a transmit power that satisfies a transmit power constraint.
However, Nimbal teaches wherein the UE of sidelink V2V communications uses carrier aggregation for sidelink transmissions, wherein the claimed transmit power constraint is satisfied in Nimbal as demonstrated by Nimbal’s disclosure of performing transmit power sharing between the current sidelink transmission and the other sidelink transmissions [Nimbal, ¶187-¶188]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of AIBA, in view of HAM, indicating that the UE may transmit to other UEs using sidelink channels of unlicensed spectrum, with teachings of Nimbal, indicating that the UE sidelink transmissions are performed while adhering to a transmit power constraint of sharing transmit power with all the channels of the sidelink. The resulting benefit of the combination would have been the ability to maintain the power budget and improve energy efficiency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-15, 17, 19, 21 and 24-28 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The Examiner has conducted a prior art search of the available Patent and Non-Patent Literature and was unable to find any prior art which teaches, discloses or suggests either solely or in combination with another reference the claim limitations of claims 3-6, 8, 10-15, 17, 19, 21 and 24-28, in combination with all the other claim limitations of their respective base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/LONNIE V SWEET/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467