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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/10/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The applicant has amended the following:
Claims: 1, 3, 9, 11, 16 and 18 have been amended.
Claims: 4-8, 12-15 and 19-20 have not been amended.
Claims: 2, 10 and 17 have been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-9, 11-16 and 18-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “… transmitting, to a second UE, first sidelink control information (SCI) ) based on the explicit request for the IUC information being enabled; …” which recites two close parenthesis after the recited “SCI” and appears to be a typographical error and should only have one close parenthesis (i.e. “… transmitting, to a second UE, first sidelink control information (SCI)).
Claim 9 recites “… transmitting second SCI including the IUC information the first UE, …” which appears to include a typographical error as the recited limitations appears to be missing the word “to” in between the recited “IUC information” and “the first UE,” and for the purpose of examination and the rejection provided below will be interpreted to have said missing word “to” (i.e. “… transmitting second SCI including the IUC information to the first UE, …”).
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 3-9, 11-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK (US Patent Publication 2023/0239900 herein after referenced as Park) in view of PAN et al. (US Patent Publication 2024/0172235 herein after referenced as Pan) and further in view of DI GIROLAMO et al. (US Patent Publication 2023/0171738 herein after referenced as Di).
Regarding claim 1 and claim 16, Park discloses:
A method of a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising: and A first 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 to perform a method of: receiving configuration information (Park, [0136] discloses As another example, without a request from an upper layer, the PHY layer of the UE (i.e. reads on a first UE) may perform the CR transmission based on configuration provided (i.e. reads on receiving configuration information) from the upper layer; Park, [0237] discloses The terminal device 1850 may include a processor 1870, an antenna device 1862, a transceiver 1864, and a memory 1866; Park, [0240] discloses The memory 1866 may store operation-processed information of the processor 1870, software, an OS, and an application related to an operation of the terminal device 1850, and the like).
including an explicit request enablement indicator (Park, [0193] & Table 22 discloses Inter-UE coordination request: (i.e. reads on indicating whether an explicit request) This field refers to a field that indicates a coordination request status. Inter-UE coordination is enabled (i.e. reads on for IUC information is enabled) by upper layer signaling such as PC5-RRC and is available for CR when the inter-UE coordination request field is set to a value of 1 (i.e. reads on including an explicit request enablement indicator); Park, [0202] discloses As another example, when a specific condition or a specific configuration is satisfied without explicit signaling of the Tx UE, the C-UE may perform the resource coordination procedure).
transmitting, to a second UE, first sidelink control information (SCI)(Park, Fig. 16 & [0226] discloses the C-UE may receive a coordination request CR from the Tx UE. … The C-UE (i.e. reads on a second UE) may receive (i.e. reads on transmitting to) the coordination request based on at least one of a physical resource set of a PSFCH, a 1st / 2nd SCI format (i.e. reads on first SCI), CRC scrambling and DMRS sequence, and PSSCH. … As another example, a new 1st / 2nd SCI format for indicating the coordination request may be configured and, through this the coordination request may be indicated. As another example, the coordination request may be indicated through one of reserved bits within the SCI format; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21).
based on the explicit request for the IUC information being enabled; (Park, [0193] & Table 22 discloses Inter-UE coordination request: (i.e. reads on based on the explicit request) This field refers to a field that indicates a coordination request status. Inter-UE coordination is enabled (i.e. reads on for the IUC information being enabled) by upper layer signaling such as PC5-RRC and is available for CR when the inter-UE coordination request field is set to a value of 1; Park, [0136] discloses As another example, without a request from an upper layer, the PHY layer of the UE may perform the CR transmission based on configuration provided from the upper layer).
and receiving (Park, [0138] discloses The Tx UE 810 may transmit explicit signaling for requesting the C-UE 820 for transmission of a coordination message required for resource selection … When the C-UE 820 receives explicit signaling, the C-UE 820 (i.e. reads on the second UE) may prepare a coordination message and may transmit (i.e. reads on receiving from) the prepared coordination message (i.e. reads on including the IUC information) to the Tx UE 810. The Tx UE 810 may perform a resource reselection procedure based on the coordination message received from the C-UE 820; Park, [0153] discloses The UE may transmit CR information to the C-UE through the configured resource. The C-UE may receive the CR information and then provide coordination resource information i.e., CM to the Tx UE; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21).
wherein the first SCI includes an indicator for indicating the explicit request and first information on a requesting type of a resource set, (Park, Fig. 16 & [0226] discloses the C-UE may receive a coordination request CR from the Tx UE. Here, the coordination request may be 1 bit or more information bits. That is, the coordination request (i.e. reads on the first SCI) may include 1-bit information indicating (i.e. reads on an indicator for indicating) a case in which the Tx UE performs the coordination request (i.e. reads on the explicit request) to the C-UE … the coordinate request may include information bits greater than 1 bit to request information on a type of coordination information (i.e. reads on first information on a requesting type of a resource set) as well as a coordination request status. The C-UE may receive the coordination request based on at least one of a physical resource set of a PSFCH, a 1st / 2nd SCI format, CRC scrambling and DMRS sequence, and PSSCH. … As another example, a new 1st / 2nd SCI format for indicating the coordination request may be configured and, through this the coordination request may be indicated. As another example, the coordination request may be indicated through one of reserved bits within the SCI format; Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR. … Here, when the Tx UE transmits only a resource coordination request, only 1-bit information may be required. However, when the Tx UE transmits a type or a format of desired resource coordination information with the resource coordination request, the Tx UE needs to use 1 bit or more additional information bits to transmit the type or the format of desired resource coordination information; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21. Applicant’s Claim 3 recites “… wherein the requesting type of the resource set indicates preferred resources or non-preferred resources).
and (Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information (i.e. reads on includes second information on a providing type of the resource set) may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above. Applicant’s Claim 3 recites “… and the providing type of the resource set indicates preferred resource information or non-preferred resource information corresponding to the requesting type of the resource set”).
Park discloses receiving configuration information that includes an explicit request enablement indicator as well as disclosing requesting different types of resources but fails to explicitly recite that the enablement indicator is for the specific different types of resources or IUC schemes and therefore fails to disclose “receiving configuration information including an explicit request enablement indicator for first inter-UE coordination (IUC) scheme indicating whether an explicit request for IUC information is enabled and second IUC scheme enablement indicator indicating whether second IUC scheme is enabled; determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme based on the configuration information;”.
In addition, Park discloses a first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request but fails to explicitly recite that said coordination message is also received via an SCI and therefore fails to disclose “receiving second SCI including the IUC information from the second UE,” and “wherein the second SCI includes second information on a providing type of the resource set.”
In a related field of endeavor, Pan discloses:
receiving configuration information including an explicit request enablement indicator for first inter-UE coordination (IUC) scheme indicating whether an explicit request for IUC information is enabled and second IUC scheme enablement indicator indicating whether second IUC scheme is enabled; (Pan, [0193] discloses Different inter-UE coordination schemes may be defined. For example, inter-UE Coordination Scheme 1 may be defined where the coordination information sent from UE-A to UE-B is the set of resources preferred and/or non-preferred for UE-B's transmission. Inter-UE Coordination Scheme 2 may be defined where the coordination information sent from UE-A to UE-B is the presence of potential, expected and/or detected resource conflict on the resources indicated by UE-B's SCI. One or multiple inter-UE coordination schemes (i.e. reads on first IUC scheme and second IUC scheme) may be configured (i.e. reads on receiving configuration information). Inter-UE coordination scheme may be enabled or disabled. Inter-UE coordination scheme may be activated or deactivated. Inter-UE coordination scheme may be switched from one to the other. Whether inter-UE coordination is enabled or disabled may be indicated (i.e. reads on including an explicit request enablement indicator for first IUC scheme indicating whether an explicit request for IUC information is enabled and second IUC scheme enablement indicator indicating whether second IUC scheme is enabled). Support of inter-UE coordination may depend on UE capability. UE may also report its capability which inter-UE coordination scheme he is capable of to support. Which inter-UE coordination scheme to use may be indicated; Pan, [0086] discloses In another solution, UE B may feedback the desired type of resource set to UE A. UE B may request the desired type of resource set for power saving. UE A may refine its coordination information and send only the requested type of resource set. This may reduce overhead of coordination information or assistance information from UE A and at the same time reduce the power consumption for the sensing operation at UE B).
and receiving second SCI including the IUC information from the second UE, and wherein the second SCI includes second information on a providing type of the resource set (Pan, [0086] discloses In another solution, UE B may feedback the desired type of resource set to UE A. UE B may request the desired type of resource set for power saving. UE A (i.e. reads on from the second UE) may refine its coordination information and send (i.e. reads on receiving second SCI) only the requested type of resource set (i.e. reads on including the IUC information and reads on second information on a providing type of the resource set). This may reduce overhead of coordination information or assistance information from UE A and at the same time reduce the power consumption for the sensing operation at UE B; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI (i.e. reads on second SCI) and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small; Pan, [0100] discloses According to some aspects, enhanced power saving using inter-UE coordination is depicted in FIG. 1. UE may receive indication for which resources may be preferred for use e.g., resource type A (i.e. reads on providing type of the resource set). UE may receive indication for which resources may not be preferred for use e.g., resource type B. UE may also receive indication for which resources may have resource conflict e.g., resource type C. UE may determine power consumption for resource types A, B and C and determine which resource type may have the least power consumption or most power saving; Pan, [0091] discloses SCI format may be SCI format 2-A and 2-B. A new SCI format may also be used, such as SCI format 1-B, SCI format 1-X, SCI format 2-C, SCI format 2-Y or the like; Pan, [0072] discloses The first-stage SCIs transmitted by UEs on PSCCH may indicate the time-frequency resources in which the UE will transmit a PSSCH. These SCI transmissions may be used by sensing UEs to maintain a record of which resources have been reserved by other UEs in the recent past. Applicant’s Claim 3 recites “… and the providing type of the resource set indicates preferred resource information or non-preferred resource information corresponding to the requesting type of the resource set”).
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 Park to incorporate the teachings of Pan for the purpose of providing the system with a means to allow the mobile device to identify which IUC scheme is enabled or disabled (Pan, [0193]) in order to be able to determine which IUC scheme to request as well as providing the system with a means to utilize known signaling formats in transmitting inter-UE coordination response messages (Pan, [0086] & [0115]) 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 (i.e. Park, [0251]) 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 first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request as taught by Park) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request, wherein the IUC scheme or set of preferred resources or non-preferred resources are configured and indicated on whether said IUC schemes are enabled or disabled and wherein the coordination message response is received via another SCI such as an SCI format 2-C and includes time-frequency resources as taught by Pan) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of a first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request (i.e. as taught by both Park & Pan) 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.
Park in view of Pan discloses requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources wherein the different IUC schemes are configured and indicated as enabled but fails to explicitly recite that a determination is made of which IUC schemes are enabled is performed and therefore fails to disclose “determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme based on the configuration information;”.
In a related field of endeavor, Di discloses:
determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme based on the configuration information; (Di, [0128] discloses As another alternative, the requester UE may maintain this list based on the capability exchange during PC5 RRC connection setup procedure. This may be through a new assistantInfo IE in the UECapabilityInformationSidelink message. The assistantInfo IE may include information as to the type of assistance (i.e. reads on based on the configuration information) the peer UE may provide. For example: blacklist, whitelist, resource allocation, candidate resource set, and/or measurements. Based on this list, the requester UE needs to determine which peer UE to ask for assistance. The requester UE may make this determination based on the type of assistance information (i.e. reads on determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme). For example, the requester UE may need blacklist information only to one particular peer UE. In such a case, the requester UE would only target assistance from this particular peer UE. As another example, if the requester UE may need candidate resource set information, the requester UE may target all peer UEs in the list of assistant UEs. If the requester UE needs to contact a peer UE on the list of assistant UEs for which it has no PC5 RRC connection, the requester UE may establish a PC5 RRC connection to this peer in order to obtain the needed assistance; Di, [0154]-[0155] discloses First is blacklist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it does not want to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots and subchannels are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window and discloses Second is whitelist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it prefers to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots/subchannels/beams are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window; Di, [0178] discloses The whitelist may include a set of slots for which an assistant UE tells the requester UE that the sidelink transmission over these slots is allowed or preferred; Di, [0189] discloses The blacklist may include a set of slots for which an assistant UE tells the requester UE that the sidelink transmission over these slots should not be allowed).
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 Park in view of Pan to incorporate the teachings of Di for the purpose of providing the system with a means to identify which peer to request assistance information based on the type of assistance or IUC schemes is enabled or provided by said peer (Di, [0128])
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 (i.e. Park, [0251]) 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 requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources as taught by Park) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources, wherein a determination is made of which different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources from configured resource pool for the configured observation window are enabled or provided as taught by Di) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources (i.e. as taught by both Park & Di) 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 and claim 18, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The first UE of claim 16 (see claim 16).
wherein the requesting type of the resource set indicates preferred resources or non-preferred resources, and the providing type of the resource set indicates preferred resource information or non-preferred resource information corresponding to the requesting type of the resource set (Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR; Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above; Pan, [0100] discloses According to some aspects, enhanced power saving using inter-UE coordination is depicted in FIG. 1. UE may receive indication for which resources may be preferred for use e.g., resource type A. UE may receive indication for which resources may not be preferred for use e.g., resource type B. UE may also receive indication for which resources may have resource conflict e.g., resource type C. UE may determine power consumption for resource types A, B and C and determine which resource type may have the least power consumption or most power saving).
Regarding claim 4 and claim 19, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The first UE of claim 16 (see claim 16).
wherein the first SCI further includes time resource information, and preferred resources or non-preferred resources indicated by the IUC information of the second SCI are determined within a time resource indicated by the time resource information (Pan, [0072] discloses The first-stage SCIs transmitted by UEs on PSCCH may indicate the time-frequency resources in which the UE will transmit a PSSCH. These SCI transmissions may be used by sensing UEs to maintain a record of which resources have been reserved by other UEs in the recent past; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21; Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR).
Regarding claim 5 and claim 20, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The first UE of claim 16 (see claim 16).
wherein the first SCI further includes frequency resource information, and preferred resources or non-preferred resources indicated by the IUC information of the second SCI are determined within a frequency resource indicated by the frequency resource information (Pan, [0072] discloses The first-stage SCIs transmitted by UEs on PSCCH may indicate the time-frequency resources in which the UE will transmit a PSSCH. These SCI transmissions may be used by sensing UEs to maintain a record of which resources have been reserved by other UEs in the recent past; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21; Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR).
Regarding claim 6, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein preferred resources or non-preferred resources indicated by the IUC information of the second SCI are determined within a resource pool (Park, [0130] discloses the C-UE 730-4 may generate coordination resource set information CM and may provide the same to the Tx UE 730-1 in consideration of scheduling resource information and/or resource pool allocated to generate resource coordination information from the base station 730-1; Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above; Di, [0154]-[0155] discloses First is blacklist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it does not want to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots and subchannels are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window and discloses Second is whitelist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it prefers to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots/subchannels/beams are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window).
Regarding claim 7, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein the first SCI is configured by higher layer signaling to include the indicator for requesting the IUC information (Park, [0136] discloses As another example, without a request from an upper layer, the PHY layer of the UE may perform the CR transmission based on configuration provided from the upper layer; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21).
Regarding claim 8, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein each of the first SCI and the second SCI is an SCI format 2-C (Pan, [0091] discloses SCI format may be SCI format 2-A and 2-B. A new SCI format may also be used, such as SCI format 1-B, SCI format 1-X, SCI format 2-C, SCI format 2-Y or the like; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small).
Regarding claim 9, Park discloses:
A method of a second user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a first UE, first sidelink control information (SCI) (Park, Fig. 16 & [0226] discloses the C-UE may receive a coordination request CR from the Tx UE (i.e. reads on a first UE). … The C-UE (i.e. reads on a second UE) may receive (i.e. reads on receiving from) the coordination request based on at least one of a physical resource set of a PSFCH, a 1st / 2nd SCI format (i.e. reads on first SCI), CRC scrambling and DMRS sequence, and PSSCH. … As another example, a new 1st / 2nd SCI format for indicating the coordination request may be configured and, through this the coordination request may be indicated. As another example, the coordination request may be indicated through one of reserved bits within the SCI format; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21).
based on the first UE receiving configuration information (Park, [0136] discloses As another example, without a request from an upper layer, the PHY layer of the UE (i.e. reads on the first UE) may perform the CR transmission based on configuration provided (i.e. reads on based on receiving configuration information) from the upper layer).
including an explicit request enablement indicator (Park, [0193] & Table 22 discloses Inter-UE coordination request: (i.e. reads on indicating whether an explicit request) This field refers to a field that indicates a coordination request status. Inter-UE coordination is enabled (i.e. reads on for IUC information is enabled) by upper layer signaling such as PC5-RRC and is available for CR when the inter-UE coordination request field is set to a value of 1 (i.e. reads on including an explicit request enablement indicator); Park, [0202] discloses As another example, when a specific condition or a specific configuration is satisfied without explicit signaling of the Tx UE, the C-UE may perform the resource coordination procedure).
determining the IUC information based on the first SCI; (Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C (i.e. reads on the first SCI) to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM (i.e. reads on determining the IUC information) transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21 (i.e. reads on based on the first SCI); Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above).
and transmitting to the first UE, (Park, [0138] discloses The Tx UE 810 may transmit explicit signaling for requesting the C-UE 820 for transmission of a coordination message required for resource selection … When the C-UE 820 receives explicit signaling, the C-UE 820 may prepare a coordination message and may transmit (i.e. reads on transmitting to) the prepared coordination message (i.e. reads on including the IUC information) to the Tx UE 810 (i.e. reads on the first UE). The Tx UE 810 may perform a resource reselection procedure based on the coordination message received from the C-UE 820; Park, [0153] discloses The UE may transmit CR information to the C-UE through the configured resource. The C-UE may receive the CR information and then provide coordination resource information i.e., CM to the Tx UE; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21).
wherein the first SCI includes an indicator for indicating the explicit request and first information on a requesting type of a resource set, (Park, Fig. 16 & [0226] discloses the C-UE may receive a coordination request CR from the Tx UE. Here, the coordination request may be 1 bit or more information bits. That is, the coordination request (i.e. reads on the first SCI) may include 1-bit information indicating (i.e. reads on an indicator for indicating) a case in which the Tx UE performs the coordination request (i.e. reads on the explicit request) to the C-UE … the coordinate request may include information bits greater than 1 bit to request information on a type of coordination information (i.e. reads on first information on a requesting type of a resource set) as well as a coordination request status. The C-UE may receive the coordination request based on at least one of a physical resource set of a PSFCH, a 1st / 2nd SCI format, CRC scrambling and DMRS sequence, and PSSCH. … As another example, a new 1st / 2nd SCI format for indicating the coordination request may be configured and, through this the coordination request may be indicated. As another example, the coordination request may be indicated through one of reserved bits within the SCI format; Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR. … Here, when the Tx UE transmits only a resource coordination request, only 1-bit information may be required. However, when the Tx UE transmits a type or a format of desired resource coordination information with the resource coordination request, the Tx UE needs to use 1 bit or more additional information bits to transmit the type or the format of desired resource coordination information; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21. Applicant’s Claim 3 recites “… wherein the requesting type of the resource set indicates preferred resources or non-preferred resources).
and wherein (Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information (i.e. reads on includes second information on a providing type of the resource set) may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above. Applicant’s Claim 3 recites “… and the providing type of the resource set indicates preferred resource information or non-preferred resource information corresponding to the requesting type of the resource set”).
Park discloses receiving configuration information that includes an explicit request enablement indicator as well as disclosing requesting different types of resources but fails to explicitly recite that the enablement indicator is for the specific different types of resources or IUC schemes and therefore fails to disclose “receiving configuration information including an explicit request enablement indicator for first inter-UE coordination (IUC) scheme indicating whether an explicit request for IUC information is enabled and second IUC scheme enablement indicator indicating whether second IUC scheme is enabled, and the first UE determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme based on the configuration information;”.
In addition, Park discloses a first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request but fails to explicitly recite that said coordination message is also received via an SCI and therefore fails to disclose “and transmitting second SCI including the IUC information the first UE,” and “and wherein the second SCI includes second information on a providing type of the resource set.”
In a related field of endeavor, Pan discloses:
receiving configuration information including an explicit request enablement indicator for first inter-UE coordination (IUC) scheme indicating whether an explicit request for IUC information is enabled and second IUC scheme enablement indicator indicating whether second IUC scheme is enabled, (Pan, [0193] discloses Different inter-UE coordination schemes may be defined. For example, inter-UE Coordination Scheme 1 may be defined where the coordination information sent from UE-A to UE-B is the set of resources preferred and/or non-preferred for UE-B's transmission. Inter-UE Coordination Scheme 2 may be defined where the coordination information sent from UE-A to UE-B is the presence of potential, expected and/or detected resource conflict on the resources indicated by UE-B's SCI. One or multiple inter-UE coordination schemes (i.e. reads on first IUC scheme and second IUC scheme) may be configured (i.e. reads on receiving configuration information). Inter-UE coordination scheme may be enabled or disabled. Inter-UE coordination scheme may be activated or deactivated. Inter-UE coordination scheme may be switched from one to the other. Whether inter-UE coordination is enabled or disabled may be indicated (i.e. reads on including an explicit request enablement indicator for first IUC scheme indicating whether an explicit request for IUC information is enabled and second IUC scheme enablement indicator indicating whether second IUC scheme is enabled). Support of inter-UE coordination may depend on UE capability. UE may also report its capability which inter-UE coordination scheme he is capable of to support. Which inter-UE coordination scheme to use may be indicated; Pan, [0086] discloses In another solution, UE B may feedback the desired type of resource set to UE A. UE B may request the desired type of resource set for power saving. UE A may refine its coordination information and send only the requested type of resource set. This may reduce overhead of coordination information or assistance information from UE A and at the same time reduce the power consumption for the sensing operation at UE B).
and transmitting second SCI including the IUC information the first UE, and wherein the second SCI includes second information on a providing type of the resource set (Pan, [0086] discloses In another solution, UE B may feedback the desired type of resource set to UE A. UE B may request the desired type of resource set for power saving. UE A (i.e. reads on from the second UE) may refine its coordination information and send (i.e. reads on receiving second SCI) only the requested type of resource set (i.e. reads on including the IUC information and reads on second information on a providing type of the resource set). This may reduce overhead of coordination information or assistance information from UE A and at the same time reduce the power consumption for the sensing operation at UE B; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI (i.e. reads on second SCI) and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small; Pan, [0100] discloses According to some aspects, enhanced power saving using inter-UE coordination is depicted in FIG. 1. UE may receive indication for which resources may be preferred for use e.g., resource type A (i.e. reads on providing type of the resource set). UE may receive indication for which resources may not be preferred for use e.g., resource type B. UE may also receive indication for which resources may have resource conflict e.g., resource type C. UE may determine power consumption for resource types A, B and C and determine which resource type may have the least power consumption or most power saving; Pan, [0091] discloses SCI format may be SCI format 2-A and 2-B. A new SCI format may also be used, such as SCI format 1-B, SCI format 1-X, SCI format 2-C, SCI format 2-Y or the like; Pan, [0072] discloses The first-stage SCIs transmitted by UEs on PSCCH may indicate the time-frequency resources in which the UE will transmit a PSSCH. These SCI transmissions may be used by sensing UEs to maintain a record of which resources have been reserved by other UEs in the recent past. Applicant’s Claim 3 recites “… and the providing type of the resource set indicates preferred resource information or non-preferred resource information corresponding to the requesting type of the resource set”).
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 Park to incorporate the teachings of Pan for the purpose of providing the system with a means to allow the mobile device to identify which IUC scheme is enabled or disabled (Pan, [0193]) in order to be able to determine which IUC scheme to request as well as providing the system with a means to utilize known signaling formats in transmitting inter-UE coordination response messages (Pan, [0086] & [0115]) 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 (i.e. Park, [0251]) 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 first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request as taught by Park) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request, wherein the IUC scheme or set of preferred resources or non-preferred resources are configured and indicated on whether said IUC schemes are enabled or disabled and wherein the coordination message response is received via another SCI such as an SCI format 2-C and includes time-frequency resources as taught by Pan) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of a first UE transmitting a coordination request to a second UE via an SCI and receiving a coordination message that includes a set of preferred or non-preferred resources in response to the coordination request (i.e. as taught by both Park & Pan) 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.
Park in view of Pan discloses requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources wherein the different IUC schemes are configured and indicated as enabled but fails to explicitly recite that a determination is made of which IUC schemes are enabled is performed and therefore fails to disclose “and the first UE determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme based on the configuration information;”.
In a related field of endeavor, Di discloses:
and the first UE determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme based on the configuration information; (Di, [0128] discloses As another alternative, the requester UE may maintain this list based on the capability exchange during PC5 RRC connection setup procedure. This may be through a new assistantInfo IE in the UECapabilityInformationSidelink message. The assistantInfo IE may include information as to the type of assistance (i.e. reads on based on the configuration information) the peer UE may provide. For example: blacklist, whitelist, resource allocation, candidate resource set, and/or measurements. Based on this list, the requester UE needs to determine which peer UE to ask for assistance. The requester UE (i.e. reads on the first UE) may make this determination based on the type of assistance information (i.e. reads on determining enabled IUC schemes among the first IUC scheme and the second IUC scheme). For example, the requester UE may need blacklist information only to one particular peer UE. In such a case, the requester UE would only target assistance from this particular peer UE. As another example, if the requester UE may need candidate resource set information, the requester UE may target all peer UEs in the list of assistant UEs. If the requester UE needs to contact a peer UE on the list of assistant UEs for which it has no PC5 RRC connection, the requester UE may establish a PC5 RRC connection to this peer in order to obtain the needed assistance; Di, [0154]-[0155] discloses First is blacklist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it does not want to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots and subchannels are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window and discloses Second is whitelist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it prefers to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots/subchannels/beams are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window; Di, [0178] discloses The whitelist may include a set of slots for which an assistant UE tells the requester UE that the sidelink transmission over these slots is allowed or preferred; Di, [0189] discloses The blacklist may include a set of slots for which an assistant UE tells the requester UE that the sidelink transmission over these slots should not be allowed).
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 Park in view of Pan to incorporate the teachings of Di for the purpose of providing the system with a means to identify which peer to request assistance information based on the type of assistance or IUC schemes is enabled or provided by said peer (Di, [0128])
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 (i.e. Park, [0251]) 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 requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources as taught by Park) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources, wherein a determination is made of which different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources from configured resource pool for the configured observation window are enabled or provided as taught by Di) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of requesting different IUC schemes corresponding to preferred resources or non-preferred resources (i.e. as taught by both Park & Di) 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 11, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 9, (see claim 9).
wherein the requesting type of the resource set indicates preferred resources or non-preferred resources, and the providing type of the resource set indicates preferred resource information or non-preferred resource information corresponding to the requesting type of the resource set (Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR; Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above; Pan, [0100] discloses According to some aspects, enhanced power saving using inter-UE coordination is depicted in FIG. 1. UE may receive indication for which resources may be preferred for use e.g., resource type A. UE may receive indication for which resources may not be preferred for use e.g., resource type B. UE may also receive indication for which resources may have resource conflict e.g., resource type C. UE may determine power consumption for resource types A, B and C and determine which resource type may have the least power consumption or most power saving).
Regarding claim 12, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 9, (see claim 9).
wherein the first SCI further includes time resource information, and preferred resources or non-preferred resources indicated by the IUC information of the second SCI are determined within a time resource indicated by the time resource information (Pan, [0072] discloses The first-stage SCIs transmitted by UEs on PSCCH may indicate the time-frequency resources in which the UE will transmit a PSSCH. These SCI transmissions may be used by sensing UEs to maintain a record of which resources have been reserved by other UEs in the recent past; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21; Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR).
Regarding claim 13, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 9, (see claim 9).
wherein the first SCI further includes frequency resource information, and preferred resources or non-preferred resources indicated by the IUC information of the second SCI are determined within a frequency resource indicated by the frequency resource information (Pan, [0072] discloses The first-stage SCIs transmitted by UEs on PSCCH may indicate the time-frequency resources in which the UE will transmit a PSSCH. These SCI transmissions may be used by sensing UEs to maintain a record of which resources have been reserved by other UEs in the recent past; Pan, [0115] discloses As another example, SCI e.g., second stage SCI and/or MAC CE may be used to carry an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information when a payload size of an inter-UE coordination request or inter-UE coordination information is small; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21; Park, [0148] discloses For example, the Tx UE may request the C-UE for a resource coordination request and a type or a format of desired resource coordination information. Here, type/format information of resource coordination may include at least one of a preferred resource, a nonpreferred resource, and channel measurement information e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CBR, CR).
Regarding claim 14, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 9, (see claim 9).
wherein preferred resources or non-preferred resources indicated by the IUC information of the second SCI are determined within a resource pool (Park, [0130] discloses the C-UE 730-4 may generate coordination resource set information CM and may provide the same to the Tx UE 730-1 in consideration of scheduling resource information and/or resource pool allocated to generate resource coordination information from the base station 730-1; Park, [0242] discloses the C-UE may generate the coordination message based on the coordination request. Here, the coordination message may include information related to resource configuration of the Tx UE. For example, when the C-UE is an Rx UE, preferred resource information or nonpreferred resource information may be included in the coordination message. As another example, when the C-UE is a third UE, the C-UE may include resource allocation information SCI received from neighboring Tx UEs, which is described above; Di, [0154]-[0155] discloses First is blacklist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it does not want to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots and subchannels are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window and discloses Second is whitelist. The assistant UE may determine all the slots or subchannels or beams for which it prefers to receive sidelink transmissions from the requester UE or from any peer UE. These slots/subchannels/beams are determined in the configured resource pool to monitor and for the configured observation window).
Regarding claim 15, Park in view of Pan and further in view of Di discloses:
The method of claim 9, (see claim 9).
wherein the first SCI is configured by higher layer signaling to include the indicator requesting the IUC information (Park, [0136] discloses As another example, without a request from an upper layer, the PHY layer of the UE may perform the CR transmission based on configuration provided from the upper layer; Park, [0191] discloses The Tx UE may transmit the above SCI format 2-C to the C-UE. Here, SCI format 2-C may further include information on the following Table 21 as well as CR information. The C-UE may configure a CM transmitted to the Tx UE based on information included in the following Table 21).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
HOSSEINI et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0369288) discloses a first user equipment (UE) may select, from stored configuration information or a received indication, an inter-UE coordination scheme that is configured for a resource pool associated with the first UE. The UE may transmit, to a second UE, an indication of one or more of preferred sidelink resources or non-preferred sidelink resources for transmission from the second UE to the first UE, based at least in part on the inter-UE coordination scheme wherein the UE 404 may request or indicate a preferred inter-UE coordination scheme and discloses In some aspects, UE 402 and/or UE 404 may be configured to use an inter-UE coordination scheme by receiving an indication from the network (e.g., gNB). The indication may be received dynamically (e.g., via downlink control information (DCI)) or semi-statically (e.g., via RRC).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL Y MAPA whose telephone number is (571)270-5540. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM EST.
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/MICHAEL Y MAPA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
