DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/12/2024 and 08/19/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 02/05/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hwang et al., (hereinafter Hwang), U.S. Publication No. 2024/0334476.
As per claim 1, Hwang discloses an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor [fig. 18, 20, 21, 22, paragraphs 0033, 0303, 0305, 0306, 0313, 0340, 0347, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (the first UE/second UE may be stored in a memory (e.g., memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 18) in the form of commands/programs (e.g., instructions, executable codes) for running at least one processor (e.g., processors 102 and 202))], cause the apparatus at least to:
determine that co-channel resources in at least one selected slot for transmissions using a first radio access technology overlaps with co-channel resources for transmissions using a second radio access technology and that the co-channel resources are not reserved by another apparatus using the first radio access technology [fig. 12, 15, 18, paragraphs 0011, 0028, 0159, 0236, 0249, 0276, 0290, 0324, 0345, 0381, determine that co-channel resources in at least one selected slot for transmissions using a first radio access technology overlaps with co-channel resources for transmissions using a second radio access technology and that the co-channel resources are not reserved by another apparatus using the first radio access technology (SL transmission may be performed in the resource 2 determined as the reserved resource … the resource 1 is excluded from the reserved resources; a UE receiving SCI from other UE may exclude resources, which overlap with a sensing duration for LBT for reserved resources indicated in the SCI, from resource candidates for potential SL transmission; the UE may use the SCI to indicate to another UE one or more sub-channels and/or slots reserved by the UE for PSSCH (re) transmission)]; and
transmit, based at least on said determination, a co-channel occupancy message using at least a part of the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot to occupy the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot for transmissions using the first radio access technology [fig. 13, paragraphs 0165, 0220-0222, 0236, 0244, 0249, 0280, 0286, 0288, 0339, transmit, based at least on said determination, a co-channel occupancy message using at least a part of the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot to occupy the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot for transmissions using the first radio access technology (UE may continue the transmission for the purpose of occupying a channel of the unlicensed spectrum until a reception time of the PSFCH corresponding to the PSCCH/PSSCH; UE transmitting the PSCCH/PSSCH transmits the PSCCH/PSSCH in the slot including the PSFCH resources, the UE may indicate whether to perform the SL transmission (e.g., PSCCH/PSSCH or dummy signal) for the PSFCH symbol and/or PSSCH-to-PSFCH switching symbol using the first SCI and/or the second SCI)], wherein the at least one selected slot comprises feedback channel resources [fig. 13, paragraphs 0220-0222, 0244, 0280, 0288, wherein the at least one selected slot comprises feedback channel resources (a PSFCH resource may be configured periodically as N slot durations; the slot #(N+A) may include a PSFCH resource)].
As per claim 2, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to:
operate using the first radio access technology for sidelink communications [paragraphs 0007, 0118, 0144, 0150, 0151, operate using the first radio access technology for sidelink communications (the UE 1 may perform V2X or SL communication with respect to a UE 2 based on the resource scheduling; a sidelink resource within each slot; an operation of determining reserved resources based on sidelink resource allocation)].
As per claim 3, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to:
transmit the co-channel occupancy message after determining that the apparatus has no other data to transmit [paragraphs 0023, 0244, 0264, 0286, 0328, 0339, transmit the co-channel occupancy message after determining that the apparatus has no other data to transmit (a channel sensing duration corresponding to it in case of resource exclusion when other UE selects available resources based on reception sidelink sensing; the COT duration may be transmitted via signaling (e.g., MAC-CE, PC5-RRC))].
As per claim 4, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message comprises
a sidelink control information comprising an indication indicating whether the transmission and resource reservation indicated in the sidelink control information are for the co-channel occupancy message [paragraphs 0161, 0265-0268, 0289, 0293-0296, a sidelink control information comprising an indication indicating whether the transmission and resource reservation indicated in the sidelink control information are for the co-channel occupancy message (the UE indicates, to other UE, reservation information for resources; the COT may be shared between UEs performing transmission and reception; SCI receiving UE may determine (reserved resources indicated by the SCI per UE) as the excluded resources per UE transmitting the SCI)].
As per claim 5, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message is a broadcast, groupcast or unicast transmission with a non-dummy packet or a dummy packet with associated control information [fig. 9, paragraphs 0164, 0180, 0183, 0234, 0277, 0280, wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message is a broadcast, groupcast or unicast transmission with a non-dummy packet or a dummy packet with associated control information (an SL signal transmitted by the UE scheduled to transmit the PSFCH for the purpose of occupying the channel may be based on at least one of i) a dummy signal; SL groupcast/broadcast/unicast communication)].
As per claim 6, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the co-channel occupancy message comprises a dummy packet [fig. 9, paragraphs 0164, 0180, 0183, 0234, 0277, 0280, wherein the co-channel occupancy message comprises a dummy packet (an SL signal transmitted by the UE scheduled to transmit the PSFCH for the purpose of occupying the channel may be based on at least one of i) a dummy signal; SL groupcast/broadcast/unicast communication)].
As per claim 7, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 6,
wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message is a broadcast transmission without associated control information [fig. 9, paragraphs 0164, 0180, 0183, 0234, 0277, 0280, wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message is a broadcast transmission without associated control information (an SL signal transmitted by the UE scheduled to transmit the PSFCH for the purpose of occupying the channel may be based on at least one of i) a dummy signal; e.g. empty signal without control information)].
As per claim 8, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the co-channel occupancy message is a repetition or a retransmission of a message previously transmitted by the apparatus [paragraphs 0160, 0208, 0218, 0285, 0287, 0337, wherein the co-channel occupancy message is a repetition or a retransmission of a message previously transmitted by the apparatus (the repeatedly transmitted PSCCH and PSSCH are transmitted for the purpose of occupying the channel; retransmission is requested upon detecting the error, thereby improving performance)].
As per claim 9, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to:
determine a remaining packet delay budget [paragraphs 0156, 0207, 0276, determine a remaining packet delay budget (the resource selection window may be restricted by a remaining packet delay budget of the UE)]; and
transmit, when the remaining packet delay budget comprises at least one of the at least one selected slot, the repetition or the retransmission of the message previously transmitted by the apparatus as the co-channel occupancy message within the remaining packet delay budget [paragraphs 0156, 0160, transmit, when the remaining packet delay budget comprises at least one of the at least one selected slot, the repetition or the retransmission of the message previously transmitted by the apparatus as the co-channel occupancy message within the remaining packet delay budget (the UE may reserve a resource for feedback-based PSSCH retransmission, through signaling related to previous transmission; UE identifies a candidate resource in a resource selection window and the UE selects a resource for (re) transmission among the identified candidate resources; the resource selection window may be restricted by a remaining packet delay budget of the UE)].
As per claim 10, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to:
retransmit the message before receiving feedback for the message previously transmitted by the apparatus as the co-channel occupancy message [paragraphs 0160, 0248, 0252, 0317, retransmit the message before receiving feedback for the message previously transmitted by the apparatus as the co-channel occupancy message (UE may reserve a resource for feedback-based PSSCH retransmission, through signaling related to previous transmission)].
As per claim 11, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to:
transmit feedback or a coordination message together with the co-channel occupancy message when the apparatus is a receiving user equipment [paragraphs 0137, 0281, 0282, transmit feedback or a coordination message together with the co-channel occupancy message when the apparatus is a receiving user equipment (the PSSCH corresponding to the SL HARQ-ACK may be included together; transmitted by being multiplexed together with SL data on the same resource unit)].
As per claim 12, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored instructions further cause, when executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least to:
cancel the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message after detecting that said another apparatus using the first radio access technology has reserved co-channel resources overlapping with or in the at least one selected slot overlapping with the resource reservation for the co-channel occupancy message [paragraphs 0031, 0032, 0241, 0290, 0363, (the channel sensing is determined to be BUSY, the UE may cancel all or part of the transmission for the unlicensed spectrum; a UE receiving SCI from other UE may exclude resources, which overlap with a sensing duration for LBT for reserved resources indicated in the SCI, from resource candidates for potential SL transmission)].
As per claim 13, Hwang discloses the apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the apparatus is a sidelink user equipment, or a control device configured to control the sidelink user equipment [paragraphs 0004, 0239, 0246, 0252, 0258, 0284, 0373, wherein the apparatus is a sidelink user equipment, or a control device configured to control the sidelink user equipment (the UE may perform sidelink transmission and/or reception operations in the unlicensed spectrum)].
As per claim 14, Hwang discloses a method [fig. 15, paragraphs 0002, 0014, 0308, 0309, a method (a method of a first user equipment (UE))], comprising:
determining, by an apparatus, that co-channel resources in at least one selected slot for transmissions using a first radio access technology overlaps with co-channel resources for transmissions using a second radio access technology and that the co-channel resources are not reserved by another apparatus using the first radio access technology [fig. 12, 15, 18, paragraphs 0011, 0028, 0159, 0236, 0249, 0276, 0290, 0324, 0345, 0381, determining, by an apparatus, that co-channel resources in at least one selected slot for transmissions using a first radio access technology overlaps with co-channel resources for transmissions using a second radio access technology and that the co-channel resources are not reserved by another apparatus using the first radio access technology (SL transmission may be performed in the resource 2 determined as the reserved resource … the resource 1 is excluded from the reserved resources; a UE receiving SCI from other UE may exclude resources, which overlap with a sensing duration for LBT for reserved resources indicated in the SCI, from resource candidates for potential SL transmission; the UE may use the SCI to indicate to another UE one or more sub-channels and/or slots reserved by the UE for PSSCH (re) transmission)]; and
transmitting by the apparatus, based at least on said determination, a co-channel occupancy message using at least a part of the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot to occupy the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot for transmissions using the first radio access technology [fig. 13, paragraphs 0165, 0220-0222, 0236, 0244, 0249, 0280, 0286, 0288, 0339, transmitting by the apparatus, based at least on said determination, a co-channel occupancy message using at least a part of the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot to occupy the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot for transmissions using the first radio access technology (UE may continue the transmission for the purpose of occupying a channel of the unlicensed spectrum until a reception time of the PSFCH corresponding to the PSCCH/PSSCH; UE transmitting the PSCCH/PSSCH transmits the PSCCH/PSSCH in the slot including the PSFCH resources, the UE may indicate whether to perform the SL transmission (e.g., PSCCH/PSSCH or dummy signal) for the PSFCH symbol and/or PSSCH-to-PSFCH switching symbol using the first SCI and/or the second SCI)], wherein the at least one selected slot comprises feedback channel resources [fig. 13, paragraphs 0220-0222, 0244, 0280, 0288, wherein the at least one selected slot comprises feedback channel resources (a PSFCH resource may be configured periodically as N slot durations; the slot #(N+A) may include a PSFCH resource)].
As per claim 15, Hwang discloses the method according to claim 14, further comprising:
operate using the first radio access technology for sidelink communications [paragraphs 0007, 0118, 0144, 0150, 0151, operate using the first radio access technology for sidelink communications (the UE 1 may perform V2X or SL communication with respect to a UE 2 based on the resource scheduling; a sidelink resource within each slot; an operation of determining reserved resources based on sidelink resource allocation)].
As per claim 16, Hwang discloses the method according to claim 14, further comprising:
transmit the co-channel occupancy message after determining that the apparatus has no other data to transmit [paragraphs 0023, 0244, 0264, 0286, 0328, 0339, transmit the co-channel occupancy message after determining that the apparatus has no other data to transmit (a channel sensing duration corresponding to it in case of resource exclusion when other UE selects available resources based on reception sidelink sensing; the COT duration may be transmitted via signaling (e.g., MAC-CE, PC5-RRC))].
As per claim 17, Hwang discloses the method according to claim 14, wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message comprises
a sidelink control information comprising an indication indicating whether the transmission and resource reservation indicated in the sidelink control information are for the co-channel occupancy message [paragraphs 0161, 0265-0268, 0289, 0293-0296, a sidelink control information comprising an indication indicating whether the transmission and resource reservation indicated in the sidelink control information are for the co-channel occupancy message (the UE indicates, to other UE, reservation information for resources; the COT may be shared between UEs performing transmission and reception; SCI receiving UE may determine (reserved resources indicated by the SCI per UE) as the excluded resources per UE transmitting the SCI)].
As per claim 18, Hwang discloses the method according to claim 14,
wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message is a broadcast, groupcast or unicast transmission with a non-dummy packet or a dummy packet with associated control information [fig. 9, paragraphs 0164, 0180, 0183, 0234, 0277, 0280, wherein the transmission of the co-channel occupancy message is a broadcast, groupcast or unicast transmission with a non-dummy packet or a dummy packet with associated control information (an SL signal transmitted by the UE scheduled to transmit the PSFCH for the purpose of occupying the channel may be based on at least one of i) a dummy signal; SL groupcast/broadcast/unicast communication)].
As per claim 19, Hwang discloses the method according to claim 14,
wherein the co-channel occupancy message is a repetition or a retransmission of a message previously transmitted by the apparatus [paragraphs 0160, 0208, 0218, 0285, 0287, 0337, wherein the co-channel occupancy message is a repetition or a retransmission of a message previously transmitted by the apparatus (the repeatedly transmitted PSCCH and PSSCH are transmitted for the purpose of occupying the channel; retransmission is requested upon detecting the error, thereby improving performance)].
As per claim 20, Hwang discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor [fig. 18, 20, 21, 22, paragraphs 0033, 0045, 0303, 0305, 0306, 0313, 0340, 0347, a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor (the first UE/second UE may be stored in a memory (e.g., memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 18) in the form of commands/programs (e.g., instructions, executable codes) for running at least one processor (e.g., processors 102 and 202); non-transitory computer readable mediums according to another embodiment of the present disclosure stores one or more instructions)], cause an apparatus to at least perform:
determining that co-channel resources in at least one selected slot for transmissions using a first radio access technology overlaps with co-channel resources for transmissions using a second radio access technology and that the co-channel resources are not reserved by another apparatus using the first radio access technology [fig. 12, 15, 18, paragraphs 0011, 0028, 0159, 0236, 0249, 0276, 0290, 0324, 0345, 0381, determining that co-channel resources in at least one selected slot for transmissions using a first radio access technology overlaps with co-channel resources for transmissions using a second radio access technology and that the co-channel resources are not reserved by another apparatus using the first radio access technology (SL transmission may be performed in the resource 2 determined as the reserved resource … the resource 1 is excluded from the reserved resources; a UE receiving SCI from other UE may exclude resources, which overlap with a sensing duration for LBT for reserved resources indicated in the SCI, from resource candidates for potential SL transmission; the UE may use the SCI to indicate to another UE one or more sub-channels and/or slots reserved by the UE for PSSCH (re) transmission)]; and
transmitting, based at least on said determination, a co-channel occupancy message using at least a part of the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot to occupy the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot for transmissions using the first radio access technology [fig. 13, paragraphs 0165, 0220-0222, 0236, 0244, 0249, 0280, 0286, 0288, 0339, transmitting, based at least on said determination, a co-channel occupancy message using at least a part of the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot to occupy the co-channel resources in the at least one selected slot for transmissions using the first radio access technology (UE may continue the transmission for the purpose of occupying a channel of the unlicensed spectrum until a reception time of the PSFCH corresponding to the PSCCH/PSSCH; UE transmitting the PSCCH/PSSCH transmits the PSCCH/PSSCH in the slot including the PSFCH resources, the UE may indicate whether to perform the SL transmission (e.g., PSCCH/PSSCH or dummy signal) for the PSFCH symbol and/or PSSCH-to-PSFCH switching symbol using the first SCI and/or the second SCI)], wherein the at least one selected slot comprises feedback channel resources [fig. 13, paragraphs 0220-0222, 0244, 0280, 0288, wherein the at least one selected slot comprises feedback channel resources (a PSFCH resource may be configured periodically as N slot durations; the slot #(N+A) may include a PSFCH resource)].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al., U.S. Publication No. 2024/0292454 discloses rules to the LTE/NR SL shared resources, LTE SL-based sensing operations may be performed to select/reserve NR SL channel/signal transmission resources.
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/JACKIE ZUNIGA ABAD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469