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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election to Group I (Claims 1-11) in the reply filed on 02/17/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Rastergardoost et al. (US 20230354220 A1).
Regarding claim 1,
Rastergardoost discloses “A method for a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining one or two candidate starting symbols within a slot for an SL transceiving in a wireless network, wherein the SL transceiving is on unlicensed frequency bands (SL-U)” (See [0381] Wireless devices may communicate with each other via a sidelink. Sidelink communications on an unlicensed spectrum may be required to enable multiple transmission opportunities in a slot. [0383] The wireless device may determine multiple candidate starting symbols 3010, 3020, 3030 for the sidelink channel resource (e.g., starting symbol #1 3010 at symbol #1 of the slot, starting symbol #2 3020 at symbol #5 of the slot, and/or starting symbol #3 3030 at symbol #9 of the slot). [0390] FIG. 32 shows an example AGC training based on multiple starting symbols provided for a sidelink channel in unlicensed spectrum. For example, two (e.g., candidate) starting symbols may be configured/provided for a PSSCH/PSCCH transmission (symbol #2 3220 and symbol #n 3230) in a slot); “performing a channel access procedure before the SL-U transceiving to evaluate a channel availability” (See [0390] The first wireless device may perform LBT corresponding to the first candidate starting symbol. For example, due to the AGC symbol preceding the first candidate starting symbol, the first wireless device may perform LBT for symbol #1 3210 in subband #1 3250); “and starting the SL-U transceiving from one of the one or two candidate starting symbols within the slot after a success of the channel access procedure” (See [0390] The LBT may be successful and the first wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) AGC in symbol #1 3210 and PSSCH/PSCCH in the following symbols of the slot).
Regarding claim 2,
Rastergardoost discloses “The method of claim 1, wherein the two candidate starting symbols are preconfigured per bandwidth part (BWP) or per system” (See [0313] The wireless device may be (pre-)configured with one or more values of the sidelink starting symbol per sidelink BWP).
Regarding claim 3,
Rastergardoost discloses “The method of claim 1, wherein the candidate starting symbols are preconfigured for automatic gain control (AGC) purpose” (See [0390] FIG. 32 shows an example AGC training based on multiple starting symbols provided for a sidelink channel in unlicensed spectrum. [0395] A transmitter wireless device may duplicate resource elements of one or more symbols of the sidelink transmission (e.g., PSSCH and/or PSCCH), associated with the candidate starting symbols, into preceding (e.g., immediately preceding) symbols, e.g., for AGC training purposes). Note: The candidate starting symbols are configured as part of the AGC training mechanism, which means the candidate starting symbols are preconfigured for AGC purposes.
Regarding claim 4,
Rastergardoost discloses “The method of claim 1, wherein a repetition of transport block (TB) is transmitted from a second candidate starting symbol if the channel access procedure succeeds after a first candidate starting symbol and before the second candidate starting symbol of a slot, and wherein the TB is for a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)” (See [0274] a wireless device may send one or more sidelink transmissions (e.g., a first transmission of the TB and one or more retransmissions of the TB) for sending the TB. A sidelink transmission of the one or more sidelink transmission may comprise a PSCCH, a PSSCH, and/or a PSFCH. [0403] A transmitter wireless device may send sidelink transmission (e.g., TB and/or SCI) via the sidelink channel with the multiple AGC/duplicated symbols, for example, if the sidelink channel may comprise/be configured with multiple (e.g., candidate) starting symbols. See Fig. 35B, [0407] The wireless device may perform a second LBT for/prior to the second/next starting symbol and its corresponding AGC symbol (e.g., prior to symbol #n in FIG. 35B). The wireless device may determine to use the second (e.g., candidate) PSSCH resource/grant for the sidelink transmission, for example, if the second LBT may be successful as described with respect to FIG. 35B. The second PSSCH resource/grant may start from the second candidate starting symbol).
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastergardoost et al. (US 20230354220 A1) in view of Talarico et al. (US 20250151086 A1), and further in view of Ganesan (US 20260046927 A1).
Regarding claim 5,
Rastergardoost discloses “The method of claim 1”, but does not explicitly disclose a CPE starting position randomly selected from a CPE candidate starting position set is transmitted before the candidate starting symbol.
However, Talarico discloses “wherein a cyclic prefix extension (CPE) starting position randomly selected from a CPE candidate starting position set is transmitted before the candidate starting symbol” (See [0126] In order to mitigate mutual interference, in one embodiment, a CP extension could be applied before the actual transmission burst starts and the length of the CP extension could be randomly picked by each UE (e.g., from a predefined set of values) so that to randomize the starting position of the each transmission so that to make sure that one UE will not block the other during the LBT procedure, and their transmissions will never collide. [0133] A UE randomly selects the cyclic prefix extension to apply before its transmission by randomly picking among the fixed/pre-defined set of values or across a subset of values which is (pre-) configured and whose values are selected from a pre-defined set of values).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost with the teachings of Talarico, and the motivation to do so would have been to randomize the starting position of the each transmission so that to make sure that one UE will not block the other during the LBT procedure, and their transmissions will never collide (See Talarico [0126]).
Rastergardoost in view of Talarico does not explicitly disclose that the CPE is to achieve symbol level alignment.
However, Ganesan discloses ““wherein a cyclic prefix extension (CPE) starting position is transmitted to achieve symbol level alignment” (See [0180] Also, the LBT sensing slot granularity is 9 us, which is not aligned with sidelink symbol and/or slot granularity. Thus, it's possible that LBT is successful in the middle of a symbol. In one implementation, for symbol boundary alignment and to allow an LBT multiple sensing slot, cyclic prefix extension (“CPE”) may be used at the first symbol of the overbooked resource).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost and Talarico, with the teachings of Ganesan, and the motivation to do so would have been to improve channel access flexibility and maintain proper symbol-boundary timing while supporting multiple LBT sensing opportunities.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastergardoost et al. (US 20230354220 A1) in view of Talarico et al. (US 20250151086 A1), and further in view of Ganesan (US 20260046927 A1) and further in view of XUE et al. (US 20230319872 A1).
Regarding claim 6,
Rastergardoost in view of Talarico and Ganesan discloses “The method of claim 5”, and that the UE may select the cyclic prefix extension to apply based on the priority of the transmission (See Talarico [0134]), but does not explicitly disclose that the CPE candidate starting position set is preconfigured per CAPC or L1 priority of the SL transceiving.
However, XUE discloses “wherein the CPE candidate starting position set is preconfigured per channel access priority class (CAPC) or L1 priority of the SL transceiving” (See [0128] In certain aspects, the SCI carries a channel access priority class (CAPC) mapped to different values for the CPE, and the transmitter UE randomly selects one value within the different values for the CPE (e.g., the CPE is implicitly indicated via the CAPC, which is also carried in a stage-one SCI).
Therefore, it would have obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost, Talarico and Ganesan with the teachings of XUE, and the motivation to do so would have been for enhancing reliability of high priority transmissions.
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastergardoost et al. (US 20230354220 A1) in view of LI et al. (US 20240064553 A1).
Regarding claim 7,
Rastergardoost discloses “The method of claim 1, wherein a maximum COT length after a successful channel access procedure is preconfigured or indicated to the UE based on a channel access priority class (CAPC) value of the SL transceiving” (See [0364] The maximum continuous time in which the device gains an access based on LBT procedure and uses the channel may be referred to as a maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT). The MCOT in the 5 GHz band may be limited to a certain period, depending on the channel access priority class. [0365] For example, the regulation (e.g., for the 5 GHz and 60 GHz bands) may allow the device (e.g., a sending wireless device in a sidelink communication) to share the COT with the associated devices, the associated device may be a wireless device of the sidelink communication. The MCOT may be defined and/or configured per priority class).
Rastergardoost discloses that a maximum COT is preconfigured based on a CAPC value of the SL transceiving, but does not explicitly disclose that a contention window size is based on a CAPC value of SL transceiving.
However, LI discloses “a contention window size of the channel access procedure and a maximum COT length after a successful channel access procedure is preconfigured or indicated to the UE based on a channel access priority class (CAPC) value of the SL transceiving” (See Fig. 6, [0037] the SL CAPC may be associated with certain listen-before-talk (LBT) parameters or similar channel access parameters, such as a quantity of consecutive sensing slots associated with the channel access procedure, a minimum and maximum contention window associated with the channel, a maximum channel occupancy time (COT), or among other example parameters).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost with the teachings of LI, and the motivation to do so would have been to prioritize sidelink communications within an unlicensed frequency band, such that sidelink communications associated with high priority messages have improved access to reduced-interference channels, resulting in a reduction of communication errors and thus reduced power, computing, and network resource consumption (LI [0090]).
Regarding claim 8,
Rastergardoost in view of LI discloses “The method of claim 7, wherein the CAPC value is mapped from a PC5 quality of service (QoS) indicator (PQI)” (See LI, Fig. 7, [0108] In some aspects, one or more standardized PQI values, priority values, or similar values may be mapped to an SL CAPC for purposes of performing a sidelink channel access procedure, such as a sidelink LBT procedure, among other examples).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost with the teachings of LI, and the motivation to do so would have been to prioritize sidelink communications within an unlicensed frequency band, such that sidelink communications associated with high priority messages have improved access to reduced-interference channels, resulting in a reduction of communication errors and thus reduced power, computing, and network resource consumption (LI [0090]).
Regarding claim 9,
Rastergardoost in view of LI discloses “The method of claim 8, wherein the CAPC value is mapped from the PQI based on one or more elements comprising a resource type, a default priority level, a packet delay budget (PDB) requirement, and a packet data error rate” (See LI [0107] Some characteristics associated with a PQI may include a resource type associated with a sidelink communication or service, a priority level associated with a sidelink communication or service, a PDB associated with a sidelink communication or service, a packet error rate (PER) associated with a sidelink communication or service. [0108] In some aspects, one or more standardized PQI values, priority values, or similar values may be mapped to an SL CAPC for purposes of performing a sidelink channel access procedure, such as a sidelink LBT procedure, among other examples).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost with the teachings of LI, and the motivation to do so would have been to prioritize sidelink communications within an unlicensed frequency band, such that sidelink communications associated with high priority messages have improved access to reduced-interference channels, resulting in a reduction of communication errors and thus reduced power, computing, and network resource consumption (LI [0090]).
Regarding claim 10,
Rastergardoost in view of LI discloses “The method of claim 8, wherein a bitmap or a table is configured for the mapping between the CAPC value and the PQI” (See LI Fig. 7, [0108] As shown in table 700, each SL CAPC (indicated in a first column 704) may be mapped to one or more QoS parameters, such as one or more V2X service PQIs (indicated in a second column 706), one or more V2X service priority levels (indicated in a third column 708), one or more ProSe service PQIs (indicated in a fourth column 710), or one or more ProSe service priority levels (indicated in a fifth column 712).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost with the teachings of LI, and the motivation to do so would have been to prioritize sidelink communications within an unlicensed frequency band, such that sidelink communications associated with high priority messages have improved access to reduced-interference channels, resulting in a reduction of communication errors and thus reduced power, computing, and network resource consumption (LI [0090]).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastergardoost et al. (US 20230354220 A1) in view of LIU et al. (US 20240057126 A1).
Regarding claim 11,
Rastergardoost discloses “The method of claim 11”, but does not explicitly disclose ignoring control signals monitoring on a second candidate starting symbol in a time slot when the UE detects and decodes a control signal on a first candidate starting symbol in the same time slot.
However, LIU discloses “wherein the UE ignores control signals monitoring on a second candidate starting symbol in a time slot when the UE detects and decodes a control signal on a first candidate starting symbol in the same time slot” (See [0086] For example, if the SCI-1 is successfully decoded in a given slot and an RSRP is greater than an RSRP threshold, or if the RSRP of the PSCCH DMRS exceeds the RSRP threshold, the receiver may forgo PSCCH monitoring at a second starting symbol (e.g., second transmission point) associated with the half-slot in the given slot. [0087] A PSCCH/PSSCH transmission from a sidelink transmitter, targeting a sidelink receiver, in a first starting symbol (e.g., symbol #0) associated with a full-slot, inherently represents a full-slot transmission. Therefore, monitoring a subsequent PSCCH candidate position in the same slot and/or subsequent slots may be unnecessary. Thus, in some other examples, upon decoding the SCI-2 in a given slot and confirming the receiver is the designated recipient, the receiver stops monitoring subsequent PSCCH candidate locations within the given slot, such as PSCCH candidate locations associated with a half-slot).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Rastergardoost with the teachings of LIU, and the motivation to do so would have been to reduce receiver complexity by skipping one or more PSCCH monitoring occasions (LIU [043]).
Conclusion
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/SALMA AYAD/Examiner, Art Unit 2462 /YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462