Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/474,800

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING DISCOVERY FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATION IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 26, 2023
Examiner
EMADI, MARYAM NMN
Art Unit
2478
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allow Rate
26 granted / 32 resolved
+23.3% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+24.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
61
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
60.3%
+20.3% vs TC avg
§102
31.0%
-9.0% vs TC avg
§112
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 32 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/24/2024 and was filed after the mailing date of 09/26/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claims 1-3, 6-13, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spreadtrum Communications, "Discussion on Relay Discovery and (re)selection for U2U Relay", R2-2207686, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #119 electronic August 17-29, 2022, 8 pages (hereafter “Spreadtrum”) in view of WO 2024015361 A1 (hereafter “Kini”). Regarding claim 1, A method performed by a first user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: obtaining configuration information used for identifying, by the first UE performing a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay operation, whether to perform transmission of a second message based on a first message received by the first UE from a second UE; Spreadtrum, page 2, Proposal 3: RAN2 confirm that the shared and dedicated discovery pools in R17 are reused to Transmit/receive discovery messages for UE-to-UE relay and all agreements made for discovery pool are applicable to UE-to-UE relay discovery. Another issue is which configuration is used for UE-to-UE relay discovery. ln R17, UE decides the discovery configuration it should follow by adopting the following rules: L2 relay UE (first UE) will always use the discovery configuration provided by gNB (either via SIB or dedicated Signalling = obtaining configuration information) Note: claim 6 explain obtaining the configuration information including the information on the threshold comprises as “receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) including information on threshold” Thus, UE obtains the configuration information via the discovery configuration provided via SIB. Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first Solicitation= First message from the second UE= Spreadtrum, Fig. b, Step 1), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery= second message based on the first message ) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 9: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, candidate Relay UE (first UE) decides whether it is allowed to send Solicitation message (Second message) to by comparing the link quality between itself and source UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold. receiving, from the second UE, a first discovery message including information on the second UE; Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 1: UE- R (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) ( Note: Fig. b UE-1 (Source UE)= Second UE and Fig. b UE-R (Potential UE-R)= First UE) Identifying based on threshold, whether to perform whether to perform transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message; Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second discovery= second message based on the first message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 9: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, candidate Relay UE decides whether it is allowed to send Solicitation message (whether to perform the Second message) to by comparing the link quality between itself and source UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold. and performing, transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message. In Model B described in sol#18, as depicted in Figure b), Source UE broadcasts Solicitation message (First discovery message) indicating that it wants to communicate with Target UE via a relay. On reception of Solicitation message (based on the received first discovery message), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. The Target UE that matches the RSC or the UE JD responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message. Finally, the candidate Relay UE send Response message to the Source UE on reception of response message from the Target UE. Although Spreadtrum teaches whether to perform transmission based on threshold, Spreadtrum does not teach the threshold is a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold, and identifying based on RSRP measured whether to perform transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery. Kini teaches obtaining information on RSRP threshold. Kini [0096]; The U2N Relay WTRU can perform Relay discovery message transmission and/or may monitor the sidelink for a Relay discovery message while in RRCJDLE, RRCJNACTIVE or RRC_CONNECTED. The network may broadcast an RSRP threshold (e.g., maximum Uu RSRP threshold, a minimum Uu RSRP threshold, or both), for example, which may be used by the U2N Relay WTRU (e.g., to determine if it can transmit Relay discovery messages to U2N Remote WTRU(s)). identifying, based on reference signal received power (RSRP) measured whether to perform transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery. Kini [0125] A WTRU may determine (e.g., select) a relay selection behavior to perform, for example, based on determining whether to perform a discovery procedure (e.g., transmission and/or reception of discovery) and/or the discovery resource pool to use. A (e.g., relay) WTRU may decide to transmit and/or forward the discovery message (forward the discovery message= transmission of the second message), for example, if the SL-RSRP or SD-RSRP is above a certain threshold (identifying based on RSRP and threshold= result of identification). A WTRU configured with both dedicated and shared resource pools may choose to use a dedicated pool for data with a high QoS value, for example, whereas lower QoS data may result in use of a shared resource pool for discovery messages. A WTRU may utilize information tied to a received discovery message (received discovery message= communication with the second UE), for example, to determine whether to forward a discovery message (to transmit the second message). This may be information such as the resource pool that the message was received on, the number of sub-channels occupied by discovery message, CBR of the resource pool, RSRP of received discovery message (RSRP measurement based on communication with the second UE), hop count of discovery message (e.g., if available), hop count to target WTRU (e.g., if available), potential likelihood of success that this can be a successful relay between source (second UE)/remote and target WTRUs (e.g., which may be based on number WTRUs this relay WTRU is currently serving, load of the relay, SL- RSRP/SD-RSRP levels to neighboring WTRUs based on some historical context, etc.), and/or the like ( result of identifying threshold and RSRP = result of identification). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the second discovery message (second message) is transmitted from the relay UE based on the threshold of RSRP. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 2, The method of claim 1, wherein performing the transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message comprises, Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery based on first message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. transmitting a second discovery message including the information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message. Spreadtrum, Fig. b, Step 2 (Step 2= transmitting the second discovery message from potential UE (first UE) to Target UE (third UE)), 2. Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2= information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message as shown in first discovery message) Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 1: UE- R (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) = information received in the first discovery message) Regarding claim 3, The method of claim 1, wherein performing of the transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message comprises: transmitting, to a third UE which is a destination UE communicating via the first UE with the second UE which is a source UE, a second discovery message including the information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message, Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; In Model B described in sol#8, as depicted in Figure b), Source UE (second UE) broadcasts Solicitation message indicating that it wants to communicate with Target UE (third UE) via a relay (First UE). On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery (second message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. Spreadtrum, Fig. b, Step 2 (Step 2= transmitting the second discovery message from potential UE (first UE) to Target UE (third UE= destination UE)), 2. Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2))( UE -1 info = information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message as shown in first discovery message) Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 1: UE- R (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2= information received in the first discovery message) and wherein the method further comprises receiving, from the third UE, a discovery response message in response to the second discovery message. Spreadtrum, Fig. b, step 3a. ( Step 3a.= receiving from the third UE (target UE)), Step 3a. Discovery response (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2))= a discovery response message in response to the second discovery message. Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007]; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. The Target UE that matches the RSC or the UE ID responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message (Fig. b, 3a =Discovery response message). Regarding claim 6, The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the configuration information including the information on the threshold comprises: receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB). Spreadtrum, page 2, Proposal 3: RAN2 confirm that the shared and dedicated discovery pools in R17 are reused to Transmit/receive discovery messages for UE-to-UE relay and all agreements made for discovery pool are applicable to UE-to-UE relay discovery. Another issue is which configuration is used for UE-to-UE relay discovery. ln R17, U E decides the discovery configuration it should follow by adopting the following rules: L2 relay UE will always use the discovery configuration provided by gNB (either via SIB or dedicated Signalling). obtaining the configuration information including the information on the threshold from a pre-configuration pre-configured in the first UE; or in case that the first UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, receiving, from the base station, an RRC message including the information on the threshold. While Spreadtrum does not teach obtaining information on RSRP threshold. Kini teaches obtaining information on RSRP threshold, Kini [0096]; The U2N Relay WTRU can perform Relay discovery message transmission and/or may monitor the sidelink for a Relay discovery message while in RRCJDLE, RRCJNACTIVE or RRC_CONNECTED. The network may broadcast an RSRP threshold (e.g., maximum Uu RSRP threshold, a minimum Uu RSRP threshold, or both), for example, which may be used by the U2N Relay WTRU (e.g., to determine if it can transmit Relay discovery messages to U2N Remote WTRU(s)). Although Spreadtrum teaches whether to perform transmission based on threshold, Spreadtrum does not teach the threshold is an reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 7, Spreadtrum in view of Kini teaches all limitation of claim 1 as discussed above. Spreadtrum does nor teach the RSRP includes at least one of sidelink discovery- reference signal received power (SD-RSRP) or sidelink (SL)-RSRP. Kini teaches the RSRP includes at least one of sidelink discovery- reference signal received power (SD-RSRP) or sidelink (SL)-RSRP. Kini [0125]; A (e.g., relay) WTRU may decide to transmit and/or forward the discovery message, for example, if the SL-RSRP or SD-RSRP is above a certain threshold. In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the RSRP includes at least one of sidelink discovery- reference signal received power (SD-RSRP) or sidelink (SL)-RSRP. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP (SL-RSRP or SD- RSRP) to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 8, A method performed by a second user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: obtaining configuration information used for identifying a candidate relay UE associated with a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay operation or identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message; Spreadtrum, page 2, Relay UE and remote UE (IC) (remote UE= Fig. b, Target UE= Second user equipment UE) in RRC lDLE or RRC INACTIVE shall use the discovery configuration provided via SIB if available. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 10: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, Target UE decides whether it is allowed to respond (discovery response) to the candidate Relay UE by comparing the link quality between itself and the candidate relay UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold (Second UE (target UE) identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message); Spreadtrum, Page 5, [0007]; On reception of Solicitation message, the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (discovery message) with RSC or target UE JD. The Target UE that matches the RSC or the UE ID responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message (in response to discovery message). receiving, from the first UE, a first discovery message; Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 2, UE- 2 (Target UE = Second UE ) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) = first discovery message) ( Note: Fig. b UE-2 (Target UE)= Second UE and Fig. b UE-R (Potential UE-R)= First UE) identifying the first UE as the candidate relay UE or performing transmission of a discovery response message in response to the received first discovery message. Spreadtrum, Page 5, [0007]; On reception of Solicitation message, the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (discovery message) with RSC or target UE ID. The Target UE (Second UE) that matches the RSC or the UE ID responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message ( Target UE (second UE) performing transmission of discovery response in response to the first discovery message). Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 3a: UE- 2 (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2), UE-1 info = information on a third UE). Although Spreadtrum teaches whether to perform transmission based on threshold, Spreadtrum does not teach the threshold is an reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold, and that reference signal received power (RSRP) measured based on communication with the first UE is above the threshold. Kini teaches obtaining information on RSRP threshold and that reference signal received power (RSRP) measured based on communication with the first UE is above the threshold. Kini [0071]; A WTRU may determine relay reselection behavior based on measurements associated with a first relay and an active data determination (e.g., whether there is a gap between active data transmissions). A WTRU (e.g., a remote WTRU), may be associated with a first relay WTRU (e.g., WTRU- to-WTRU relay). The remote WTRU may receive configuration information that indicates thresholds (e.g., a first threshold and a second threshold) associated with sidelink (SL) RSRP (e.g., a first SL RSRP threshold and a second SL RSRP threshold where the first SL RSRP threshold is higher than the second SL RSRP threshold).The remote WTRU may determine SL RSRP measurement(s) associated with the first relay WTRU. The remote WTRU may determine that the SL RSRP measurement(s) associated with the first relay WTRU is below the first threshold and above the second threshold (e.g., between the first threshold and second threshold). The remote WTRU may determine (e.g., based on the determination that the SL RSRP measurement(s) is below the first threshold and above the second threshold) to perform an active data determination (e.g., for relay reselection). For example, the remote WTRU may initiate discovery (e.g., transmitting or receiving a discovery transmission). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the RSRP received by the target UE from the relay target is measured. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding Claim 9, The method of claim 8, wherein in case that the received first discovery message includes information on a third UE communicating with the second UE via the first UE, Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 2, UE- 2 (Target UE = Second UE ) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info ( information on a third UE), UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) = first discovery message) In Model B described in sol#18, as depicted in Figure b), Source UE (Third UE) broadcasts Solicitation message indicating that it wants to communicate with Target UE via a relay. On reception of Solicitation message, the candidate Relay UE (first UE) broadcasts Solicitation message (First discovert message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. The Target UE (Second UE) that matches the RSC or the UE JD responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message. Finally, the candidate Relay UE (First UE) send Response message to the Source UE (Second UE) on reception of response message from the Target UE. the threshold is associated with identifying the candidate relay UE, Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 10: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, Target UE decides whether it is allowed to respond (discovery response) to the candidate Relay UE by comparing the link quality between itself and the candidate relay UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold (threshold associated with identifying the candidate relay) (Second UE (target UE) identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message= identifying the candidate rely); and in case that the quality of measurement is above the threshold, the first UE is identified as the candidate relay UE. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 10: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, Target UE decides whether it is allowed to respond (discovery response) to the candidate Relay UE by comparing the link quality between itself and the candidate relay UE with one configured lower threshold (threshold associated with identifying the candidate relay) and/or one configured upper threshold (Second UE (target UE) identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message= identifying the first relay as candidate UE rely) (Note: claim 8 explains “identifying a candidate relay UE associated with a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay operation” as the same as “ identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message.” ) Spreadtrum does not teach reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. Kini teaches reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. Kini [0004]; The remote WTRU may determine (e.g., based on the determination that the SL RSRP measurement(s) is below the first threshold and above the second threshold) to perform an active data determination (e.g., for relay reselection). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the RSRP received by the target UE from the relay UE is measured. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding Claim 10, The method of claim 8, wherein in case that the received first discovery message includes information on a third UE communicating with the second UE via the first UE: Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 2, UE- 2 (Target UE = Second UE ) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info ( information on a third UE), UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) = first discovery message) In Model B described in sol#18, as depicted in Figure b), Source UE (Third UE) broadcasts Solicitation message indicating that it wants to communicate with Target UE via a relay. On reception of Solicitation message, the candidate Relay UE (first UE) broadcasts Solicitation message (First discovert message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. The Target UE (Second UE) that matches the RSC or the UE JD responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message. Finally, the candidate Relay UE (First UE) send Response message to the Source UE (Second UE) on reception of response message from the Target UE. the threshold is associated with identifying whether to perform the transmission of the discovery response message, Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 10: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, Target UE decides whether it is allowed to respond (discovery response) to the candidate Relay UE by comparing the link quality between itself and the candidate relay UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold (threshold associated with identifying the candidate relay) (Second UE (target UE) identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message= identifying the candidate rely); and in case that the quality measurement is above the threshold, the transmission of the discovery response message in response to the received first discovery message is performed. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 10: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, Target UE decides whether it is allowed to respond (discovery response) to the candidate Relay UE by comparing the link quality between itself and the candidate relay UE with one configured lower threshold (threshold associated with identifying the candidate relay) and/or one configured upper threshold (Second UE (target UE) identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message= identifying the first relay as candidate UE rely) Spreadtrum does not teach reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. Kini teaches reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. Kini [0004];The remote WTRU may determine (e.g., based on the determination that the SL RSRP measurement(s) is below the first threshold and above the second threshold) to perform an active data determination (e.g., for relay reselection). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the RSRP received by the target UE is measured. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 11, A first user equipment (UE) (Spreadtrum, Fig. 2b, UE-R) in a wireless communication system, the first UE comprising: to obtain configuration information used for identifying, by the first UE performing a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay operation, whether to perform transmission of a second message based on a first message received by the first UE from a second UE; Spreadtrum, page 2, Proposal 3: RAN2 confirm that the shared and dedicated discovery pools in R17 are reused to Transmit/receive discovery messages for UE-to-UE relay and all agreements made for discovery pool are applicable to UE-to-UE relay discovery. Another issue is which configuration is used for UE-to-UE relay discovery. ln R17, UE decides the discovery configuration it should follow by adopting the following rules: L2 relay UE (first UE) will always use the discovery configuration provided by gNB (either via SIB or dedicated Signalling = obtaining configuration information) Note: claim 6 explain obtaining the configuration information including the information on the threshold comprises as “receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) including information on threshold” Thus, UE obtains the configuration information via the discovery configuration provided via SIB. Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first Solicitation= First message from the second UE= Spreadtrum, Fig. b, Step 1), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery= second message based on the first message ) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 9: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, candidate Relay UE (first UE) decides whether it is allowed to send Solicitation message (Second message) to by comparing the link quality between itself and source UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold. receive, from the second UE, a first discovery message including information on the second UE; Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 1: UE- R (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) ( Note: Fig. b UE-1 (Source UE)= Second UE and Fig. b UE-R (Potential UE-R)= First UE) Identify based on threshold, whether to perform whether to perform transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message; Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second discovery= second message based on the first message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 9: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, candidate Relay UE decides whether it is allowed to send Solicitation message (whether to perform the Second message) to by comparing the link quality between itself and source UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold. and performing, transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message. In Model B described in sol#18, as depicted in Figure b), Source UE broadcasts Solicitation message (First discovery message) indicating that it wants to communicate with Target UE via a relay. On reception of Solicitation message (based on the received first discovery message), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. The Target UE that matches the RSC or the UE JD responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message. Finally, the candidate Relay UE send Response message to the Source UE on reception of response message from the Target UE. Although Spreadtrum teaches whether to perform transmission based on threshold, Spreadtrum does not teach the threshold is an reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold, and identifying based on RSRP measured whether to perform transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery. Kini teaches a transceiver (Kini, Fig. 1B, Ref. 120); and a controller ( Kini, Fig. 1B, Ref. 118) coupled with the transceiver and configured to ; obtain information on RSRP threshold. Kini [0096]; The U2N Relay WTRU can perform Relay discovery message transmission and/or may monitor the sidelink for a Relay discovery message while in RRCJDLE, RRCJNACTIVE or RRC_CONNECTED. The network may broadcast an RSRP threshold (e.g., maximum Uu RSRP threshold, a minimum Uu RSRP threshold, or both), for example, which may be used by the U2N Relay WTRU (e.g., to determine if it can transmit Relay discovery messages to U2N Remote WTRU(s)). identify, based on reference signal received power (RSRP) measured whether to perform transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery. Kini [0125] A WTRU may determine (e.g., select) a relay selection behavior to perform, for example, based on determining whether to perform a discovery procedure (e.g., transmission and/or reception of discovery) and/or the discovery resource pool to use. A (e.g., relay) WTRU may decide to transmit and/or forward the discovery message (forward the discovery message= transmission of the second message), for example, if the SL-RSRP or SD-RSRP is above a certain threshold (identifying based on RSRP and threshold= result of identification). A WTRU configured with both dedicated and shared resource pools may choose to use a dedicated pool for data with a high QoS value, for example, whereas lower QoS data may result in use of a shared resource pool for discovery messages. A WTRU may utilize information tied to a received discovery message (received discovery message= communication with the second UE), for example, to determine whether to forward a discovery message (to transmit the second message). This may be information such as the resource pool that the message was received on, the number of sub-channels occupied by discovery message, CBR of the resource pool, RSRP of received discovery message (RSRP measurement based on communication with the second UE), hop count of discovery message (e.g., if available), hop count to target WTRU (e.g., if available), potential likelihood of success that this can be a successful relay between source (second UE)/remote and target WTRUs (e.g., which may be based on number WTRUs this relay WTRU is currently serving, load of the relay, SL- RSRP/SD-RSRP levels to neighboring WTRUs based on some historical context, etc.), and/or the like ( result of identifying threshold and RSRP = result of identification). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the second discovery message (second message) is transmitted from the relay UE based on the threshold of RSRP. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 12, The first UE of claim 11, wherein, for performing the transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message, Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery based on first message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. transmit a second discovery message including the information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message. Spreadtrum, Fig. b, Step 2 (Step 2= transmitting the second discovery message from potential UE (first UE) to Target UE (third UE)), 2. Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2= information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message as shown in first discovery message) Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 1: UE- R (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) = information received in the first discovery message) Spreadtrum does not teach the controller. Kini teaches a controller ( Kini, Fig. 1B, Ref. 118). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the first UE includes a controller. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to allow the controller to the adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure by measuring the RSRP threshold to determine the gap between the active data transmission (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 13, The first UE of claim 11, wherein, for performing of the transmission of the second message based on the received first discovery message is configured to: transmit, to a third UE which is a destination UE communicating via the first UE with the second UE which is a source UE, a second discovery message including the information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message, Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007] ; In Model B described in sol#8, as depicted in Figure b), Source UE (second UE) broadcasts Solicitation message indicating that it wants to communicate with Target UE (third UE) via a relay (First UE). On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery (second message) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. Spreadtrum, Fig. b, Step 2 (Step 2= transmitting the second discovery message from potential UE (first UE) to Target UE (third UE= destination UE)), 2. Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2))( UE -1 info = information on the second UE included in the received the first discovery message as shown in first discovery message) Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 1: UE- R (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2= information received in the first discovery message) and wherein the UE further to configure to receive, from the third UE, a discovery response message in response to the second discovery message. Spreadtrum, Fig. b, step 3a. ( Step 3a.= receiving from the third UE (target UE)), Step 3a. Discovery response (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2))= a discovery response message in response to the second discovery message. Spreadtrum, page 5, [0007]; On reception of Solicitation message (first message= first discovery= first solicitation), the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (second message= second discovery) with RSC (relay source code) or target UE ID. The Target UE that matches the RSC or the UE ID responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message (Fig. b, 3a =Discovery response message). Spreadtrum does not teach the controller. However, Kini teaches a controller as described in claim 12. Thus, the similar analysis of 103 applies. Regarding claim 16, The first UE of claim 11, wherein for obtaining the configuration information including the information on the threshold, configured to: obtain the configuration information including the information on the threshold comprises: receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB). Spreadtrum, page 2, Proposal 3: RAN2 confirm that the shared and dedicated discovery pools in R17 are reused to Transmit/receive discovery messages for UE-to-UE relay and all agreements made for discovery pool are applicable to UE-to-UE relay discovery. Another issue is which configuration is used for UE-to-UE relay discovery. ln R17, U E decides the discovery configuration it should follow by adopting the following rules: L2 relay UE will always use the discovery configuration provided by gNB (either via SIB or dedicated Signalling). obtain the configuration information including the information on the threshold from a pre-configuration pre-configured in the first UE; or in case that the first UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, receiving, from the base station, an RRC message including the information on the threshold. Spreadtrum does not teach a controller, Spreadtrum does not teach obtaining information on RSRP threshold. Kini teaches a controller ( Kini, Fig. 1B, Ref. 118); Obtain information on RSRP threshold, Kini [0096]; The U2N Relay WTRU can perform Relay discovery message transmission and/or may monitor the sidelink for a Relay discovery message while in RRCJDLE, RRCJNACTIVE or RRC_CONNECTED. The network may broadcast an RSRP threshold (e.g., maximum Uu RSRP threshold, a minimum Uu RSRP threshold, or both), for example, which may be used by the U2N Relay WTRU (e.g., to determine if it can transmit Relay discovery messages to U2N Remote WTRU(s)). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the information on threshold of RSRP is received by relay UE via SIB signaling. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 17, Spreadtrum in view of Kini teaches all limitation of claim 11 as discussed above. Spreadtrum does nor teach the RSRP includes at least one of sidelink discovery- reference signal received power (SD-RSRP) or sidelink (SL)-RSRP. Kini teaches the RSRP includes at least one of sidelink discovery- reference signal received power (SD-RSRP) or sidelink (SL)-RSRP. Kini [0125]; A (e.g., relay) WTRU may decide to transmit and/or forward the discovery message, for example, if the SL-RSRP or SD-RSRP is above a certain threshold. In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the RSRP includes at least one of sidelink discovery- reference signal received power (SD-RSRP) or sidelink (SL)-RSRP. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 18, A second user equipment (UE) (Spreadtrum, Fig. 2b, UE-2, Target UE) in a wireless communication system, the second UE comprising: obtain configuration information used for identifying a candidate relay UE associated with a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay operation or identify whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message; Spreadtrum, page 2, Relay UE and remote UE (IC) (remote UE= Fig. b, Target UE= Second user equipment UE) in RRC lDLE or RRC INACTIVE shall use the discovery configuration provided via SIB if available. Spreadtrum, page 6, Proposal 10: If Model B is supported for UE-to-UE relay discovery, Target UE decides whether it is allowed to respond (discovery response) to the candidate Relay UE by comparing the link quality between itself and the candidate relay UE with one configured lower threshold and/or one configured upper threshold (Second UE (target UE) identifying whether to perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to a received discovery message); Spreadtrum, Page 5, [0007]; On reception of Solicitation message, the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (discovery message) with RSC or target UE JD. The Target UE that matches the RSC or the UE ID responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message (in response to discovery message). receive, from the first UE, a first discovery message; Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 2, UE- 2 (Target UE = Second UE ) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, UE-R info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2) = first discovery message) ( Note: Fig. b UE-2 (Target UE)= Second UE and Fig. b UE-R (Potential UE-R)= First UE) identify the first UE as the candidate relay UE or perform transmission of a discovery response message in response to the received first discovery message. Spreadtrum, Page 5, [0007]; On reception of Solicitation message, the candidate Relay UE broadcasts Solicitation message (discovery message) with RSC or target UE ID. The Target UE (Second UE) that matches the RSC or the UE ID responds to the candidate Relay UE with a Response message ( Target UE (second UE) performing transmission of discovery response in response to the first discovery message). Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 3a: UE- 2 (first UE) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info, Target UE info (i.e. UE-2), UE-1 info = information on a third UE). Although Spreadtrum teaches whether to perform transmission based on threshold, Spreadtrum does not teach the threshold is an reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold, and that reference signal received power (RSRP) measured based on communication with the first UE is above the threshold. Kini teaches a transceiver (Kini, Fig. 1B, Ref. 120); and a controller ( Kini, Fig. 1B, Ref. 118) coupled with the transceiver ; obtain information on RSRP threshold and in case that reference signal received power (RSRP) measured based on communication with the first UE is above the threshold. Kini [0071]; A WTRU may determine relay reselection behavior based on measurements associated with a first relay and an active data determination (e.g., whether there is a gap between active data transmissions). A WTRU (e.g., a remote WTRU), may be associated with a first relay WTRU (e.g., WTRU- to-WTRU relay). The remote WTRU may receive configuration information that indicates thresholds (e.g., a first threshold and a second threshold) associated with sidelink (SL) RSRP (e.g., a first SL RSRP threshold and a second SL RSRP threshold where the first SL RSRP threshold is higher than the second SL RSRP threshold).The remote WTRU may determine SL RSRP measurement(s) associated with the first relay WTRU. The remote WTRU may determine that the SL RSRP measurement(s) associated with the first relay WTRU is below the first threshold and above the second threshold (e.g., between the first threshold and second threshold). The remote WTRU may determine (e.g., based on the determination that the SL RSRP measurement(s) is below the first threshold and above the second threshold) to perform an active data determination (e.g., for relay reselection). For example, the remote WTRU may initiate discovery (e.g., transmitting or receiving a discovery transmission). In view of Kini , Spreadtrum is modified such that the RSRP received by the target UE from the relay target is measured. Spreadtrum and Kini are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor, transmission of discovery message in the relay communication systems. It would be obvious before the effective filing date of claimed invention, to a person ordinary skill in the art to modify Spreadtrum in a manner described above to substitute the known technique of measuring link quality and meeting a threshold (discussed in Spreadtrum) with the measuring RSRP to determine whether to send the second message based on meeting and RSRP threshold technique in Kini with the predictable results in order to adopt a relay behavior or triggering discovery procedure (Kini [0004]). Regarding claim 19, The second UE of claim 18, wherein, in case that the received first discovery message includes information on a third UE communicating with the second UE via the first UE, Spreadtrum, Figure b, Step 2, UE- 2 (Target UE = Second UE ) is receiving Discovery solicitation (UE-1 info (
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 26, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 26, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jan 16, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 16, 2026
Response Filed

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Expected OA Rounds
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99%
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3y 0m
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