Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)1
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 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 pre-AIA 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 –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
Claim(s) 1-6,8-20 are/is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being clearly anticipated by Luo et al (US20220232615 A1 ) hereinafter as Luo.
Regarding claim(s) 1, Luo discloses a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device one or more messages indicating a multi-consecutive-slot transmission (MCST) size threshold (See Fig(s). 2 wireless devices 1-6¶ See Fig(s). 3 step 303, See ¶ abstract, 275-276, Terminal device receives indication information and size threshold of the quantity of consecutive slots in the resource unit (RU));
determining a size of a MCST, for sending one or more transport blocks (TBs), based on a lower of: the MCST size threshold; and a size of the one or more TBs (See ¶ 9, 257,259, A terminal device receives first indication information sent by a network device with number of TBs based on the first indication information, See Fig(s). 5 step 504);
and sending the one or more TBs via the MCST (See Fig(s). 5 step 505, See ¶ 33-35,319, The terminal device sends, to the network device, the N TBs that are scheduled by using the DCI….consecutive slots within the RU is based on the number of TBs mapped to the Rus for uplink data).
Regarding claim(s) 10, Luo discloses a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising a size threshold for a multi-consecutive-slot transmission (MCST) (¶ See Fig(s). 3 step 303, See ¶ abstract, 275-276, Terminal device receives indication information and size threshold of the quantity of consecutive slots in the resource unit (RU));
triggering, based on a quantity of consecutive slots in a set of candidate resources being greater than or equal to the size threshold, a MCST for sending one or more transport blocks (TBs) (See ¶ 9-11, 25,259, A terminal device receives first indication information sent by a network device……….indication information includes a maximum repetition quantity R.sub.max of a downlink control channel; and when R.sub.max is greater than or equal to a first threshold …. The terminal device determines a target transmission mode of N TBs based on the first indication information, See Fig(s). 5 step 504);
and sending at least one of the one or more TBs via the MCST (See Fig(s). 5 step 505, See ¶ 33-35,319, The terminal device sends, to the network device, the N TBs that are scheduled by using the DCI….consecutive slots within the RU is based on the number of TBs mapped to the Rus for uplink data).
Regarding claim(s) 17, Luo discloses a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising a value indicating a multi-consecutive-slot transmission (MCST) (¶ See Fig(s). 3 step 303, See ¶ abstract, 275-276, 281, Terminal device receives indication information and size threshold of the quantity of consecutive slots in the resource unit…and determines a value of the RU);
determining a size of a MCST, for sending one or more transport blocks (TBs), based on a lower of: the MCST size threshold; and a size of the one or more TBs (See ¶ 9, 257,259, A terminal device receives first indication information sent by a network device with number of TBs based on the first indication information, See Fig(s). 5 step 504);
and sending the one or more TBs via the MCST (See Fig(s). 5 step 505, See ¶ 33-35,319, The terminal device sends, to the network device, the N TBs that are scheduled by using the DCI….consecutive slots within the RU is based on the number of TBs mapped to the Rus for uplink data).
Regarding claim(s) 2, Luo discloses further comprising triggering, based on a quantity of consecutive slots available in a set of candidate resources being greater than the determined size of the MCST, the MCST (See ¶ 9-11, When R.sub.max is greater than or equal to the first threshold, it indicates that downlink coverage is poor or downlink channel quality is poor; in this case, usually, transmission duration of the terminal device is long, and the terminal device determines that the target transmission mode is the interleaved transmission mode.).
Regarding claim(s) 3,19, Luo discloses wherein the determining the size of the MCST is further based on a quantity of consecutive slots available in a set of candidate resources (See ¶ 48, the first indication information is carried in the DCI; the first indication information includes subcarrier indication information, resource allocation indication information, and repetition quantity indication information; the subcarrier indication information is used to determine a quantity N.sub.sc.sup.RU of consecutive subcarriers occupied by TB.sub.k in one RU; the resource allocation indication information is used to determine a quantity N.sub.RU of RUs to which an uplink data channel carrying TB.sub.k is mapped
Regarding claim(s) 4, Luo discloses wherein the determined size of the MCST is less than or equal to the MCST size threshold.(See ¶ 276, M.sub.rep.sup.NPUSCH is greater than or equal to a threshold C, or N.sub.RU is greater than or equal to a threshold D, or M.sub.rep.sup.NPUSCH×N.sub.RU×N.sub.slots.sup.UL is greater than or equal to a threshold E, where N.sub.slots.sup.UL a quantity of consecutive slots in one RU).
Regarding claim(s) 5, Luo discloses wherein the MCST comprises consecutive slots, and wherein the consecutive slots comprise one or more of: consecutive sidelink (SL) logical slots; or SL physical slots (See Fig(s). 2, See ¶ 211, 5. The terminal device 5 may send the downlink information to the terminal device 4 and the terminal device 6 based on a device-to-device (device-to-device, D2D) technology.).
Regarding claim(s) 6, Luo discloses wherein each TB, of the one or more TBs, occupies at least one slot of the MCST (See ¶ 184,290, See Fig(s). 6 one TB unit is transmitted within one slot).
Regarding claim(s) 8,11,18, Luo discloses wherein the determined size of the MCST is a minimum of the MCST size threshold and the size of the one or more TBs (See ¶ Table 4, TB size determines the slot threshold).
Regarding claim(s) 9,12, Luo discloses wherein the determining the size of the MCST comprises setting the size as a lower of: the MCST size threshold; the size of the one or more TBs; and a quantity of consecutive slots available in set of candidate resources (See ¶ 9-11, 33-35, In a possible design, the first indication information includes a maximum repetition quantity R.sub.max of a downlink control channel; and when R.sub.max is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the terminal device determines that the target transmission mode is the interleaved transmission mode; or
when R.sub.max is less than a first threshold, the terminal device determines that the target transmission mode is the sequential transmission mode.)
Regarding claim(s) 13, Luo discloses wherein the determining the size of the MCST is further based on a quantity of consecutive slots available in a set of candidate resources (See ¶ 48, the first indication information is carried in the DCI; the first indication information includes subcarrier indication information, resource allocation indication information, and repetition quantity indication information; the subcarrier indication information is used to determine a quantity N.sub.sc.sup.RU of consecutive subcarriers occupied by TB.sub.k in one RU; the resource allocation indication information is used to determine a quantity N.sub.RU of RUs to which an uplink data channel carrying TB.sub.k is mapped 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined size of the MCST is less than or equal to the MCST size threshold.),
sending, via the MCST and based on the size of the MCST being greater than a size of the one or more TBs, one or more second TBs (See Fig(s). 5 step 505, See ¶ 133, 260, 319).
Regarding claim(s) 14, Luo discloses resending, via the MCST and based on a size of the MCST being greater than a size of the one or more TBs, a TB of the one or more TBs (See Fig(s). 1A-1C See ¶ 145, retransmission modes).
Regarding claim(s) 15,20, Luo discloses wherein the sending the at least one of the one or more TBs via the MCST comprises sending the one or more TBs via the MCST, and wherein the method further comprises: resending, via the MCST, a portion of the one or more TBs, wherein a sum of a quantity of the one or more TBs and a quantity of the portion of the one or more TBs is less than or equal to a size of the MCST (See Fig(s). 1A-1C See ¶ 145, retransmission modes based on the size of the TBs to be sent).
Regarding claim(s) 16, Luo discloses wherein the sending the at least one of the one or more TBs is based on a size of the MCST being less than a size of the one or more TBs See ¶ 33, 35, when M.sub.rep.sup.NPUSCH×N.sub.RU is less than a sixth threshold, the terminal device determines that the target transmission mode is the sequential transmission mode, where N.sub.slots.sup.UL is a quantity of consecutive slots in one RU.).
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 for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al (US20220232615 A1 ) hereinafter as Luo in view of Chen et al (US 20210105760 A1) hereinafter as Chen.
Regarding claim(s) 7, Chen discloses generating a sidelink grant for the MCST (See Fig(s). 1, See ¶ 29-30, A dynamic sidelink grant can be provided in a downlink control information (DCI), and schedule resources for an initial transmission of a transport block, and optionally, retransmissions of the same transport block.).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Chen within Luo, so as to ensure proper amount of resources are available between devices of the interest for sidelink communications.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Raj Jain whose telephone number is (571) 272-3145. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th ~8 ~6.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached on 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/RAJ JAIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411