DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to claims filed on 1/20/2026.
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 .
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-21 were pending for examination in previous Office Action mailed 10/20/2025.
Claims 1, 3, 11, and 17-18 have been amended with Claims 1 and 17-18 being independent and Claims 2, 8, 16, and 19-21 canceled.
Claims 1, 3-7, 9-15, and 17-18 remain pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s remarks pg. 8-12, filed 1/20/2026, with respect to Claims 1 and 17-18 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
In response to Applicant’s arguments that in substance the prior art of record does not disclose “wherein determining the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises: determining the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter based on first pre-configuration information; wherein determining the sidelink ranging resource based on the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises: receiving a second DCI sent by a network device, and determining, according to the second DCI, the sidelink ranging resource in a sidelink ranging resource set configured by the sidelink ranging resource configuration parameter,” Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Here, Chae et al. (US 20200187145 A1; hereinafter Chae) was relied upon to disclose previously presented dependent Claims 2 and 8 which has been incorporated in part into independent Claims 1 and 17-18. As provided in the previous office action downlink control information transports scheduling information and physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) delivers information about resource allocation, etc. (¶62). Further, Chae discloses that if UE1 is located at the inside of coverage of an eNB, the eNB can inform UE1 of the resource pool [i.e. downlink messaging] and that if UE1 is located at the outside of coverage of the eNB, the resource pool can be informed by a different UE or can be determined by a predetermined resource (¶105). Additionally, Chae discloses that a UE may select a resource region in which case all or some of time and frequency resources, sequence index or ID, comb repetition factor, comb index, and tone position (in case of phase difference of arrival (PDoA)), which are used for signal transmission for ranging and/or positioning per UE, may previously be determined, or may be determined by the UE, some of which may be determined depending on the position of the UE, where a resource region used per position of the UE may previously be determined or may be signaled by a network through a physical layer signal or a higher layer signal (¶124-125).
Further, the instant application Zhao et al. (US 20240205946 A1; hereinafter Zhao) similarly discloses comb frequency division multiplexing factors as an example of a configuration parameter (¶44-47).
Therefore, the prior art of record still discloses the claimed invention of the independent claims, and the prior art rejection is maintained below and altered as required by the amendments.
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.
Claims 1, 3-7, 9-14, and 17-18 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chae et al. (US 20200187145 A1; hereinafter Chae).
Regarding Claim 1, Chae disclose(s): (119-142)
A sidelink communication method, performed by a terminal device, comprising:
determining a sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter, and determining a sidelink ranging resource based on the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶119-150; Fig. 11; Fig. 14-15; Fig. 17)
[0062] FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of a downlink subframe. Up to three OFDM symbols at the start of the first slot in a downlink subframe are used for a control region to which control channels are allocated and the other OFDM symbols of the downlink subframe are used for a data region to which a PDSCH is allocated. Downlink control channels used in the 3GPP LTE system include a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH). The PCFICH is located in the first OFDM symbol of a subframe, carrying information about the number of OFDM symbols used for transmission of control channels in the subframe. The PHICH delivers an HARQ acknowledgment/negative acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) signal in response to an uplink transmission. Control information carried on the PDCCH is called downlink control information (DCI). The DCI transports uplink or downlink scheduling information, or uplink transmission power control commands for UE groups. The PDCCH delivers information about resource allocation and a transport format for a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH), resource allocation information about an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), paging information of a paging channel (PCH), system information on the DL-SCH, information about resource allocation for a higher-layer control message such as a Random Access Response transmitted on the PDSCH, a set of transmission power control commands for individual UEs of a UE group, transmission power control information, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) activation information, etc. A plurality of PDCCHs may be transmitted in the control region. A UE may monitor a plurality of PDCCHs. A PDCCH is formed by aggregating one or more consecutive control channel elements (CCEs). A CCE is a logical allocation unit used to provide a PDCCH at a coding rate based on the state of a radio channel…
[0110] A UE in sidelink transmission mode 1 may transmit a scheduling assignment (SA) (a D2D signal or sidelink control information (SCI)) in resources configured by an eNB. A UE in sidelink transmission mode 2 may be configured with resources for D2D transmission by the eNB, select time and frequency resources from among the configured resources, and transmit an SA in the selected time and frequency resources.
[0124] The UE may determine RSU to which a signal will be transmitted, and may select a resource region. In this case, all or some of time and frequency resources, sequence index or ID, comb repetition factor, comb index, and tone position (in case of phase difference of arrival (PDoA)), which are used for signal transmission for ranging and/or positioning per UE, may previously be determined, or may be determined by the UE.
[0125] For example, some of the above attributes (transmission resources, sequence, etc.) may be determined depending on the position of the UE. The position of the UE may be identified based on GNSS. This is to transmit signals between UEs arranged differently from each other by using different transmission resources. To this end, a resource region used per position of the UE may previously be determined, or may be signaled by a network through a physical layer signal or a higher layer signal. In this case, a resource region used for ranging and/or positioning by UEs which belong to a region A and a resource region used for ranging and/or positioning by UEs which belong to a region B may be separated from each other.
[0142] Next, the UE may determine specific resource elements in the determined resource region based on its ID information. For example, in case of time difference of arrival (TDoA), the UE may specify a position of resources or sequence used in the determined resource region based on its ID information. Alternatively, in case of phase difference of arriving (PDoA), the UE may specify different frequency resources (REs, tones) used in the determined resource region based on its ID information. Also, the UE may randomly determine specific resource elements within the resource region. In this method, the UE may transmit a ranging signal by selecting resources which are not overlapped with peripheral UEs, whereby interference and collision between ranging signals of the UEs may be minimized.
[0148] Referring to FIG. 17, the UE may transmit a ranging signal for calculating ranging information based on geographical information to the RSU. Particularly, it is determined that the UE cannot exactly measure its position (for example, the UE passes through a tunnel, is arranged in a place where high buildings are concentrated, or error operation of the GPS device, etc.), the UE may transmit the ranging signal to the RSU. In this case, the UE may transmit a ranging signal requesting transmission of a response signal, which includes information for calculating ranging information, to RSU of which position is exact, to exactly measure its position. At this time, the UE may determine a transmission region, to which the ranging signal will be transmitted, based on the geographical information of the UE. In this case, the geographical information may be brief coordinate information determined directly by the UE through GPS, or may be region information determined based on receiving intensity of a signal (signal received from the RSU before the ranging signal is transmitted) received from the RSU. In detail, the UE may determine a resource region corresponding to the determined geographical information based on the geographical information. The resource region may be determined as at least one of a plurality of resource regions divided in accordance with the geographical information as shown in FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b) (S301).
[0149] According to an embodiment, the UE may previously acquire ranging resource information, which includes information on a corresponding resource region, from the RSU or the network in accordance with the geographical information.
[0150] Next, the UE may select a specific resource element within the determined resource region corresponding to its geographical information based on UE ID or randomly. The UE may transmit the ranging signal by using the determined specific resource element. This is to minimize collision and interference with ranging signals of different UEs that transmit ranging signals in the same resource region.
] ; and
performing transmission of sidelink ranging signal through the sidelink ranging resource; [(See Chae ¶150; Fig. 17 S301)]
wherein determining the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises:
determining the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter based on first pre-configuration information; [ (See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶124-125; ¶136-139; ¶148-150; Fig.15; Fig. 17)
[0136] FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a method for determining a resource region in accordance with geographical information of a UE according to an embodiment.
[0137] Referring to FIG. 15(a), a resource region to which the ranging signal is transmitted may be determined based on geographical information. In detail, the UE may previously receive ranging resource information which is information on the previously configured resource region. For example, the UE may previously receive ranging resource information for mapping each of region A, region B, region C, region D and region E into region of a first resource region, a second resource region, a third resource region, a fourth resource region, and a fifth resource region in a one-to-one relationship. In this case, the first to fifth resource regions may be configured as resource regions which are not overlapped with one another, or may be configured as partially overlapped resource regions.
[0138] In this case, the UE 200 may determine a corresponding resource region from the ranging resource information based on the geographical information acquired by itself. In this case, the geographical information may be coordinate information of the UE, which is measured using a global positioning system (GPS) included in the UE. For example, if a second resource region is previously configured as a resource region corresponding to the region B and it is determined that the second resource region is arranged in the region B based on the geographical information acquired through the GPS, the UE may determine the second resource region previously configured to correspond to the region B as a resource region for transmitting the ranging signal.
[0148] Referring to FIG. 17, the UE may transmit a ranging signal for calculating ranging information based on geographical information to the RSU. Particularly, it is determined that the UE cannot exactly measure its position (for example, the UE passes through a tunnel, is arranged in a place where high buildings are concentrated, or error operation of the GPS device, etc.), the UE may transmit the ranging signal to the RSU. In this case, the UE may transmit a ranging signal requesting transmission of a response signal, which includes information for calculating ranging information, to RSU of which position is exact, to exactly measure its position. At this time, the UE may determine a transmission region, to which the ranging signal will be transmitted, based on the geographical information of the UE. In this case, the geographical information may be brief coordinate information determined directly by the UE through GPS, or may be region information determined based on receiving intensity of a signal (signal received from the RSU before the ranging signal is transmitted) received from the RSU. In detail, the UE may determine a resource region corresponding to the determined geographical information based on the geographical information. The resource region may be determined as at least one of a plurality of resource regions divided in accordance with the geographical information as shown in FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b) (S301).
[0149] According to an embodiment, the UE may previously acquire ranging resource information, which includes information on a corresponding resource region, from the RSU or the network in accordance with the geographical information.
[0150] Next, the UE may select a specific resource element within the determined resource region corresponding to its geographical information based on UE ID or randomly. The UE may transmit the ranging signal by using the determined specific resource element. This is to minimize collision and interference with ranging signals of different UEs that transmit ranging signals in the same resource region.
]
wherein determining the sidelink ranging resource based on the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises:
receiving a second DCI sent by a network device, and determining, according to the second DCI, the sidelink ranging resource in a sidelink ranging resource set configured by the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter. [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶124-125)
[0062] FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of a downlink subframe. Up to three OFDM symbols at the start of the first slot in a downlink subframe are used for a control region to which control channels are allocated and the other OFDM symbols of the downlink subframe are used for a data region to which a PDSCH is allocated. Downlink control channels used in the 3GPP LTE system include a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH). The PCFICH is located in the first OFDM symbol of a subframe, carrying information about the number of OFDM symbols used for transmission of control channels in the subframe. The PHICH delivers an HARQ acknowledgment/negative acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) signal in response to an uplink transmission. Control information carried on the PDCCH is called downlink control information (DCI). The DCI transports uplink or downlink scheduling information, or uplink transmission power control commands for UE groups. The PDCCH delivers information about resource allocation and a transport format for a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH), resource allocation information about an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), paging information of a paging channel (PCH), system information on the DL-SCH, information about resource allocation for a higher-layer control message such as a Random Access Response transmitted on the PDSCH, a set of transmission power control commands for individual UEs of a UE group, transmission power control information, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) activation information, etc. A plurality of PDCCHs may be transmitted in the control region. A UE may monitor a plurality of PDCCHs. A PDCCH is formed by aggregating one or more consecutive control channel elements (CCEs). A CCE is a logical allocation unit used to provide a PDCCH at a coding rate based on the state of a radio channel…
[0110] A UE in sidelink transmission mode 1 may transmit a scheduling assignment (SA) (a D2D signal or sidelink control information (SCI)) in resources configured by an eNB. A UE in sidelink transmission mode 2 may be configured with resources for D2D transmission by the eNB, select time and frequency resources from among the configured resources, and transmit an SA in the selected time and frequency resources.
[0124] The UE may determine RSU to which a signal will be transmitted, and may select a resource region. In this case, all or some of time and frequency resources, sequence index or ID, comb repetition factor, comb index, and tone position (in case of phase difference of arrival (PDoA)), which are used for signal transmission for ranging and/or positioning per UE, may previously be determined, or may be determined by the UE.
[0125] For example, some of the above attributes (transmission resources, sequence, etc.) may be determined depending on the position of the UE. The position of the UE may be identified based on GNSS. This is to transmit signals between UEs arranged differently from each other by using different transmission resources. To this end, a resource region used per position of the UE may previously be determined, or may be signaled by a network through a physical layer signal or a higher layer signal. In this case, a resource region used for ranging and/or positioning by UEs which belong to a region A and a resource region used for ranging and/or positioning by UEs which belong to a region B may be separated from each other.
]
Regarding Claim 3, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 1, wherein the sidelink ranging resource set configured by the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter is a periodic sidelink ranging resource set. [ (See Chae ¶104-106; Fig. 8; Fig. 11)
[0104] D2D Resource Pool
[0105] FIG. 8 shows an example of a first UE (UE1), a second UE (UE2) and a resource pool used by UE1 and UE2 performing D2D communication. In FIG. 8(a), a UE corresponds to a terminal or such a network device as an eNB transmitting and receiving a signal according to a D2D communication scheme. A UE selects a resource unit corresponding to a specific resource from a resource pool corresponding to a set of resources and the UE transmits a D2D signal using the selected resource unit. UE2 corresponding to a receiving UE receives a configuration of a resource pool in which UE1 is able to transmit a signal and detects a signal of UE1 in the resource pool. In this case, if UE1 is located at the inside of coverage of an eNB, the eNB can inform UE1 of the resource pool. If UE1 is located at the outside of coverage of the eNB, the resource pool can be informed by a different UE or can be determined by a predetermined resource. In general, a resource pool includes a plurality of resource units. A UE selects one or more resource units from among a plurality of the resource units and may be able to use the selected resource unit(s) for D2D signal transmission. FIG. 8(b) shows an example of configuring a resource unit. Referring to FIG. 8(b), the entire frequency resources are divided into the N.sub.F number of resource units and the entire time resources are divided into the N.sub.T number of resource units. In particular, it is able to define N.sub.F*N.sub.T number of resource units in total. In particular, a resource pool can be repeated with a period of N.sub.T subframes. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, one resource unit may periodically and repeatedly appear. Or, an index of a physical resource unit to which a logical resource unit is mapped may change with a predetermined pattern according to time to obtain a diversity gain in time domain and/or frequency domain. In this resource unit structure, a resource pool may correspond to a set of resource units capable of being used by a UE intending to transmit a D2D signal.
M [0111] In sidelink transmission mode 1 or 2, an SA period may be defined as illustrated in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 9, a first SA period may start in a subframe spaced from a specific system frame by a specific offset, SAOffsetIndicator indicated by higher-layer signaling. Each SA period may include an SA resource pool and a subframe pool for D2D data transmission. The SA resource pool may include the first subframe of the SA period to the last of subframes indicated as carrying an SA by a subframe bitmap, saSubframeBitmap. The resource pool for D2D data transmission may include subframes determined by a time-resource pattern for transmission (T-RPT) (or a time-resource pattern (TRP)) in mode 1. As illustrated, when the number of subframes included in the SA period except for the SA resource pool is larger than the number of T-RPT bits, the T-RPT may be applied repeatedly, and the last applied T-RPT may be truncated to include as many bits as the number of the remaining subframes. A transmitting UE performs transmission at T-RPT positions corresponding to 1 s in a T-RPT bitmap, and one MAC PDU is transmitted four times.
]
Regarding Claim 4, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 3, wherein the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises at least one of following:
a period length; [(Chae ¶120-124; ¶ 142)]
a number and a time-domain spacing of each group of sidelink ranging resources within a period; [(Chae ¶120-124; ¶ 142)]
a time-domain start position and a time-domain length of each group of sidelink ranging resources in a time unit within the period; [(Chae ¶120-124; ¶ 142)]
a frequency-domain start position and a frequency-domain length of each group of sidelink ranging resources in the time unit within the period. [(Chae ¶120-124; ¶ 142)
[0124] The UE may determine RSU to which a signal will be transmitted, and may select a resource region. In this case, all or some of time and frequency resources, sequence index or ID, comb repetition factor, comb index, and tone position (in case of phase difference of arrival (PDoA)), which are used for signal transmission for ranging and/or positioning per UE, may previously be determined, or may be determined by the UE.
]
Regarding Claim 5, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to Claim 4, wherein the periodic sidelink ranging resource set comprises one or more groups of sidelink ranging resources in each resource period, and each group of sidelink ranging resources comprises one or more sidelink ranging resources, and each sidelink ranging resource is a resource in a same time unit. [ (See Chae ¶105-107; Fig. 8)
[0105] FIG. 8 shows an example of a first UE (UE1), a second UE (UE2) and a resource pool used by UE1 and UE2 performing D2D communication. In FIG. 8(a), a UE corresponds to a terminal or such a network device as an eNB transmitting and receiving a signal according to a D2D communication scheme. A UE selects a resource unit corresponding to a specific resource from a resource pool corresponding to a set of resources and the UE transmits a D2D signal using the selected resource unit. UE2 corresponding to a receiving UE receives a configuration of a resource pool in which UE1 is able to transmit a signal and detects a signal of UE1 in the resource pool. In this case, if UE1 is located at the inside of coverage of an eNB, the eNB can inform UE1 of the resource pool. If UE1 is located at the outside of coverage of the eNB, the resource pool can be informed by a different UE or can be determined by a predetermined resource. In general, a resource pool includes a plurality of resource units. A UE selects one or more resource units from among a plurality of the resource units and may be able to use the selected resource unit(s) for D2D signal transmission. FIG. 8(b) shows an example of configuring a resource unit. Referring to FIG. 8(b), the entire frequency resources are divided into the N.sub.F number of resource units and the entire time resources are divided into the N.sub.T number of resource units. In particular, it is able to define N.sub.F*N.sub.T number of resource units in total. In particular, a resource pool can be repeated with a period of N.sub.T subframes. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, one resource unit may periodically and repeatedly appear. Or, an index of a physical resource unit to which a logical resource unit is mapped may change with a predetermined pattern according to time to obtain a diversity gain in time domain and/or frequency domain. In this resource unit structure, a resource pool may correspond to a set of resource units capable of being used by a UE intending to transmit a D2D signal.
[0121] Basically, a signal for ranging and/or positioning may have a short transmission length in a time domain. Hereinafter, although a time unit for transmitting a signal for ranging and/or positioning is assumed as a subframe unit unless mentioned separately, a transmission time interval (TTI) length less than the subframe unit may be applied to the present disclosure.
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Regarding Claim 6, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 5, wherein each sidelink ranging resource in a same group has a same location and a same size in a time unit. [(See Chae ¶105-112; ¶120-127; ¶137-142; Fig. 8; Fig. 15)]
Regarding Claim 7, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 5, wherein a same resource period comprises multiple groups of sidelink ranging resources, and the multiple groups of sidelink ranging resources are configured by multiplexing time-domain resources in a time division manner, and/or by multiplexing frequency-domain resources in a frequency division manner. [(See Chae ¶105-112; ¶120-127; ¶137-142; Fig. 8; Fig. 15)]
Regarding Claim 9, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 1,wherein performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal through the sidelink ranging resource comprises:
performing transmission of different sidelink ranging signals based on a same sidelink ranging resource. [(See Chae ¶104-108; ¶121-122; ¶128; ¶142; Fig. 8)]
Regarding Claim 10, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 9, wherein performing transmission of the different sidelink ranging signals based on the same sidelink ranging resource comprises:
multiplexing, in the same sidelink ranging resource, frequency-domain resources in a comb frequency division multiplexing manner. [(Chae ¶120-124; ¶142)]
Regarding Claim 11, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 10, further comprising:
receiving a third DCI sent by the network device, and determining a comb frequency division multiplexing factor according to the third DCI; or,
determining a comb frequency division multiplexing factor based on second pre- configuration information; [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶120-127; Fig. 3)]
wherein the comb frequency division multiplexing factor is configured to indicate configuration information of resource elements occupied when the frequency-domain resources are multiplexed in the comb frequency division multiplexing manner. [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶120-127; Fig. 3)]
Regarding Claim 12, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 11, wherein the third DCI and/or the second pre-configuration information is used to configure a comb frequency division multiplexing factor for each sidelink ranging resource, or is used to configure a comb frequency division multiplexing factor for a sidelink ranging resource set. [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶120-127; Fig. 3)]
Regarding Claim 13, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 1, wherein the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter is used to configure multiple different sidelink ranging resource sets. [(See Chae ¶105-112; ¶120-127; ¶137-142; Fig. 8; Fig. 15)]
Regarding Claim 14, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 13, wherein the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises a comb frequency division multiplexing factor, with different comb frequency division multiplexing factors corresponding to different sidelink ranging resource sets. [(See Chae ¶105; ¶124-142; Fig. 8; Fig. 15)]
Regarding Claim 17, Chae disclose(s):
A sidelink communication device, comprising:
a processor; and [(See Chae ¶161-171; Fig. 18)
a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; [(See Chae ¶161-171; Fig. 18)]
wherein, the processor is configured to determine a sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter, determine a sidelink ranging resource based on the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter; and perform transmission of sidelink ranging signal through the sidelink ranging resource [(See Chae ¶62; ¶110-112; ¶119-150; Fig. 11; Fig. 14-15; Fig. 17)]
wherein the processor is specifically configured to:
determine the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter based on first pre-configuration information; and [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶124-125; ¶136-139; ¶148-150; Fig.15; Fig. 17)]
receive a second DCI sent by a network device, and determine, according to the second DCI, the sidelink ranging resource in a sidelink ranging resource set configured by the sidelink ranging resource configuration parameter. [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶124-125)]
Regarding Claim 18, Chae disclose(s):
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing instructions therein, wherein the instructions in the storage medium, when being executed by a processor of a user equipment, cause the user equipment to implement operations comprising:
determining a sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter, and determining a sidelink ranging resource based on the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter; and[(See Chae ¶62; ¶110-112; ¶119-150; Fig. 11; Fig. 14-15; Fig. 17)]
performing transmission of sidelink ranging signal through the sidelink ranging resource; [(See Chae ¶150; Fig. 17 S301)]
wherein determining the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises:
determining the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter based on first pre-configuration information; (See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶124-125; ¶136-139; ¶148-150; Fig.15; Fig. 17)
wherein determining the sidelink ranging resource based on the sidelink ranging resource set configuration parameter comprises:
receiving a second DCI sent by a network device, and determining, according to the second DCI, the sidelink ranging resource in a sidelink ranging resource set configured by the sidelink ranging resource configuration parameter. [(See Chae ¶62; ¶105-112; ¶124-125)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 15 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Chae and further in view of Khoryaev et al. (US 20220039080 A1; hereinafter Khoryaev).
Regarding Claim 15, Chae disclose(s):
The sidelink communication method according to claim 1,wherein performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal through the sidelink ranging resource comprises at least one of following:
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by using the sidelink ranging resource [(See Chae ¶150; Fig. 17 S301)]
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by using the sidelink ranging resource with a [(See Chae ¶150; Fig. 17 S301)]
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by [(See Chae ¶150; Fig. 17 S301)]
performing repeated transmission of the sidelink ranging signal within a group of sidelink ranging resources [(See Chae ¶105-112; ¶150; Fig. 17 S301)]
Chae does not explicitly disclose:
at least one of following:
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by using the sidelink ranging resource with a same frequency-domain width as a sidelink ranging resource set;
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by using the sidelink ranging resource with a same time-domain length as the sidelink ranging signal;
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by adopting a period corresponding to an integer multiple of a period of a sidelink ranging resource set; and
performing repeated transmission of the sidelink ranging signal within a group of sidelink ranging resources within a same period, with a number of the repeated transmission of the sidelink ranging signal being less than or equal to a number of sidelink ranging resources in the corresponding group.
However, Khoryaev, analogous art also teaching sidelink ranging, does disclose:
at least one of following:
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by using the sidelink ranging resource with a same frequency-domain width as a sidelink ranging resource set; [ (See Khoryaev ¶ 127-¶134; ¶155-169; ¶175-183; Fig. 9; Fig. 15-17; Fig. 20)
[0128] At 902, a vehicle (e.g., 602, 622) can transmit spectrum resources that also include radio-layer parameters for transmission in the high band as well as a geo-location information (e.g., coordinates, distance information with respect to a position or object, velocity, direction of movement, acceleration, or other geographical location information), in which these resources are also associated with or indicating of communication to be used in the high band 904 (see arrow from 902 to band 904). The radio layer parameters can include a physical layer, or MAC/RRC/RLC layer that will be used for communication in the other band (high 704 or low 702). The same control information of resources and communication can be broadcasted with other vehicles or nodes also as illustrated in Vehicle-N transmitting spectrum resources with resources 906 in the low band 902 being associated with or indicating resources for sidelink communication and ranging in the high band.
[0134] In an aspect, based on the geo-location information ascertained and the transmission schedule (e.g., of the corresponding/counterpart/target communication V/V2X), the selected spectrum resource(s) can be divided by a V/V2X node into N time intervals, where N is an integer greater than one, for example. Each interval can be used for transmission with a predefined beam which is being switched by the transmitter of the V/V2X 602 or 622 from one to another time interval.
[0155] Different SR-RS resource allocation options or aspects can be used in practical sidelink systems by a V/V2X device. For instance, SR-RS can be transmitted inside a designated sidelink channel and with an associated resource pool—sidelink ranging resource pool, as in the DMRS/SR-RS transmissions 1502, 1504, 1506 of FIG. 15.
[0156] Additionally, or alternatively, the SR-RS transmission can be appended to the existing sidelink physical channels (e.g., a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), etc., as illustrated in the transmissions 1602, 1604, and 1606 of FIG. 16, as an example of time resources for SR-RS transmission.
[0159] As also illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16, is an example of the V/V2X 602, 622 generating the SR-RS as a partial band utilization with transmission 1602, a subframe or subchannel transmission 1604, or a full/entire/complete system bandwidth 1606 that can be transmitted as only one type of transmission 1602-1606 or different types, as consecutive/periodic use of resources (e.g., in each subframe or subchannel), interlaced, or non-consecutively and non-periodic, for example.
[0164] In various embodiments, different configurations can be used for generation/configuration/selection of SR-RS frequency resources. For example, SR-RS can be generated as a wideband SR-RS 1706, sub-band SR-RS 1704, or an allocation based SR-RS 1702.
[0165] When the V/V2X 602, 622 generates a wideband SR-RS 1706, the SR-RS transmission bandwidth is equal to the system bandwidth or the bandwidth allocated for sidelink resource pool of the particular sidelink physical channel, e.g., PSCCH/PSSCH/PSDCH (i.e. resource elements used for SR-RS transmission are distributed across whole/entire/full/complete system bandwidth/sidelink resource pool and can be equally spaced or uniformly distributed across frequency).
[0169] In an aspect, a number of SR-RS resource sets could be equal to or larger than a number of UEs that can be multiplexed in a same subframe or amount of frequency sub-channels (as the frequency granularity) used for sidelink transmission.
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performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by using the sidelink ranging resource with a same time-domain length as the sidelink ranging signal; [ (See Khoryaev ¶ 127-¶134; ¶155-169; ¶175-183; Fig. 9; Fig. 15-17; Fig. 20)]
performing transmission of the sidelink ranging signal by adopting a period corresponding to an integer multiple of a period of a sidelink ranging resource set; and [ (See Khoryaev ¶ 127-¶134; ¶155-169; ¶175-183; Fig. 9; Fig. 15-17; Fig. 20)]
performing repeated transmission of the sidelink ranging signal within a group of sidelink ranging resources within a same period, with a number of the repeated transmission of the sidelink ranging signal being less than or equal to a number of sidelink ranging resources in the corresponding group. [ (See Khoryaev ¶ 127-¶134; ¶155-169; ¶175-183; Fig. 9; Fig. 15-17; Fig. 20)]
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication system of Chae with that of Khoryaev in order to indicate sidelink transmissions on a resource with the same width as the sidelink ranging resource set in order to perform a wideband SR-RS, as indicated by Khoryaev (¶ 164-165), with reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/RKF/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468 /MARCUS SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468