DETAILED ACTION
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 .
This action is in response to the application filed on 05 March 2024.
Claims 1-19 and 27 are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 30 April 2024. 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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-17, 19 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fouad et al. (US Publication 2022/0116942).
With respect to claims 1 and 14, Fouad teaches A user equipment (UE) (electronic device, figure 12) comprising: one or more processors; (processor, figure 12) and memory storing instructions, (memory, figure 12) that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the UE to:
receive one or more configuration parameters indicating a first set of time and frequency resources associated with partial sensing in sidelink communications; (a set of mandatory slots (e.g., periodic) may be pre-configured for each resource pool during which the partial sensing UEs are required to be receiving, Paragraph 49. a set of slots are identified and are required to be monitored by all UEs (referred to herein as the mandatory slots) either per bandwidth part (BWP), per resource pool, or a combination thereof. These resources can also be pre-configured per resource pool or per BWP. In addition, the mandatory slots can be set as one or more resource pools, Paragraph 111.)
monitor for sidelink control information (SCI) based on the partial sensing and in one or more resources determined based on the one or more configuration parameters; (alignment information is sent in the mandatory slots and specifies the location and length of the receiving, sensing, and resource selection windows. Once this information is obtained, each UE within the area can: 1) select its candidate resources for potential transmission; 2) identify the sensing window over which it should detect the SCIs to figure out the occupied resources; and 3) identify the receiving window in which it should be active and receiving data from its neighboring UEs, paragraph 117)
receiving, based on the monitoring, the SCI from a second UE; (When more information should be sent for alignment (e.g., to specify more than one sensing and resource selection window), the number of mandatory slots can be extended in the current period (when periodic) by signaling in the first mandatory slot. For example, the super UE can indicate in the first mandatory slots that additional mandatory slots for this period will exist. This can be done by using an SCI and reserving future resources or by sending a MAC CE in the PSSCH, paragraph 123) and
receiving, based on the SCI, sidelink data from the second UE. (Once this information is obtained, each UE within the area can: 1) select its candidate resources for potential transmission; 2) identify the sensing window over which it should detect the SCIs to figure out the occupied resources; and 3) identify the receiving window in which it should be active and receiving data from its neighboring UEs, Paragraph 117)
With respect to claims 2 and 15, Fouad teaches wherein the first set of time and frequency resources includes one or more time slots in a same frequency subband. (the UEs may be required to monitor only a subset of the sidelink subchannels in the mandatory slots in order, Paragraph 112)
With respect to claims 3 and 16, Fouad teaches wherein the first set of time and frequency resources includes one or more time slots in one or more frequency subbands. (a set of slots are identified and are required to be monitored by all UEs (referred to herein as the mandatory slots) either per bandwidth part (BWP), per resource pool, or a combination thereof, Paragraph 111)
With respect to claims 4 and 17, Fouad teaches wherein the one or more configuration parameters are transmitted via a dedicated channel defined for the transmission of the first set of time and frequency resources. (this can be done by using an SCI and reserving future resources or by sending a MAC CE in the PSSCH, Paragraph 123)
With respect to claims 6 and 19, Fouad teaches wherein: receiving the sidelink data is based on a second set of time and frequency resources; and the second set of time and frequency resources is selected based on sensing the first set of time and frequency resources such that no collision occurs in the second set of time and frequency resources. (The resource selection and sensing windows can also be selected to be a subset of these mandatory slots in order to ensure that all neighboring UEs are able to exchange data and reduce their impact to full-sensing UEs. In other words, this can be considered as confining the partial sensing UEs to a subset of the slots in order for the partial sensing UEs to exchange information and also reduce their impact on full sensing UEs, avoiding potential collisions, Paragraph 146)
With respect to claim 7, Fouad teaches further comprising: performing a pre-emption check before receiving traffic in the second set of time and frequency resources to determine if any other traffic collides with the resources in said second set. (When the power level of the UE is below a certain threshold, it may be necessary to preserve the remaining power of the UE, and thus, it may be possible to skip the monitoring of pre-emption and resource reselection triggers. This activation/deactivation of pre-emption and resource reselection monitoring can be performed by the UE itself (e.g., based on its power level) or it can be performed at a resource pool level (e.g., when the CBR is below a certain threshold)., Paragraph 189)
With respect to claim 8, Fouad teaches wherein the sidelink data is a periodic traffic. (periodic traffic, Paragraph 44)
With respect to claim 9, Fouad teaches wherein the sidelink data is an aperiodic traffic. (aperiodic traffic, Paragraph 44)
With respect to claim 10, Fouad teaches wherein a base station (BS) configures the resources in the first set of time and frequency resources. (In the mandatory slots, either a full sensing UE, a super UE (e.g., a road side unit (RSU), a gNB, a cluster head, etc.), or a UE providing the sync source can send information regarding the receiving, sensing, and resource selection windows, Paragraph 118)
With respect to claim 11, Fouad teaches wherein: the first user equipment (UE) is configured with discontinuous reception (DRX). (the mandatory slots can be equal to the full DRX ON duration or a shared part of the DRX ON duration and a mandatory slot configuration can be derived from the DRX configuration, Paragraph 143)
With respect to claim 12, Fouad teaches wherein the first set of time and frequency resources are within the DRX on duration. (a UE is expected to receive and sense for the complete duration in which it is ON or a predefined duration of its ON time, then the DRX ON and the mandatory slots are either totally or partially overlapping (i.e., the DRX and the mandatory slots share the same objective and can share the same configuration). The mandatory slots can be equal to the full DRX ON duration or a shared part of the DRX ON duration and a mandatory slot configuration can be derived from the DRX configuration, Paragraph 143)
With respect to claim 13, Fouad teaches wherein: the first user equipment (UE) is configured with a wake up signal (WUS), wherein the WUS signal notifies to the first UE to wake up and monitor for sidelink control information (SCI) in the first set of time and frequency resources. (The exchange of these WUSs can be either done by a physical (PHY) layer or by a higher layer. In particular, 1.sup.st stage or 2.sup.nd stage SCI can carry a field to indicate to an Rx UE to either stay awake or to sleep. For example, a 1-bit field can be added to the 1.sup.st or 2.sup.nd stage SCI to indicate a wake-up signal when it is set to 1 and a sleep signal otherwise. If extra bits are available, they can be used to indicate a suggested duration of a wake-up or a suggested sleep-duration. Alternatively, these extra bits can indicate an index to a table that carries a set of wake-up or sleep durations, Paragraph 193)
With respect to claim 27, Fouad teaches A method of data transmission, performed by a base station, comprising the steps of:
transmitting, by the base station to a first user equipment (UE), one or more configuration parameters indicating a first set of time and frequency resources associated with partial sensing in sidelink communications; (a set of mandatory slots (e.g., periodic) may be pre-configured for each resource pool during which the partial sensing UEs are required to be receiving, Paragraph 49. a set of slots are identified and are required to be monitored by all UEs (referred to herein as the mandatory slots) either per bandwidth part (BWP), per resource pool, or a combination thereof. These resources can also be pre-configured per resource pool or per BWP. In addition, the mandatory slots can be set as one or more resource pools, Paragraph 111. In the mandatory slots, either a full sensing UE, a super UE (e.g., a road side unit (RSU), a gNB, a cluster head, etc.), or a UE providing the sync source can send information regarding the receiving, sensing, and resource selection windows, Paragraph 118)
and wherein:
sidelink control information (SCI) is monitored based on the partial sensing and in one or more resources determined based on the one or more configuration parameters (alignment information is sent in the mandatory slots and specifies the location and length of the receiving, sensing, and resource selection windows. Once this information is obtained, each UE within the area can: 1) select its candidate resources for potential transmission; 2) identify the sensing window over which it should detect the SCIs to figure out the occupied resources; and 3) identify the receiving window in which it should be active and receiving data from its neighboring UEs, paragraph 117)
the SCI is received from a second UE based on the monitoring; (When more information should be sent for alignment (e.g., to specify more than one sensing and resource selection window), the number of mandatory slots can be extended in the current period (when periodic) by signaling in the first mandatory slot. For example, the super UE can indicate in the first mandatory slots that additional mandatory slots for this period will exist. This can be done by using an SCI and reserving future resources or by sending a MAC CE in the PSSCH, paragraph 123) and
sidelink data is received from the second UE based on the SCI. (Once this information is obtained, each UE within the area can: 1) select its candidate resources for potential transmission; 2) identify the sensing window over which it should detect the SCIs to figure out the occupied resources; and 3) identify the receiving window in which it should be active and receiving data from its neighboring UEs, Paragraph 117)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, 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 negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness
Claims 5 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fouad et al. (US Publication 2022/0116942) in view of Rastegardoos et al. (US Publication 2024/0243895).
With respect to claims 5 and 18, Fouad doesn’t teach wherein the one or more configuration parameters are transmitted semi-statically via a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).
Rastegardoos teaches wherein the one or more configuration parameters are transmitted semi-statically via a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). (n S-SS/PSBCH block can be transmitted/received in a slot of which all OFDM symbols are semi-statically configured as UL as per the higher layer parameter tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon of the serving cell, Paragraph 264)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Fouad with one or more configuration parameters are transmitted semi-statically via a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) as taught by Rastegardoos. The motivation for combining Fouad and Rastegardoos is to be able to improve flexibility, enhances productivity and efficiency, reduces maintenance cost, and improves operational safety.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ye et al. (US Publication 2026/0052514) discloses the delta value may be set at a value to move the resource selection trigger to T_A before the sidelink DRX on duration so that the updated contiguous partial sensing window starts at the beginning of the sidelink DRX on duration.
Guo et al. (US Publication 2024/0349304) discloses The UE selects, based on the monitoring of the at least one resource subset, a resource subset in the set of resource subsets configured for the random selection of the sidelink transmission resource. The UE transmits a sidelink message in a randomly selected transmission resource within the selected resource subset.
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to ABDULLAHI AHMED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3652. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khalid Kassim can be reached on 571-270-3370. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABDULLAHI AHMED/Examiner, Art Unit 2475