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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102[a2] as being anticipated by Lin [US 2022/0256504 which has provisional application 62/928221].
As claims 1 and 16, Lin [US 2022/0256504] discloses a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting, to a plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, a data signal in a groupcast transmission [Fig 3, TX UE transmitting a groupcast signal which includes TBs, Par. 0079]; determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs for the groupcast transmission [Par. 0079 discloses TX UE which transmits TBs via connection-oriented groupcast, determines if full format such as ACK and NACK or reduced format such as NACK only or Ack only]; and monitoring, from a second UE of the plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, for feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Fig 7 and Par. 0089 discloses TX UE monitors both ACK and NACK of TBs].
As claims 2 and 17, Lin [US 2022/0256504] discloses the first type of feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) signal and the second type of feedback comprises a negative acknowledgment (NACK) signal [Par. 0089 discloses ACK and NACK].
As claim 15, Lin [US 2022/0256504] discloses determining whether to retransmit the data signal to at least the second UE based on the feedback [Par. 0084-0085].
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.
Claim(s) 3-5, 7 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Tsai [US 2022/0399927].
As claims 3 and 18, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE monitor ACK/NACK but receiving no feedback from RX UE]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE which informs higher layer that the link is failed “read on report NACK”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 4 and 19, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0061 discloses when TX determines to monitor NACK only or DTX which no signal of NACK and ACK]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report ack to higher layer when NO NACK or NO ACK based on option NACK only].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 5 and 20, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0062, table 1]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0062, table 1].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 7, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0061 discloses when TX determines to monitor NACK only or DTX which no signal of NACK and ACK]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report ack to higher layer when NO NACK or NO ACK based on option NACK only].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Han [US 2011/0235586].
As claim 6, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Han [US 2011/0235586] discloses detecting the ACK signal and the NACK signal in the feedback [Fig 10, Ref 1013]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Fig 10, Ref 1019].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the ACK signal and the NACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Han into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Lee [US 2022/0166557].
As claim 9, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 10, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Ryu [US 2020/0313804].
As claim 11, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Ryu [US 2020/0313804] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs]; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE as disclosed by Ryu into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] in view of Han [US 2011/0235586].
As claims 1 and 16, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] discloses a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting, to a plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, a data signal in a groupcast transmission [Fig 12, Ref S21, discloses TX UE transmitting a groupcast signal which includes TBs]; determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs for the groupcast transmission [Fig 12, Ref S23, Par. 0053-0054, 0069 discloses TX UE which transmits TBs via connection-oriented groupcast, determines if ACK and NACK, NACK only or both ]; monitoring, from a second UE of the plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, for feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Fig 10 discloses the monitoring feedback for both options and Par. 0060 discloses TX UE monitors both ACK and NACK of TBs]. However, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] fails to disclose feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback. In the same field of endeavor, Han discloses Yoshioka feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback [Fig 10, Ref 1013].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback as disclosed by Han into the teaching of Yoshioka. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 2 and 17, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] discloses the first type of feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) signal and the second type of feedback comprises a negative acknowledgment (NACK) signal [Par. 0060 discloses ACK and NACK].
As claim 15, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] discloses determining whether to retransmit the data signal to at least the second UE based on the feedback [Fig 12, Ref S24].
As claim 6, Han [US 2011/0235586] discloses detecting the ACK signal and the NACK signal in the feedback [Fig 10, Ref 1013]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Fig 10, 1019].
Claim(s) 3-5, 7 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka and Han as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Tsai [US 2022/0399927].
As claims 3 and 18, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE monitor ACK/NACK but receiving no feedback from RX UE]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE which informs higher layer that the link is failed “read on report NACK”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 4 and 19, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0061 discloses when TX determines to monitor NACK only or DTX which no signal of NACK and ACK]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report ack to higher layer when NO NACK or NO ACK based on option NACK only].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 5 and 20, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0062, table 1]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0062, table 1].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 7, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0061 discloses when TX determines to monitor NACK only or DTX which no signal of NACK and ACK]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report ack to higher layer when NO NACK or NO ACK based on option NACK only].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka and Han as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Lee [US 2022/0166557].
As claim 9, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 10, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka and Han as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Ryu [US 2020/0313804].
As claim 11, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Ryu [US 2020/0313804] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs]; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE as disclosed by Ryu into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 12-14 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As claim 8, the prior arts fail to disclose receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a predetermined number of transmissions associated with a same packet of the groupcast transmission for selectively monitoring for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback for a first transmission and a first retransmission based on the predetermined number of transmissions indicated in the configuration, and determining to monitor for the second type of feedback excluding the first type of feedback for a second retransmission based on the predetermined number of transmissions indicated in the configuration.
As claim 12, the prior arts fail to disclose determining that a number of the plurality of UEs are vulnerable to interference from one or more hidden nodes for a duration of time, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback for the groupcast transmission based on the duration of time exceeding a predetermined duration threshold, and determining to monitor for the second type of feedback excluding the first type of feedback for the groupcast transmission based on the duration of time not exceeding the predetermined duration threshold.
As claim 13, the prior arts fail to disclose determining whether the feedback comprises the first type of feedback for at least X number of packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein X is a configurable parameter; and transitioning into a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) procedure when the feedback comprises the first type of feedback for the at least X number of packets of the groupcast transmission, the first HARQ procedure comprising a monitoring operation for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback.
As claim 14, the prior arts fail to determining whether the feedback excludes the first type of feedback for at least Y number of packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein Y is a configurable parameter; and transitioning into a second hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) procedure when the feedback excludes the first type of feedback for the at least Y number of packets of the groupcast transmission, the second HARQ procedure comprising a monitoring operation for the second type of feedback while excluding the monitoring operation for the first type of feedback.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee [US 2022/0052792] discloses a method and system for determining feedback option.
Hahn [US 2022/0294570] a method and system for determining feedback option.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3159. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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