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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-5, 7-10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 explicitly limits the first alternative of claim 2, “wherein when the first preset rule comprises the performing resource exclusion based on a first threshold”. However, later in claim 4, it recites “the fourth threshold” and “the candidate resource set”. “A fourth threshold” is only disclosed in the seventh and eighth alternatives of claim 2. If the first alternative is chosen, “the fourth threshold” and “the candidate resource set” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 5 explicitly limits the second alternative of claim 2, “based on a second threshold”. However, it also recites “the fourth threshold” and “the candidate resource set”, which lack antecedent basis for the exact same reason.
Claim 2 provides ten different alternatives “any one of the following.”
Claim 3 discloses “the target candidate resource set”. This is only introduced in the third alternative of claim 2. If any other alternative is chosen, it lacks antecedent basis.
Claims 7 and 8 disclose “the third threshold” and “the target candidate resource set”. These only exist in the third alternative of claim 2.
Claim 9 discloses “the preset resource exclusion behavior”. This is only introduced in the fifth and sixth alternatives of claim 2.
Claim 10 depends directly on Claim 1. It discloses “a fourth threshold”. There is no first, second, third, or fourth threshold recited in Claim 1. Therefore, “a fourth threshold” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 17 depends on claim 14, which depends on claim 12. Claim 12 contains four alternatives, “any one of the following”. Claim 17 discloses “the distance between the second terminal and the first terminal” and “the energy measurement value”. These terms are only introduced in the first alternative of claim 12. If claim 14 and by extension claim 17 is applied when the second, third, or fourth alternative of claim 12 is chosen, these terms lack antecedent basis.
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)(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.
Regarding claims 2-5, and 9-10 the broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. For example, assume a method claim requires step A if a first condition happens and step B if a second condition happens. If the claimed invention may be practiced without either the first or second condition happening, then neither step A or B is required by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim. If the claimed invention requires the first condition to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires step A. If the claimed invention requires both the first and second conditions to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires both steps A and B.
For claim 2 the conditional statements, “when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, determining a resource quantity requirement of a target candidate resource set based on a third threshold; when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, an upper limit value of a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold is a preset value; when a quantity of non-preferred resources used for resource exclusion is greater than a first preset value, performing a preset resource exclusion behavior; when a sum of a quantity of non-preferred resources used for resource exclusion and a quantity of first resources is greater than a first preset value, performing a preset resource exclusion behavior, wherein the first resource is a resource that is excluded based on a non-monitored slot; when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, triggering resource reselection when a quantity of remaining resources in a candidate resource set is less than or equal to a fourth threshold; when resource exclusion is performed by a MAC layer based on the non-preferred resource set, reporting, by a physical layer, an intermediate candidate resource set and the non-preferred resource set to the MAC layer, wherein the intermediate candidate resource set is a candidate resource set obtained before the resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set; or when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, a resource selection window satisfies at least one of the following: a latest start time of the resource selection window is later than a first time; or minimum duration of the resource selection window is less than first duration, wherein the first time is a latest start time of a resource selection window used when the resource exclusion is not performed based on the non-preferred resource set, and the first duration is minimum duration of a resource selection window used when the resource exclusion is not performed based on the non-preferred resource set.”
For claim 3 the conditional statements, “The method according to claim 2, wherein the fourth threshold is a threshold used to determine the resource quantity requirement of the target candidate resource set when the resource exclusion is not performed based on the non-preferred resource set.”
For claim 4 the conditional statements, “wherein when the first preset rule comprises the performing resource exclusion based on a first threshold for a non-preferred resource that can be used for resource exclusion by the first terminal, the first preset rule satisfies at least one of the following: when a first quantity of resources in the non-preferred resource set is greater than the first threshold, selecting, by a terminal, a portion of non-preferred resources for the resource exclusion, wherein a quantity of the portion of the non-preferred resources is less than or equal to the first threshold; when a first quantity of resources in the non-preferred resource set is less than or equal to the first threshold, determining, by a terminal, that all the resources in the non-preferred resource set are used for the resource exclusion; or in a process of performing the resource exclusion based on the non-preferred resource set, when the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is less than the fourth threshold, a first quantity of non-preferred resources that can be used for the resource exclusion or a ratio of the first quantity to an initial candidate resource set is less than or equal to the first threshold; or when the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold, resources in the non-preferred resource set are sequentially excluded until a first preset condition is satisfied, wherein the first preset condition indicates that the resources in the non-preferred resource set are continued to be excluded, so that the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is less than the fourth threshold.”
For claim 5 the conditional statements, “wherein when the first preset rule comprises the performing exclusion on at least a portion of non-preferred resources in the non-preferred resource set based on a second threshold, the first preset rule satisfies at least one of the following: or in a process of performing the resource exclusion based on the non-preferred resource set, when the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is less than the fourth threshold, a quantity of reduced resources in the candidate resource set satisfies a second preset condition; or when the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold, resources in the non-preferred resource set are sequentially excluded until a first preset condition is satisfied, wherein the first preset condition indicates that the resources in the non-preferred resource set are continued to be excluded, so that the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is less than the fourth threshold.”
For claim 9 the conditional statements, “or when the sum of the quantity of the non-preferred resources used for the resource exclusion and the quantity of the first resources is greater than the first preset value, restoring at least a portion of the first resources.”
For claim 10 the conditional statements, “when a quantity of remaining resources in a candidate resource set is greater than or equal to a fourth threshold, sequentially excluding resources in the non-preferred resource set until a first preset condition is satisfied, wherein the first preset condition indicates that the resources in the non-preferred resource set are continued to be excluded, so that the quantity of the remaining resources in the candidate resource set is less than the fourth threshold.”
The respective functions are not required to be performed if the respective condition does NOT happen. In order to give a patentable weight for the contingent limitations, the limitations should be amended by adding the respective determining steps for the conditions.
Claims 1-10 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 20200252910 A1)
Regarding claims 1, 19, and 20 Wu discloses:
a memory storing a computer program; (Paragraph [0031], “The UE includes a processor, and a memory, configured to store machine readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to the method of the first aspect.”)
and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the computer program to perform operations comprising: (Paragraph [0032], “the disclosure a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a user equipment UE, cause the UE to perform the method according to the first aspect is provided.”)
determining a non-preferred resource set; (Paragraph [0015], “a reserved resource indicated by the SA signaling collides with or is about to collide with a resource in the initial resource set, the resource which has or is about to have a collision is excluded” The resources that have collided are excluded because they are not preferred.)
and performing a resource exclusion behavior based on a first preset rule and the non-preferred resource set. (Paragraph [0015], “excluding resources based on a correctly decoded Resource Reservation Signaling (RRS), wherein when a RSRP measured based on a physical channel carrying the RRS or a physical signal transmitting the RRS is greater than a predetermined second threshold, and a reserved resource indicated by the RRS collides with or is about to collide with a resource in the initial resource set, the resource which has or is about to have a collision is excluded”)
Regarding claim 2 Wu discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first preset rule comprises any one of the following: performing resource exclusion based on a first threshold for a non-preferred resource that can be used for resource exclusion by the first terminal, wherein the first threshold is a quantity threshold or a ratio threshold; (Paragraph [0007], “determining whether the ratio of the remaining resources in S.sub.A to the total resources of S.sub.A is greater than R, for example, R=20% at operation 103. If the ratio is less than R, the threshold Th1 is raised by 3 dB at operation 104, and the process returns to operation 101, otherwise, the process proceeds to operation 105.” The ratio threshold used for resource exclusion checks whether the number of resources remaining after exclusion is sufficient.)
performing exclusion on at least a portion of non-preferred resources in the non-preferred resource set based on a second threshold;
when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, determining a resource quantity requirement of a target candidate resource set based on a third threshold;
when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, an upper limit value of a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold is a preset value; (Paragraph [0007], “if SA indicates that resources are still reserved after the subframe n, the Received Power of the data channel scheduled by SA is measured, and when the Received Power exceeds a corresponding threshold Th1, a part of candidate resources of S.sub.A are excluded at operation 102. Specifically, when the Received Power exceeds the corresponding threshold Th1, the resources Y reserved after the subframe n are unavailable according to SA.” And paragraph [0015], “excluding resources based on a correctly decoded Resource Reservation Signaling (RRS), wherein when a RSRP measured based on a physical channel carrying the RRS or a physical signal transmitting the RRS is greater than a predetermined second threshold, and a reserved resource indicated by the RRS collides with or is about to collide with a resource in the initial resource set, the resource which has or is about to have a collision is excluded”)
when a quantity of non-preferred resources used for resource exclusion is greater than a first preset value, performing a preset resource exclusion behavior;
when a sum of a quantity of non-preferred resources used for resource exclusion and a quantity of first resources is greater than a first preset value, performing a preset resource exclusion behavior, wherein the first resource is a resource that is excluded based on a non-monitored slot;
performing resource exclusion on an intermediate candidate resource set based on the non-preferred resource set, wherein the intermediate candidate resource set is a candidate resource set obtained before the resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, and a threshold for a resource quantity requirement of the intermediate candidate resource set is greater than a fourth threshold;
when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, triggering resource reselection when a quantity of remaining resources in a candidate resource set is less than or equal to a fourth threshold;
when resource exclusion is performed by a MAC layer based on the non-preferred resource set, reporting, by a physical layer, an intermediate candidate resource set and the non-preferred resource set to the MAC layer, wherein the intermediate candidate resource set is a candidate resource set obtained before the resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set;
or when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, a resource selection window satisfies at least one of the following: a latest start time of the resource selection window is later than a first time;
or minimum duration of the resource selection window is less than first duration, wherein the first time is a latest start time of a resource selection window used when the resource exclusion is not performed based on the non-preferred resource set, and the first duration is minimum duration of a resource selection window used when the resource exclusion is not performed based on the non-preferred resource set.
Regarding claim 6, claim 6 depends on claim 5, which depends on claim 2. Claim 5 recites a contingent limitation, “wherein when the first preset rule comprises the performing exclusion on at least a portion of non-preferred resources… based on a second threshold” Claim 6 further limits this specific condition by defining the “second preset condition.” As established above, under the BRI, a method claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed. Because claim 2 allows the method to be performed using “any one of the following” rules, the claim is fully satisfied if the first alternative is met, which Wu anticipates, as mapped above. Therefore, the condition precedent for claim 5, and by extension claim 6, is not required to occur. Because the claimed invention may be practiced without this condition happening, the additional limitations of claim 6 are not required. Thus, Wu anticipates claim 6 for the same reasons it anticipates claims 1 and 2.
Regarding claim 7, claim 7 depends on claim 2 and further defines the “third threshold.” The third threshold is only disclosed in claim 2 as a contingent limitation: “when resource exclusion is performed based on the non-preferred resource set, determining a resource quantity requirement of a target candidate resource set based on a third threshold.” Because claim 2 allows the method to be performed using “any one of the following” rules, the claim is fully satisfied if the first alternative is met, which Wu anticipates. Therefore, the condition precedent requiring the third threshold is not required to occur. Because the claimed invention may be practiced without this condition happening, the additional limitations of claim 7 are not required. Thus, Wu anticipates claim 7 for the same reasons it anticipates claims 1 and 2.
Regarding claim 8, claim 8 depends on claim 2 and further defines the “third threshold” and a “second quantity.” As noted above for claim 7, the third threshold is only disclosed in claim 2 as a contingent limitation. Because claim 2 allows the method to be performed using “any one of the following” rules, the claim is fully satisfied if the first alternative is met, which Wu anticipates. Therefore, the condition precedent requiring the third threshold is not required to occur. Because the claimed invention may be practiced without this condition happening, the additional limitations of claim 8 are not required. Thus, Wu anticipates claim 8 for the same reasons it anticipates claims 1 and 2.
Conclusion
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/NAM P. CAO/ Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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