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 .
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.
Response to Amendment
This action is responsive to amendments and remarks filed 04 June 2026. Claims 1-6, 8-13, 15-16 and 18-20 are pending in the application.
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) 1-6 and 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoda et al. (US 2024/0187960 A1) in view of Liu et al. (CN102595620A) citations correspond to the attached machine translation in view of Loehr et al. (US 2018/0139724 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shimoda discloses a data transmission method, comprising:
receiving, by a first device, first scheduling indication information and second scheduling indication information from a second device, wherein the first scheduling indication information indicates a first transmission resource from the second device to a first device, and the second scheduling indication information indicates a second transmission resource from the first device to a third device (Fig. 24, ST2401, ST2402, ST2404, ST2406, [0352]-[0355] disclosing the relay UE (i.e., first device) receives downlink (DL) and sidelink (SL) scheduling information from the gNB (i.e., second device) individually, the DL information indicates the data transmission on the PDSCH from the gNB to the relay UE and the SL scheduling information indicates the data transmission from the relay UE to the remote UE (third device); Fig. 25, ST2501, ST2402, ST 2406, [0368], disclosing he relay device receives the DL and SL scheduling information together in one DCI);
receiving, by the first device, transmission data from the second device on the first transmission resource (Fig. 24, S2402, Fig. 25 ST2402, [0352] disclosing the relay UE receives the data on the PDSCH indicated in the DL scheduling information, [0368] same in Fig. 25); and
based on the transmission data being successfully received, sending, by the first device, the transmission data to the third device on the second transmission resource (Fig. 24, ST2403, ST2406, [0353]-[0355] the data received on the PDSCH is acknowledged with DL FB information; and the data transmission follows accordingly; Fig. 25, ST403, ST2406, [0368] same in Fig. 25).
Shimoda does not disclose the following; however, Liu discloses based on the transmission data not being successfully received by the first device, sending data to other users (disclosure between [0079] and [0080] disclosing when a relay fails to correctly receive the data packet sent by the base station, the relay will send a negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the base station and the service data queue of the relay is empty. In order to improve the utilization of resources, the relay can use the service queue to transmit data packets of other users).
Loehr suggests using a data queue to send data packets of other users comprises determining, by the first device, a destination address based on cached data of the first device, wherein the destination address corresponds to a destination device ([0322] disclosing when the UE has data buffered for different destinations, the UE can select a destination having data in the buffer based on logical channel prioritization (LCP) procedures such as selecting the sidelink destination having the highest corresponding priority having data available); and
sending, by the first device to the destination device on the second transmission resource, data in the cached data that corresponds to the destination address ([0321] disclosing the UE determines the destinations to which transmissions are to be performed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the techniques of Shimoda as suggested by Liu and Loehr because the teaching lies in Liu that this can improve resource utilization when the relay did not properly receive the data to be relayed and the suggestion lies in Loehr that such prioritization can help overcome situations when the UE does not have enough data in its buffer for one destination to utilize all of the available resources ([0280]-[0281]).
Regarding claim 2, Shimoda discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the first device, first feedback information from the third device, wherein the first feedback information indicates whether the third device successfully receives the transmission data (Fig. 24, ST2407, [0355]-[0366] disclosing the Relay UE receives an acknowledgement from the remote UE of the successful reception of the sidelink via SL FB information); and
sending, by the first device, first joint feedback information to the second device, wherein the first joint feedback information comprises the first feedback information and second feedback information, and the second feedback information indicates that the first device successfully receives the transmission data (Fig. 27, ST2407, ST2701, [0383] disclosing the relay UE transmits the DL FB information and SL FB information together in one piece of UCI).
Regarding claim 3, Shimoda discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first scheduling indication information and the second scheduling indication information are carried in a same control signaling (Fig. 25, ST2501, ST2402, ST 2406, [0368], disclosing he relay device receives the DL and SL scheduling information together in one DCI).
Regarding claim 4, Shimoda discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first scheduling indication information is carried in first control signaling, the first control signaling comprises a first identifier, the second scheduling indication information is carried in second control signaling, and the second control signaling comprises a second identifier associated with the first identifier (Fig. 2, ST2401, ST2402, ST2404, ST2406, [0352]-[0355] disclosing the relay UE (i.e., first device) receives downlink (DL) and sidelink (SL) scheduling information from the gNB (i.e., second device) individually; [0338] disclosing the DL scheduling information indicating it is for a relay communication and the DL and SL scheduling information includes identifiers of the relay UE and the remote UE).
Regarding claim 5, Shimoda discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
based on the transmission data not being successfully received, sending, by the first device, second joint feedback information to the second device, wherein the second joint feedback information comprises third feedback information and fourth feedback information, the third feedback information indicates that the first device fails to receive the transmission data, and the fourth feedback information indicates that the third device fails to receive the transmission data (Fig. 29, ST2901, [0387]-[0388] disclosing the relay UE failed to receive the DL data and sends DL FB and SL FB information each indicating NACK because since the relay UE could not receive the data the remote UE could not receive the data either).
Regarding claim 6, Shimoda discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
based on the transmission data not being successfully received, sending, by the first device, third feedback information to the second device, wherein the third feedback information indicates that the first device fails to receive the transmission data (Fig. 29, ST2901, [0387]-[0388], see also Fig. 26 ST2601, [0371]-[0372]); and
sending fourth feedback information to the second device, wherein the fourth feedback information indicates that the third device fails to receive the transmission data (Fig. 29, ST2901, [0387]-[0388]; see also Fig. 28, ST2802, [0385]-[0386]).
Regarding claims 8-13, the clams are directed towards an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor, and a memory storing instructions for execution by the at least one processor; wherein, when executed, the instructions cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising the method of claim 1-6. Shimoda does not expressly disclose such implementations; however, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the techniques in the manner claimed because it provides a device that can be flexibly reconfigured as technical specifications evolve. Accordingly, claims 8-13 are rejected as obvious over the disclosure of Shimoda based on the grounds of rejection above for claims 1-6.
Claim(s) 15-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoda et al. (US 2024/0187960 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Shimoda discloses an apparatus, performing operations comprising:
sending first scheduling indication information and second scheduling indication information to a first device, wherein the first scheduling indication information indicates a first transmission resource from a second device to the first device, and the second scheduling indication information indicates a second transmission resource from the first device to a third device Fig. 24, ST2401, ST2402, ST2404, ST2406, [0352]-[0355] disclosing the relay UE (i.e., first device) receives downlink (DL) and sidelink (SL) scheduling information from the gNB individually, the DL information indicates the data transmission on the PDSCH from the gNB to the relay UE and the SL scheduling information indicates the data transmission from the relay UE to the remote UE (third device); Fig. 25, ST2501, ST2402, ST 2406, [0368], disclosing he relay device receives the DL and SL scheduling information together in one DCI); and
sending transmission data to the first device on the first transmission resource (Fig. 24, S2402, Fig. 25 ST2402, [0352] disclosing the relay UE receives the data on the PDSCH indicated in the DL scheduling information from the gNB, [0368] same in Fig. 25), to enable the first device to send the transmission data to the third device on the second transmission resource (Fig. 24, ST2403, ST2406, [0353]-[0355] the data received on the PDSCH is acknowledged with DL FB information; and the data transmission follows accordingly; Fig. 25, ST403, ST2406, [0368] same in Fig. 25); and
receiving third feedback information from the first device, wherein the third feedback information indicates that the first device fails to receive the transmission data (Fig. 26, ST2601, [0371]-[0372]); and
receiving fourth feedback information from the first device, wherein the fourth feedback information indicates that the second transmission resource is used to transmit cached data of a destination address and indicates whether a destination device corresponding to the destination address successfully receives the cached data (Fig. 26, ST2406, ST2407, ST2408, [0338]-[0339], [0355]-[0356]).
Shimoda does not expressly disclose at least one processor, and a memory storing instructions for execution by the at least one processor; wherein, when executed, the instructions cause the apparatus to perform the operations; however, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the techniques in the manner claimed because it provides a device that can be flexibly reconfigured as technical specifications evolve.
Regarding claim 16, Shimoda discloses the apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, when executed, the instructions cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising:
receiving joint feedback information from the first device, wherein the joint feedback information comprises first feedback information and second feedback information, the first feedback information indicates whether the third device successfully receives the transmission data, and the second feedback information indicates whether the first device successfully receives the transmission data (Fig. 27, ST2407, ST2701, [0383] disclosing the relay UE transmits the DL FB information indicating ACK and SL FB information indicating ACK together in one piece of UCI the the gNB).
Regarding claim 18, Shimoda discloses the apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the first scheduling indication information and the second scheduling indication information are carried in a same control signaling (Fig. 25, ST2501, ST2402, ST 2406, [0368], disclosing he relay device receives the DL and SL scheduling information together in one DCI).
Regarding claim 19, Shimoda discloses the apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the first scheduling indication information is carried in first control signaling, the first control signaling comprises a first identifier, the second scheduling indication information is carried in second control signaling, and the second control signaling comprises a second identifier associated with the first identifier (Fig. 2, ST2401, ST2402, ST2404, ST2406, [0352]-[0355] disclosing the relay UE (i.e., first device) receives downlink (DL) and sidelink (SL) scheduling information from the gNB (i.e., second device) individually; [0338] disclosing the DL scheduling information indicating it is for a relay communication and the DL and SL scheduling information includes identifiers of the relay UE and the remote UE).
Regarding claim 20, Shimoda discloses the apparatus according to claim 15, wherein types of the first device and the third device are terminal devices, and there is a PC5 interface between the first device and the third device (Fig. 24, relay UE and remote UE, [0328]); and
a type of the second device is a terminal device, and there is a PC5 interface between the first device and the second device; or a type of the second device is a network device, and there is a Uu interface between the first device and the second device (Fig. 24, gNB, [0328]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph A Bednash whose telephone number is (571)270-7500. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM - 4:30 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached at (571)272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH A BEDNASH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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