DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the amendment and arguments filed on May 15, 2026.
Claims 1, 5-13, 17-20 are pending.
Claims 1, 11-13 and 20 are rejected.
Claims 5-10 and 17-19 are objected to.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 14, 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 11-13 and 20 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. The rejection has been revised and set forth below according to the amended claims (See Office Action).
In particular prior art reference Leon (US 2024/0090024) is reconsidered in particular paragraph [0018] and Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 in which Clause 6 discloses where the UE shall exclude candidate single slot resources if conditions are met the conditions including if P.sub.rsvp_RX < T.sub.scal and n′ − m ≤ P.sub.rsvp_RX′, where t.sub.n′.sup.SL = n if slot n belongs to the set Q=[Tscal/Prxl], otherwise Q = 1.
Thus the references do read on the amended independent claims in view of the new grounds of rejeciton.
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.
Claims 1, 11-13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leon Calvo et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2024/0090024, hereinafter Leon, in view of Farag U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0030575, hereinafter Farag.
Regarding Claim 1, Leon discloses a method for resource exclusion, applicable to a terminal device (Abstract; Figure 5-10), the method comprising:
determining, based on a first slot where sidelink control information is monitored, Q slots corresponding to the first slot, wherein in a case that a first parameter is configured, Q is equal to 1 or 2 or ┌Tscal/Prx┐ or ┌Tscal/Prx┐+1, wherein the first parameter is defined to indicate an additional periodic sensing occasion, Prx represents a resource reservation period carried in the sidelink control information, and Tscal is determined based on a resource selection window or selected candidate slots (Figure 5; Paragraph [0012-0018] Sensing based resource selection scheme including determining where sidelink control information is monitored; Paragraph [0092-0109] the network node 500 may send, and the SL WCD 308 receive, a configuration of one or more periodic sensing parameters that define, e.g., the periodic sensing window size and/or the periodicity of the periodic sensing occasions (step 502); The SL WCD 308 selects a resource(s) (e.g., time and/or frequency resources such as, e.g., resource element(s), resource block(s), subcarrier(s), OFDM symbol(s), slot(s), subframe(s)) for a SL transmission (e.g., a SL transmission that triggered the aperiodic sensing) based on sensing information obtained as a result of the sensing; The SL WCD 308 then transmits the SL transmission using the selected resource(s));
and excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource (Paragraph [0034] In one embodiment, selecting the one or more resources comprises selecting the one or more resources from a set of resources, wherein one or more resources that are comprised in one or more upcoming periodic sensing occasions are included in the set of resources or are excluded from the set of resources depending on a priority associated to the sidelink transmission and/or a priority associated to periodic traffic associated to the one or more periodic sensing occasions; Paragraph [0109 and 0155-0171] In regard to step 514, in one embodiment, if the priority of periodic traffic is high, the slots which are part of one or more upcoming periodic sensing occasions are excluded from the resource selection window of aperiodic traffic),
wherein in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is less than Tscal, Q=[Tscal/Prxl; in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is greater than or equal to Tscal, Q=1; or in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is greater than or equal to Tscal, Q=1 (Paragraph [0018] Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 Item Number 6 the UE excluding candidate resources in different conditions; The conditions define Prsvp (Claimed Prx) less than Tscal AND n’-m ≤ P.sub.rsvp_TX (Claimed Prxlg) then Q=Tscal/Prsvp_rx; Other wise when the condition is not met Q=1. Examiner notes the equation is equivalent to m+Prxlg >= n’).
wherein m represents the first slot, Prxlg represents a number of logical slots converted from Prx, and nl represents a reference slot (Paragraph [0018] Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 Item Number 6 P.sub.rsvp_TX, if provided, is converted from units of ms to units of logical slots, resulting in P.sub.rsvp_TX′; n reference slot).
Leon discloses excluding a resources based on different situations such as overlapping resources in a slot but many not explicitly disclose exclude a first resource determined based on the first slot and Q slots where excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource.
However, Farag more specifically teaches excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource (Figure 10 and 14; Paragraph [0106-0113] In one example, the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window. Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs. The resources excluded are based on SCIs decoded in a sensing window and for which the UE measures a SL RSRP that exceeds a threshold. The threshold depends on the priority indicated in a SCI format and on the priority of the SL transmission. The resources excluded are based on reserved transmissions or semi-persistent transmissions that can collide with the excluded resources or any of reserved or semi-persistent transmissions. To determine a candidate single-slot resource set to report to higher layers, a UE excludes from the set of available single-slot resources for SL transmission within a resource pool and within a resource selection window. In one example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any slot t.sub.m.sup.SL not monitored within the sensing window with a hypothetical received SCI Format 1-0, with a “Resource reservation period” set to any periodicity value allowed by a higher layer parameter; n such example, in a condition 2.2, The received SCI in slot t′.sub.m.sup.SL, or if “Resource reservation field” is present in the received SCI the same SCI is assumed to be received in slot t′.sub.m+q×P′.sub.rsvp_Rx, indicates a set of resource blocks that overlaps R.sub.x,y+j×P′.sub.rsvp_Tx, where q=1, 2, . . . , Q, where, if Q=_RX.Math..T.sub.scal is T.sub.2 in units of milli-seconds, else Q=1. If n belongs to (t′.sub.0.sup.SL, . . . , t′.sub.T′max−), n′=n, else n′ is the first slot after slot n belonging to set (t′.sub.0.sup.SL, t′.sub.1.sup.SL, . . . , t′.sub.T′.sub.max−1.sup.SL), where j=0, 1, . . . , C.sub.resel−1; P.sub.rsvp_Rx is the indicated resource reservation period in the received SCI in physical slots, and P′.sub.rsvp_Rx is that value converted to logical slots; and P′.sub.rsvp_Tx is the resource reservation period of the SL transmissions for which resources are being reserved in logical slots).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leon with the teachings of Farag. Farag provides a solution where the processing complexity and power consumption of a user equipment (UE) for sidelink communication is reduced, and the need for the UE to have receive circuitry on the sidelink for sensing even if the UE only transmits and does not receive on the SL is avoided (Farag Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0008]).
Regarding Claim 11, Leon in view of Farag disclose the method for resource exclusion according to Claim 1. Leon in view of Farag further disclose wherein: the first resource is any of resources in a candidate resource set; and excluding the first resource comprises: excluding the first resource from the candidate resource set; wherein the candidate resource set is an initialized resource set and comprises all candidate resources in selected candidate slots determined by the terminal device; or the candidate resource set is a resource set formed by remaining resources in the initialized resource set after resource exclusion (Leon Figure 5; Paragraph [0012-0018] Candidate slot resource; Farag Paragraph [0106-0113] In one example, the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window. Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs. During the first step of the resource (re-)selection procedure, a UE can monitor slots in a sensing window [n−T.sub.0, n−T.sub.proc,0), where the UE monitors slots belonging to a corresponding sidelink resource pool that are not used for the UE's own transmission. To determine a candidate single-slot resource set to report to higher layers, a UE excludes from the set of available single-slot resources for SL transmission within a resource pool and within a resource selection window. In one example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any slot t.sub.m.sup.SL not monitored within the sensing window with a hypothetical received SCI Format 1-0, with a “Resource reservation period” set to any periodicity value allowed by a higher layer parameter reseverationPeriodAllowed and indicating all sub-channels of the resource pool in this slot, satisfies condition 2.2. below. In another example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any received SCI within the sensing window).
Regarding Claim 12, Leon in view of Farag disclose the method for resource exclusion according to Claim 1. Leon in view of Farag further disclose wherein the selected candidate slots are part of slots determined within the resource selection window by the terminal device (Leon Figure 5; Paragraph [0012-0018] Candidate slot resource; Farag Paragraph [0106-0113] In one example, the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window. Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs. During the first step of the resource (re-)selection procedure, a UE can monitor slots in a sensing window [n−T.sub.0, n−T.sub.proc,0), where the UE monitors slots belonging to a corresponding sidelink resource pool that are not used for the UE's own transmission. To determine a candidate single-slot resource set to report to higher layers, a UE excludes from the set of available single-slot resources for SL transmission within a resource pool and within a resource selection window. In one example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any slot t.sub.m.sup.SL not monitored within the sensing window with a hypothetical received SCI Format 1-0, with a “Resource reservation period” set to any periodicity value allowed by a higher layer parameter reseverationPeriodAllowed and indicating all sub-channels of the resource pool in this slot, satisfies condition 2.2. below. In another example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any received SCI within the sensing window).
Regarding Claim 13, Leon discloses a terminal device, comprising: a processor and a memory storing a computer program therein, wherein the processor, when running the computer program (Abstract; Figure 5-10), is caused to perform:
determining, based on a first slot where sidelink control information is monitored, Q slots corresponding to the first slot, wherein in a case that a first parameter is configured, Q is equal to 1 or 2 or ┌Tscal/Prx┐ or ┌Tscal/Prx┐+1, wherein the first parameter is defined to indicate an additional periodic sensing occasion, Prx represents a resource reservation period carried in the sidelink control information, and Tscal is determined based on a resource selection window or selected candidate slots (Figure 5; Paragraph [0012-0018] Sensing based resource selection scheme including determining where sidelink control information is monitored; Paragraph [0092-0109] the network node 500 may send, and the SL WCD 308 receive, a configuration of one or more periodic sensing parameters that define, e.g., the periodic sensing window size and/or the periodicity of the periodic sensing occasions (step 502); The SL WCD 308 selects a resource(s) (e.g., time and/or frequency resources such as, e.g., resource element(s), resource block(s), subcarrier(s), OFDM symbol(s), slot(s), subframe(s)) for a SL transmission (e.g., a SL transmission that triggered the aperiodic sensing) based on sensing information obtained as a result of the sensing; The SL WCD 308 then transmits the SL transmission using the selected resource(s));
and excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource ( Paragraph [0034] In one embodiment, selecting the one or more resources comprises selecting the one or more resources from a set of resources, wherein one or more resources that are comprised in one or more upcoming periodic sensing occasions are included in the set of resources or are excluded from the set of resources depending on a priority associated to the sidelink transmission and/or a priority associated to periodic traffic associated to the one or more periodic sensing occasions; Paragraph [0109 and 0155-0171] In regard to step 514, in one embodiment, if the priority of periodic traffic is high, the slots which are part of one or more upcoming periodic sensing occasions are excluded from the resource selection window of aperiodic traffic),
wherein in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is less than Tscal, Q=[Tscal/Prxl; in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is greater than or equal to Tscal, Q=1; or in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is greater than or equal to Tscal, Q=1 (Paragraph [0018] Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 Item Number 6 the UE excluding candidate resources in different conditions; The conditions define Prsvp (Claimed Prx) less than Tscal AND n’-m ≤ P.sub.rsvp_TX (Claimed Prxlg) then Q=Tscal/Prsvp_rx; Other wise when the condition is not met Q=1. Examiner notes the equation is equivalent to m+Prxlg >= n’).
wherein m represents the first slot, Prxlg represents a number of logical slots converted from Prx, and nl represents a reference slot (Paragraph [0018] Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 Item Number 6 P.sub.rsvp_TX, if provided, is converted from units of ms to units of logical slots, resulting in P.sub.rsvp_TX′; n reference slot).
Leon discloses excluding a resources based on different situations such as overlapping resources in a slot but many not explicitly disclose exclude a first resource determined based on the first slot and Q slots where excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource.
However, Farag more specifically teaches excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource (Figure 10 and 14; Paragraph [0106-0113] In one example, the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window. Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs. The resources excluded are based on SCIs decoded in a sensing window and for which the UE measures a SL RSRP that exceeds a threshold. The threshold depends on the priority indicated in a SCI format and on the priority of the SL transmission. The resources excluded are based on reserved transmissions or semi-persistent transmissions that can collide with the excluded resources or any of reserved or semi-persistent transmissions. To determine a candidate single-slot resource set to report to higher layers, a UE excludes from the set of available single-slot resources for SL transmission within a resource pool and within a resource selection window. In one example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any slot t.sub.m.sup.SL not monitored within the sensing window with a hypothetical received SCI Format 1-0, with a “Resource reservation period” set to any periodicity value allowed by a higher layer parameter; n such example, in a condition 2.2, The received SCI in slot t′.sub.m.sup.SL, or if “Resource reservation field” is present in the received SCI the same SCI is assumed to be received in slot t′.sub.m+q×P′.sub.rsvp_Rx, indicates a set of resource blocks that overlaps R.sub.x,y+j×P′.sub.rsvp_Tx, where q=1, 2, . . . , Q, where, if Q=_RX.Math..T.sub.scal is T.sub.2 in units of milli-seconds, else Q=1. If n belongs to (t′.sub.0.sup.SL, . . . , t′.sub.T′max−), n′=n, else n′ is the first slot after slot n belonging to set (t′.sub.0.sup.SL, t′.sub.1.sup.SL, . . . , t′.sub.T′.sub.max−1.sup.SL), where j=0, 1, . . . , C.sub.resel−1; P.sub.rsvp_Rx is the indicated resource reservation period in the received SCI in physical slots, and P′.sub.rsvp_Rx is that value converted to logical slots; and P′.sub.rsvp_Tx is the resource reservation period of the SL transmissions for which resources are being reserved in logical slots).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leon with the teachings of Farag. Farag provides a solution where the processing complexity and power consumption of a user equipment (UE) for sidelink communication is reduced, and the need for the UE to have receive circuitry on the sidelink for sensing even if the UE only transmits and does not receive on the SL is avoided (Farag Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0008]).
Regarding Claim 20, Leon discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which when executed by a processor (Abstract; Figure 5-10), causes the processor to:
determine, based on a first slot where sidelink control information is monitored, Q slots corresponding to the first slot, wherein in a case that a first parameter is configured, Q is equal to 1 or 2 or ┌Tscal/Prx┐ or ┌Tscal/Prx┐+1, wherein the first parameter is defined to indicate an additional periodic sensing occasion, Prx represents a resource reservation period carried in the sidelink control information, and Tscal is determined based on a resource selection window or selected candidate slots (Figure 5; Paragraph [0012-0018] Sensing based resource selection scheme including determining where sidelink control information is monitored; Paragraph [0092-0109] the network node 500 may send, and the SL WCD 308 receive, a configuration of one or more periodic sensing parameters that define, e.g., the periodic sensing window size and/or the periodicity of the periodic sensing occasions (step 502); The SL WCD 308 selects a resource(s) (e.g., time and/or frequency resources such as, e.g., resource element(s), resource block(s), subcarrier(s), OFDM symbol(s), slot(s), subframe(s)) for a SL transmission (e.g., a SL transmission that triggered the aperiodic sensing) based on sensing information obtained as a result of the sensing; The SL WCD 308 then transmits the SL transmission using the selected resource(s));
and exclude a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource ( Paragraph [0034] In one embodiment, selecting the one or more resources comprises selecting the one or more resources from a set of resources, wherein one or more resources that are comprised in one or more upcoming periodic sensing occasions are included in the set of resources or are excluded from the set of resources depending on a priority associated to the sidelink transmission and/or a priority associated to periodic traffic associated to the one or more periodic sensing occasions; Paragraph [0109 and 0155-0171] In regard to step 514, in one embodiment, if the priority of periodic traffic is high, the slots which are part of one or more upcoming periodic sensing occasions are excluded from the resource selection window of aperiodic traffic),
wherein in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is less than Tscal, Q=[Tscal/Prxl; in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is greater than or equal to Tscal, Q=1; or in a case that m+Prxlg is greater than or equal to nl and Prx is greater than or equal to Tscal, Q=1 (Paragraph [0018] Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 Item Number 6 the UE excluding candidate resources in different conditions; The conditions define Prsvp (Claimed Prx) less than Tscal AND n’-m ≤ P.sub.rsvp_TX (Claimed Prxlg) then Q=Tscal/Prsvp_rx; Other wise when the condition is not met Q=1. Examiner notes the equation is equivalent to m+Prxlg >= n’).
wherein m represents the first slot, Prxlg represents a number of logical slots converted from Prx, and nl represents a reference slot (Paragraph [0018] Table 1 Excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.214 Item Number 6 P.sub.rsvp_TX, if provided, is converted from units of ms to units of logical slots, resulting in P.sub.rsvp_TX′; n reference slot).
Leon discloses excluding a resources based on different situations such as overlapping resources in a slot but many not explicitly disclose exclude a first resource determined based on the first slot and Q slots where excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource.
However, Farag more specifically teaches excluding a first resource in a case that resources determined based on the first slot and the Q slots overlap with the first resource or a periodic resource corresponding to the first resource (Figure 10 and 14; Paragraph [0106-0113] In one example, the first step is to identify the candidate resources within a resource selection window. Candidate resources are resources that belong to a resource pool, but exclude resources that were previously reserved, or potentially reserved by other UEs. The resources excluded are based on SCIs decoded in a sensing window and for which the UE measures a SL RSRP that exceeds a threshold. The threshold depends on the priority indicated in a SCI format and on the priority of the SL transmission. The resources excluded are based on reserved transmissions or semi-persistent transmissions that can collide with the excluded resources or any of reserved or semi-persistent transmissions. To determine a candidate single-slot resource set to report to higher layers, a UE excludes from the set of available single-slot resources for SL transmission within a resource pool and within a resource selection window. In one example, single slot resource R.sub.x,y is considered (e.g., considered as excluded from the available resources), such that for any slot t.sub.m.sup.SL not monitored within the sensing window with a hypothetical received SCI Format 1-0, with a “Resource reservation period” set to any periodicity value allowed by a higher layer parameter; n such example, in a condition 2.2, The received SCI in slot t′.sub.m.sup.SL, or if “Resource reservation field” is present in the received SCI the same SCI is assumed to be received in slot t′.sub.m+q×P′.sub.rsvp_Rx, indicates a set of resource blocks that overlaps R.sub.x,y+j×P′.sub.rsvp_Tx, where q=1, 2, . . . , Q, where, if Q=_RX.Math..T.sub.scal is T.sub.2 in units of milli-seconds, else Q=1. If n belongs to (t′.sub.0.sup.SL, . . . , t′.sub.T′max−), n′=n, else n′ is the first slot after slot n belonging to set (t′.sub.0.sup.SL, t′.sub.1.sup.SL, . . . , t′.sub.T′.sub.max−1.sup.SL), where j=0, 1, . . . , C.sub.resel−1; P.sub.rsvp_Rx is the indicated resource reservation period in the received SCI in physical slots, and P′.sub.rsvp_Rx is that value converted to logical slots; and P′.sub.rsvp_Tx is the resource reservation period of the SL transmissions for which resources are being reserved in logical slots).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leon with the teachings of Farag. Farag provides a solution where the processing complexity and power consumption of a user equipment (UE) for sidelink communication is reduced, and the need for the UE to have receive circuitry on the sidelink for sensing even if the UE only transmits and does not receive on the SL is avoided (Farag Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0008]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10 and 17-19 are 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.
Conclusion
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IVAN O. LATORRE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2409
/IVAN O LATORRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
Prosecution Insights