Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1, 2, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ko WO 2021086093 hereafter Ko (A1 cited by
applicant).
6. Consider claim 14. Ko teaches an apparatus (fig 24) for controlling signal transmission power, comprising: a memory (104), configured to store program instructions; a processor (102), configured to invoke the program instructions stored in the memory, and perform followings according to an obtained program: determining a transmission power control parameter; determining a transmission power of a sidelink positioning reference signal, S- PRS, according to the transmission power control parameter (from Ko….. For example, the one or more processors execute the instructions to receive a sidelink positioning reference signal (S-PRS) from a first device, and the transmission parameter related to the S-PRS is information obtained by the first device. Based on, the S-PRS is determined by the first device, and the S-PRS is transmitted from the first device based on the transmission parameter, and the information obtained by the first device is a movement speed of the first device. , The distance between the first device and the second device, the congestion level of the channel related to the S-PRS, the noise of the channel related to the S-PRS, the interference of the channel related to the S-PRS Including at least one of an interference level, an accuracy required for positioning related to the S-PRS, a priority of a positioning related to the S-PRS, or the strength of a signal related to the S-PRS And, the transmission parameter is a first center frequency related to the S-PRS, a distributed form related to the transmission of the S-PRS, whether a muting operation for prohibiting the S-PRS transmission by the second device is performed. Or, it may include at least one of the first transmission power related to the S-PRS.
7. Regarding claim 15, Ko teaches wherein the transmission power control parameter comprises a sidelink path loss (reads on the strength of the signal related to the S-PRS as stated above).
8. Method claims 1 and 2 are rejected for the same reasons as apparatus claims 14 and 15 since the recited elements would perform the claimed steps.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
9. 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
10. Claims 13 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ko WO 2021086093 in view of Ren et al CN 112994858 A. (see Google translation CN112994858A - Method and terminal for sending and receiving direct link positioning reference signal - Google Patents)
11. Consider claim 26. Ko fails to teach wherein the S-PRS is not sent on a symbol same as a symbol in which at least one of a physical sidelink control channel. However, from the same field of endeavor, Ren et al teaches such (from Ren… the S-PRS will not be transmitted on the OFDM symbol or time slot occupied by at least one information in the first information set…. the first information set comprises: through link physical channel. It would have been obvious, before the effective date, to keep the S-PRS separate from the physical sideling control channel to avoid collisions which would make the distance measurements more accurate.
12. Claims 3, 6-9, 11-12, 16, 19-22 and 24-25 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. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious the specific schemes (ie formulas) defining the transmission power control parameter as stated in dependent claims 3, 6-9, 11-12, 16, 19-22 and 24-25.
13. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Akkarakaran WO 2021026567-A1 teaches a user equipment (UE) that transmits a first sidelink communication to a target UE. The source UE receives, based at least in part on transmitting the first sidelink communication to the target UE, a transmit power control command for a second sidelink communication. The source UE transmits the second sidelink communication using a transmit power determined based at least in part on the transmit power control command.
Li WO 2020096693-A1 teaches estimating the sidelink transmit power sed on the sidelink quality of service configuration, sidelink transmit power control configuration, interference control configuration, first path loss measurement from the first device, or the second path loss measurement from the second device on sidelink.
Lee WO-2020032657-A1 teaches a user equipment controls transmission power of a sidelink signal in a wireless communication system that supports a sidelink, wherein the method comprises the steps of: calculating required power for each antenna unit included in a plurality of antenna units to which the sidelink signal is transmitted; determining reference transmission power on the basis of the required power calculated for the plurality of antenna units; and allocating transmission power for the plurality of antenna units on the basis of the reference transmission power.
Panteleev WO 20171711895-A1 teaches setting a sidelink transmission modulation and coding scheme (MCS) based on a physical sidelink shared channel reference signal received quality (S-RSRQ), or set a sidelink transmission power level based on the sidelink pathloss. The S-RSRQ may be measured or calculated based on a sidelink received signal strength indication (S-RSSI), a sidelink interference signal strength indication (S-ISSI), and a sidelink reference signal received power (SL-RSRP), while pathloss between the UE and another UE may be obtained based on the SL-referenceSignalPower, and the SL-RSRP or a sidelink discovery reference signal received (SD-RSRP).
Yasukawa US 2021068059 A1 teaches a user apparatus in a wireless communication system including a base station and a user apparatus, includes a signal reception part that receives, from the base station, a plurality of power control parameters that become candidates for power control parameters to be used by the user apparatus, a transmission power determination part that selects power control parameters to be used, from the plurality of power control parameters, and determines a transmission power of a UL signal, based on the selected power control parameters and a pathloss estimation value, and a signal transmission part that transmits the UL signal using the transmission power determined by the transmission power determination part. Yasukawa further teaches in 0054 that the power control scheme in this embodiment is not only applicable to the UL but is also applicable to a sidelink (SL).
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CURTIS A KUNTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7499. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th from 530am to 3pm and Fri from 530am to 10am.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D Anderson, can be reached at telephone number 5712724177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CURTIS A KUNTZ/Primary examiner, Art Unit 2646