DETAILED ACTION
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 amendment filed April 9, 2026, claims 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 17, 25 and 39-40 has been amended, claims 41 and 42 are new, claims 1, 5-6, 9-14, 17, 21-23, 25-27 and 39-42 are currently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Regarding Specification objections applicant’s arguments, see page 11 paragraph 2, filed April 9, 2026, with respect to the Title have been fully considered and not persuasive. Another Title is proposed.
Regarding claim objections applicant’s arguments, see page 11 paragraph 4, filed April 9, 2026, with respect to claims 25 and 40 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The claim objections of claims 25 and 40 have been withdrawn.
Regarding 35 U.S.C. 103 applicant’s arguments, see page 12 - page 16, filed April 9, 2026, with respect to claims 1-22 and 31-38 have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 13 and 30 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.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Hence a new ground of rejection is further made in view of Shin et al (US Pub. No.:2022/0399917).
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: “INFORMATION INDICATION AND INFORMATION RECEIVING METHOD FOR RESOURCE EXCLUSION”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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, 6, 7, 9, 13-14, 17 and 39-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (WO2021034572A, further published as US Pub. No.: 2022/0286184), in view of Li246 (WO2020/017346A1, further published as EP3891246A1) and further in view of Shin et al (US Pub. No.:2022/0399917).
As per claim 1, Li disclose An information indication method, applied to a first terminal (see Fig.2, para. 0082-0091, UE1), comprising:
sending first control information and second control information to a second terminal (see Fig.2, UE2/a second terminal, see para. 0087, sending 2-stage SCI, used to schedule the PSSCH carrying the discovery massage / first control information, and a 5-bits field, beam index indicator field, is used to explicit indicate the beam index / second control information);
indicating a position of each of a plurality of time-frequency resources through the first control information, wherein the plurality of time-frequency resources are different from each other (see para. 0085, 0089, UE 1 indicates the RS port information in the SCI associated with the PSSCH, e.g., using the SCI field 'CSI-RS port indicator field' or 'DMRS port indicator field'), the plurality of time- frequency resources comprises a first time-frequency resource and a plurality of plurality of non- first time-frequency resources, the first time-frequency resource is the earliest one in terms of time among the plurality of time-frequency resources (see Fig.3A, 3B, Fig.4, Fig.5A, para. 0089, one of the plurality of time-frequency resource is the earliest resource); and
indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of the plurality of time-frequency resources (see para. 0082-0091, the second control information, indicated beam configuration information of each of the plurality of time-frequency resources).
Li however does not explicitly disclose the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprise all time-frequency resources other than the first time-frequency resource among the plurality of time-frequency resources.
Li246 however disclose wherein a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprise all time-frequency resources other than the first time-frequency resource among the plurality of time-frequency resources (see para. 0052, 0056, 0060, all time-frequency resources other than the first time-frequency resource among the plurality of time-frequency resources and the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources are quasi co-located, and the quasi co-located related information as configuration information/a first control information/ reference signal resource, for sidelink communication, see also para. 0055).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprise all time-frequency resources other than the first time-frequency resource among the plurality of time-frequency resources, as taught by Li246, in the system of LI, so as to provide a method and an apparatus for CSI measurement feed-back in a V2X direct communication scenario, see Li246, paragraphs 5-6.
The combination of Li and Li246 however does not explicitly disclose wherein the beam configuration information enables the second terminal to exclude one or more candidate time-frequency resources within a resource selection window.
Shin however disclose wherein a beam configuration information enables a second terminal to exclude one or more candidate time-frequency resources within a resource selection window (see Fig. 10A-D, para. 0168, 0200-0206, the receiving UE (UE2) form multiple reception beams, by assuming that the transmitting UE (UE1) transmits SL CSI-RS resources in each resource set through the same beam, to measure the RSRP in each resource set and find the best reception beam. At the same time, the receiving UE (UE2) measures RSRP for each resource set, by assuming that respective resource sets are transmitted through different beams, to find the best reception beam / enables a second terminal to exclude one or more candidate time-frequency resources within a resource selection window. Accordingly, the receiving UE (UE2) find the best reception beam for all resource sets. In addition, when the receiving UE (UE2) reports the RSRP value corresponding to the best reception beam for each resource set to the transmitting UE (UE1), the transmitting UE (UE1) also find the best transmission beam).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein a beam configuration information enables a second terminal to exclude one or more candidate time-frequency resources within a resource selection window, as taught by Shin, in the system of Li and Li246, so as to that coverage is improved by performing beam management when sidelink communication operates at a high frequency, see Li246, paragraphs 50,56-57.
As per claim 6, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 1.
Li246 further disclose wherein the beam configuration information comprises the quasi co-location-related information, and the indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprises: indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, whether each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources is quasi co-located with the first time-frequency resource (see para. 0052. 0056, 0060, each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources is quasi co-located with the first time-frequency resource).
As per claim 7, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 1.
Li further disclose wherein the beam configuration information comprises the beam-related information, and the indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprises: indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, a beam number of each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources (see para. 0082-0091, the beam index information is carried by the RS port. The beam index information is carried by the RS port used in the PSSCH carrying the discovery massage or the RS port used in the PSCCH carrying the SCI, the RS used in beam 1 and beam 2 have different ports, e.g., RE mapping in the time domain and/or frequency domain).
As per claim 9, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 1.
Li246 further disclose wherein the beam configuration information comprises the quasi co-location-related information, and the indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprises: indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, a first channel index, wherein each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources is quasi co-located with a first channel corresponding to the first channel index (see para. 0052. 0056, 0060, the Quasi co-location indicator corresponding to the CSI measurement reference signal resource is used to indicate that a receiving beam {a first channel index} same as the measurement reference signal in the indicator needs to be used for reception and measurement when measuring the CSI on the resource. the indicator includes sidelink RS ID of type D, each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources is quasi co-located with a first channel corresponding to the first channel index).
As per claim 13, claim 13 is rejected the same was as claim 1. Li also disclose An information receiving method, applied to a second terminal (see Fig.2, UE2).
As per claim 14, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 13.
Li246 further disclose wherein the beam configuration information comprises beam-related information or quasi co-location-related information (see para. 0052, 0056, the beam configuration information comprises quasi co-location-related information).
As per claim 17, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 13.
Li further disclose excluding a candidate time-frequency resource according to the beam configuration information; wherein a condition for excluding the candidate time-frequency resource at least comprises: a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement value is higher than a first threshold, and wherein the RSRP measurement value is obtained at least by measuring a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of a target channel, wherein an index of the target channel is the same as an index indicated through the first control information; or, wherein the RSRP measurement value is obtained at least by measuring a DMRS of a target channel, wherein a beam number of the target channel is the same as a beam number indicated through the first control information (see Fig.6, para. 0110-0112, UE2 measures the RSRP, or the RSRQ, or the L1-SINR of the received RS. UE2 identifies one preferred beam, e.g., the beam on which the RS having the best measurement result is transmitted, the measurement result of the identified beam(s), DMRS of a target channel, is higher than a threshold, the reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement value is higher than a first threshold).
As per claim 39, claim 39 is rejected the same way as claim 1. Li also disclose An electronic device (see Fig.2, Fig.20F, an apparatus or device WTRU 102), comprising: one or more processors (see Fig.20F, a processor 118); and a memory (see Fig.20F, a memory 130), configured to store one or more programs; wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors (see para. 0255-0258, the processor 118 access information from, and store data in, memory and execute programs).
As per claim 40, claim 40 is rejected the same way as claim 1. Lu also disclose A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, wherein the one or more processors are comprised in the first terminal (see Fig.2, Fig.6, Fig, 13, Fig.20F, UE 1 with processor 118, para. 0266, the apparatuses, systems, methods, and processes described herein is embodied in the form of computer executable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on a computer-readable storage medium which instructions, when executed by a processor, such as processors 118, cause the processor to perform and/or implement the systems, methods, and processes described).
As per claim 41, claim 41 is rejected the same way as claim 13. Lu also disclose A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are executable by one or more processors to implement the method of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are comprised in the second terminal (see Fig.2, Fig.6, Fig, 13, Fig.20F, see Fig.20F, UE 2 with processor 118, para. 0266, the apparatuses, systems, methods, and processes described herein is embodied in the form of computer executable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on a computer-readable storage medium which instructions, when executed by a processor, such as processors 118, cause the processor to perform and/or implement the systems, methods, and processes described).
As per claim 42, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 1.
Li further disclose wherein the first control information is sent through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) (see para. 0065, 0089, 0090, 0096, the beam index information is carried by the RS port used in the PSCCH carrying the SCI), the second control information is sent through a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (see para. 0089, 0090, 0096, 0103, 0110, the SL-DMRS in PSSCH carrying the discovery message and the SL-DMRS in PSSCH carrying other data may have different frequency offsets, e.g., one starts from RE0 and the other one starts from RE1. Or they may have different initialization sequences, e.g., they may have different c.sub.init values), and a number of frequency-domain resources occupied by the PSCCH and a number of frequency-domain resources occupied by the PSSCH are fixed (see para. 0089, resources occupied by the PSCCH and PSCCH are fixed).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (WO2021034572A, further published as US Pub. No.: 2022/0286184), in view of Li246 (WO2020/017346A1, further published as EP3891246A1), in view of Shin et al (US Pub. No.:2022/0399917) and further in view of Raghavan (US Pub. No.:2022/0200675).
As per claim 5, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 1.
The combination of Li, Li246 and Shin however does not explicitly disclose wherein the beam configuration information comprises the beam-related information, and the indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprises: indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, whether each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources has a beam change, wherein the beam change is whether a beam of a non-first time-frequency resource of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources changes relative to a beam of the first time-frequency resource.
Raghavan however disclose wherein the beam configuration information comprises the beam-related information, and the indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprises: indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, whether each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources has a beam change, wherein the beam change is whether a beam of a non-first time-frequency resource of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources changes relative to a beam or, indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, a beam number of each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources. (see para. 0031-0041, TCI states are configured for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) in order to convey the QCL indication for the respective RS. In frequency range (FR1) QCL Types A-C and in FR2 QCL types A-D are applicable. The QCL Type D for FR2 indicates that PDCCH/PDSCH/CSI-RS is transmitted with the same spatial filter as the reference signal associated with that TCI, in FR2, the network indicates a transmit beam change for PDSCH or PDCCH by switching the TCI state / each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources has a beam change, changes relative to a beam).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein the beam configuration information comprises the beam-related information, and the indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, beam configuration information of each of a plurality of non-first time-frequency resources comprises: indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, whether each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources has a beam change, wherein the beam change is whether a beam of a non-first time-frequency resource of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources changes relative to a beam or, indicating, through the first control information or the second control information, a beam number of each of the plurality of non-first time-frequency resources., as taught by Raghavan, in the system of Li, Li246 and Shin, so than a TCI state change and corresponding beam changes is initiated via MAC CE or downlink control information (DCI), see Raghavan, paragraphs 41-42.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (WO2021034572A, further published as US Pub. No.: 2022/0286184), in view of Li246 (WO2020/017346A1, further published as EP3891246A1), in view of Shin et al (US Pub. No.:2022/0399917) and further in view of Chae et al (US Pub. No.:2023/0284084).
As per claim 21, the combination of Li, Li246 and Shin disclose the method of claim 17.
The combination of Li, Li246 and Shin however does not explicitly disclose wherein the target channel is a sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) channel, the index of the target channel is an S-SSB index, and the DMRS of the target channel comprises a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) DMRS.
Chen however disclose wherein a target channel is a sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) channel, the index of the target channel is an S-SSB index, and the DMRS of the target channel comprises a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) DMRS (see para. 0362, 0370, the target channel is an S-SSB index, the S-SSB's frequency location is pre-configured, and the DMRS of the target channel comprises a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) DMRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein a target channel is a sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) channel, the index of the target channel is an S-SSB index, and the DMRS of the target channel comprises a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) DMRS, as taught by Chae, in the system of Li, Li246 and Shin, so as to dynamically varying a period of time during which a wireless device performs measurement(s) for a CBR, based on the sidelink subcarrier spacing and/or wireless device capability, provide advantages such as improved communications throughput, performance, reliability, and power consumption characteristics of a wireless device, see Chae, paragraph 4.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-12, 22-23 and 25-27 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liang et al (US Pub. No.:2022/0279468) – see para. 0049, 0065, 0078, “where the transmission compensation threshold is a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) threshold value, the terminal device determines whether to perform the transmission time-delay compensation according to the transmission compensation threshold, which includes: the terminal device determines that the transmission time-delay compensation is performed if the Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) of the terminal device is greater than the Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) threshold value”.
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 LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR whose telephone number is (571)272-1335. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7 am - 4 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached on 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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