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 .
Claims 1-30 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/22/2024, 09/29/2025 and 12/17/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6-13, 17-24 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rosa et al, (hereinafter Rosa) (US 2024/0349107 A1).
As to claim 1, Rosa teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) , comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to (Rosa: ¶0064; Fig. 5, UE (504)): perform, in an occasion during an idle period associated with a frame based equipment (FBE) mode, measurements to determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) (See Rosa: signaling of a second timing configuration that “comprises an indication for the UE to perform a signal measurement during at least part of the idle period of at least one FFP” (¶0009), the UE receiving timing configurations and performing measurements during the idle period (method S602–S606 (Fig.6); ¶0076–¶0078)); and transmit, to a base station, a report based at least in part on the RSSI (See Rosa: generating/transmitting a measurement report to the network based on those measurements (¶0016)).
As to claim 2, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to: receive, from the base station, an indication of an RSSI measurement timing configuration (RMTC) (Rosa (¶0009; ¶0053-0055, ¶0076): the UE receiving first and second timing configurations and the method steps of receiving timing configuration(s) S602–S604 (Fig. 6)).
As to claim 6, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the indication of the RMTC configuration includes a periodicity associated with the measurements and expressed in a quantity of fixed frame periods (FFPs) (Rosa : (¶0069–¶0071); periodicity in FFP units and examples parameterized to “every N-th FFP” (ffp2, ffp4, etc.).
As to claim 7, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the measurements are performed in a randomly selected FFP of the quantity of FFPs (Rosa : (¶0069–¶0071); performing the signal measurement within (at least part of) the idle period and an additional alphanumeric parameter indicating the corresponding FFPs whose idle periods should be used for the signal measurements (e.g., every second FFP, every third FFP, every fourth FFP, etc.)).
As to claim 8, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the report is associated with at least one additional occasion for performing measurements, to determine at least one additional RSSI (Rosa (¶0016; ¶0069–¶0071; ¶0053–¶0056); periodic measurement windows and reporting where reporting discuss and periodicity support a report associated with additional occasions).
As to claim 9, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the report further indicates the at least one additional RSSI and each additional RSSI is associated with an additional occasion for performing measurement (Rosa (¶0016; ¶0053–¶0056); UE reporting of measurements and background on measurement reporting; Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Channel Occupancy (CO) measurement reports. The UE performs RSSI measurements within an appositely configured RSSI Measurement Timing Configuration (RMTC), which is provided to the UE via an RRC signaling).
As to claim 10, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the report indicates a maximum of the RSSI or the at least one additional RSSI (Rosa (¶0016; ¶0053–¶0056); UE reporting of measurements and background on measurement reporting).
As to claim 11, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the report indicates a minimum of the RSSI or the at least one additional RSSI (Rosa (¶0016; ¶0053–¶0056); UE reporting of measurements and background on measurement reporting).
As to claim 12, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the report indicates an average of the RSSI and the at least one additional RSSI (Rosa (¶0053–¶0056; ¶0016); average RSSI reporting in the Rel-16 context and reporting behavior).
As to claim 13, Rosa teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the base station to (Rosa: ¶0064; Fig. 5, UE (504)): transmit, to a user equipment (UE), an indication of a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement timing configuration (RMTC) associated with an idle period of a frame based equipment (FBE) mode; and receive, from the UE, a report based at least in part on the indication of the RMTC (Rosa: (¶0017; ¶0008–¶0009; ¶0076–¶0078); discloses a network node generating/transmitting timing configurations, including second timing configuration (RMTC) associated with an idle period, and receiving UE measurement reports etc.).
As to claims 17-24, these claimed limitation are same as claims 6-12 and therefore are rejected for the same rationales (See Claims 6-12 rejection above).
As to claim 28, Rosa teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (Rosa: ¶0064; Fig. 5, UE (504)), comprising: performing, in an occasion during an idle period associated with a frame based equipment (FBE) mode, measurements to determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI); and transmitting, to a base station, a report based at least in part on the RSSI (Rosa: (¶0009; ¶0016; ¶0050, ¶0076–¶0078); discloses the method steps of determining that the serving base station has obtained channel access, performing CCA/RSSI-style measurement in a quiet/idle portion, and transmitting a measurement report during the TxOP/idle occasion).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim(s) 3-5, 14-16, 25-27 and 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosa et al, (hereinafter Rosa) (US 2024/0349107 A1) as applied to claims 2 and 13 above, and further in view of Novlan (EP 3281350) (Provided in IDS).
As to claim 3, Rose teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the indication of the RMTC configuration includes a symbol-level offset associated with an initial system frame number (SFN) (Rosa: (¶0061; ¶0070–¶0071; ¶0076–¶0078) identifies the RMTC/subframe granularity issue and motivates aligning offsets/durations to fit an idle).
However, Rose fails to explicitly teach or suggest a symbol-level offset associated with an initial SFN.
In the same filed of endeavor, Novlan teaches a symbol-level offset associated with an initial SFN (Novlan: teaches RMTC parameterization with OFDM-symbol level timing/MTU granularity and explicit measurement timing fields (¶[0031]; ¶[0119]–¶[0124])).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of Novlan into the apparatus of Rose to add a symbol-level offset field associated with SFN. Motivation for doing so would have resolved any granularity problem.
As to claim 4 Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the indication of the RMTC configuration includes a subframe-level offset that is associated with an initial system frame number (SFN) and a symbol-level offset in addition to the subframe-level offset (Rosa: (¶0061; ¶0070–¶0071; ¶0076–¶0078).
However, Rosa fails to explicitly teach or suggest combined subframe and symbol offset associated with SFN.
In the same filed of endeavor, Novlan teaches combined subframe and symbol offset associated with SFN (subframe-structure signaling and OFDM-symbol-level timing details (Novlan: ¶[0142]; ¶[0119]–¶[0124]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of Novlan into the apparatus of Rose to subframe/symbol timing. Motivation for doing so would have been an obvious subframe/symbol to subframe-level offset.
As to claim 5, Rosa teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the indication of the RMTC configuration includes a parameter associated with a measurement duration longer than one symbol and shorter than one slot (Rosa: measurement windows confined to idle periods (¶0070–¶0078)).
However, Rosa fails to explicitly teach or suggest a parameter associated with a measurement duration longer than one symbol and shorter than one slot.
In the same filed of endeavor, Novlan teaches a parameter associated with a measurement duration longer than one symbol and shorter than one slot (MTU/OFDM-symbol granularity and short measurement units (Novlan: (¶[0119]–¶[0124]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of Novlan into the apparatus of Rose to selecting a duration between one symbol and one slot to fit inside an idle period. Motivation would have been the same as stated in previous claims above.
As to claims 14-16, and 29-30 these claimed limitations are same as claims 3-5 and therefore are rejected for the same rationales (See Claims 3-5 rejection above)
As to claim 25, Rosa teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to ((Rosa: ¶0064; Fig. 5, UE (504))): perform, during an idle period associated with a frame based equipment (FBE) mode (Rosa : ¶0008–¶0016; ¶0053–¶0056; ¶0069–¶0071; ¶0076–¶0078; ¶0061; onfiguring UE measurements during idle/quiet portions (RMTC-like second timing configuration), performing RSSI/CCA-style measurements in idle periods, reporting measurement results; discussion of average/occupancy-style reporting; FFP timing/periodicity).
However, Rosa fails to explicitly teach or suggest measurements on a sidelink channel; and determine a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL RSSI) using the measurements.
In the same filed of endeavor, Novlan teaches measurements on a sidelink channel; and determine a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL RSSI) using the measurements (Novlan: teaches explicit sidelink (PC5) RSSI/occupancy measurement timing and reporting (¶[0122]–¶[0124]; ¶[0205]–¶0208])).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of Novlan into the apparatus of Rose to measurements on a sidelink channel for signal strength. Motivation would have been obvious to measure the strength of the signal using sidelink channel.
As to claim 26, the combination of Rosa-Novlan teach or suggest wherein Novlan further teaches the apparatus of claim 25, wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to: determine a channel busy ratio (CBR) based at least in part on the SL RSSI (Novlan: occupancy metrics as % of MTUs > RSSI_Threshold and reporting formats (¶[0122]–¶[0124])). Motivation to combine would have been the same as previously addressed in independent claims above.
As to claim 27, the combination of Rosa-Novlan teach or suggest wherein Novlan further teaches the apparatus of claim 25, wherein the memory further includes instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to: update a contention window (CW) associated with the sidelink channel based at least in part on the SL RSSI (Novlan: discusses LBT/backoff considerations and configurable thresholds (¶[0108]–¶[0113]) and channel occupancy measurement (¶[0122]–¶0124])). Motivation to combine would have been the same as previously addressed in independent claims above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to UMAR CHEEMA whose telephone number is (571)270-3037. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm..
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/UMAR CHEEMA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2458