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 03/26/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
This office action is in response to the Preliminary amendment filed 03/26/2024.
Claims 47-59, 60-72 are pending.
Drawings
Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4A, Figure 4B, Figure 5 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 47, 48-59, 60, 61-72 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu ( US 20220006689, hereinafter, Ryu’s 689 ) in view of RYU et al. ( US 20220006688 , hereinafter, RUY’s 688 ).
Regarding to the claim 47, US 20220006689 teaches a method of operating a first sidelink communication device ( UE 115 ) [see Figure 4 ] of a communications network, the first sidelink communication device ( UE 115 ) [see Figure 4 ] configured to support multi-beam operations, the method comprising:
determining information associated with a wireless connection between the first sidelink communication device ( UE 115 ) [see Figure 4 ] and a second sidelink communication device ( Wireless Communication device 402 ) [see Figure 4] of the communications network, wherein the wireless connection comprises multiple beams ( multiple beams 410, 412…414 ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ]
(determining information associated with a wireless connection between the first sidelink communication device and a second sidelink communication device of the communications network, wherein the wireless connection comprises multiple beams) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ];
detecting beam failure associated with a beam associated with the wireless connection based on the information ( detecting beam failure associated with a first beam associated with the first CC based on the signal strength of message received on the beam no longer satisfy a threshold ) [see Paragraph 0029 & 0030 & 0031 & 0064 & 0098 ] ;
performing beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to select the non-failed beam as serving beam responsive to receiving a reply to the discovery message, or (ii) transmitting a recovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to restore the failed beam using a different configuration
( performing beam failure recovery by switching from communicating with the wireless communication device 550 on the first beam to communicating with the wireless communication device 550 on a third beam for the first CC ) [see Paragraph 0098].
However, US 20220006689 does not explicitly teach performing beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message.
US 20220006688, from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches performing beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to select the non-failed beam as serving beam responsive to receiving a reply to the discovery message (performing beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to select the non-failed beam as serving beam responsive to receiving a reply to the discovery message) [see Paragraphs 0106 & 0049 & 0084 ].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of US 20220006689 in view of US 20220006688 because US 20220006688 suggests that as the demands for sidelink communications increase, different V2X communications systems compete for the same wireless communications resources. Moreover, some sidelink UEs may be power limited. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the efficiency of sidelink wireless communications.
Regarding to the claim 48, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the wireless connection comprises at least one of: radio resource control signaling, sidelink signaling, discovery signaling, medium access control, MAC, control element, control protocol data unit of a protocol layer; and layer 1 signaling on a physical channel (where the wireless connection comprises sidelink signaling ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 49, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the communications network comprises a sidelink network, and wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to communicate with the second sidelink communication device via a sidelink frequency ( wherein the communications network comprises a sidelink network, and wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to communicate with the second sidelink communication device via a sidelink frequency ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 50, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein determining the information comprises determining at least one of: a reference signal received power, RSRP; reference signal received quality, RSRQ; signal-to-interference noise ratio, SINR; and received signal strength indicator, RSSI (wherein determining the information comprises RSRQ, RSSI ) [see Paragraphs 0054 & 0057 & 0064 ].
Regarding to the claim 51, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein determining the information comprises determining a distance between the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a distance between the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 52, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein determining the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 53, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein determining the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 54, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein determining the information comprises determining a traffic inactivity associated with the beam ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a traffic inactivity associated with the beam) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 55, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein detecting the beam failure comprises determining that the information exceeds a threshold value ( wherein detecting the beam failure comprises determining that the information exceeds a threshold value ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 56, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein detecting the beam failure comprises predicting the beam failure based on inputting the information to a machine learning model ( wherein detecting the beam failure comprises predicting the beam failure based on inputting the information to a machine learning model ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 57, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the recovery message indicates configuration information for restoring the beam using the different configuration ( wherein the recovery message indicates configuration information for restoring the beam using the different configuration) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 58, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein performing beam failure recovery further comprises: transmitting an indication of the beam failure to a network node ( wherein performing beam failure recovery further comprises: transmitting an indication of the beam failure to a network node ) ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 59, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device comprises at least one of: an internet-of-things, IoT, device; a vehicle; an autonomous vehicle; a road side unit, RSU; and an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV ( wherein the first sidelink communication device comprises at least one of: an internet-of-things, IoT, device; a vehicle; an autonomous vehicle; a road side unit, RSU; and an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 60, US 20220006689 teaches a first sidelink communication device ( UE 115, Wireless Communication Device 402 ) [see Figure 4] configured to operate in a communications network, the first sidelink communication device configured to support multi-beam ( multiple beams 410, 412…414 ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ] operations, and to:
determine information associated with a wireless connection between the first sidelink communication device ( UE 115 ) [see Figure 4 ] and a second sidelink communication device ( Wireless Communication device 402 ) [see Figure 4] of the communications network, wherein the wireless connection comprises multiple beams ( multiple beams 410, 412…414 ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ]
(determining information associated with a wireless connection between the first sidelink communication device and a second sidelink communication device of the communications network, wherein the wireless connection comprises multiple beams) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ];
detect beam failure associated with a beam associated with the wireless connection based on the information ( detecting beam failure associated with a first beam associated with the first CC based on the signal strength of message received on the beam no longer satisfy a threshold ) [see Paragraph 0029 & 0030 & 0031 & 0064 & 0098 ] ;
perform beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to select the non-failed beam as serving beam responsive to receiving a reply to the discovery message, or (ii) transmitting a recovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to restore the failed beam using a different configuration
( performing beam failure recovery by switching from communicating with the wireless communication device 550 on the first beam to communicating with the wireless communication device 550 on a third beam for the first CC ) [see Paragraph 0098].
However, US 20220006689 does not explicitly teach perform beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message.
US 20220006688, from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches perform beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to select the non-failed beam as serving beam responsive to receiving a reply to the discovery message (performing beam failure recovery by (i) transmitting a discovery message over a remaining non-failed beam to the second sidelink communication device in order to select the non-failed beam as serving beam responsive to receiving a reply to the discovery message) [see Paragraphs 0106 & 0049 & 0084 ].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of US 20220006689 in view of US 20220006688 because US 20220006688 suggests that as the demands for sidelink communications increase, different V2X communications systems compete for the same wireless communications resources. Moreover, some sidelink UEs may be power limited. Accordingly, there is a need to improve the efficiency of sidelink wireless communications.
Regarding to the claim 61, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the wireless connection comprises at least one of: radio resource control signaling, sidelink signaling, discovery signaling, medium access control, MAC, control element, control protocol data unit of a protocol layer; and layer 1 signaling on a physical channel (where the wireless connection comprises sidelink signaling ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 62, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the communications network comprises a sidelink network, and wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to communicate with the second sidelink communication device via a sidelink frequency ( wherein the communications network comprises a sidelink network, and wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to communicate with the second sidelink communication device via a sidelink frequency ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 63, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to determine the information comprises determining at least one of: a reference signal received power, RSRP; reference signal received quality, RSRQ; signal-to-interference noise ratio, SINR; and received signal strength indicator, RSSI (wherein determining the information comprises RSRQ, RSSI ) [see Paragraphs 0054 & 0057 & 0064 ].
Regarding to the claim 64, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to determine the information comprises determining a distance between the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a distance between the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 65, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to determe the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 66, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to determine the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a mobility of at least one of the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 67, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to determine the information comprises determining a traffic inactivity associated with the beam ( wherein determining the information comprises determining a traffic inactivity associated with the beam) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 68, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to detect the beam failure comprises determining that the information exceeds a threshold value ( wherein detecting the beam failure comprises determining that the information exceeds a threshold value ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 69, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to detect the beam failure comprises predicting the beam failure based on inputting the information to a machine learning model ( wherein detecting the beam failure comprises predicting the beam failure based on inputting the information to a machine learning model ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 70, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the recovery message indicates configuration information for restoring the beam using the different configuration ( wherein the recovery message indicates configuration information for restoring the beam using the different configuration) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 71, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device is configured to perform beam failure recovery further comprises: transmitting an indication of the beam failure to a network node ( wherein performing beam failure recovery further comprises: transmitting an indication of the beam failure to a network node ) ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Regarding to the claim 72, US 20220006689 further teaches wherein the first sidelink communication device comprises at least one of: an internet-of-things, IoT, device; a vehicle; an autonomous vehicle; a road side unit, RSU; and an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV ( wherein the first sidelink communication device comprises at least one of: an internet-of-things, IoT, device; a vehicle; an autonomous vehicle; a road side unit, RSU; and an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV ) [see Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0058 & 0031 & 0028 & 0064 & 0098 ].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG T HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3133. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-4:00.
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/CHUONG T HO/Examiner, Art Unit 2412