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 .
DETAILED ACTION This action is in response to the application filed on 10/04/2024. Claims 1-16 have been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (2) as being anticipated by WANG et al. (US 2024/0314842).
As of claim 1, WANG disclose a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor (see [FIG. 1] [Fig. 9], the device 900 (first or second terminal device) includes a processor 910, a memory 920) the processor configured to cause the UE to:
transmit a physical shared control channel ("PSCCH") and a physical shared sidelink channel ("PSSCH") for groupcast data transmission (para [0076] discloses the sidelink HARQ feedback be supported in unlicensed band and a terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) or Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) and para [0079] discloses a terminal device (=Rx) receives sidelink transmission from Tx terminal device and report ACK or NACK according to the receiving result of PSSCH which corresponds to PSCCH and PSSSH are transmitted to the Rx terminal device for groupcast data transmission);
receive a physical shared feedback channel ("PSFCH") containing groupcast hybrid automatic repeat request ("HARQ") feedback after a number of slots for groupcast data transmission (para [0076] discloses a terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), [FIGS. 5A and 5B] [0184] [0186] [0187] shows and discloses Tx terminal device detects and receives feedback from Rx terminal device within a reference duration of ACK or NACK wherein a reference duration be determined the number of slots within the reference duration or the number of slots in a sidelink resource pool within the reference duration which implies receives HARQ feedback after a number of slots); and
determine a contention window size adjustment for groupcast data transmission based on the groupcast HARQ feedback associated with the PSSCH within a reference duration (para [0080] Using sidelink HARQ feedback as the factor, the first terminal device determine and adjust CW), para [0114] discloses a terminal device or Tx terminal device transmitting the sidelink transmission and obtain the ACK or NACK report, the number of ACKs present the channel status and possibility of successful sidelink transmission, and further benefit CW adjustment procedure within a reference duration).
As of claim 14, WANG discloses a method performed by a user equipment ("UE), the method comprising: transmitting a physical shared control channel ("PSCCH") and a physical shared sidelink channel ("PSSCH") for groupcast data transmission (para [0076] discloses the sidelink HARQ feedback be supported in unlicensed band and a terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) or Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) and para [0079] discloses a terminal device (=Rx) receives sidelink transmission from Tx terminal device and report ACK or NACK according to the receiving result of PSSCH which corresponds to PSCCH and PSSSH are transmitted to the Rx terminal device for groupcast data transmission));
receiving a physical shared feedback channel ("PSFCH") containing groupcast hybrid automatic repeat request ("HARQ") feedback after a predetermined number of slots for groupcast data transmission (para [0076] discloses a terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), [FIGS. 5A and 5B] [0184] [0186] [0187] shows and discloses Tx terminal device detects and receives feedback from Rx terminal device within a reference duration of ACK or NACK wherein a reference duration be determined the number of slots within the reference duration or the number of slots in a sidelink resource pool within the reference duration which implies receives HARQ feedback after a number of slots); and
determining a contention window size adjustment for groupcast data transmission based on the groupcast HARQ feedback associated with the PSSCH within a reference duration (para [0080] discloses using sidelink HARQ feedback as the factor, the first terminal device determine and adjust CW), para [0114][0117] discloses a terminal device or Tx terminal device transmitting the sidelink transmission and obtain the ACK or NACK report, the number of ACKs present the channel status and possibility of successful sidelink transmission, and further benefit CW (=contention window) adjustment procedure within a reference duration).
As of claim 15, WANG discloses a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor (see [FIG.1] [Fig. 9] shows the device 900 (first or second terminal device) includes a processor 910, a memory 920),
the processor configured to cause the UE to: receive a physical shared control channel ("PSCCH") and a physical shared sidelink channel ("PSSCH") for groupcast data (para [0076] discloses the sidelink HARQ feedback be supported in unlicensed band and a Rx terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) or Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) and para [0079] discloses a Rx terminal device receives sidelink transmission and report ACK or NACK according to the receiving result of PSSCH which corresponds to receive PSCCH and PSSSH for groupcast data); and
transmit a physical shared feedback channel ("PSFCH") containing hybrid automatic repeat request ("HARQ") feedback after a predetermined number of slots for groupcast data transmission (para [0076] discloses a terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), [FIGS. 5A and 5B] [0184] [0186] [0187] shows and discloses Tx terminal device detects and receives feedback from Rx terminal device within a reference duration of ACK or NACK wherein a reference duration be determined the number of slots within the reference duration or the number of slots in a sidelink resource pool within the reference duration which implies receives HARQ feedback after a number of slots), wherein a contention window size adjustment for groupcast data transmission is based on the groupcast HARQ feedback associated with the PSSCH within a reference duration (para [0080] discloses using sidelink HARQ feedback as the factor, the first terminal device determine and adjust CW), para [0114] [0117] FIGS.5A and 5B discloses a terminal device or Tx terminal device transmitting the sidelink transmission and obtain the ACK or NACK report, the number of ACKs present the channel status and possibility of successful sidelink transmission, and further benefit CW (=contention window) adjustment procedure within a reference duration).
As of claim 16, WANG discloses a method performed by a user equipment ("UE"), the method comprising: receive a physical shared control channel ("PSCCH") and a physical shared sidelink channel ("PSSCH") for groupcast data transmission (para [0076] discloses the sidelink HARQ feedback be supported in unlicensed band and a Rx terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) or Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) and para [0079] discloses a Rx terminal device receives sidelink transmission and report ACK or NACK according to the receiving result of PSSCH which corresponds to receive PSCCH and PSSSH for groupcast data); and
transmit a physical shared feedback channel ("PSFCH") containing groupcast hybrid automatic repeat request ("HARQ") feedback after a predetermined number of slots for groupcast data transmission, (para [0076] discloses a terminal device feedback ACK/NACK related to sidelink groupcast on Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), [FIGS. 5A and 5B] [0184] [0186] [0187] shows and discloses Tx terminal device detects and receives feedback from Rx terminal device within a reference duration of ACK or NACK wherein a reference duration be determined the number of slots within the reference duration or the number of slots in a sidelink resource pool within the reference duration which implies receives HARQ feedback after a number of slots), wherein a contention window size adjustment for groupcast data transmission is based on the transmitted groupcast HARQ feedback associated with the PSSCH within a reference duration (para [0080] discloses using sidelink HARQ feedback as the factor, the first terminal device determine and adjust CW), para [0114][0117] FIGS.5A and 5B discloses a terminal device or Tx terminal device transmitting the sidelink transmission and obtain the ACK or NACK report, the number of ACKs present the channel status and possibility of successful sidelink transmission, and further benefit CW (=contention window) adjustment procedure within a reference duration).
As of claim 12, rejection of claim 1 cited above incorporated herein, in addition WANG further discloses the processor is configured to cause the UE to maintain the contention window size adjustment constant (para [0064] discloses the first terminal device maintains CW.sub.p).
As of claim 13, rejection of claim 1 cited above incorporated herein, in addition WANG further discloses the processor is configured to set the reference duration according to a first HARQ feedback-enabled PSSCH transmission within the reference duration ([0015] FIGS. 5A, 5B sidelink HARQ feedbacks within a reference duration #1).
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 2-8 and 11 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over WANG et al. (US 2024/0314842) in view of Gupta et al. (US 2018/0070252).
As of claim 2, rejection of claim 1 cited above incorporated herein, in addition WANG disclose the processor is configured to cause the UE to determine the contention window size adjustment based on a percentage of HARQ feedback received from one or more "UEs" belonging to a same Layer-2 (L2) destination identifier (ID) (WANG, para [0127] discloses the first terminal device detect all the potential ACK on sidelink, and then evaluate the first ratio and further determine CW accordingly. Para [0129] [FIG. 5C], within a reference duration, the first terminal device detects ACK/NACK on PSFCH resources and figures up the number of detected ACKs and evaluates the first ratio (=corresponds to percentage of HARQ feedback).
WANG does not explicitly disclose but Gupta teaches HARQ feedback received from one or more "UEs" belonging to a same Layer-2 (L2) destination identifier (ID) (Gupta, para [0097] [0108] disclose a scheduled entity 204 (e.g., UE) as a request signal to indicate a requested duration of time to keep a sidelink channel available for a sidelink signal, the destination ID correspond to a specific apparatus intended to receive the source transmit signal (STS) / direction selection signal (e.g., UE2).
Therefore it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of receiving HARQ feedback from one or more UEs as taught by WANG with UEs belonging to a same Layer-2 (L2) destination identifier (ID) as taught by Gupta in order to improve the efficiency of both the UE and the network).
As of claim 3, rejection of claim 2 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose the processor is configured to cause the UE to set a contention window size based on a priority class value or based on min (CWx2 + 1, CWmax), where CW is the contention window size, in response to the percentage of the HARQ feedback received from the one or more UEs being a NACK within the reference duration (WANG, para [0051] discloses Table 1, CW.sub.min,p represents a minimum value of CW.sub.p for priority p, CW.sub.max,p represents a maximum value of CW.sub.p for priority p, para [0139] [0142] disclose Tx terminal device performs sidelink groupcast transmission with member terminal devices in a group and indicates member terminal devices to feedback using NACK only scheme, when there is failure of receiving data on PSSCH, member terminal devices send NACK to Tx terminal device., each member terminal device in the group has a dedicated feedback resource, and Tx terminal device can identify NACK from different member terminal devices. Within a reference duration, Tx terminal device detects and receives feedback from member terminal devices, and figures up the total number of detected NACKs. Then, Tx terminal device evaluates the ratio by dividing the number of NACK to the number of member terminal devices (=percentage of the HARQ feedback).
As of claim 4, rejection of claim 3 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose the processor is configured to cause the UE to set the contention window size for the priority class to a minimum in response to the percentage of HARQ feedback received from the one or more UEs belonging to the same L2 destination ID (WANG, [0151] discloses the first terminal device sets CW.sub.p=CW.sub.min,p, where CW.sub.min,p represents the minimum value of CW.sub.p for priority p).
As of claim 5, rejection of claim 4 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose an absence of PSFCH during a PSFCH occasion within the reference duration indicates a NACK response (para [0136] disclose the first terminal device determine the value of CW based on NACK detected within a reference duration (NACK only case). Para [0143] discloses Tx terminal device performs sidelink groupcast transmission with member terminal devices in a group and indicates member terminal devices to report NACK on the same resource if there is failure of receiving data).
As of claim 6, rejection of claim 4 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose a value of the percentage of the HARQ feedback is configured per resource pool, per UE, per destination group or carrier, or a combination thereof. [0139] Tx terminal device identify each NACK (=HARQ feedback) and evaluate the ratio by dividing the number of received NACKs by the number of terminal devices in the group which corresponds to the percentage of the HARQ feedback is configured per UE).
As of claim 7, rejection of claim 3 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose the processor is configured to cause the UE to determine the contention window size adjustment for a transmitter UE of groupcast PSSCH based on counting a number of NACKs received or based on no PSFCH feedback being detected over multiple PSFCH occasions (para [0031] [0114] disclose the CW is determined and adjusted based on Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback, for groupcast communication, the first terminal device Tx transmitting the sidelink transmission the Rx terminal devices and obtain the ACK or NACK report for channel status and benefit CW adjustment procedure).
As of claim 8, rejection of claim 2 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose the reference duration corresponds to a channel occupancy starting from a beginning of the channel occupancy until an end of a first slot allocated for at least one groupcast PSSCH transmission, or until an end of a first transmission burst that contains groupcast PSSCH. Wang [0185] [0230] discloses a reference duration be determined the number of slots within the reference duration wherein the reference duration is represented by sidelink channel occupancy (CO) time).
As of claim 11, rejection of claim 2 cited above incorporated herein, in addition modified WANG-Gupta disclose the reference duration corresponds to a channel occupancy starting from a beginning of the channel occupancy until HARQ-ACK feedback is expected during at least one PSFCH occasion among a number of PSFCH occasions and from one or more UEs belonging to the same L2 destination ID (WANG para [0076] and FIG. 5A, within a reference duration, Tx terminal device receives ACK or NACK report (=HARQ-ACK feedback) from Rx terminal device on Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), and [0103] discloses the number of sidelink Channel Occupancy (CO) within the reference duration which impales a channel occupancy starting from a beginning of the channel occupancy until HARQ-ACK feedback is expected during at least one PSFCH occasion).
WANG does not explicitly disclose but Gupta teaches UEs belonging to a same Layer-2 (L2) destination identifier (Gupta, para [0063] [0097] [0108] disclose a scheduled entity 204 (e.g., UE) as a request signal to indicate a requested duration of time to keep a sidelink channel available for a sidelink signal, the destination ID correspond to a specific apparatus intended to receive the source transmit signal (STS) / direction selection signal (e.g., UE2).
Therefore it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of receiving HARQ feedback from one or more UEs as taught by WANG with UEs belonging to a same Layer-2 (L2) destination identifier (ID) as taught by Gupta in order to improve the efficiency of both the UE and the network).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if the Applicant rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 9, the prior arts of record do not teach or reasonably suggest the limitation “CW is the contention window size, in response to the percentage of HARQ feedback received being for multiple PSFCH occasions and being above a value for a percentage of the PSFCH occasions” with the claimed invention as a whole.
As to claim 10, the prior arts of record do not teach or reasonably suggest the limitation “set the contention window size to CWmin,p in response to detecting an absence of PSFCH for multiple PSFCH occasion within the reference duration” with the claimed invention as a whole.
Conclusion
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/FAHMIDA S CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471