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 .
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)(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, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Pub. 2021/0219268 to Li et al. (hereinafter Li).
In regard amended claim 1, Li teaches or discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (see Fig. 1F, paragraph [0099], device WTRU), comprising:
at least one memory (see Fig. 1F, elements 130 and 132); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (see Fig. 1F, elements 118 and 130-132) and configured to cause the UE to (see Fig. 1F):
transmit sidelink control information (SCI) (see paragraph [0142], [0146], [0147], [0151], and [0152], UE-v1 sends a short message with control, e.g., SCI, on NR-PSCCH on symbol 1 “Sym 1” and data on NR-PSSCH at symbol 2 “Sym 2” of subframe “SF 0” and “SF l1” respectively with period “Period-v1”, from RB k1 to RB k2 or RBG k1 to RBG k2 or Subchannel k1 to Subchannel k2 if more RBs are used in its BWP “BWP-v1”),
wherein the SCI indicates at least one sidelink resource for transmitting a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) (see paragraphs [0388], and [0389], this slot structure, as self-contained, has data or signal exchanges at both directions, e.g., between one transmit vehicle UE and one or multiple receiving vehicle UEs. For SA SCI and data NR-PSSCH, the resource mapping may be frequency first, e.g., filling in the Resource Elements (RE) along the frequency dimension of a first symbol, then filling in the REs along the frequency dimension of a second symbol, and so on. Slot “SL2_1” of BWP2 may contain first two symbols (e.g. with larger SCS or narrower symbol, 2 symbols as an example herein) for AGC; 3 symbols as an example as the Control Region for the SA SCIs (e.g., SCI3 for a multicast on NR-PSSCH3 and SCI4 for a broadcast on NR-PSSCH4 in next slot “SL2_2”) carried on NR-PSCCH and it SL-DMRS; a few symbols for data and/or Reference Signal (RS) transmissions, such as SL-DMRS, SL-CSI-RS, SL-PTRS, SL-PRS, etc., e.g. Data Transmission Region); and
transmit the SL-PRS based on the SCI (see paragraph [0389], a few symbols for data and/or Reference Signal (RS) transmissions, such as SL-DMRS, SL-CSI-RS, SL-PTRS, SL-PRS, etc., e.g. Data Transmission Region. Slot “SL2_2” carrying a cross slot allocated or scheduled broadcast transmission on NR-PSSCH4 from the same transmitting vehicle UE, may start with a few symbols for NR-PSSCH4, then a symbol for gap and 3 symbols as an example herein for the HARQ feedbacks from all or some of the receiving vehicle UEs of the multicast message on PSSCH3 in previous slot “SL2_1”).
In regard amended claim 4, Li teaches or discloses the UE of Claim 1, wherein the SCI includes a 1-bit indication indicating that the SL-PRS is transmitted on either a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) or a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (see paragraph [0388], the SA SCI1 fills in the first symbol of the control region, and the SA SCI2 fills in the second symbol of the control region. Similarly, NR-PSSCH1 and NR-PSSCH2 are mapped with frequency first. The 1-bit HARQ ACK/NACK carried on SCI FB1 may be a sequence based design).
In regard amended claim 6, Li teaches or discloses the UE of Claim 1, wherein the SCI includes a 2-bit indication indicating that: the SL-PRS is transmitted on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH); the SL-PRS is transmitted on a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH); or the SL-PRS is transmitted on both the PSSCH and the PSFCH (see paragraphs [0388], and [0406], where the NR-PSCCH carrying the SA SCI(s) is adjacent to NR-PSSCH carrying the data in time and therefore NR-PSCCH and NR-PSSCH share the same resource pool used for data and/or RS such as SL-DMRS, SL-CSI-RS, SL-TPRS, SL-PRS, etc. In addition, for narrow beam based sweeping, the PSCCH and PSSCH may be carried on the same beam).
In regard amended claim 8, Li teaches or discloses the UE of Claim 1, wherein the receiver at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to receive configuration information per resource pool indicating that the SL-PRS can be transmitted on at least one of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) or a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (see paragraph [0388], as the Control Region for the SA SCIs (e.g., SCI1 for a short latency unicast on NR-PSSCH 1 and SCI2 for a broadcast on NR-PSSCH2) carried on NR-PSCCH and its SideLink Demodulation Reference Signal (SL-DMRS) for indicating the resource locations for the associated NR-PSSCH (e.g., NR-PSSCH1 and NR-PSSCH2) carrying data; a few symbols for data and/or Reference Signal (RS) transmissions, such as SideLink Demodulation Reference Signal (SL-DMRS) for NR-PSSCH, SideLink Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSI-RS) for Sidelink Channel State Information (SL-CSI) report, SideLink Phase-tracking Reference Signal (SL-PTRS) for tracking frequency and/or phase, SideLink Positioning Reference Signal (SL-PRS) for location measurement, etc. This slot structure, as self-contained, has data or signal exchanges at both directions, e.g., between one transmitting vehicle UE and one or multiple receiving vehicle UEs. For SA SCI and data NR-PSSCH, the resource mapping may be frequency first, e.g., filling in the Resource Elements (RE) along the frequency dimension of a first symbol, then filling in the REs along the frequency dimension of a second symbol, and so on); and wherein the SCI includes a 2-bit indication indicating that the SL-PRS is transmitted on the PSSCH, the PSFCH or both (see paragraphs [0248], and [0394], the resource pool or resource status with other information such as interference, congestion, location or location zone, communication range, etc., may be carried on a NR-PSCCH or NR-PSSCH pointed by NR-PSBCH (e.g. SL-CORESET) or associated or QCLed with each NR-PSSS/NR-SSSS/NR-PSBCH block, or on an SA SCI carried on a NR-PSCCH, or on a broadcast NR-PSSCH indicated by an SA SCI carried on a NR-PSCCH (e.g., SL-CORESET in SL-CSS). The periodicity configurations may be specified, and a specific broadcasting period configuration index may be indicated in NR-PSBCH, e.g. , a 2-bit value indicating 4 possible period values. A 2-bit communication type indication, e.g., com_type, as an example may be included in the SA SCIs, for example, “00” for broadcast, “01” for multicast”, and “10” for unicast).
In regard amended claim 9, Li teaches or discloses the UE of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to:
receive downlink control information (DCI), and wherein the DCI indicates the at least one sidelink resource for transmitting the SL-PRS (see paragraphs [0171], [0172], and [0175], a set or subset of the sidelink resources or resource pools configured in RRC or SL-RRC may be indicated by DCI over Uu interface or by SCI over sidelink (PC5) interface, e.g. using the configuration index. The resource pool configurations may be updated semi-statically by RRC or SL-RRC message or Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or SL-MAC CE or dynamically by Downlink Control Information (DCI) from a gNB or gNB-like RSU if the vehicle UE is connected to the access network or the V2X service server); and
generate the SCI based on the DCI (see paragraphs [0171], [0172], [0173], [0183], and [0348]).
In regard claim 11, Li teaches or discloses the UE of Claim 9, wherein each of the DCI and the SCI includes a 1-bit indication indicating that the SL-PRS is transmitted on either a PSSCH or a PSFCH (see paragraph [0388], for SA SCI and data NR-PSSCH, the resource mapping may be frequency first, e.g., filling in the Resource Elements (RE) along the frequency dimension of a first symbol, then filling in the REs along the frequency dimension of a second symbol, and so on. For example, the SA SCI1 fills in the first symbol of the control region, and the SA SCI2 fills in the second symbol of the control region. Similarly, NR-PSSCH1 and NR-PSSCH2 are mapped with frequency first. The 1-bit HARQ ACK/NACK carried on SCI FB1 may be a sequence).
In regard amended claim 14, Li teaches or discloses a user equipment (UE) (see Fig. 1F, paragraph [0099], device WTU), comprising:
at least one memory (see Fig. 1F, elements 130 and 132); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (see Fig. 1F, elements 118 and 130-132) and configured to cause the UE to (see Fig. 1F):
receive sidelink control information (SCI), wherein the SCI indicates at least one sidelink resource for transmitting a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) (see paragraphs [0134], [0147], and [0153], sensing a resource usage by decoding a sidelink control information (SCI) for scheduled or reserved or pre-empted resources; measuring at least one of a sidelink reference signal received power (SL-RSRP), a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI), a channel busy ratio, or a channel occupancy ratio.. The PSCCH carrying SCI may be allocated over same or different locations in frequency. For example, may be located at the same frequency range, e.g. with BWP-v1, or at different frequency range, e.g. within BWP-v2); and
receive the SL-PRS based on the SCI (see paragraph [0388], and [0389], a few symbols for data and/or Reference Signal (RS) transmissions, such as SideLink Demodulation Reference Signal (SL-DMRS) for NR-PSSCH, SideLink Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSI-RS) for Sidelink Channel State Information (SL-CSI) report, SideLink Phase-tracking Reference Signal (SL-PTRS) for tracking frequency and/or phase, SideLink Positioning Reference Signal (SL-PRS) for location measurement, etc.; one symbol (depending on the numerology, e.g. the symbol length, as well as a vehicle UE's switching time) for example herein as a gap for a vehicle UE to switch from receiving to transmitting or vice visa).
In regard amended claim 15, Li teaches or discloses a base station for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (see Figs. 1B-1E); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to (see Figs. 1B-1E):
transmit downlink control information (DCI) (see paragraphs [0327], and [0358], the gNB may send activation RRC, MAC CE or DCI to the new scheduler (e.g., Scheduler 2), send deactivation RRC, MAC CE or DCI to the old scheduler (e.g., Scheduler 1), and broadcast to all UEs about the scheduler modification via PDCCH, PDSCH, a new physical broadcast channel, or combination of them. The gNB may send the indication by a RRC, MAC CE, or DCI activation, activating the Scheduler to UE or activating a new resource allocation mode to UE, as well as activating the resource pools),
wherein the DCI indicates at least one sidelink resource for transmitting a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) (see paragraphs [0171], [0172], [0173], and [0175], sidelink resource pool allocation or configuration in frequency and time may also be dynamically indicated with Downlink Control Information (DCI) over Uu with network control (e.g. gNB or eNB managed resource allocation), or dynamically indicated with Sidelink Control Information (SCI) over sidelink (PC5) interface without network control (e.g. UE managed resource allocation)).
In regard claim 16, Li teaches or discloses a processor for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one controller coupled with at least one memory (see Fig. 1F, elements 118 and 130-132) and configured to cause the processor to (see Fig. 1F):
transmit sidelink control information (SCI) (see paragraph [0142], [0146], [0147], [0151], and [0152], UE-v1 sends a short message with control, e.g., SCI, on NR-PSCCH on symbol 1 “Sym 1” and data on NR-PSSCH at symbol 2 “Sym 2” of subframe “SF 0” and “SF l1” respectively with period “Period-v1”, from RB k1 to RB k2 or RBG k1 to RBG k2 or Subchannel k1 to Subchannel k2 if more RBs are used in its BWP “BWP-v1”), wherein the SCI indicates at least one sidelink resource for transmitting a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) (see paragraphs [0388], and [0389], this slot structure, as self-contained, has data or signal exchanges at both directions, e.g., between one transmit vehicle UE and one or multiple receiving vehicle UEs. For SA SCI and data NR-PSSCH, the resource mapping may be frequency first, e.g., filling in the Resource Elements (RE) along the frequency dimension of a first symbol, then filling in the REs along the frequency dimension of a second symbol, and so on. Slot “SL2_1” of BWP2 may contain first two symbols (e.g. with larger SCS or narrower symbol, 2 symbols as an example herein) for AGC; 3 symbols as an example as the Control Region for the SA SCIs (e.g., SCI3 for a multicast on NR-PSSCH3 and SCI4 for a broadcast on NR-PSSCH4 in next slot “SL2_2”) carried on NR-PSCCH and it SL-DMRS; a few symbols for data and/or Reference Signal (RS) transmissions, such as SL-DMRS, SL-CSI-RS, SL-PTRS, SL-PRS, etc., e.g. Data Transmission Region); and
transmit the SL-PRS based on the SCI (see paragraph [0389], a few symbols for data and/or Reference Signal (RS) transmissions, such as SL-DMRS, SL-CSI-RS, SL-PTRS, SL-PRS, etc., e.g. Data Transmission Region. Slot “SL2_2” carrying a cross slot allocated or scheduled broadcast transmission on NR-PSSCH4 from the same transmitting vehicle UE, may start with a few symbols for NR-PSSCH4, then a symbol for gap and 3 symbols as an example herein for the HARQ feedbacks from all or some of the receiving vehicle UEs of the multicast message on PSSCH3 in previous slot “SL2_1”).
In regard claim 19, Li teaches or discloses the processor of Claim 16, wherein the SCI includes a 1-bit indication indicating that the SL-PRS is transmitted on either a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) or a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (see paragraph [0388], the SA SCI1 fills in the first symbol of the control region, and the SA SCI2 fills in the second symbol of the control region. Similarly, NR-PSSCH1 and NR-PSSCH2 are mapped with frequency first. The 1-bit HARQ ACK/NACK carried on SCI FB1 may be a sequence based design).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, and 20 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
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Date: 06/16/2026
/PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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