DETAILED ACTION
This action is a response to an application filed on 6/19/24 in which claims 1-19 are pending.
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 § 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, 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) 1-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (Pub. No.: 2021/0219268), herein Li and Gangakhedkar et al. (Pub. No.: 2019/0239181), herein Gangakhedkar.
As to claim 1, Li teaches an apparatus which is a first apparatus comprising one or more processors, and one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first apparatus at least to perform (Li Fig. 1F):
- detecting at least one join request broadcasted by at least one second apparatus (Li [0200] the vehicle UE may send a request to join the platoon),
- transmitting a response to the at least one second apparatus, wherein the response is indicative at least of an identity of the first apparatus (Li [0201] the platoon lead may send a response the response may include a the UE’s group member ID);
- receiving, from at least one second apparatus a first configuration set comprising an identity of at least one first apparatus paired with a sidelink reference signal configuration (Li [0201] indicated in UE’s request on the beam containing group RNTI and resource pools and Fig. 6A request to join includes resource pools indicated in UE request);
- receiving at least one further message indicative of one or more sidelink reference signal configurations (Li [0201] the resource pools configurations may also be sent on separate unicast messages including different communication types); and
- based at least on the first configuration set and the at least one further message, selecting at least one non-conflicting sidelink reference signal configuration with the at least one second apparatus (Li [0202] the vehicle Ue may reconfigure the resource pool by selecting the resource pool candidates in the response based on sensing (radio quality and interference/non-conflicting)
Li does not teach
wherein the at least one join request is indicative of a request to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session;
for the sidelink reference signal exchange session
However Gangakhedkar does teach
wherein the at least one join request is indicative of a request to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session (Gangakhedkar [0054] “CP request”: This message is transmitted by the target node (204) to request cooperative positioning (CP) support. It contains an identifier for the target node and specifies a “CP mode”. The “CP mode” allows the target node to specify one of multiple different types of cooperative positioning support, depending on what the target node requires. [0055] “CP response”: This message is used by the target nodes (204) to obtain information about the anchor nodes (208). The CP response is broadcast by anchor nodes on the sidelink. The CP response includes the anchor node identity, the anchor node position coordinates (absolute or relative to the positions of a mutually known landmark), the anchor node position precision, and the CP radio resource configuration and transmission configuration for the positioning reference signal. The target node can use this information for anchor node selection and/or for receiving a position reference signal. [0056] “CP confirmation”: This message is used to trigger the transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). It is typically broadcast on the sidelink by the target node (204) and identifies the selected (or in some instances, reselected) anchor nodes. [0058] “CP assignment”: This message is broadcast by the relevant node in the radio access network (e.g. the serving base station) in the downlink in order to configure and initiate transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). This message is decoded by both the target node (204) and the anchor nodes since it carries information for communication of the position reference signal.);
for the sidelink reference signal exchange session (Gangakhedkar . [0058] “CP assignment”: This message is broadcast by the relevant node in the radio access network (e.g. the serving base station) in the downlink in order to configure and initiate transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). This message is decoded by both the target node (204) and the anchor nodes since it carries information for communication of the position reference signal.);
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Gangakhedkar, because Gangakhedkar teaches us [0063] The method of FIG. 3 commences with the transmission of a request for positioning support (step S301). This request is transmitted by transmitter 205 of target node 204. In some embodiments the request will be triggered by a location unit (207) in the target node determining that the node needs positioning support from the anchor nodes—e.g. because an application in the target node requires the node's position to a greater degree of accuracy than the location unit can currently provide.
As to claim 10, Li teaches an apparatus which is a second apparatus comprising one or more processors, and one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the second apparatus at least to perform (Li Fig. 1F):
- broadcasting a join request indicative of a request with the second apparatus (Li [0200] the vehicle UE may send a request to join the platoon),
- receiving a response from the at least one first apparatus, wherein the response is indicative of at least an identity of the at least one first apparatus, which has transmitted the response (Li [0201] the platoon lead may send a response the response may include a the UE’s group member ID);
- generating, based at least on the response, a configuration set comprising an identity of the at least one first apparatus paired with a sidelink reference signal configuration assigned to the at least one first apparatus Li [0201] indicated in UE’s request on the beam containing group RNTI and resource pools and Fig. 6A request to join includes resource pools indicated in UE request);
and
- transmitting the configuration set to the at least one first apparatus (Li -]0201] the response may include resource pool configurations)
Li does not teach
for at least one first apparatus to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session
However Gangakhedkar does teach
for at least one first apparatus to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session (Gangakhedkar [0054] “CP request”: This message is transmitted by the target node (204) to request cooperative positioning (CP) support. It contains an identifier for the target node and specifies a “CP mode”. The “CP mode” allows the target node to specify one of multiple different types of cooperative positioning support, depending on what the target node requires. [0055] “CP response”: This message is used by the target nodes (204) to obtain information about the anchor nodes (208). The CP response is broadcast by anchor nodes on the sidelink. The CP response includes the anchor node identity, the anchor node position coordinates (absolute or relative to the positions of a mutually known landmark), the anchor node position precision, and the CP radio resource configuration and transmission configuration for the positioning reference signal. The target node can use this information for anchor node selection and/or for receiving a position reference signal. [0056] “CP confirmation”: This message is used to trigger the transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). It is typically broadcast on the sidelink by the target node (204) and identifies the selected (or in some instances, reselected) anchor nodes. [0058] “CP assignment”: This message is broadcast by the relevant node in the radio access network (e.g. the serving base station) in the downlink in order to configure and initiate transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). This message is decoded by both the target node (204) and the anchor nodes since it carries information for communication of the position reference signal.);
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Gangakhedkar for the same reasons stated in claim 1.
As to claim 19, Li teaches an method comprising:
- detecting, by a first apparatus, at least one join request broadcasted by at least one second apparatus (Li [0200] the vehicle UE may send a request to join the platoon),
- transmitting a response to the at least one second apparatus, wherein the response is indicative at least of an identity of the first apparatus (Li [0201] the platoon lead may send a response the response may include a the UE’s group member ID);
- receiving, from at least one second apparatus, a first configuration set comprising an identity of at least one first apparatus paired with a sidelink reference signal configuration Li [0201] indicated in UE’s request on the beam containing group RNTI and resource pools and Fig. 6A request to join includes resource pools indicated in UE request);
- receiving at least one further message indicative of one or more sidelink reference signal configurations (Li [0201] the resource pools configurations may also be sent on separate unicast messages including different communication types); and
- based at least on the first configuration set and the at least one further message, selecting at least one non-conflicting sidelink reference signal configuration with the at least one second apparatus (Li [0202] the vehicle Ue may reconfigure the resource pool by selecting the resource pool candidates in the response based on sensing (radio quality and interference/non-conflicting)
Li does not teach
wherein the at least one join request is indicative of a request to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session
for the sidelink reference signal exchange session
However Gangakhedkar does teach
wherein the at least one join request is indicative of a request to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session (Gangakhedkar [0054] “CP request”: This message is transmitted by the target node (204) to request cooperative positioning (CP) support. It contains an identifier for the target node and specifies a “CP mode”. The “CP mode” allows the target node to specify one of multiple different types of cooperative positioning support, depending on what the target node requires. [0055] “CP response”: This message is used by the target nodes (204) to obtain information about the anchor nodes (208). The CP response is broadcast by anchor nodes on the sidelink. The CP response includes the anchor node identity, the anchor node position coordinates (absolute or relative to the positions of a mutually known landmark), the anchor node position precision, and the CP radio resource configuration and transmission configuration for the positioning reference signal. The target node can use this information for anchor node selection and/or for receiving a position reference signal. [0056] “CP confirmation”: This message is used to trigger the transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). It is typically broadcast on the sidelink by the target node (204) and identifies the selected (or in some instances, reselected) anchor nodes. [0058] “CP assignment”: This message is broadcast by the relevant node in the radio access network (e.g. the serving base station) in the downlink in order to configure and initiate transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). This message is decoded by both the target node (204) and the anchor nodes since it carries information for communication of the position reference signal.);
for the sidelink reference signal exchange session (Gangakhedkar . [0058] “CP assignment”: This message is broadcast by the relevant node in the radio access network (e.g. the serving base station) in the downlink in order to configure and initiate transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). This message is decoded by both the target node (204) and the anchor nodes since it carries information for communication of the position reference signal.);
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Gangakhedkar for the same reasons stated in claim 1.
As to claim 2, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1, caused to perform:
detecting at least one further join request broadcasted by at least one another second apparatus, wherein the at least one further join request is indicative of a request to join a sidelink reference signal exchange session (Li [0200] the vehicle UE may send a request to join the platoon and Fig. 2 (other vehicle UEs) and (Gangakhedkar [0054] “CP request”: This message is transmitted by the target node (204) to request cooperative positioning (CP) support)
transmitting a response to the at least one another second apparatus, wherein the response is indicative at least of the identity of the first apparatus (Li [0201] the platoon lead may send a response the response may include a the UE’s group member ID);
and wherein
the at least one further message is received from the at least one another second apparatus and comprises a second configuration set comprising an identity of at least one first apparatus paired with a sidelink reference signal configuration (Li [0201] the resource pool configurations may be sent on separate unicasted message from the platoon lead using the UE’s group member ID)
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Gangakhedkar for the same reasons stated in claim 1.
As to claim 3, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one further message comprises a reservation message broadcasted by at least one other first apparatus, the reservation message being indicative of one or more sidelink reference signal configurations selected by the at least one other first apparatus (Li [0242] broadcast a usage and reservation status of local resource pools)
As to claim 4, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 2, caused to perform: detecting one or more reservation messages broadcasted by at least one other first apparatus, the reservation message being indicative of one or more sidelink reference signal configurations selected by the at least one other first apparatus (Li [0249] the UE selects a resource based on the resource reservation status); and wherein the selecting at least one non-conflicting sidelink reference signal configuration for the sidelink reference signal exchange session with the at least one second apparatus is further based on the detected one or more reservation messages (Li [0249] the UE selects a resource based on the resource reservation status);
As to claim 5, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1 caused to perform: broadcasting a reservation message indicative of the selected at least one configuration (Li [0252] broadcasting a resource status of a resource pool requested by a UE)
As to claim 6, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1 caused to perform: transmitting a sidelink reference signal to the at least one second apparatus according to the selected configurations (Gangakhedkar [0056] “CP confirmation”: This message is used to trigger the transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). It is typically broadcast on the sidelink by the target node (204) and identifies the selected (or in some instances, reselected) anchor nodes)
As to claim 7, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one join request broadcasted by the at least one second apparatus comprises one or more of –
identity of the second apparatus, which has broadcasted the message
latency requirements of the second apparatus (Li [0227] the UE may request to associate with RSU2, the request may include UE assistance information such as priority, latency, reliability, speed, location etc)
- accuracy requirements of the second apparatus
- a groupcast group identity for reception of a configuration set.
Claim 14 is rejected for the same reasons stated in claim 7.
As to claim 8, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1 caused to perform:
selecting, at least from the first configuration set, at least one configuration assigned to the first apparatus (Li [0237] the vehicle UE may reconfigure the resource pool selected by the higher layer or application);
detecting one or more conflicts between the selected at least one configuration assigned to the first apparatus and one or more configurations in the first configuration set and/or the one or more configurations in the at least one further message (Li [0241] the sensed resource pool candidates are not totally collision free);
excluding the one or more conflicting configurations from the selected configurations assigned to the first apparatus to obtain at least one non-conflicting sidelink reference signal configuration for the sidelink reference signal exchange session with the at least one second apparatus (Li [0242] to reduce possible collisions and [0249] the vehicle UE may select a resource pool based on resource status (congestion and interference))
As to claim 9, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sidelink reference signal exchange session is a sidelink positioning or ranging session and the sidelink reference signal is a sidelink positioning reference signal ((Gangakhedkar [0054] “CP request”: This message is transmitted by the target node (204) to request cooperative positioning (CP) support)
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Gangakhedkar for the same reasons stated in claim 1.
Claim 18 is rejected for the same reasons stated in claim 9.
As to claim 11, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 10, caused to perform: initiating reception of one or more sidelink reference signals from the at least one first apparatus on at least some of resources indicated by the sidelink reference signal configuration associated with the at least one first apparatus (Gangakhedkar [0058] “CP assignment”: This message is broadcast by the relevant node in the radio access network (e.g. the serving base station) in the downlink in order to configure and initiate transmission of a positioning reference signal by the selected anchor nodes (208). This message is decoded by both the target node (204) and the anchor nodes since it carries information for communication of the position reference signal and Li [0248] decide the resource pool to use);
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Gangakhedkar for the same reasons stated in claim 1.
As to claim 12, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 10, caused to perform:
- detecting one or more reservation messages broadcasted by at least one first apparatus, the reservation message being indicative of one or more sidelink reference signal configurations selected by the at least one first apparatus (Li [0242] broadcast reservation status of local resource pools);
- refraining from assigning resources, which are reserved according to the one or more reservation messages, to first apparatuses (Li [0134] determine available resources based on resources that are not scheduled not reserved [0197] available resources (not reserved yet)
As to claim 13, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach apparatus of claim 10, wherein the configuration comprises selecting time-frequency-code resources for the at least one first apparatus (Li [0402] resources in either time or frequency domain, multiplexed via different codes)
As to claim 15, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the configuration set is transmitted via groupcasting (Li Fig. 6A reconfigure resource pools based on broadcast resource pools)
As to claim 16, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 10, caused to perform: transmitting, along with the configuration set, configuration for the at least one first apparatus for transmission of a reservation message (Li [352] the UE may communicate on sidelink using the configured shared or dedicated pool and may need to do resource reservation))
As to claim 17, the combination of Li and Gangakhedkar teach the apparatus of claim 16, caused to perform: transmitting a time limit for the at least one first apparatus for reserving the configuration for transmission of a reservation message (Li [0249] collecting resource reservation withing the sensing time window)
Conclusion
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AYANAH S. GEORGE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2467
/AYANAH S GEORGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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