DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present U.S. non-provisional application is being examined under the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the AIA . The present U.S. non-provisional application, filed on June 17, 2024, claims benefit to a U.S. provisional application, filed on August 11, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 11, 2024 was filed before the mailing date of a first Office action in the present U.S. non-provisional application, in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is responsive to the election and amendment on June 16, 2026, The election of invention group I without traverse is acknowledged. Claims 8-14 and 21-27 were amended. Claims 15-18 were canceled. Claims 1-14 and 19-27 are pending for consideration in the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 8-10, 12-14, 21-23 and 25-27 would be considered as allowable if rewritten into independent form to include all of the limitations of the respective base claim and any intervening claims. The claimed invention is neither anticipated by the prior art of record, nor considered as obvious in view thereof to a person having ordinary skill in the art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 102 that forms the basis for all anticipation rejections set forth in this Office action:
(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 1-3, 5-7, 11, 19, 20 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by INTERDIGITAL (WO 2024/211424 A1).
1. A first user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to (INTERDIGITAL, FIG. 1B) cause the UE to:
initiate a channel occupancy time (COT) for transmission of one or more sidelink messages by the first UE, wherein the COT includes multiple contiguous slots (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], “The Tx WTRU may initiate that the COT overlaps with S-SSB slot(s). When initiating a COT, the Tx WTRU may determine whether its COT overlap with S-SSB slot(s). For example, the Tx WTRU may initiate a COT on slot n with duration of M slots. The Tx WTRU may determine that slot n+2 is configured for S-SSB transmission. Upon determining that its COT overlapping with S-SSB slots, the Tx WTRU may identify the set RB set(s) needed for sidelink data transmission after S-SSB slot(s). For example, the Tx WTRU may initiate a COT on 3 RB sets for sidelink data/control transmission on slot n. Tx WTRU may stop transmitting in slot n+2 configured for S-SSB transmission and may determine that 2 RB sets will be needed for sidelink data/control transmission after S-SSB slot(s)…” emphasis added.);
determine that the multiple contiguous slots include a gap slot that is allocated for a sidelink synchronization signal block transmission, wherein the gap slot is unavailable for the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages by the first UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], “The Tx WTRU may initiate that the COT overlaps with S-SSB slot(s). When initiating a COT, the Tx WTRU may determine whether its COT overlap with S-SSB slot(s). For example, the Tx WTRU may initiate a COT on slot n with duration of M slots. The Tx WTRU may determine that slot n+2 is configured for S-SSB transmission. Upon determining that its COT overlapping with S-SSB slots, the Tx WTRU may identify the set RB set(s) needed for sidelink data transmission after S-SSB slot(s). For example, the Tx WTRU may initiate a COT on 3 RB sets for sidelink data/control transmission on slot n. Tx WTRU may stop transmitting in slot n+2 configured for S-SSB transmission and may determine that 2 RB sets will be needed for sidelink data/control transmission after S-SSB slot(s)…” emphasis added. Id.);
detect a second UE that is capable of transmitting sidelink synchronization signal block transmissions (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], “…The Tx WTRU may resume the transmission on multiple RB sets after S-SSB transmission. The Tx WTRU may resume the sidelink data/control transmission using the initiated COT after the S-SSB transmission on the multiple RB sets. The Tx WTRU may monitor S-SSB transmission on the multiple RB sets within the S-SSB slot to determine whether sync ref WTRU is actually transmitting on the requested RB sets. The Tx WTRU may use LBT type 2 after the S-SSB transmission to resume the initiated COT. The Tx WTRU may select sub-type of LBT type 2 based on the gap between S-SSB transmission and the starting position of the Tx WTRU’s transmission.” emphasis added. Id.); and
transmit at least a portion of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT and after the gap slot, the transmission after the gap slot based at least in part on detection of the second UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], “…The Tx WTRU may resume the transmission on multiple RB sets after S-SSB transmission. The Tx WTRU may resume the sidelink data/control transmission using the initiated COT after the S-SSB transmission on the multiple RB sets. The Tx WTRU may monitor S-SSB transmission on the multiple RB sets within the S-SSB slot to determine whether sync ref WTRU is actually transmitting on the requested RB sets. The Tx WTRU may use LBT type 2 after the S-SSB transmission to resume the initiated COT. The Tx WTRU may select sub-type of LBT type 2 based on the gap between S-SSB transmission and the starting position of the Tx WTRU’s transmission.” emphasis added. Id.)
2. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to cause the first UE to: assume that a sidelink synchronization signal block is transmitted in the gap slot based at least in part on the detection of the second UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.)
3. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the gap slot is configured for transmission by the second UE of the sidelink synchronization signal block transmission (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.)
5. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the first UE lacks a capability to transmit sidelink synchronization signals and the second UE is capable of transmitting sidelink synchronization signals (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.)
6. A first user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code (INTERDIGITAL, FIG. 1B, Id.) to cause the first UE to:
initiate a channel occupancy time (COT) for transmission of one or more sidelink messages by the first UE, wherein the COT includes multiple contiguous slots (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.);
determine that the multiple contiguous slots include a gap slot that is allocated for a sidelink synchronization signal block transmission, wherein the gap slot is unavailable for the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages by the first UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 1);
perform a procedure to facilitate the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.); and
transmit at least a portion of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT and after performance of the procedure (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.)
7. The first UE of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to cause the first UE to perform the procedure by being individually or collectively configured to cause the first UE to: receive a signal indicative of a capability of a second UE to transmit sidelink synchronization signal block transmissions during the gap slot, wherein the procedure to facilitate the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT is performed based at least in part on the capability (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.)
11. The first UE of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively configured to cause the first UE to perform the procedure by being individually or collectively configured to cause the first UE to: schedule a second UE to transmit sidelink synchronization signal block transmissions during the gap slot based at least in part on a capability of the second UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.)
19. A method for wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE), comprising:
initiating a channel occupancy time (COT) for transmission of one or more sidelink messages by the first UE, wherein the COT includes multiple contiguous slots (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.);
determining that the multiple contiguous slots include a gap slot that is allocated for a sidelink synchronization signal block transmission, wherein the gap slot is unavailable for the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages by the first UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 1);
performing a procedure to facilitate the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id.); and
transmitting at least a portion of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT and after performance of the procedure (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 6).
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving a signal indicative of a capability of a second UE to transmit sidelink synchronization signal block transmissions during the gap slot, wherein the procedure to facilitate the transmission of the one or more sidelink messages during the COT is performed based at least in part on the capability (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 7).
24. The method of claim 19, wherein performing the procedure comprises: scheduling a second UE to transmit sidelink synchronization signal block transmissions during the gap slot based at least in part on a capability of the second UE (INTERDIGITAL, paras. [0097], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 11).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (PTO-1449, PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the subject matter of the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Hoang et al. (US 2025/0287402 A1) provides prior art disclosure considered as relevant to the subject matter of the claimed invention (Hoang, paras. [0198], [0199], “FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a WTRU pausing a transmission for an S-SSB and resuming the transmission afterward. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a WTRU may acquire a COT (e.g., a COT and/or FFP), in which there is a (e.g., one) (pre)configured resource for an S-SSB transmission. The WTRU may (e.g., first) puncture/rate-match one or more OFDM symbols for other WTRUs to perform CCA in the slot before the (pre)configured resource for an S-SSB transmission. The WTRU may (e.g., also) stop a transmission in the slot. The WTRU may resume the transmission (e.g., from the slot) after the (pre)configured resource for the S-SSB transmission…”)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Timothy J. Weidner whose telephone number is (571) 270-1825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached on (571) 272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY J WEIDNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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