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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 06/26/2024 have been placed in record and considered by the examiner.
Examiner’s Note: there are many “OR” options throughout the claims. The examiner will address ONE of the options of “OR” limitation unless expressively address by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 10-11 are objected to because of the following informalities: Specifically,
Claim 10 line 1: recite “ the method according to claim 11” but claim 10 is after claim 10. Should it be " the method according to claim 8 ”. If not, this claim needs to have appropriate dependency.
Claim 11 line 1: recite “ the method according to claim 10” but claim 10 shows that it depends on claim 11. What is the correct dependency for this claim?
Appropriate action required.
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 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.
(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 1-2, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) ) as being anticipated by LI et al. (US 20230143285 A1; hereinafter as “LI3285”; which has priority date July 17, 2020).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to LI3285 unless otherwise mentioned.
With respect to independence claim:
Regarding claim 14, LI3285 teaches,
A first user equipment (UE) (see fig. 3: First Sidelink Device ), comprising:
a memory, configured to store a computer program (see fig. 6: First Sidelink Device with Memory with software program is stored : [0236]);
a processor, configured to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to enable the first UE to perform (see fig. 6: First Sidelink Device with Processor connected to memory which can run computer program: [0236]-[0238]);:
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sending resource selection auxiliary information to a second UE (==second sidelink device in fig. 3) via a sidelink in response that a target condition is met (see fig. 3 element S301, S302, where First sidelink device sends to second sidelink device in sidelink communicate for auxiliary information: “ S301: A first sidelink device determines first indication information and first sidelink resource information.”: [0153]; “The first sidelink device sends the first indication information and the first sidelink resource information to a second sidelink device, where the first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes auxiliary information, and the auxiliary information is used to assist the second sidelink device in resource selection.”: [0155]; Aforesaid “ When a value of the first indication information falls within a first value range (==target condition is met), the first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes the auxiliary information. The first indication information may be a field, and the field includes a source ID and/or a destination ID in the second level SCI.”: [0043] );
wherein the target condition comprises at least one of:
the first UE detecting, in the sidelink, an event that triggers the resource selection auxiliary information to be sent (Aforesaid “ When a value of the first indication information falls within a first value range (==target condition is met), the first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes the auxiliary information. The first indication information may be a field, and the field includes a source ID and/or a destination ID in the second level SCI.”: [0043]; “ Therefore, during determining of the auxiliary resource, it is necessary to learn about information about a priority of a related service, to select a proper resource. In a process of determining the auxiliary information, the first sidelink device determines the auxiliary information based on a first priority. The first priority may be the same as a service priority of the first sidelink device, or the first priority may be the same as a service priority of the second sidelink device.”: [0217]); or
the first UE receiving request information sent by the second UE for requesting the resource selection auxiliary information (NOTE: this limitation is part of OR function and does not need to be addressed since first part of “OR” has been addressed above already. ).
Regarding claim 1, LI3285 teaches,
An information transmission method (fig. 3), comprising:
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sending, by a first user equipment (UE), resource selection auxiliary information to a second UE via a sidelink in response that a target condition is met met (see fig. 3 element S301, S302, where First sidelink device sends to second sidelink device in sidelink communicate for auxiliary information: “ S301: A first sidelink device determines first indication information and first sidelink resource information.”: [0153]; “The first sidelink device sends the first indication information and the first sidelink resource information to a second sidelink device, where the first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes auxiliary information, and the auxiliary information is used to assist the second sidelink device in resource selection.”: [0155]; Aforesaid “ When a value of the first indication information falls within a first value range (==target condition is met), the first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes the auxiliary information. The first indication information may be a field, and the field includes a source ID and/or a destination ID in the second level SCI.”: [0043] );
wherein the target condition comprises at least one of:
the first UE detecting, in the sidelink, an event that triggers the resource selection auxiliary information to be sent (“ When a value of the first indication information falls within a first value range (==target condition is met), the first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes the auxiliary information. The first indication information may be a field, and the field includes a source ID and/or a destination ID in the second level SCI.”: [0043]; “ Therefore, during determining of the auxiliary resource, it is necessary to learn about information about a priority of a related service, to select a proper resource. In a process of determining the auxiliary information, the first sidelink device determines the auxiliary information based on a first priority. The first priority may be the same as a service priority of the first sidelink device, or the first priority may be the same as a service priority of the second sidelink device.”: [0217]);
or the first UE receiving request information sent by the second UE for requesting the resource selection auxiliary information (NOTE: this limitation is part of OR function and does not need to be addressed since first part of “OR” has been addressed above already)
Regarding claim 2, LI3285 teaches,
The method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by the first UE, the resource selection auxiliary information to the second UE via the sidelink comprises: sending, by the first UE, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) including the resource selection auxiliary information to the second UE via the sidelink ( “ the first sidelink device may send the first indication information and the first sidelink resource information to the second sidelink device. The first indication information indicates that the first sidelink resource information includes the auxiliary information”: [0011]; “The first indication information may be a reserved bit in the first level SCI, the first indication information may be an unused code point in an MCS field in the first level SCI, or the first indication information may be an unused code point in a period field in the first level SCI. The first indication information may be a field in the second level SCI, the first indication information may be carried in a media access control (MAC) control element, or the first indication information may be carried in RRC signaling of a sidelink.”: [0013]).
Regarding claim 15, LI3285 teaches,
The first UE according to claim 14, wherein the sending the resource selection auxiliary information to the second UE via the sidelink comprises: sending a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) including the resource selection auxiliary information to the second UE via the sidelink (Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2).
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 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.
(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 8, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) ) as being anticipated by HOU et al. (US 20230283414 A1; hereinafter as “HOU3414”; which has priority date August 5, 2020).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to HOU3414 unless otherwise mentioned.
Regarding claim 8, HOU3414 teaches,
An information transmission method (fig. 5, Fig. Fig. 9 ), comprising:
sending, by a second user equipment (UE) (==TX UE1), request information to a first UE (RX UE ) (aforesaid TX UE1 sends “ Initial Transmission Information” to RX UE.: [0104]; Aforesaid “Initial Transmission Information” asking RX UE to provide feedback “auxiliary information on PSFCH;” TX UE1’s value 1 meant TX UE1 is ready to receives “additional auxiliary information” : [0104]-[0105]);
wherein the request information (==Initial Transmission Information) is used to request the first UE (==RX UE) to feed back resource selection auxiliary information (aforesaid TX UE1 sends “ Initial Transmission Information” to RX UE.: [0104]; Aforesaid “Initial Transmission Information” asking RX UE to provide feedback “auxiliary information on PSFCH;” TX UE1’s value 1 meant TX UE1 is ready to receives “additional auxiliary information” : [0104]-[0105]; “ RX UE Receives the Initial Transmission Information from TX UE1 and Provides Feedback.”: [0107]; “ the RX UE decodes the SCI sent by TX UE1, receives the currently transmitted PSSCH through SCI decoding, and knows the reserved resources of TX UE for HARQ retransmission through SCI. Particularly, if the RX UE can feed back additional auxiliary information on the PSFCH, the RX UE can feed back the auxiliary information generated based on the resource determination at the RX UE side to the TX UE1, so as to help resource selection at the TX UE side during retransmission.”: [0108]) .
Regarding claim 20, LI3285 teaches,
A second user equipment (UE), wherein the communication device comprises: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, the processor is configured to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to enable the communication device to perform the method according to claim 8 (Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 8).
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 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.
Claims 3-7, 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI et al. (US 20230143285 A1; hereinafter as “LI3285”; which has priority date July 17, 2020) in view of JI et al. (US 20220408415 A1; hereinafter as “JI8415”, which has priority March 26, 2021 and March 27, 2020).
Regarding claim 3, LI3285 teaches the invention of claim 2 as set forth above. LI3285 does not expressively disclose: The method according to claim 2, wherein in response that the target condition is the first UE receiving the request information sent by the second UE, the method further comprises: discarding, by the first UE, the MAC CE or canceling, by the first UE, the MAC CE in response that the first UE fails to send the MAC CE within a first duration.
JI8415, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
The method according to claim 2, wherein in response that the target condition is the first UE receiving the request information sent by the second UE, the method further comprises: discarding, by the first UE, the MAC CE or canceling, by the first UE, the MAC CE in response that the first UE fails to send the MAC CE within a first duration (MAC CE is response sends within a duration ; “ The first trigger signaling may be physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling, including but not limited to DCI signaling, MAC CE signaling, and RRC signaling. Optionally, when the first trigger signaling is RRC signaling, the RRC signaling may be further used to configure a transmission time period of the assistance information, to specify when to transmit the assistance information.”: [0052]; [0058]; MAC CE within s sub-slot: [0096])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of LI3285 to include the above recited limitations as taught by JI8415. The suggestion/motivation would be to provide improved and reliable sidelink communication : (JI8415; [0004]).
Regarding claim 4, LI3285 teaches the invention of claim 2 as set forth above. LI3285 does not expressively disclose: The method according to claim 2, wherein in response that the target condition is the first UE receiving the request information sent by the second UE, the method further comprises: starting, by the first UE, a first timer, wherein a timer duration of the first timer is a first duration.
JI8415, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
The method according to claim 2, wherein in response that the target condition is the first UE receiving the request information sent by the second UE, the method further comprises: starting, by the first UE, a first timer, wherein a timer duration of the first timer is a first duration ( “ receiving assistance information, where the assistance information is transmitted by a first terminal device in a case that a periodic reporting condition or a preset trigger condition is met, and the assistance information is used for sidelink transmission.”: [0007]; “ the time domain resource indication may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: a slot ( ) a sub-slot (sub-slot(s)), a length of a PSFCH occasion, a PSFCH period, and absolute time duration. The offset indicated by the time domain resource indication may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: a system frame number (SFN) #, a D2D frame number (DFN) #0, and a starting position of a resource pool. The time domain resource indication mode may be performing indication in a fine-grained form, for example, a period, an offset, a length, or a granularity. As shown in FIG. 2, specifically, a slot granularity is used as an example. Alternatively, the time domain resource indication mode may be a bitmap form, namely, a simple and flexible form, including but not limited to indicating at least one of the following: a length and a starting position of a bitmap, and a time domain granularity indicated by the bitmap.”: [0037]; [0059]-[0060]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of LI3285 to include the above recited limitations as taught by JI8415. The suggestion/motivation would be to provide improved and reliable sidelink communication : (JI8415; [0004]).
Regarding claim 5, LI3285 in view of JI8415 teaches claim 4 as shown above. Furthermore , JI8415 teaches, the method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises: discarding, by the first UE, or canceling, by the first UE, the MAC CE in response that the first timer expires ( “ The first trigger signaling may be physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling, including but not limited to DCI signaling, MAC CE signaling, and RRC signaling. Optionally, when the first trigger signaling is RRC signaling, the RRC signaling may be further used to configure a transmission time period of the assistance information, to specify when to transmit the assistance information.”: [0052]).
Regarding claim 6, LI3285 in view of JI8415 teaches claim 4 as shown above. Furthermore , JI8415 teaches, The method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises: stopping, by the first UE, the first timer in response that the first UE sends or generates the MAC CE before the first timer expires ( “ LI3285 in view of JI8415 teaches claim 4 as shown above. Furthermore , JI8415 teaches,”: [0052]).
Regarding claim 7, LI3285 in view of JI8415 teaches claim 4 as shown above. Furthermore , JI8415 teaches, The method according to claim 4, wherein a starting time of the first timer is determined according to the request information (time period : [0059]-[0060]; [0065]) .
Regarding claim 16, LI3285 teaches,
The first UE according to claim 15, wherein in response that the target condition is the first UE receiving the request information sent by the second UE, the first UE further performs: discarding the MAC CE or canceling the MAC CE in response that the first UE fails to send the MAC CE within a first duration (Regarding claim 16, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3).
Regarding claim 17, LI3285 teaches,
The first UE according to claim 15, wherein in response that the target condition is the first UE receiving the request information sent by the second UE, the first UE further performs: starting a first timer, wherein a timer duration of the first timer is a first duration (Regarding claim 17, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4).
Regarding claim 18, LI3285 teaches,
The first UE according to claim 17, wherein the first UE further performs: discardingor canceling the MAC CE in response that the first timer expires; or stopping the first timer in response that the first UE sends or generates the MAC CE before the first timer expires (Regarding claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5).
Regarding claim 19, LI3285 teaches,
The first UE according to claim 17, wherein a starting time of the first timer is determined according to the request information (Regarding claim 19, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 7).
Claims 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HOU et al. (US 20230283414 A1; hereinafter as “HOU3414”; which has priority date August 5, 2020) in view of JI et al. (US 20220408415 A1; hereinafter as “JI8415”, which has priority March 26, 2021 and March 27, 2020).
Regarding claim 9, HOU3414 teaches the invention of claim 8 as set forth above. HOU3414 does not expressively disclose: the method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: selecting, by the second UE, a second resource from a sidelink resource pool based on the resource selection auxiliary information included in a received media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and a monitoring result of the sidelink if the second UE receives the MAC CE sent by the first UE in response to the request information within a second duration; wherein the second resource is used to carry data sent by the second UE to the first UE; or
selecting, by the second UE, a second resource from a sidelink resource pool based on a monitoring result of the sidelink if the second UE fails to receive a MAC CE sent by the first UE in response to the request information within a second duration.
JI8415, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
the method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: selecting, by the second UE, a second resource from a sidelink resource pool based on the resource selection auxiliary information included in a received media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and a monitoring result of the sidelink if the second UE receives the MAC CE sent by the first UE in response to the request information within a second duration; wherein the second resource is used to carry data sent by the second UE to the first UE; or
selecting, by the second UE, a second resource from a sidelink resource pool based on a monitoring result of the sidelink if the second UE fails to receive a MAC CE sent by the first UE in response to the request information within a second duration (see fig. 7 where second terminal device receives “assistance information, where the assistance information is transmitted by the first terminal device in a case that a periodic reporting condition or a preset trigger condition is met, and the assistance information is used for sidelink transmission.”: [0109]; “ the second terminal device performs sidelink transmission with the first terminal device, sidelink transmission may be implemented based on the assistance information transmitted by the first terminal device in a case that the periodic reporting condition or the preset trigger condition is met, to improve reliability of sidelink transmission.
[0111] Optionally, the assistance information may be used by the second terminal device to perform resource selection or parameter adjustment for sidelink transmission.
[0112] It should be noted that, when a resource allocation mode used by the second terminal device is a Mode 2, to be specific, a resource allocation mode in which UE autonomously performs selection, a conflict in resource selection may occur between different TX UEs, and the assistance information may be used to partially resolve the resource conflict problem.
[0113] Optionally, in the information transmission method in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the assistance information includes at least one of the following: a resource set indication, a resource reselection indication, a demodulation reference signal DMRS pattern indication, a DMRS port number indication, a DMRS port index indication, a transmit power indication, a modulation and coding scheme MCS indication, a HARQ feedback activation indication, and a HARQ feedback type indication. ”: [0110]-[0113]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of HOU3414 to include the above recited limitations as taught by JI8415. The suggestion/motivation would be to provide improved and reliable sidelink communication : (JI8415; [0004]).
Regarding claim 10, HOU3414 in view of JI8415 teaches,
wherein the method further comprises: starting, by the second UE, a second timer, wherein a timer duration of the second timer is a second duration (JI8415 : [0036]-[0037] ; [0059]-[0060]).
Regarding claim 11, HOU3414 in view of JI8415 teaches, wherein the method further comprises: selecting, by the second UE, a second resource from a sidelink resource pool based on the resource selection auxiliary information included in a received MAC CE and a monitoring result of the sidelink if the second UE receives the MAC CE sent by the first UE in response to the request information before the second timer expires; wherein the second resource is used to carry data sent by the second UE to the first UE; or selecting, by the second UE, the second resource from the sidelink resource pool based on a monitoring result of the sidelink in response that the second timer expires (JI8415 : [0052]).
Regarding claim 12, HOU3414 in view of JI8415 teaches
The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: stopping, by the second UE, the second timer if the second UE receives a MAC CE sent by the first UE in response to the request information before the second timer expires ([0057]-[0058]; [0096]; [0121]-[0123]).
Regarding claim 13, HOU3414 in view of JI8415 teaches
The method according to claim 10, wherein a starting time of the second timer is determined according to the request information ([0057]-[0058]; [0096]; [0121]-[0123]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See PTO 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M MOSTAZIR RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4785. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00pm PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M Mostazir Rahman/Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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