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 § 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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALAKRISHNAN et al (US 2021/0258988) in view of WEI et al (US 2018/0242381)
Regarding claim 1, BALAKRISHNAN et al (US 2021/0258988), hereinafter BALA, method of a relay user equipment (RUE), comprising:
receiving a physical shared channel from a source UE (SUE), the PSSCH being destined for a destination UE (DUE) (BALA: ¶106, ¶104, relay node receives data on a shared channel from a source node; the source node and relay node are UEs);
receiving a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) response for the physical shared channel from the DUE (BALA: ¶119-120, receiving ACK/NACK (HARQ Response) messages from the destination); and
in response to the HARQ response indicating negative acknowledgement (NACK) (BALA: ¶131-132, HARQ response includes a NACK message),
transmitting the on the physical shared channel to the DUE, by adjusting a power of the physical shared channel without decoding the physical shared channel received from the SUE (BALA: ¶131, the transmission by the relay node (relay UE) is increased/adjusted based on the NACKs being received by the relay UE in response to packets transmitted by the relay UE to the destination UE; this is done without decoding and using amplify-and-forward mode of the relay node without decoding).
BALA remains silent regarding the physical shared channel being a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)
However, WEI et al (US 2018/0242381) the physical shared channel being a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (WEI: ¶160, ¶47, ¶71, relay UE is communicating with the source and destination UEs over PSSCH).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALAKRISHNAN would have been motivated to use the teachings of WEI as it provides a way use standard sidelink physical channel in order to improve compatibility of the invention with the standard. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BALAKRISHNAN with teachings of WEI in order to improve compatibility.
Regarding claim 2, BALA modified WEI discloses method according to claim 1, wherein the RUE operates in an amply-and-forward scheme (BALA: ¶131, amplify-and-forward scheme is used).
Regarding claim 4, BALA modified WEI discloses method according to claim 1, wherein a time and frequency resource in which the PSSCH is received from the SUE is different from a time and frequency resource in which the PSSCH is transmitted from the RUE to the DUE (WEI: ¶34, the resources are different and are separately allocated for UE1-RN and UE2-RN).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALA modified WEI as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of NOVLAN et al (US 2018/0270801)
Regarding claim 5, BALA modified WEI discloses method according to claim 1, wherein a first number of resource elements (REs) for the PSSCH received from the SUE and a second number of REs for the PSSCH transmitted from the RUE to the DUE (BALA: ¶150, ¶81, time-frequency resources including the REs are allocated to the relay communication).
BALA modified by WEI remains silent regarding the first number of resources being the same or different from the second number of resources.
However, NOVLAN et al (US 2018/0270801) the first number of resources being the same or different from the second number of resources (NOVLAN: ¶137, ¶156, different channel list with difference amount of time and frequency resources).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALA modified WEI would have been motivated to use the teachings of NOVLAN as it can manage D2D communication in these hybrid deployment scenarios (¶4). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BALA modified WEI with teachings of NOVLAN in order to improve D2D communication management.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALA modified WEI as applied to claim 1 above, further in view HADEF et al (US 2015/0043423)
Regarding claim 3, BALA modified WEI discloses method according to claim 1, wherein in the transmitting the PSSCH to the DUE, the RUE performs amplify and forward on the PSSCH transmitted from the RUE to the DUE (BALA: ¶131, amplify and forward mode)
BALA modified by WEI remains silent regarding, however, HADEF et al (US 2015/0043423) discloses amplify-and-forward comprises transmitting by the relay without allocating a new demodulation-reference signal (DM-RS) (HADEF: ¶118, the DMRS is not allocated to as no demodulation occurs during AF relay and only new BW and power allocation is performed).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALA modified WEI would have been motivated to use the teachings of HADEF as it minimizes unnecessary overhead information needed to be forwarded. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BALA modified WEI with teachings of HADEF in order to enhance radio resource efficiency.
Claim(s) 8-9, 11-12, 14, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALAKRISHNAN et al (US 2021/0258988), in view of BONTU et al (US 2016/0366651) further in view of WEI et al (US 2018/0242381).
Regarding claim 8, BALA discloses of a relay user equipment (RUE), comprising:
receiving a first physical shared channel from a source UE (SUE), the first PSSCH being destined for a destination UE (DUE) (BALA: ¶106, ¶104, relay node receives data on a shared channel from a source node; the source node and relay node are UEs);
obtaining first modulation symbols by performing demodulation on the PSSCH (BALA: ¶133, demodulate the received signal on the physical shared channel); performing modulation on the first modulation symbols to generate second modulation symbols (BALA: ¶133, modulation is performed by the relay station (UE)), and
transmitting a second physical shared channel including the second modulation symbols to the DUE (BALA: ¶133, transmitting the second modulation symbols to the destination)
BALA remains silent regarding the modulation is performed without performing channel coding on the first modulation symbols;
and transmitting comprising transmitting by adjusting a power of the second physical shared channel.
However, BONTU et al (US 2016/0366651) discloses the modulation is performed without performing channel coding on the first modulation symbols;
and transmitting comprising transmitting by adjusting a power of the second physical shared channel (BONTU: Fig. 6, ¶63, modulate without decoding in step 607 and 510; ¶63, ¶85, power adjustment is performed for transmission from the relay node).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALA would have been motivated to use the teachings of BONTU as it provides improved throughput by using feedback information together with the CQM threshold (¶120) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BALA with teachings of BONTU in order to improve throughput and thereby, quality of experience.
BALA modified by BONTU remains silent regarding the physical shared channel being a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)
However, WEI et al (US 2018/0242381) the physical shared channel being a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (WEI: ¶160, ¶47, ¶71, relay UE is communicating with the source and destination UEs over PSSCH).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALA modified by BONTU would have been motivated to use the teachings of WEI as it provides a way use standard sidelink physical channel in order to improve compatibility of the invention with the standard. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BALA modified by BONTU with teachings of WEI in order to improve compatibility.
Regarding claim 9, BALA modified BONTU modified WEI discloses method according to claim 8, wherein the RUE operates in a demodulate-and-forward scheme (BONTU: ¶63, Fig. 6, demodulate and forward mode).
Regarding claim 11, BALA modified BONTU modified WEI discloses method according to claim 8, wherein a time and frequency resource of the second PSSCH is preconfigured or is determined based on information of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) received from the SUE (BONTU: ¶70, separate pre-assigned resources are granted for the time frequency resource for the RNs).
Regarding claim 12, BALA modified BONTU modified WEI discloses method according to claim 8, wherein a modulation order for the second PSSCH is same as or different from a modulation order for the first PSSCH (BONTU: ¶120, same or different MCS (modulation scheme) used for the first and second sidelink).
Regarding claim 14, BALA modified BONTU modified WEI discloses method according to claim 8, wherein the second PSSCH and the first PSSCH are combined for the DUE to decode a sidelink-shared channel (SL-SCH) included in the first and second PSSCHs (BONTU: ¶88, combining transmission from source and relay at the destination).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALA modified BONTU modified WEI as applied to claim 8 above, further in view of KIM et al (US 2012/0140703)
Regarding claim 10, BALA modified BONTU modified WEI discloses method according to claim 8, wherein in the transmitting the second PSSCH to the DUE (BALA: ¶133, transmitting the second modulation symbols to the destination).
BALA modified BONTU modified WEI remains silent regarding, however KIM et al (US 2012/0140703) discloses the RUE allocates a new demodulation-reference signal (DM-RS) for the second PSSCH (KIM: ¶76-77, allocating new DMRS signals to the relayed packets).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALA modified BONTU modified WEI would have been motivated to use the teachings of KIM as it provides a way to improve resource allocation technique in a relayed channel at the relay station (¶74). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify invention of BALA modified BONTU modified WEI with teachings of KIM in order to improve technique for resource allocation in the relayed packets.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALA modified BONTU modified WEI as applied to claim 8 above, further in view of NOVLAN et al (US 2018/0270801)
Regarding claim 13, BALA modified BONTU modified WEI discloses method according to claim 8, wherein a first number of resource elements (REs) for the PSSCH received from the SUE and a second number of REs for the PSSCH transmitted from the RUE to the DUE (BALA: ¶150, ¶81, time-frequency resources including the REs are allocated to the relay communication).
BALA modified by WEI remains silent regarding the first number of resources being the same or different from the second number of resources.
However, NOVLAN et al (US 2018/0270801) the first number of resources being the same or different from the second number of resources (NOVLAN: ¶137, ¶156, different channel list with difference amount of time and frequency resources).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BALA modified WEI would have been motivated to use the teachings of NOVLAN as it can manage D2D communication in these hybrid deployment scenarios (¶4). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BALA modified WEI with teachings of NOVLAN in order to improve D2D communication management.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6-7 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.
Regarding claim 6, BALA modified WEI modified by NOVLAN method according to claim 5, wherein when the second number is larger than the first number, at least a portion of symbols of the PSSCH received from the SUE is repeatedly transmitted on the PSSCH transmitted from the RUE to the DUE .
Regarding claim 7, method according to claim 5, wherein when the first number is larger than the second number, a least a portion of symbols of the PSSCH received from the SUE is excluded in the PSSCH transmitted from the RUE to the DUE.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See PTO 892:
Document U discloses that channel estimation (CE) plays an important role in determining the achievable performance of coherently detected communications systems. In this paper, the impact of imperfect CE on Reed-Solomon coded Hybrid Automatic-Repeat-Request (ReS/H-ARQ) systems is investigated for transmission over correlated Rayleigh fading channels. The proposed scheme invokes Amplify-and-Forward relaying, where the benefits of multiple cooperative stations are also quantified. Both the corresponding bit error probability and goodput are characterized. The system parameters are adjusted for maximizing the attainable system performance. An optimum pilot power allocation scheme is proposed, which reduces the required bit-energy by 4 dB for the (255/223) Reed-Solomon code defined over the Galois field GF(256) without reducing the goodput.
Document V discloses that a reliable feedback channel is vital to report decoding acknowledgments in retransmission mechanisms such as the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). While the feedback bits are known to be costly for the wireless link, a feedback message more informative than the conventional single-bit feedback can increase resource utilization efficiency. Considering the practical limitations for increasing feedback message size, this paper proposes a framework for the design of flexible-content multi-bit feedback. The proposed design is capable of efficiently indicating the faulty segments of a failed large-size data packet thanks to which the transmitter node can reduce the retransmission size to only include the initially failed segments of the packet. We study the effect of feedback size on retransmission efficiency through extensive link-level simulations over realistic channel models. Numerical result present significant savings in retransmission resources offered by the proposed flexible-content feedback design.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMER S MIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7524. The examiner can normally be reached M,T,W,Th: 10a-7p, Fri, 9a-12p.
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OMER S. MIAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2461
/OMER S MIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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