DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The instant first office action is in response to communication filed on 10/14/2025.
Claims 1-20 are pending of which claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 are the base independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/08/2024, 02/14/2025 and 10/14/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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, 4-5, 6, 9-10, 11, 14-15, 16, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae et al (US 2020/0163028) and further in view of Wang et al (US 2021/0266110).
Regarding claim 1, 6, 11, 16, Chae’023 discloses a method performed by a first terminal in a wireless communication system(see at least fig.12-13, which shows relay UE as first terminal, see fig.15, which shows UE with processor 23 coupled to reception module 21 and transmission module 22, both together considered as transceiver), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station via higher layer signaling, configuration information(see para.0150, which discusses the value or range of k1 and/or k2 may be predetermined or indicated by the eNB through physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling, see fig.15, which shows Enb with processor 13 coupled to reception module 11 and transmission module 12, both together considered as transceiver) associated with sidelink (SL)(see para.0149, which When the remote UE receives the DL signal in subframe n, the remote UE may signal to the relay UE whether DL decoding is successful in sidelink subframe n+k1, see para.0020, which discuses receiving a sidelink signal including ACK/NACK for a downlink signal received by a remote UE from a base station, see fig.13, thus sidelink associated with remote UE, which may signal to the relay UE ), wherein the configuration information includes at least one value for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) associated with(see para.0151, which discusses the eNB may signal a PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ ACK of the remote UE through RRC, see para.0152, which discusses PUCCH resource corresponding to a PDSCH of the remote UE, see para.0056, which discusses physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) (a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH));
receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including information indicating one of the at least one value(see para.0150, which discusses k2 as value may be directly signaled to a UE in DCI) and information indicating a PUCCH resource for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information(see para.0152, which discusses the remote UE may inform the value of k and the CCE index, the relay UE may obtain the value of k and the CCE index by decoding the DCI of the remote UE, or the eNB may signal the value of k and the CCE index), the relay UE may transmit ACK on a PUCCH resource corresponding to the CCE index of the remote UE in subframe (n+k), see para.0151, which discusses PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ ACK, thus DCI with information indicating a PUCCH resource since CCE index as information corresponding to PUCCH resource);
generating first HARQ-ACK information based on second HARQ-ACK information received (on the PSFCH) from a second terminal(see para.0148, which discuses resource a remote UE as second terminal uses to transmit HARQ ACK to a relay UE…and which resource the relay UE uses to forward the HARQ ACK to an eNB, thus relay UE generate HARQ-ACK information based on HARQ ACK receives from the remote UE); and
transmitting, to the base station, the first HARQ-ACK information(see para.0148, which discuses resource a remote UE uses to transmit HARQ ACK to a relay UE…and which resource the relay UE uses to forward the HARQ ACK to an eNB) on the PUCCH resource(see para.0152, which discusses the relay UE may transmit the HARQ ACK on the PUCCH resource, see para.0151).
As discussed above, although Chae’023 discloses D2D control channel or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D data channel (or, physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) (see para.0104), Chae’023 does not explicitly show the use of “a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Wang’110.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Wang’110 teaches the use of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (see at last fig.8-9, see para.0104, which discusses the HARQ feedback information may be carried on a feedback channel between the gNB 303 and the receiving apparatus 302 as first terminal …the feedback channel may be a physical sidelink feedback channel, for example, a PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), see para.0106, the receiving apparatus 302 may acquire resource position for the PSFCH or the PUCCH, from at least one of the first control information transmitted by the gNB 303 and the second control information transmitted by the transmitting 301…4A and 4B, the gNB 303 may inform the receiving apparatus 302 HARQ feedback resource position in the first control information (for example, the sidelink DCI or the SCI). For example, the gNB 303 configures four resources (e.g., the PSFCH or the PUCCH) available to the receiving apparatus 302 for transmitting the HARQ feedback information, and indicates one of them to the receiving apparatus 302 by using, for example, 2 bits in the sidelink DCI or the SCI, see para.0014, which discusses sidelink HARQ feedback information is transmitted after the receiving apparatus receives sidelink transmission from a transmitting apparatus).
In view of the above, having the system of Chae’023 and then given the well-established teaching of Wang’110, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of “Chae’023” to include “a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)” as taught by Wang’110, since Wang’110 stated in para.0077+ that such a modification would provide an improved system.
Regarding claim 4, 9, 14, 19, Chae’023 discloses transmitting, to the second terminal, sidelink control information (SCI)(see para.0107, which discusses A mode-1 UE may transmit an SA (D2D control signal, or sidelink control information (SCI)) in resources configured by an eNB, see fig.13).
As discussed above, although Chae’023 discloses Chae’023 discloses transmitting, to the second terminal, sidelink control information (SCI)(see para.0107, which discusses A mode-1 UE may transmit an SA (D2D control signal, or sidelink control information (SCI)) in resources configured by an eNB, see fig.13), Chae’023 does not explicitly show the use of “including a bit field indicating a groupcast” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “a including a bit field indicating a groupcast” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Wang’110.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Wang’110 teaches the use of including a bit field indicating a groupcast(see para.0055, which discusses he sidelink communication between the transmitting apparatus 301 and at least one receiving apparatus 302 may be…a groupcast transmission).
In view of the above, having the system of Chae’023 and then given the well-established teaching of Wang’110, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of “Chae’023” including a bit field indicating a groupcast” as taught by Wang’110, since Wang’110 stated in para.0077+ that such a modification would provide an improved system.
Regarding claim 5, 10, 15, 20, Chae’023 discloses wherein the first HARQ-ACK information is generated, in case that the second HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) is received, from the second terminal, on a resource(see para.0148, which discusses resource a remote UE uses to transmit HARQ ACK to a relay UE after receiving a DL signal and when and which resource the relay UE uses to forward the HARQ ACK to an eNB, see para.0151, see para.014, which discusses The D2D data channel (or, physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) corresponds to a resource pool used by a transmitting UE to transmit user data, see para.0157,) (for the PSFCH), wherein the resource (for the PSFCH) corresponds to the second terminal(see para.0151, which discusses PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ ACK of the remote UE as second terminal, see para.0151, which discusses the relay UE may transmit the HARQ ACK on the PUCCH resource corresponding to the PDSCH of the remote UE), and wherein the resource (for the PSFCH) is configured via the higher layer signaling(see para.0151, which discusses the eNB may signal a PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ ACK of the remote UE through RRC as higher layer, see para.0150, thee value or range of k1 and/or k2 may be predetermined or indicated by the eNB through physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling).
As discussed above, although Chae’023 discloses D2D control channel or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D data channel (or, physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) (see para.0104), Chae’023 does not explicitly show the use of “a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Wang’110.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Wang’110 teaches the use of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (see at last fig.8-9, see para.0104, which discusses the HARQ feedback information may be carried on a feedback channel between the gNB 303 and the receiving apparatus 302 as first terminal …the feedback channel may be a physical sidelink feedback channel, for example, a PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), see para.0106, the receiving apparatus 302 may acquire resource position for the PSFCH or the PUCCH, from at least one of the first control information transmitted by the gNB 303 and the second control information transmitted by the transmitting 301…4A and 4B, the gNB 303 may inform the receiving apparatus 302 HARQ feedback resource position in the first control information (for example, the sidelink DCI or the SCI). For example, the gNB 303 configures four resources (e.g., the PSFCH or the PUCCH) available to the receiving apparatus 302 for transmitting the HARQ feedback information, and indicates one of them to the receiving apparatus 302 by using, for example, 2 bits in the sidelink DCI or the SCI, see para.0014, which discusses sidelink HARQ feedback information is transmitted after the receiving apparatus receives sidelink transmission from a transmitting apparatus).
In view of the above, having the system of Chae’023 and then given the well-established teaching of Wang’110, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of “Chae’023” to include “a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)” as taught by Wang’110, since Wang’110 stated in para.0077+ that such a modification would provide an improved system.
Claim(s) 2, 7, 12, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae et al (US 2020/0163028) and further in view of Wang et al (US 2021/0266110) and further in view of Huang e al (US 2020/0267597) claiming benefit to and fully supported by provisional application No. 62/808,019, filed on Feb. 20, 2019.
Regarding claim 2, 7, 12, 17, Chae’023 discloses wherein the one for the first HARQ-ACK information is indicated(see para.0151, which discusses When the relay UE signals the HARQ ACK of the remote UE, the relay UE may transmit the HARQ ACK on a resource predetermined by the RRC) based on the at least one value included in the configuration information(see para.0150, which discusses the value or range of k1 and/or k2 may be predetermined or indicated by the eNB through physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling).
As discussed above, although the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 discloses D2D control channel or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D data channel (or, physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) (see para.0104), the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 does not explicitly show the use of “in case that the PUCCH resource for first HARQ-ACK information is overlapped with a resource for HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received from the base station” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “in case that the PUCCH resource for first HARQ-ACK information is overlapped with a resource for HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received from the base station” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Huang’597.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Huang’597 teaches the use of in case that the PUCCH resource for first HARQ-ACK information is overlapped with a resource for HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received from the base station(see para.0164, which discusses the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n+k, where k as value is a number of slots and is indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field in the DCI format, if present, or provided by dl-DataToUL-ACK. k=0 corresponds to the last slot of the PUCCH transmission that overlaps with the PDSCH reception or with the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release, see fig.15, 1505-1520).
In view of the above, having the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 and then given the well-established teaching of Huang’597, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 to include “in case that the PUCCH resource for first HARQ-ACK information is overlapped with a resource for HARQ-ACK information corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received from the base station” as taught by Huang’597, since Huang’597 stated in para.0025+ that such a modification would provide an improved system.
Claim(s) 3, 8, 13, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae et al (US 2020/0163028) and further in view of Wang et al (US 2021/0266110) and further in view of Hwang et al (US 20200266857).
Regading claim 3, 8, 13, 18, as discussed above, although the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 discloses D2D control channel or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The D2D data channel (or, physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) (see para.0104), the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 does not explicitly show the use of “the at least one value is for an offset from the PSFCH to the PUCCH” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “the at least one value is for an offset from the PSFCH to the PUCCH” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Hwang’857.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Hwang’857 teaches the use of the at least one value is for an offset from the PSFCH to the PUCCH(see para.0355, offset information or a value K=4 which is information indicating the number of slots from the PSFCH to the PUCCH , see para.0360, which discusses the BS configures a PUCCH slot offset value and indicates the PUCCH slot offset value to the UE on the assumption that a DL and/or UL and/or SL slot boundary is aligned, the UE may apply the offset by subtracting, from the offset, a slot difference between a reference point derived when the boundary of an actual SL slot is aligned with that of a UL slot and a reference point derived based on the boundary of the actual SL slot. More specifically, as described above, UE1 determines a slot to carry the PUCCH based on a value indicating the number of slots from the PSFCH to the PUCCH, see also para.0354).
In view of the above, having the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 and then given the well-established teaching of Hwang’857, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combined system of Chae’023 and Wang’110 to include “the at least one value is for an offset from the PSFCH to the PUCCH” as taught by Hwang’857, since Hwang’857 stated in para.0140+ that such a modification would provide system that improves the S-SSB reception performance of the receiving UE.
Conclusion
Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINNCELAS LOUIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5138. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/VINNCELAS LOUIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
Prosecution Insights