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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 16-30 are pending in the instant application. Claims 1-15 are canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on July 29, 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 16-19, 22, 23 and 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. US 20240147501 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Zhou) in view of Li et al. US 20240163909 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Li), and in further view of Ko US20230284173 A1.
Regarding claim 16, Zhou discloses a first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (Zhou: Fig. 28, ¶ 0151, an electronic device 2801 in a network environment 2800…may include a processor 2820, a memory 2830…a communication module 2890), wherein each of the plurality of candidate resources occurs within a physical sidelink feedback, PSFCH, transmission occasion channel (Zhou: Figs. 26-27, ¶¶ 0143-0144, it might be necessary to reuse the PSFCH resources for sending SL-PRS… one possibility is to send the SL-PRS resources in the PSFCH channel as shown in FIG. 26… An AGC symbol 2618 and an SL-PRS symbol 2620 are transmitted in the PSFCH channel), cause the first apparatus at least to: receive sidelink control information, SCI, from at least one second apparatus indicating a reserved resource for transmission of data by the at least one second apparatus (Zhou: ¶ 0120, The sensing UE (e.g., the anchor UE) detects and decodes the second UE's SCI to obtain the reservation period and priority. ¶ 0068, A physical SL shared channel (PSSCH) carries 2nd stage SCI and a SL data payload [Examiner’s Note: Reference discloses receiving SCI from a second UE, where SCI relates to data (PSSCH) transmission. The SCI indicates reserved resources as part of the sensing procedure]); determine, based at least on the reserved resource, at least one associated PSFCH resource for transmission of feedback to the at least one second apparatus (Zhou: ¶ 0068, A PSFCH carries 1-bit HARQ-ACK feedback. ¶ 0077, This channel is used to transmit the feedback information from the Rx to the Tx UEs. ¶0073, The slot structure is shown with PSSCH 402, PSSCH DMRS 404, PSCCH 406, PSFCH 408 [Examiner’s Note: Zhou discloses that PSFCH carries feedback and is associated with PSSCH (data) transmissions within the same resource pool/slot. A UE receiving SCI indicating a reserved PSSCH resource can determine the associated PSFCH resource based on the known PSSSCH-PSFCH association]).
Zhou does not explicitly disclose determine a candidate resource set for transmission of a first reference signal, RS, the candidate resource set comprising a plurality of candidate resources, and determine whether to exclude at least one candidate resource from the candidate resource set based at least on whether the at least one candidate resource overlaps, at least partially, with the at least one associated PSFCH resource.
However, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, Li teaches determine a candidate resource set for transmission of a first reference signal, RS (Li: 0086, the UE may determine a plurality of candidate occasions for sidelink reference signal in the sidelink resource pool… The UE may determine a plurality of candidate resources for sidelink reference signal, which are/comprises (all) sidelink reference signal resources in the plurality of candidate occasions in the sidelink resource pool), the candidate resource set comprising a plurality of candidate resources (Li: ¶ 0087, the UE may exclude one or more candidate resources, among/from the plurality of candidate resources, based on the sensing result).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use these above mentioned features disclosed by Li with the system disclosed by Zhou, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of reducing mutual interference and improving the channel estimation accuracy.
Zhou and Li do not explicitly disclose determine whether to exclude at least one candidate resource from the candidate resource set based at least on whether the at least one candidate resource overlaps, at least partially, with the at least one associated PSFCH resource.
However, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention Ko teaches determine whether to exclude at least one candidate resource from the candidate resource set based at least on whether the at least one candidate resource overlaps, at least partially, with the at least one associated PSFCH resource (Ko: Fig 14, ¶ 190, SL PRS candidate resources are updated according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. ¶ 0192, 1430 represents SL PRS candidate resources in which overlapping resources of 1410 and 1420 are marked. For example, 1440 indicates SL PRS candidate resources from which overlapping resources indicated in 1430 above are excluded).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the overlap-based exclusion methodology disclosed by Ko into the exclusion framework taught by Li, adding to the reference signal (RS) candidate collision avoidance system of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine these teachings to reduce interference between RS transmissions and physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) feedback, thereby improving both positioning accuracy and feedback reliability.
Regarding claim 17, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 16.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: select at least one remaining candidate resource in the candidate resource set after excluding the at least one candidate resource (Zhou: ¶ 0120, The sensing UE either performs the resource exclusion based on sensing results or performs random selection on the resource from the resource selection window); and transmit the first RS using the selected at least one remaining candidate resource (Zhou: ¶ 0144, An AGC symbol 2618 and an SL-PRS symbol 2620 are transmitted in the PSFCH channel. ¶ 0147, the PRS may be transmitted by up to two UEs simultaneously).
Regarding claim 18, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 16.
Li further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on a received signal strength associated with the received SCI (Li: ¶ 0088, RSRP associated with the received SCI may be larger than or equal to a power threshold. The power threshold may be determined/derived based on the one priority value and/or another priority value indicated by the received SCI).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Li’s RSRP (received signal strength) association with received SCI based exclusion into the system disclosed by Zhou since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of optimizing resource management.
Regarding claim 19, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 16.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on a priority associated with the received SCI (Zhou: ¶ 0120, The sensing UE (e.g., the anchor UE) detects and decodes the second UE's SCI to obtain the reservation period and priority).
Regarding claim 22, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 16.
Ko further teaches wherein the at least one candidate resource is defined at least by a code domain allocation to be used for transmitting the first RS (Ko: ¶¶ 0204-0208, The SL PRS resource set may be composed of SL PRS resources composed of the following information…SL PRS resource ID…SL PRS comb size…SL PRS comb offset…SL PRS comb cyclic shift), wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on at least one of: the code domain allocation of the at least one candidate resource, or a code domain allocation of the at least one associated PSFCH resource (Ko: ¶ 0005, excluding at least one second SL PRS resource from the at least one first SL PRS candidate resource, based on the RSRP value being greater than or equal to a first threshold).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use these above mentioned features disclosed by Ko with the system disclosed by Zhou, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of minimizing intra-cell interference and code-domain collisions between co-channel sidelink positioning reference signals (SL PRS) and physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCH).
Regarding claim 23, modified Zhou teaches first apparatus of claim 22.
Ko further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a received signal strength associated with the received SCI is higher than a threshold (Ko: ¶ 0005, excluding at least one second SL PRS resource from the at least one first SL PRS candidate resource, based on the RSRP value being greater than or equal to a first threshold), determine to exclude the at least one candidate resource, wherein the threshold is a function of at least one of: the code domain allocation of the at least one candidate resource, or the code domain allocation of the at least one associated PSFCH resource (Ko: ¶ 0134, TABLE-US-00014 TABLE 14 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use these above mentioned features disclosed by Ko with the system disclosed by Zhou, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of reducing co-channel interference and optimizing resource allocation efficiency.
Regarding claim 25, modified Zhou the first apparatus of claim 16.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: transmit, to a third apparatus, coordination information indicating at least one remaining candidate resource in the candidate resource set after excluding the at least one candidate resource, for transmitting the first RS by the third apparatus (Zhou: ¶ 0130, an assisting UE 2502 performs sensing and accordingly provides a set of preferred or non-preferred resources to an assisted UE 2504 either by request or based on some triggering conditions. ¶ 0134, the assisting NR UE may indicate the slot and the SL-PRS indices that are either preferred on non-preferred [Examiner’s Note: Reference discloses transmitting coordination information (preferred/non-preferred resource set) to a third apparatus (assisted UE 2504) for SL-PRS (first RS) transmission by that UE. The remaining sources after exclusion constitute the preferred set]).
Regarding claim 26, modified Zhou the first apparatus of claim 16.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine a PSFCH resource occupancy based on at least one of: the determined at least one associated PSFCH resource expected to be used for transmission of feedback; at least one resource reservation indication associated with a second RS; or a channel busy ratio, CBR (Zhou: ¶ 0124, the CBR/CR metric may be redefined such that it is measured based on the pre-configured SL-PRS indices rather than subchannels [Examiner’s Note: Reference discloses disjunctive limitation]).
Regarding claim 27, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 26.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: select a transmission comb density associated with the first RS based at least on the determined PSFCH resource occupancy and/or the CBR (Zhou: ¶ 0084, the comb size N for SL-PRS and number of PRS symbols M may be (pre-) configured by higher layer signaling. ¶ 0124, the CBR/CR metric may be redefined such that it is measured based on the pre-configured SL-PRS indices; [Examiner’s Note: Reference teaches configurable comb size for SL-PRS and CBR measurement for SL-PRS resource pool]).
Regarding claim 28, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 26.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: select a transmission periodicity associated with the first RS based at least on the determined PSFCH resource occupancy and/or the CBR (Zhou: ¶ 0120, detects and decodes the second UE's SCI to obtain the reservation period and priority. ¶ 0124, CBR/CR metric may be redefined such that it is measured based on the pre-configured SL-PRS [Examiner’s Note: Reference teaches reservation periods and CBR in the SL-PRS context]).
Regarding claim 29, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 26.
Zhou further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine a bandwidth for transmitting the first RS based at least on the determined PSFCH resource occupancy and/or the CBR (Zhou: ¶¶ 0123-0124, the SL-PRS should be transmitted across the complete bandwidth to have a better estimate of the UEs location… the CBR/CR metric may be redefined such that it is measured based on the pre-configured SL-PRS [Examiner’s Note: Reference discloses bandwidth considerations for SL-PRS and CBR]).
Regarding claim 30, claim 16 is substantially similar to claim 30. Therefore, claim 30 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 16.
Claims 20, 21 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, Li, and Ko, in further view of Ye et al. US 20240032074 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Ye).
Regarding claim 20, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 16.
Zhou, Li and Ko do not explicitly disclose wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on a number of subcarriers of the at least one candidate resource overlapping with the at least one associated PSFCH resource.
However, Ye teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on a number of subcarriers of the at least one candidate resource overlapping with the at least one associated PSFCH resource (Ye: “FIG. 12 illustrates a case where PSFCH use is avoided on an overlapped portion 1206 of the NR SL resource pool 1200 that is overlapped by an LTE SL resource pool.” Figs. 11 and 12. The overlapped portion 1206 includes a number of subcarriers.).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Ye’s resource overlap remediation with the system disclosed by modified Zhou to obtain the desirable result of preventing signal interference and improving data reliability when different wireless communication systems share the same frequency space.
Regarding claim 21, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 20.
Li further teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a received signal strength associated with the received SCI is higher than a threshold (Li: ¶ 0088, RSRP associated with the received SCI may be larger than or equal to a power threshold]), wherein the threshold is a function of the number of overlapping subcarriers (Li: ¶ 0088, the RSRP is higher than the another threshold or if… offset is larger than one subcarrier spacing ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use these above mentioned features disclosed by Li with the system disclosed by Zhou, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of minimizing inter-channel interference and preventing packet collisions by dynamically adjusting sensing thresholds based on the exact physical footprint of overlapping transmissions, thereby increasing overall network throughput and communication reliability.
Regarding claim 24, modified Zhou teaches the first apparatus of claim 16.
Zhou, Li and Ko do not explicitly disclose wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on a number of PSFCH resources, overlapping with the at least one candidate resource, expected to be used for transmission of feedback
However, Ye teaches wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether to exclude the at least one candidate resource further based on a number of PSFCH resources, overlapping with the at least one candidate resource, expected to be used for transmission of feedback (Ye: ¶ [0075]. Fig. 4, step 414, The method 400 further includes excluding 414 overlapped resources from SA if reserved by a peer UE by SL signaling received).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use these above mentioned features disclosed by Ye with the system disclosed by Zhou, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of preventing resource collisions and reducing mutual interference on the feedback channel.
Conclusion
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/T.O.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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