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 .
Designations of the Particular Relevance of the Art
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of the Action for Applicant’s convenience. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages, paragraph and figures may apply. Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the reference in totality as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or explained by the Examiner. See MPEP § 707.05.
Manner of Making Amendments under 37 C.F.R. § 1.121
Any subsequent submission by Applicant's amending the claims must comply with the requirements of 37 C.F.R. § 1.121(c) and MPEP § 714(II)(C) regarding the manner of presenting amended claims. That is, amended text must be properly indicated. Failure to provide a compliant amendment may result in the amendment being treated as non-compliant and not entered.
Pursuant to MPEP § 714(II)(C), all changes to currently amended claims must be shown relative to the immediate prior version of the claims. Deleted matter ordinarily must be shown by strike-through; however, when deleting five (5) or fewer consecutive characters, deletion by double brackets may be used and, in certain circumstances, is required. In particular, where strike-through cannot be readily perceived—such as when deleting a single numeral, punctuation mark, or other short character string—double brackets must be used to clearly identify the deleted matter. For example, deletion of punctuation marks standing alone (e.g., commas, periods, semicolons, parentheses, or quotation marks) should be indicated by double brackets rather than strike-through.
Similarly, the text of any added subject matter must be presented in a manner such that the underlining is readily perceptible. Where underlining of added matter cannot be easily perceived, including, for example, the addition, deletion, or substitution of one or more characters, punctuation marks, numerals, or word fragments, the amendment shall instead be presented by deleting the entire affected text and adding the complete replacement text with underlining. Examples include, without limitation, amendments correcting misspellings, changing a singular term to a plural term or vice versa, adding or deleting prefixes or suffixes, or modifying punctuation or numerals.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 24 July 2024 and 14 April 2026 were respectively filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDSs are being considered by the Examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 15-24 and 28-30 in the reply dated 20 July 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 15-24 and 28-30 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 the 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 1-8, 12, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2022/026404 A1 (hereinafter, “WU”) (copy submitted by Applicant with IDS dated 24 July 2024) in view of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #99 R1-1913274 “Physical Layer Structure for NR V2X Sidelink” (hereinafter, “InterDigital NPL”) (copy submitted by Applicant with IDS dated 24 July 2024).
Regarding claim 1, WU discloses:
A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (UE 120), comprising:
detecting a conflict between a first sidelink reference signal transmission from a first sidelink UE and a second sidelink reference signal transmission from a second sidelink UE, (¶¶ 0126, 0143: [A]n indication of whether a collision is detected by the first UE between the first resource reservation and a second resource reservation; ¶ 0106: [M]easurement of reference signal(s) (RS) as received by the receiving UE from the transmitting UE)
wherein the first sidelink reference signal transmission at least partially overlaps with the second sidelink reference signal transmission in at least one time resource, at least one frequency resource, or both; and (¶ 0105: [A] receiving UE may detect a collision . . . by determining that another transmitting UE is reserving the same resource or an overlapping resource; ¶ 0044: [O]verlap may be a full overlap in time and frequency, or a partial overlap in time and frequency. Accordingly, such overlap refers to resources that overlap at least partially in time and frequency)
transmitting a collision report to a third sidelink UE, the collision report including at least a collision type indicator . . . (¶ 0047: [A] UE that detects a collision of resource reservations between multiple other UEs may transmit an indication of that collision (e.g., to other UE(s)) in feedback)
WU does not explicitly disclose:
indicating whether the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission have the same scrambling identifier.
In the same field of endeavor, however, InterDigital NPL teaches:
indicating whether the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission have the same scrambling identifier. (§ 2.2.2: In NR Uu, pseudo-random sequence is initialized by Cinit which is determined as a function of slot number within a radio frame, OFDM symbol number and higher layer configured scrambling ID to randomize the sequence. We can reuse the NR Uu design as much as possible. The slot number and OFDM symbol number can be kept as it is and the scrambling ID can be (pre-) configured per resource pool or negotiate between pair of UEs for a unicast link. Proposal 6: ScramblingID of Cinit for CSI-RS is configured per resource pool or unicast link.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify WU’s sidelink positioning resource conflict management procedure to provide scrambling ID to randomize the pseudo-random sequence as taught by InterDigital NPL to reduce CSI-RS overhead especially when multiple CSI-RSs and larger number of antenna ports are configured. See InterDigital NPL, at § 2.2.2.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 1. WU further discloses:
wherein the collision report further includes a collision metric. (¶ 0134: [I]ndicate whether the collision is detected based on a RSRP associated with the second sidelink transmission; ¶ 0148: [T]he indication may further indicate whether the collision is detected based on a RSRP associated with a second sidelink transmission that indicated the second resource reservation)
Regarding claim 3, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 2. WU further discloses:
wherein:
the conflict is detected before transmission of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission, and (¶ 0134: [C]ollision based on one or more criteria, such as the resource reservations)
the collision metric indicates an expected difference in signal strength between the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission. (¶ 0134: [I]ndicate whether the collision is detected based on a RSRP associated with the second sidelink transmission)
Regarding claim 4, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 3. WU further discloses:
wherein the expected difference in signal strength is based on a first signal strength of first sidelink control information (SCI) from the first sidelink UE scheduling the first sidelink reference signal transmission and a second signal strength of second SCI from the second sidelink UE scheduling the second sidelink reference signal transmission. (¶ 0133: [T]he first sidelink transmission and/or the second sidelink transmission may include SCI. For example, the first resource reservation and/or the second resource reservation may be indicated in SCI)
Regarding claim 5, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 4. WU further discloses:
wherein:
the first signal strength is a first reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, and the second signal strength is a second RSRP measurement. (¶ 0134: [R]esource reservations indicated in the received transmissions and/or the RSRP of the second sidelink transmission. For example, the first UE may identify that there is a collision based on the RSRP of the second sidelink transmission being greater than or equal to a threshold value. The indication may further indicate whether the collision is detected based on a RSRP associated with the second sidelink transmission)
Regarding claim 6, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 2. WU further discloses:
wherein:
the conflict is detected upon reception of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission, and the collision metric indicates a difference in signal strength between the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission. (¶ 0134: [C]ollision based on one or more criteria, such as . . . the RSRP of the second sidelink transmission)
Regarding claim 7, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 6. WU further discloses:
wherein the difference in signal strength is based on:
a first signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and a second SNR of the second sidelink reference signal transmission, a first RSRP of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and a second RSRP of the second sidelink reference signal transmission, or any combination thereof. (¶ 0134: [I]dentify that there is a collision based on the RSRP of the second sidelink transmission being greater than or equal to a threshold value)
Regarding claim 8, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 2. WU further discloses:
wherein the collision report includes the collision metric based on the collision metric indicating a signal strength difference between the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission satisfying a threshold. (¶ 0106: [W]hen RSRP of the reference signals from the transmitting UE is greater than the RSRP threshold, then the receiving UE does consider the resource as reserved and indicates a collision (e.g., by transmitting a collision indication in joint feedback) on the resource to the transmitting UE(s). For certain aspects, the receiving UE may transmit the joint feedback to the transmitting UE(s) based on any suitable technique used by the receiving UE to detect a collision)
Regarding claim 12, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 1. WU further discloses:
wherein:
the third sidelink UE is the first sidelink UE, the UE is an intended recipient of the first sidelink reference signal transmission, and the collision report is transmitted to the first sidelink UE based on the UE being the intended recipient of the first sidelink reference signal transmission. (¶ 0047: [A] UE that detects a collision of resource reservations between multiple other UEs may transmit an indication of that collision (e.g., to other UE(s)) in feedback)
Regarding claim 25, WU discloses:
A user equipment (UE) (UE 120, device 1705), comprising:
a memory; (¶ 0160: [C]ommunications manager 1715, or its sub-components, may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry), code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by a processor)
at least one transceiver; and (receiver 1710, transmitter 1720)
at least one processor (¶ 0157: [D]evice 1705 may also include a processor) communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:
detect a conflict between a first sidelink reference signal transmission from a first sidelink UE and a second sidelink reference signal transmission from a second sidelink UE, (¶¶ 0126, 0143: [A]n indication of whether a collision is detected by the first UE between the first resource reservation and a second resource reservation; ¶ 0106: [M]easurement of reference signal(s) (RS) as received by the receiving UE from the transmitting UE)
wherein the first sidelink reference signal transmission at least partially overlaps with the second sidelink reference signal transmission in at least one time resource, at least one frequency resource, or both; and (¶ 0105: [A] receiving UE may detect a collision . . . by determining that another transmitting UE is reserving the same resource or an overlapping resource; ¶ 0044: [O]verlap may be a full overlap in time and frequency, or a partial overlap in time and frequency. Accordingly, such overlap refers to resources that overlap at least partially in time and frequency)
transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a collision report to a third sidelink UE, the collision report including at least a collision type indicator . . . (¶ 0047: [A] UE that detects a collision of resource reservations between multiple other UEs may transmit an indication of that collision (e.g., to other UE(s)) in feedback)
WU does not explicitly disclose:
indicating whether the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission have the same scrambling identifier.
In the same field of endeavor, however, InterDigital NPL teaches:
indicating whether the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission have the same scrambling identifier. (§ 2.2.2: In NR Uu, pseudo-random sequence is initialized by Cinit which is determined as a function of slot number within a radio frame, OFDM symbol number and higher layer configured scrambling ID to randomize the sequence. We can reuse the NR Uu design as much as possible. The slot number and OFDM symbol number can be kept as it is and the scrambling ID can be (pre-) configured per resource pool or negotiate between pair of UEs for a unicast link. Proposal 6: ScramblingID of Cinit for CSI-RS is configured per resource pool or unicast link.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify WU’s sidelink positioning resource conflict management procedure to provide scrambling ID to randomize the pseudo-random sequence as taught by InterDigital NPL to reduce CSI-RS overhead especially when multiple CSI-RSs and larger number of antenna ports are configured. See InterDigital NPL, at § 2.2.2.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over WU in view of InterDigital NPL in view of US 2026/0150125 (hereinafter, “HUI”).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 8. WU further does not explicitly disclose:
further comprising:
receiving the threshold from a location server or a serving base station.
In the same field of endeavor, however, HUI teaches:
further comprising:
receiving the threshold from a location server or a serving base station. (¶ 0240: RSRP threshold may be related to the priority value based on a mapping list of RSRP thresholds to priority values configured and/or pre-configured to the wireless device. In an example, a base station may transmit a message to the wireless device for configuring the mapping list. The message may be a radio resource control (RRC) message)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify WU’s sidelink positioning resource conflict management procedure to provide mapping lists of RSRP thresholds as taught by HUI so as to provide configuration parameters of a first reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold value such that a mapping list is pre-configurable to the wireless device. See HUI, at claim 14.
Claims 11, 13, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over WU in view of InterDigital NPL in view of US 2023/0180184 (hereinafter, “LIU”).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 1. WU does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the conflict is detected before transmission of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission.
In the same field of endeavor, however, LIU teaches:
wherein the conflict is detected before transmission of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission. (¶ 0012: [T]he first SCI message indicates the scheduling conflict may include operations, features, means, or instructions for decoding the first SCI message, where the decoded first SCI message indicates a first data resource for the first data transmission, comparing the first data resource for the first data transmission with a second data resource for the second data transmission, and determining that there may be at least a partial overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify WU’s sidelink positioning resource conflict management procedure to provide conflict detection as taught by LIU so as to detect overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission See LIU, at ¶ 0012.
Regarding claims 13 and 27, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 25, respectively. WU does not explicitly disclose:
wherein:
the conflict is detected before transmission of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission, and detecting the conflict comprises:
decoding first sidelink control information (SCI) from the first sidelink UE to determine first time resources, first frequency resources, or both on which the first sidelink reference signal transmission is scheduled to be transmitted;
decoding second SCI from the second UE to determine second time resources, second frequency resources, or both on which the second sidelink reference signal transmission is scheduled to be transmitted; and
determining that the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission overlap in the at least one time resource, the at least one frequency resource, or both based on a comparison of the first time resources, the first frequency resources, or both and the second time resources, the second frequency resources, or both.
In the same field of endeavor, however, LIU teaches:
the conflict is detected before transmission of the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission, and detecting the conflict comprises: (¶ 0012: [T]he first SCI message indicates the scheduling conflict may include operations, features, means, or instructions for decoding the first SCI message, where the decoded first SCI message indicates a first data resource for the first data transmission, comparing the first data resource for the first data transmission with a second data resource for the second data transmission, and determining that there may be at least a partial overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission)
decoding first sidelink control information (SCI) from the first sidelink UE to determine first time resources, first frequency resources, or both on which the first sidelink reference signal transmission is scheduled to be transmitted; (¶ 0012: [T]he first SCI message indicates the scheduling conflict may include operations, features, means, or instructions for decoding the first SCI message, where the decoded first SCI message indicates a first data resource for the first data transmission, comparing the first data resource for the first data transmission with a second data resource for the second data transmission, and determining that there may be at least a partial overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission)
decoding second SCI from the second UE to determine second time resources, second frequency resources, or both on which the second sidelink reference signal transmission is scheduled to be transmitted; and (¶ 0012: [T]he first SCI message indicates the scheduling conflict may include operations, features, means, or instructions for decoding the first SCI message, where the decoded first SCI message indicates a first data resource for the first data transmission, comparing the first data resource for the first data transmission with a second data resource for the second data transmission, and determining that there may be at least a partial overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission)
determining that the first sidelink reference signal transmission and the second sidelink reference signal transmission overlap in the at least one time resource, the at least one frequency resource, or both based on a comparison of the first time resources, the first frequency resources, or both and the second time resources, the second frequency resources, or both. (¶ 0012: [T]he first SCI message indicates the scheduling conflict may include operations, features, means, or instructions for decoding the first SCI message, where the decoded first SCI message indicates a first data resource for the first data transmission, comparing the first data resource for the first data transmission with a second data resource for the second data transmission, and determining that there may be at least a partial overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify WU’s sidelink positioning resource conflict management procedure to provide conflict detection and SCI decoding as taught by LIU so as to detect overlap between the first data resource for the first data transmission and the second data resource for the second data transmission See LIU, at ¶ 0012.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over WU in view of InterDigital NPL in view of US 2025/0088325 (hereinafter, “BARBU”).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of WU and InterDigital NPL, as applied above, renders obvious the method of claim 1. WU does not explicitly disclose:
wherein:
the first sidelink reference signal transmission is a first sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS), and the second sidelink reference signal transmission is a second SL-PRS.
In the same field of endeavor, however, BARBU teaches:
the first sidelink reference signal transmission is a first sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS), and the second sidelink reference signal transmission is a second SL-PRS. (¶ 0043: The sidelink reference signal may be a sidelink positioning reference signal, S-PRS)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify WU’s sidelink positioning resource conflict management procedure to provide sidelink positioning reference signal as taught by BARBU such that the sidelink reference signal exchange session may be, for example, a sidelink positioning session, that is, a ranging session, thereby enabling the anchor equipment to reconfigure the positioning session by excluding conflicting resources. See BARBU, at ¶¶ 0012, 0043.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 26 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Garth D Richmond whose telephone number is (703)756-4559. The Examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET.
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GARTH D RICHMOND/Examiner, Art Unit 2644
/KATHY W WANG-HURST/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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