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 .
The instant first office action is in response to communication filed on 08/14/2024.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 30, and 31 are pending of which claims 1, 15, and 30 are independent.
The IDS(s) submitted on 08/22/2024 and 01/08/2026 has been considered.
Internet Communications
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 13, 14, 15, 27, 30, and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al (US 20230164768 A1) in view of Hong (US 20220394810 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a method for starting a timer (Fig. 10 first timer and second timer in blocks 1040 and 1050), performed by a first terminal device, comprising:
receiving data sent by a second terminal via sidelink (SL); (In Fig. 10 Second Device sends data and control info via a sidelink in S1010 and S1020)
determining whether to perform feedback for the data starting a first retransmission timer in response to determining not to perform
feedback for the data; (In Fig. 10 First Device in S1030 determines whether or not to perform feedback by determining if a PSFCH resources are configured for the data received through PSSCH from Second Device, If no PSFCH resources are configured then a first timer is set in S1040. See paragraph 100)
monitoring a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH)
See paragraph 112-114 indicating First Device of Fig. 10 monitoring PSCCH.)
Park, fails to disclose monitoring a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) during running of the first retransmission timer.
Hong, in the same endeavor, discloses monitoring a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) during running of the first retransmission timer. (Hong in paragraph 380 discloses when HARQ feedback is disabled monitoring PSCCH while a sidelink timer is running. Further Hong discloses in paragraph 384 the UE can be configured to always monitor the PSCCH)
In view of the above, having Park’s side link retransmission scheme and then given the well- established teaching of Hong’s techniques for monitoring PSCCH, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Park’s side link retransmission scheme as taught by Hong’s techniques for monitoring PSCCH, since Hong states in paragraphs 13 and 84 that the modification results in controlling the monitoring of PSCCH to prevent drastic in crease in power consumption during sidelink communication.
Regarding claim 13, Park modified by Hong discloses the method according to claim 1, Park further discloses wherein determining whether to perform feedback for the data and/or the information comprises:
receiving sidelink control information (SCI) sent by the second terminal device(See Fig. 10 S1010 receiving SCI from Second device) ,
wherein the SCI is configured to indicate whether the first terminal device requires to
perform feedback for the received data(See paragraph 100 where the SCI indicates the data received on PSSCH in Fig. 10 S1020 needs feedback or not); and
determining whether to perform feedback for the received data based on the indication of the SCI. (Per Paragraph 100 there is an indication of the PSFCH associated with the data received on PSSCH related to SCI and the indication carried on by SCI).
Regarding claim 14, Park modified by Hong discloses the method according to claim 1, Park further discloses
wherein determining
whether to perform feedback for the data and/or the information comprises one of:
determining whether to perform feedback for the received data and/or information
according to whether in a case that a resource pool corresponding to the received data
and/or information is configured with a feedback resource;(i.e. Per Park’s paragraph 100 if the data carried on PSSCH in S1020 has corresponding PSFCH resources then feedback is performed)
determining not to perform feedback for the received data in a case that a resource
pool corresponding to the received data is not configured with a feedback resource; ;(i.e. Per Park’s paragraph 100 if the data carried on PSSCH in S1020 does not have corresponding PSFCH resources then feedback is not performed)
or
determining not to perform feedback for the received data in a case that a resource
pool corresponding to the received data is configured with a feedback resource and an
SCI indicates not performing feedback. (i.e. Per Park’s paragraph 100 if the data carried on PSSCH in S1020 does not have corresponding PSFCH resources then feedback is not performed and the index for PSFCH resources is carried by the SCI)
Regarding claim 15, Park discloses a method for starting a timer, performed by a second terminal device (Fig. 10 Second Device), comprising:
sending data to a first terminal device via a sidelink (SL) (In Fig. 10 Second Device sends data and control info via a sidelink in S1010 and S1020)
determining whether the first terminal device performs feedback for the received data;( i.e. Per Park’s paragraph 100 if the data carried on PSSCH in S1020 has corresponding PSFCH resources then feedback is performed)
determining that the first terminal device does not perform feedback for the received data, and starting a first retransmission timer (In Fig. 10 First Device in S1030 determines whether or not to perform feedback by determining if a PSFCH resources are configured for the data received through PSSCH from Second Device, If no PSFCH resources are configured then a first timer is set in S1040. See paragraph 100);
and sending the data to the first terminal device via a PSCCH
See paragraph 90-91 transmitting data via PSCCH and Fig. 10 S1010)
Park fails to disclose sending the data to the first terminal device via a PSCCH during running of the first retransmission timer.
Hong, in the same endeavor, discloses sending the data to the first terminal device via a PSCCH during running of the first retransmission timer. (Hong in paragraph 380 discloses when HARQ feedback is disabled monitoring PSCCH while a sidelink timer is running and receiving data on PSCCH. Further Hong discloses in paragraph 384 the UE can be configured to always monitor the PSCCH)
In view of the above, having Park’s side link retransmission scheme and then given the well- established teaching of Hong’s techniques for monitoring PSCCH, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Park’s side link retransmission scheme as taught by Hong’s techniques for monitoring PSCCH, since Hong states in paragraphs 13 and 84 that the modification results in controlling the monitoring of PSCCH to prevent drastic increase in power consumption during sidelink communication.
Regarding claim 27, Park modified by Hong discloses the method according to claim 15,Park further discloses further comprising: sending an SCI to the first terminal device (i.e. Fig. 10 S1010 SCI sent to first device) wherein the SCI is configured to indicate whether the first terminal device requires to perform feedback for the received data. . (i.e. Per Park’s paragraph 100 if the data carried on PSSCH in S1020 does not have corresponding PSFCH resources then feedback is not performed and the index for PSFCH resources is carried by the SCI)
Regarding claim 30, Park discloses a communication apparatus (Fig. 16 device 100 is first device in Fig. 10), comprising a processor (Fig. 16 processor 102) and a memory (Fig. 16 memory 104), storing a computer program, executable by the processor wherein the processor is configured to :
receive data sent by a second terminal via sidelink (SL); (In Fig. 10 Second Device sends data and control info via a sidelink in S1010 and S1020)
determine whether to perform feedback for the data start a first retransmission timer in response to determining not to perform
feedback for the data; (In Fig. 10 First Device in S1030 determines whether or not to perform feedback by determining if a PSFCH resources are configured for the data received through PSSCH from Second Device, If no PSFCH resources are configured then a first timer is set in S1040. See paragraph 100)
monitor a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH)
See paragraph 112-114 indicating First Device of Fig. 10 monitoring PSCCH.)
Park, fails to disclose monitoring a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) during running of the first retransmission timer.
Hong, in the same endeavor, discloses monitoring a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) during running of the first retransmission timer. (Hong in paragraph 380 discloses when HARQ feedback is disabled monitoring PSCCH while a sidelink timer is running. Further Hong discloses in paragraph 384 the UE can be configured to always monitor the PSCCH)
In view of the above, having Park’s side link retransmission scheme and then given the well- established teaching of Hong’s techniques for monitoring PSCCH, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Park’s side link retransmission scheme as taught by Hong’s techniques for monitoring PSCCH, since Hong states in paragraphs 13 and 84 that the modification results in controlling the monitoring of PSCCH to prevent drastic increase in power consumption during sidelink communication.
Regarding claim 31, claim 31 is rejected in the same scope as claim 15.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4-6, 9-10, 16, 18-21, 23, and 24 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 HABTE MERED whose telephone number is (571)272-6046. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 12-10 PM EST.
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 5712722832. 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.
/HABTE MERED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
Prosecution Insights