DETAILED ACTION
This office action response to the communication filed on 8/19/2024.
Claims 1-25 are cancelled.
Claims 25-49 are presented for examination.
Notice of 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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (lDSs) submitted on November 08, 2024; September 09, 2025; and December 12, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 31, 39, and 47 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.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 26-30, 34-38, and 42-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bharadwaj et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20200229210 A1), (“D1”, hereinafter), in view of Huang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20200205165), (“D2”, hereinafter).
As per Claim 26, D1 discloses a first device ([see, [0073], and Fig. 3, a V2X system including vehicles 305-a]), comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code ([see, [0009], a processor, memory in electronic communication with the processor]);
wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to:
determine an expected time interval (i.e., during a TTI) for transmission on a first candidate resource in an initial set of candidate resources ([see, [0009, 0106], a first wireless device in a sidelink system, a first packet for transmission during a TTI within the sidelink system]); and
in accordance with a determination that the expected time interval overlaps (i.e., partially overlap in time) with transmitting symbols of at least one reserved resource (i.e., a second packet is reserved for transmission) preceding the first candidate resource (i.e., the second packet) ([see, [0009,0100-0101, 0106], and Fig. 5:520, determine that the second packet from vehicle 505-b is reserved for transmission during at least a portion of the first TTI that is reserved for the first packet by vehicle 505-a, which is the first packet will at least partially overlap in time with at least one transmission reserved by a nearby vehicle 505]),
determine a first set of candidate resources (a first packet for transmission) for sidelink transmission by excluding the first candidate resource from the initial set ([see, [0064, 0099, 0106], and Fig. 5, determine whether the first packet or the second packet has a higher relative priority, and communicate in the sidelink system during the TTI by either transmitting the first packet or receiving the second packet based on which of the first packet or the second packet has the higher relative priority, determine to exclude these resources from selection based on the resources being occupied, and vehicle 505-a may exclude the one or more resources of the TTI reserved for the second packet from the set of candidate resources]).
D1 doesn’t appear explicitly disclose: determine…of a channel access procedure.
However, D2 discloses determine…of a channel access procedure ([see, [0417-0419, 0442], wherein the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), multiple types of services with different latency requirements and different UE capabilities that Allow to perform channel access for the sidelink (SL)]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, 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 the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide utilize beamforming in order results improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different access terminals 116 and 122 (D2, [0034]).
As per Claim 34, D1 discloses a method ([see, [0073], and Fig. 3, a V2X system including vehicles 305-a]), comprising:
determining, at a first device ([see, [0073], and Fig. 3, vehicles 305-a]), an expected time interval (i.e., during a TTI) of a channel access procedure for transmission on a first candidate resource in an initial set of candidate resources ([see, [0009, 0106], a first wireless device in a sidelink system, a first packet for transmission during a TTI within the sidelink system]); and
in accordance with a determination that the expected time interval overlaps (i.e., partially overlap in time) with transmitting symbols of at least one reserved resource (i.e., a second packet is reserved for transmission) preceding the first candidate resource (i.e., the second packet) ([see, [0009,0100-0101, 0106], and Fig. 5:520, determine that the second packet from vehicle 505-b is reserved for transmission during at least a portion of the first TTI that is reserved for the first packet by vehicle 505-a, which is the first packet will at least partially overlap in time with at least one transmission reserved by a nearby vehicle 505]),
determine a first set of candidate resources (a first packet for transmission) for sidelink transmission by excluding the first candidate resource from the initial set ([see, [0064, 0099, 0106], and Fig. 5, determine whether the first packet or the second packet has a higher relative priority, and communicate in the sidelink system during the TTI by either transmitting the first packet or receiving the second packet based on which of the first packet or the second packet has the higher relative priority, determine to exclude these resources from selection based on the resources being occupied, and vehicle 505-a may exclude the one or more resources of the TTI reserved for the second packet from the set of candidate resources]).
D1 doesn’t appear explicitly disclose: determine…of a channel access procedure.
However, D2 discloses determine…of a channel access procedure ([see, [0417-0419, 0442], wherein the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), multiple types of services with different latency requirements and different UE capabilities that Allow to perform channel access for the sidelink (SL)]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, 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 the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide utilize beamforming in order results improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different access terminals 116 and 122 (D2, [0034]).
As per Claims 27, 35, D1 further discloses wherein:
the first device ([see, [0073], and Fig. 3, a V2X system including vehicles 305-a]) is further caused to:
estimate an energy (power) level of a sidelink transmission on the transmitting symbols; and
the first device is caused to exclude the first candidate resource by:
in accordance with a determination that the estimated energy level (signal strength) is higher than an energy threshold and the expected time interval overlaps with the transmitting symbols, excluding the first candidate resource ([see, Claim 5, [0099-0102], and Fig. 5, vehicle 505-a may determine that an RSRP measurement (estimated energy level) associated with the reservation received at 515 is less than an RSRP threshold and may preempt the second packet transmission based on this RSRP measurement. On Claim 5, disclosed as determining that a reference signal received power measurement associated with a reservation for the second packet by the second wireless device is greater than a reference signal received power threshold, and the vehicle 505-a may exclude the one or more resources of the TTI reserved for the second packet from the set of candidate resources]).
As per Claims 28, 36, D1 further discloses wherein the first device ( vehicle 505-a ) is further caused to:
in accordance with a determination that the energy threshold (i.e., power threshold) is in a predetermined range, determine whether the estimated energy level is higher than the energy threshold ([see, [0100-0102], and Claim 5, and Fig. 5, wherein vehicle 505-a may determine that the second packet from vehicle 505-b is reserved for transmission during at least a portion of the first TTI that is reserved for the first packet by vehicle 505-a, On Claim 5, disclosed as determining that a reference signal received power measurement associated with a reservation for the second packet by the second wireless device is greater than a reference signal received power threshold]).
As per Claims 29, 37, D1 further discloses wherein the first device (see, Fig.5, vehicle 505-a ) is further caused to:
in accordance with a determination that there is no resources available in the first set of candidate resources for which the time interval of the channel access procedure does not overlap with transmitting symbols of a reserved resource ([see, [0099-0101], and Fig. 5, identifying no available resources for multiplexing the first packet in time and determining the relatively low priority of the second packet, the first packet may be scheduled for the TTI non-overlapping with the TTI reserved for the third packet based on determining that the first signal strength is less than the second signal strength]),
perform at least one of the following:
determining the first set of candidate resources which includes the first candidate resource, extending a sensing window ([see, [0084, 0120-0121], wherein determining whether the first packet or the second packet has the higher relative priority, a set of candidate resources to exclude the one or more resources of the TTI based on the second packet having the higher relative priority, the data packet 330 transmissions in the TTI (or within the time window)]), or
increasing a measurement threshold for finding candidate resources for which time intervals of channel access procedures do not overlap with transmitting symbols of reserved resources in the initial set.
As per Claims 30, 38, D1 further discloses wherein the first device is further caused to:
receive a configuration about at least one empty (reserve resources for future transmissions) resource in a sidelink resource pool (i.e., pre‑configured transmission resources) ([see, [0053, 0063], wherein UEs 115 may be configured for predefined portion or range (e.g., set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, may include a reservation indication to reserve resources for future transmissions]); and
exclude the at least one empty (reserved) resource from the initial set of candidate resources ([see, [0064, 0099, 0106], and Fig. 5, wherein determine whether the first packet or the second packet has a higher relative priority, and vehicle 505-a may exclude the one or more resources of the TTI reserved for the second packet from the set of candidate resources]).
As per Claim 42, is the non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) claim corresponding to the device claim 26 that has been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claim 26. Claim 42 is anticipated by CRM being performed by the device above and therefore is rejected under the same rational as claim 26.
As per Claim 43, D1 and D2 disclose the computer readable medium of claim 42, and D1 further discloses further comprising program instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform:
estimating an energy (power) level of a sidelink transmission on the transmitting symbols ([see, Claim 5, [0099-0102], and Fig. 5, vehicle 505-a may determine that an RSRP measurement (estimated energy level)]); and
wherein excluding the first candidate resource comprises:
in accordance with a determination that the estimated energy level (signal strength) is higher than an energy threshold and the expected time interval overlaps with the transmitting symbols, excluding the first candidate resource ([see, Claim 5, [0099-0102], and Fig. 5, vehicle 505-a may determine that an RSRP measurement (estimated energy level) associated with the reservation received at 515 is less than an RSRP threshold and may preempt the second packet transmission based on this RSRP measurement. On Claim 5, disclosed as determining that a reference signal received power measurement associated with a reservation for the second packet by the second wireless device is greater than a reference signal received power threshold, and the vehicle 505-a may exclude the one or more resources of the TTI reserved for the second packet from the set of candidate resources]).
As per Claim 44, D1 further discloses D1 and D2 disclose the computer readable medium of claim 43, and D1 further discloses further comprising program instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform:
in accordance with a determination that the energy threshold (i.e., power threshold) is in a predetermined range, determine whether the estimated energy level is higher than the energy threshold ([see, [0100-0102], and Claim 5, and Fig. 5, wherein vehicle 505-a may determine that the second packet from vehicle 505-b is reserved for transmission during at least a portion of the first TTI that is reserved for the first packet by vehicle 505-a, On Claim 5, disclosed as determining that a reference signal received power measurement associated with a reservation for the second packet by the second wireless device is greater than a reference signal received power threshold]).
As per Claim 45, D1 further discloses D1 and D2 disclose the computer readable medium of claim 43, and D1 further discloses further comprising program instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform:
in accordance with a determination that there is no resources available in the first set of candidate resources for which the time interval of the channel access procedure does not overlap with transmitting symbols of a reserved resource ([see, [0099-0101], and Fig. 5, identifying no available resources for multiplexing the first packet in time and determining the relatively low priority of the second packet, the first packet may be scheduled for the TTI non-overlapping with the TTI reserved for the third packet based on determining that the first signal strength is less than the second signal strength]),
perform at least one of the following:
determining the first set of candidate resources which includes the first candidate resource, extending a sensing window ([see, [0084, 0120-0121], wherein determining whether the first packet or the second packet has the higher relative priority, a set of candidate resources to exclude the one or more resources of the TTI based on the second packet having the higher relative priority, the data packet 330 transmissions in the TTI (or within the time window)]), or
increasing a measurement threshold for finding candidate resources for which time intervals of channel access procedures do not overlap with transmitting symbols of reserved resources in the initial set.
As per Claim 46, D1 further discloses D1 and D2 disclose the computer readable medium of claim 42, and D1 further discloses further comprising program instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform:
receiving a configuration about at least one empty (reserve resources for future transmissions) resource in a sidelink resource pool (i.e., pre‑configured transmission resources) ([see, [0053, 0063], wherein UEs 115 may be configured for predefined portion or range (e.g., set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, may include a reservation indication to reserve resources for future transmissions]); and
exclude the at least one empty (reserved) resource from the initial set of candidate resources ([see, [0064, 0099, 0106], and Fig. 5, wherein determine whether the first packet or the second packet has a higher relative priority, and vehicle 505-a may exclude the one or more resources of the TTI reserved for the second packet from the set of candidate resources]).
Claims 32, 40, and 48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1, in view of D2, and further in view of WANG et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230189217), (“D3”, hereinafter).
As per Claims 32, 40, 48, D1 doesn’t appear explicitly disclose: wherein the first device is further caused to:
receive a first configuration about a first sidelink resource pool with a first start symbol and a first length of symbols; receive a second configuration about a second sidelink resource pool with a second start symbol and a second length of symbols, the second start symbol and the second length being different from the first start symbol and the first length, respectively; and select, based on a priority of the sidelink transmission, the initial set of candidate resources from one of the first and second sidelink resource pools.
However, D3 discloses wherein the first device is further caused to:
receive a first configuration about a first sidelink resource pool (the sidelink resource pool) ([see, [0076], and Fig. 5, the resource pool is a subset of these potentially available sidelink resources]) with a first start symbol (starting symbol, Y refers) and a first length of symbols (the sidelink length symbol parameter, X refers) ([see, [0085-0086], and Fig. 7, wherein sidelink resources potentially available for inclusion in a sidelink resource pool, wherein Y refers to a configured sidelink start symbol parameter (e.g., sl-StartSymbol) and X refers to a sidelink length symbol parameter (e.g., sl-LengthSymbol)]);
receive a second configuration about a second sidelink resource pool with a second start symbol and a second length of symbols ([see, [0085-0086], and Fig. 7, wherein sidelink resources potentially available for inclusion in a sidelink resource pool, wherein Y refers to a configured sidelink start symbol parameter (e.g., sl-StartSymbol) and X refers to a sidelink length symbol parameter (e.g., sl-LengthSymbol)]),
the second start symbol (Y +1) and the second length (X + 1) being different from the first start symbol and the first length, respectively ([see, [0085-0086], and Fig. 7, a first start symbol (starting symbol, Y refers) and a first length of symbols (the sidelink length symbol parameter, X refers) being different from the second start symbol (Y +1) and the second length (X + 1)]); and
select, based on a priority of the sidelink transmission, the initial set of candidate resources from one of the first and second sidelink resource pools ([see, [0120], a subset of the potentially available slots is selectively chosen for inclusion in the sidelink resource pool]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D3, 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 the system of D1 as taught by D3. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the resource pool to include reconfigured uplink slots, flexible slots, and sidelink-specific slots results improves flexibility of resource pool configuration relative to if the resource pool was only permitted to include uplink slots configured as uplink slots by the common configuration parameter (D3, [0101]).
Claims 33, 41, and 49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1, in view of D2, and further in view of Lin et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220110096 A1), (“D4”, hereinafter).
As per Claim 33, D1 and D2 disclose the first device of claim 26, and D1 doesn’t appear explicitly disclose: wherein the first device is further caused to: if a slot preceding the first candidate resource is empty and the channel access procedure is not a type 1 channel access procedure, exclude the first candidate resource from the initial set.
However, D4 discloses wherein the first device is further caused to: if a slot preceding the first candidate resource is empty and the channel access procedure is not a type 1 channel access procedure, exclude the first candidate resource from the initial set ([see, [0024, 0040-0043], determine an initial candidate resource set within a resource selection window based on a sensing result from performing the resource sensing procedure, exclude a sidelink resource from the initial candidate resource set to form an updated candidate resource set]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D4, 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 the system of D1 as taught by D4. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide performs the resource reselection process based on the portion of the listen before transmit (LBT) detection process occupying a portion of a first slot results improves flexibility of resource that enables to avoid conflicts on the channel (D4, [0003]).
As per Claim 41, D1 and D2 disclose the method of claim 34, and D1 doesn’t appear explicitly disclose: further comprising: if a slot preceding the first candidate resource is empty and the channel access procedure is not a type 1 channel access procedure, excluding the first candidate resource from the initial set.
However, D4 discloses further comprising: if a slot preceding the first candidate resource is empty and the channel access procedure is not a type 1 channel access procedure, excluding the first candidate resource from the initial set ([see, [0024, 0040-0043], determine an initial candidate resource set within a resource selection window based on a sensing result from performing the resource sensing procedure, exclude a sidelink resource from the initial candidate resource set to form an updated candidate resource set]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D4, 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 the system of D1 as taught by D4. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide performs the resource reselection process based on the portion of the listen before transmit (LBT) detection process occupying a portion of a first slot results improves flexibility of resource that enables to avoid conflicts on the channel (D4, [0003]).
As per Claim 49, D1 and D2 disclose the computer readable medium of claim 42, and D1 doesn’t appear explicitly disclose: further comprising program instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform: if a slot preceding the first candidate resource is empty and the channel access procedure is not a type 1 channel access procedure, excluding the first candidate resource from the initial set.
However, D4 discloses further comprising program instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform: if a slot preceding the first candidate resource is empty and the channel access procedure is not a type 1 channel access procedure, excluding the first candidate resource from the initial set ([see, [0024, 0040-0043], determine an initial candidate resource set within a resource selection window based on a sensing result from performing the resource sensing procedure, exclude a sidelink resource from the initial candidate resource set to form an updated candidate resource set]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D4, 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 the system of D1 as taught by D4. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide performs the resource reselection process based on the portion of the listen before transmit (LBT) detection process occupying a portion of a first slot results improves flexibility of resource that enables to avoid conflicts on the channel (D4, [0003]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BERHANU BELETE whose telephone number is (571)272-3478. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30am-5pm, Alt. Friday, and EDT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JEONG, MOO R. can be reached on (571) 272-9617. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BERHANU D BELETE/
Examiner, Art Unit 2468
/WUTCHUNG CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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