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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 48, 49, 51-54, 56-61, 63-65, and 67-73 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Qu (US Publication 2022/0191833 A1).
Regarding to claims 48 and 65, Qu discloses a first wireless device 62 (fig. 3) configured to transmit a feedback message on a sidelink SL to a second wireless device 61 (page 3 paragraph 0060), the first wireless device comprising: memory operable to store instructions (page 11 paragraph 0197); and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions (page 11 paragraph 0198), wherein execution of the instructions causes the first wireless device to: responsive to data reception or attempted data reception (page 3 paragraph 0060; PSSCH) using a first time resource (fig. 4 page 4 paragraph 0066; PSSCH reception resource set), transmit the feedback message (page 3 paragraph 0060; PSFCH) using a second time resource out of at least two time resource candidates (PSFCH candidate sending resource set) of a feedback channel from the first wireless device to the second wireless device on the SL (page 4 paragraph 0068), wherein each of the at least two time resource candidates is associated to the first time resource according to a temporal relation (page 2 paragraph 0024; time difference).
Regarding to claims 49 and 57, Qu discloses at least one of the SL and the transmission of the feedback message uses radio spectrum shared by multiple radio access technologies (page 1 paragraph 0003; NR/LTE).
Regarding to claims 51, 58, 67, and 71, Qu discloses the at least two time resource candidates (slot 4, 6, and 8-10) are a subset of a set of time resources (system frame) of the feedback channel; and the at least two time resource candidates are consecutive time resources in a set of time resources of the feedback channel (page 4 paragraph 0068).
Regarding to claims 52 and 59, Qu discloses the set of time resources of the feedback channel comprises periodically occurring time resources with a periodicity N (10 ms) in units of a length of each time resource (page 3 paragraph 0064); and every N-th time resource of the SL is a time resource of the feedback channel, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to one (page 3 paragraph 0064).
Regarding to claims 53, 60, 68, and 72, Qu discloses each of the at least two time resource candidates is associated to the first time resource according to one or more of the following temporal relations: are at least a predefined duration Tp (time difference of 2 slots) later than the first time resource (page 4 paragraph 0068), and are at most a predefined time Tmₐₓ (time difference of 2 slots) later than the first time resource (page 4 paragraph 0068); and the at least two time resource candidates are among a predefined integer number K (2 slots) consecutive time resources of the feedback channel, wherein K is greater than one (page 3 paragraph 0050).
Regarding to claims 54, 61, 69, and 73, Qu discloses determining or receiving configuration indicative of at least one of the following: the first time resource (page 2 paragraphs 0037-0038); the time resources of the feedback channel (page 3 paragraph 0046); a periodicity (time difference) of the time resources of the feedback channel (page 3 paragraph 0046); one or more parameters that define the temporal relation (page 3 paragraph 0047); an integer K that identifies a number of consecutive time resources of the feedback channel (page 3 paragraph 0050); and a SL resource pool that includes one or more of the following: the first time resource, and the time resources of the feedback channel (page 2 paragraph 0037).
Regarding to claims 56 and 70, Qu discloses a second wireless device 61 (fig. 3) configured to receive a feedback message on a sidelink SL from a first wireless device 62 (page 3 paragraph 0060), the second wireless device comprising: memory operable to store instructions (page 11 paragraph 0197); and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions (page 11 paragraph 0198), wherein execution of the instructions causes the first wireless device to: responsive to data transmission (page 3 paragraph 0060; PSSCH) using a first time resource (fig. 4 page 4 paragraph 0066; PSSCH reception resource set), receive a feedback message (page 3 paragraph 0060; PSFCH) in a second time resource out of at least two time resource candidates (PSFCH candidate sending resource set) of a feedback channel from the first wireless device at the second wireless device on the SL (page 4 paragraph 0068), wherein each of the at least two time resource candidates is associated to the first time resource according to a temporal relation (page 2 paragraph 0024; time difference).
Regarding to claims 63 and 64, Qu discloses a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a first wireless device (page 11 paragraph 0197), cause the first wireless device to perform the method of claims 48 and 56.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 50, 55, 62, and 66 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 Duc T Duong whose telephone number is (571)272-3122. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri; 9am-6pm.
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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at (571)272-3940. 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.
/DUC T DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Prosecution Insights