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 .
Applicant amended claims 2, 4-5, 8-12, 15, 18, 19, 23, 24, 26, 29, and 30 and canceled claims 3, 6-7, 13-14, 21-22, 25, 27-28, and 31 in the preliminary amendment filed on 05/05/2025.
The claims 1-2, 4-5, 8-12, 15-20, 23-24, 26, 29, and 30 are pending.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 8-12, 15-20, 23-24, 26, 29, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos et al (US Patent Publication No. 2024/0113823 A1) in view of Zhao et al (US Patent Publication No. 2022/0007227).
With respect to claim 1, Manolakos teaches a communication method, comprising:
transmitting, at a first terminal device, a set of reference signals to a second terminal device on a set of reference signal resources based on a reference signal configuration (paragraph 0202 disclose UE 115-f and UE 115-g may communicate one or more reference signals over the periodic set of sidelink resources according to the time-domain variation. In some cases, UE 115-f may transmit the reference signals, and UE 115-g may measure the reference signals. In some cases, UE 115-g may transmit the reference signals, and UE 115-f may measure the reference signals), wherein the reference signal configuration at least indicates an association in time domain between each reference signal resource for each reference signal in the set of reference signals and a sidelink resource for each measurement report with respect to each reference signal (paragraph 0194-0196; 0210 disclose indication of a periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement and a time-domain variation associated with the reference signal measurement for each UE 115 of the set of multiple UEs 115).
Manolakos does not explicitly disclose receiving, from the second terminal device, at least one measurement report for at least one reference signal in the set of reference signals on sidelink resources corresponding to the set of reference signals based on the reference signal configuration.
However, Zhao teaches receiving, from the second terminal device, at least one measurement report for at least one reference signal in the set of reference signals on sidelink resources corresponding to the set of reference signals based on the reference signal configuration (paragraph 0026; 0101-0102 disclose the second terminal device reports the status information or the measurement result to a first device, and the first device receives the status information or the measurement result reported by the second terminal device) in order to provide measurement associated with sidelink resources (Abstract). Therefore, based on Manolakos in view of Zhao, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Zhao to the system of Manolakos in order to provide measurement associated with sidelink resources.
With respect to claim 2, Manolakos teaches wherein transmitting the set of reference signals comprises: transmitting the set of reference signals on a set of slots (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1); and wherein receiving the at least one measurement report for the at least one reference signal comprises: receiving the at least one measurement report on target slots corresponding to the set of reference signals; or receiving the at least one measurement report on target symbols corresponding to the set of reference signals (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1).
With respect to claim 4, Manolakos teaches wherein transmitting the set of reference signals comprises: transmitting the set of reference signals on a first set of slots (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1); and performing a repetition of the set of reference signals on a second set of slots; or transmitting the set of reference signals on a first set of symbols in a first slot (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1); and performing a repetition of the set of reference signals on a second set of symbols in a second slot (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1).
With respect to claim 5, Manolakos teaches wherein transmitting the set of reference signals comprises: transmitting the set of reference signals on a set of symbols with a control signal between two adjacent symbols or two adjacent subsets of symbols in the set of symbols (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1); or transmitting the set of the reference signals on a set of consecutive symbols; and wherein receiving the at least one measurement report for the at least one reference signal comprises: receiving the at least one measurement report on target symbols corresponding to the set of reference signals (paragraph 0201 disclose For example, if the reference signal resource spans a slot, and UE 115-g first communicates a reference signal in symbol period 1 of the slot, UE 115-g may communicate a reference signal in each other symbol period index (e.g., symbol periods 0 and 2 through 13) before repeating symbol period 1).
With respect to claim 8, Manolakos teaches receiving the reference signal configuration from a network device (paragraph 0194-0196; 0210 disclose receiving, from the base station or the network entity, an indication of a periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement associated with a plurality of reference signals and a time-domain variation associated with the plurality of reference signals or the reference signal measurement for each UE of the set of multiple UEs); and receiving an indication for triggering transmissions of the set of reference signals (paragraph 0202; 0210 disclose UE 115-f and UE 115-g may communicate one or more reference signals over the periodic set of sidelink resources according to the time-domain variation. In some cases, UE 115-f may transmit the reference signals, and UE 115-g may measure the reference signals. In some cases, UE 115-g may transmit the reference signals, and UE 115-f may measure the reference signals).
With respect to claim 9, Manolakos teaches determining the reference signal configuration (paragraph 0194-0196; 0210 disclose At 715, network entity 140-b may output an indication of a periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement and a time-domain variation associated with the reference signal measurement for each UE 115 of the set of multiple UEs 115. For example, network entity 140-b may transmit the indication to UE 115-f); transmitting the reference signal configuration to the second terminal device (paragraph 0194-0196; 0210 disclose network entity 140-b may transmit the indication to UE 115-f); and reserving a set of sidelink resources for the transmission of the set of reference signals and the reception of the at least one measurement report (paragraph 0202 disclose At 725, UE 115-f and UE 115-g may communicate one or more reference signals over the periodic set of sidelink resources according to the time-domain variation. In some cases, UE 115-f may transmit the reference signals, and UE 115-g may measure the reference signals. In some cases, UE 115-g may transmit the reference signals, and UE 115-f may measure the reference signals).
With respect to claim 10, Manolakos teaches wherein the reference signal configuration further comprises at least one of: a set of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states associated with the set of reference signal resources, a beam sweeping type, a beam sweeping repetition indicator, or a set of beam sweeping timing parameters (paragraph 0130-0133 disclose a base station 105 or a UE 115 may use beam sweeping techniques as part of beam forming operations. For example, a base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in different directions).
With respect to claim 11, Manolakos teaches wherein the at least one measurement report further comprises an index of the sidelink resource (paragraph 0266 disclose the time-domain variation determining component 1435 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for determining the time-domain variation based on a sequence of time-domain offsets corresponding to each sidelink resource of the periodic set of sidelink resources for each UE of the first set of multiple UEs. In some examples, the periodic sidelink resource configuring component 1430 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for outputting an indication of the sequence of time-domain offsets and a periodicity for the periodic set of sidelink resources).
With respect to claim 12, Manolakos teaches wherein transmitting the set of reference signals comprises: transmitting the set of reference signals in a predetermined order (paragraph 00165; Fig. 6 disclose device 605-a and device 605-b may receive configurations for the reference signal resource via the reservation indication 620. Device 605-a and device 605-b may communicate reference signals 615 (e.g., reference signals 615-a and reference signals 615-b) according to respective reference signal resource configurations with UE 115-d, and device 605-c and device 605-d may communicate reference signals 615 (e.g., reference signals 615-c and reference signals 615-d) according to respective reference signal resource configurations with UE 115-e); and wherein receiving the at least one measurement report for the at least one reference signal comprises: receiving the at least one measurement report on the sidelink resources in the predetermined order (paragraph 00165; Fig. 6 disclose device 605-a and device 605-b may receive configurations for the reference signal resource via the reservation indication 620. Device 605-a and device 605-b may communicate reference signals 615 (e.g., reference signals 615-a and reference signals 615-b) according to respective reference signal resource configurations with UE 115-d, and device 605-c and device 605-d may communicate reference signals 615 (e.g., reference signals 615-c and reference signals 615-d) according to respective reference signal resource configurations with UE 115-e).
With respect to claim 15, Manolakos teaches wherein the reference signal configuration at least indicates a time duration from a first transmission of a first reference signal to a second transmission of a last reference signal in the set of reference signals (paragraph 0196 disclose UE 115-f may receive, from network entity 140-b, the indication of the periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement and the time-domain variation associated with the reference signal measurement for each UE 115 of the set of multiple UEs 115. At 720, UE 115-f may transmit, to each UE 115 of the set of multiple UEs 115, an indication of the periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement and a respective time-domain variation associated with the reference signal measurement for each sidelink resource of the periodic set of sidelink resources).
The limitations of claim 16 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is
rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 17 are rejected in the analysis of claim 2 above, and the claim is
rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 18 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 19 are rejected in the analysis of claim 4 above, and the claim is
rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 20 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above, and the claim is
rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 23 are rejected in the analysis of claim 8 above, and the claim is
rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 24 are rejected in the analysis of claim 10 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 26 are rejected in the analysis of claim 12 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 29 are rejected in the analysis of claim 15 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 30 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is
rejected on that basis.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEIKH T NDIAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-3914. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm.
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/CHEIKH T NDIAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
9/4/2026
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