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
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)as being anticipated by Hu et al. (US2023/106442).
Regrading claim 1, Hu teaches a method comprising: receiving, from a second device, a channel occupancy time (COT) sharing request (Paragraph [0063] describes a target UE transmitting a request for COT-sharing (via SCI flag, MAC CE, or RRC signaling) to a neighboring UE);
starting a timer at a reception time point of the COT sharing request (Paragraphs [0086]; [0093] describes that receipt of a neighboring UE’s future-reservation information triggers the neighboring/initiator UE to begin a channel-access procedure that decrements a back-off timer. Because the trigger for starting this timer is the reception of the request);
generating COT before expiration of the timer, based on the reception of the COT sharing request (Paragraphs [0041]; [0085] describes that the SL UE acquires channel access (COT) either through successful LBT or when its back-off timer reaches 0. COT is generated at or before the timer’s terminal condition, and this generation is expressly tied to the earlier received request or trigger );
and transmitting, to the second device, information related to the COT, before the expiration of the timer (Paragraphs [0054]; [0057]; [0063]; [0096] describes if LBT is successful or the back off timer reaches 0, it broadcasts a COT-sharing indicator, this transmission necessarily also occurs before the timer’s expiration point, since the successful-LBT condition is by definition the earlier-in-time alternative to a fully-expired).
Regrading claim 2, Hu teaches further comprising: receiving, from the second device, auxiliary information for generating the COT (Paragraphs [0063]; [0073] describes a neighboring UE has future reservations information about its intended future resource usage that factors into whether or how the initiator UE’s COT is generated and shared, and this future reservations data is auxiliary information).
Regrading claim 4, Hu teaches wherein the auxiliary information includes upper bound related to the timer, and wherein the timer expires when the upper bound is reached (Paragraphs [0044]; [0054] describes a threshold (X) and a maximum COT duration both of which function as upper-bound values that gate whether how long COT-sharing (and the corresponding timing window) remains valid).
Regrading claim 11, Hu teaches further comprising: stopping the timer, based on the transmission of the information related to the COT (Paragraph [0085] describes once the SL UE’s LBT is successful (COT is generated ) and it broadcasts the COT sharing indicator (transmits the information related to the COT), the back off timer’s countdown process is no longer being decremented/continued the timer’s function (governing whether/when to attempt channel access) terminates upon this transmission. The timer does not continue running past this event; it’s stopped because its underlying purpose is discharged upon that broadcast).
Regrading claim 12, Hu teaches wherein the information related to the COT is received to the second device within an interval during which a COT reception timer of the second device is running (Paragraph [0044] describes that the target UE operates with a time gap threshold (x)).
Regrading claim 13, Hu teaches wherein the information related to the COT is transmitted with a source ID and a destination ID related to the second device (Paragraph [0058] describes unicast /groupcast/broadcast targeting and identification of specific destination UE(S) can share the COT).
Regrading claim 14, Hu teaches a first device comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions (Paragraphs [0103]-[0105] describes one processor and storing instructions),
wherein the instructions, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to: receive, from a second device, a channel occupancy time (COT) sharing request (Paragraph [0063] describes a target UE transmitting a request for COT-sharing (via SCI flag, MAC CE, or RRC signaling) to a neighboring UE);
start a timer at a reception time point of the COT sharing request (Paragraphs [0086]; [0093] describes that receipt of a neighboring UE’s future-reservation information triggers the neighboring/initiator UE to begin a channel-access procedure that decrements a back-off timer. Because the trigger for starting this timer is the reception of the request);
generate COT before expiration of the timer, based on the reception of the COT sharing request (Paragraphs [0041]; [0085] describes that the SL UE acquires channel access (COT) either through successful LBT or when its back-off timer reaches 0. COT is generated at or before the timer’s terminal condition, and this generation is expressly tied to the earlier received request or trigger);
and transmit, to the second device, information related to the COT, before the expiration of the timer (Paragraphs [0054]; [0057]; [0063]; [0096] describes if LBT is successful or the back off timer reaches 0, it broadcasts a COT-sharing indicator, this transmission necessarily also occurs before the timer’s expiration point, since the successful-LBT condition is by definition the earlier-in-time alternative to a fully-expired).
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 14 respectively.
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) 3 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu in view of Sun et al. (US 2021/0092783).
Regrading claim 3, Hu doesn’t teach wherein the auxiliary information includes a channel access priority class (CAPC) value, applied to the generation of the COT.
However, in analogous art Sun teaches wherein the auxiliary information includes a channel access priority class (CAPC) value, applied to the generation of the COT (Paragraphs [0037]; [0102]-[0103]; [0133] describes that the COT sharing information which is auxiliary information received by a responding or target UE includes a CAPC that is used for acquiring the COT, and determining the COT to an LBT associated with a CAPC, and confirms that the COT sharing information (the auxiliary information) indicates the CAPC).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Hu target UE receive a COT-sharing indicator from an initiator UE and then decide whether the indicated time-frequency resources fit its own planned transmission into the combination of Sun sending sidelink data to another device and includes information telling other devices what parts of that transmission window are still free and this lets another UE join the same channel opportunity with less overhead and better spectrum use.
Regrading claim 6, Hu in view of Sun, Sun teaches wherein generating the COT includes: performing an initial channel sensing; and generating the COT based on a result of the initial channel sensing (Paragraphs [0057]; [0063] describes the LBT procedure’s energy detection step, in which the device measures signal energy from the channel, and the outcome of that sensing (signal energy below vs. above a threshold) to whether the LBT passes and the transmitting node may proceed and compare the resulting TXTOP with COT. Thus, the COT is generated based on the result (pass/fail determination) of the initial channel sensing (the energy measurement)).
Regrading claim 7, Hu in view of Sun, Sun teaches further comprising: performing, from the second device, a sidelink (SL) reception, based on a resource included within the COT (Paragraphs [0124]-0125] describes UE 1015a (the first device/COT generator) receiving a sidelink transmission (the PSFCH communication 1020, carrying ACK/NACK) from UE 1015b (the second device). Since this PSFCH communication is transmitted using resource 1042, which confirms is “within the COT 1002).
Regrading claim 8, Hu in view of Sun, Sun teaches wherein an SL data transmitted through the SL reception is transmitted based on a result of a channel sensing related to the resource being IDLE (Paragraphs [0057]; [0125] describes that the SL data (the PSFCH communication 1020) transmitted by the second device (UE 1015 b) through the SL reception (received by UE 1015a) is transmitted based on a result of channel sensing specifically, the CAT2 LBT 1032, which is performed with respect to the PSFCH resource and that this transmission occurs “when the LBT 1032 is a pass.” An LBT “pass” is the sensing result confirming the channel/resource is idle ).
Regrading claim 9, Hu in view of Sun, Sun teaches wherein the channel sensing includes a type 2 listen before talk (LBT) operation (Paragraph [0101] describes the channel sensing includes a type 2 listen before talk (LBT) operation).
Regrading claim 10, Hu in view of Sun, Sun teaches wherein the initial channel sensing includes a type 1 LBT operation (Paragraphs [0063] describes the initial channel sensing used to generate the COT is the LBT 330. LBT 330 is identified as “a category 4 (CAT 4) LBT ).
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu in view of Lei et al. (US 2022/0304059).
Regrading claim 5, Hu doesn’t teach wherein the COT sharing request includes auxiliary information for generating the COT.
In analogous art Lei teaches wherein the COT sharing request includes auxiliary information for generating the COT (Paragraphs [0061]-[0062]; [0088] describes a COT sharing requested indicator (operation 502), a CAPC value (operation 508) auxiliary information that is used to generate the COT (via the LBT Cat. 4 procedure) ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Hu target UE receive a COT-sharing indicator from an initiator UE and then decide whether the indicated time-frequency resources fit its own planned transmission into the combination of Lei auxiliary information for generating the COT and BS requests UE to share a UE-initiated COT for DL use, and this is the central control mechanism that enables BS influence over sharing (Lei, Paragraphs [0005]; [0037]).
Conclusion
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/M.W.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/KAN YUEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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