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)(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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 15-16 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Moon et al., US 2023/0354275 A1 (Moon hereinafter).
Here is how the reference teaches the claims.
Regarding claim 1, Moon discloses an electronic device at a base station side (Moon, paragraph [0070], Methods of transmitting and receiving signals in a communication system will be described. In particular, channel occupation methods, signal transmission methods, and channel occupation-related information transmission methods of a communication node ( e.g., base station and/or terminal), for improving transmission reliability and delay time in a wireless communication system supporting communication in an unlicensed band, will be described), comprising:
a processing circuit (Moon, paragraph [0065], Referring to FIG. 2, a communication node 200 may comprise at least one processor 210, a memory 220, and a transceiver 230 connected to the network for performing communications) configured to:
perform channel access processing on an unlicensed frequency band (Moon, paragraph [0108], communication devices (e.g., communication nodes, base stations, and terminals) performing LBT operations (i.e., performing channel access operation) in an unlicensed band may be classified into LBEs and FBEs. In addition, a channel access procedure of an unlicensed band may be performed based on an LBE operation scheme and/or an FBE operation scheme) used for Sidelink communication to obtain a channel occupation time (COT) (Moon, paragraph [0102], Referring to FIG. 3A, a base station (e.g., gNB) may initiate a COT by performing an LBT operation (i.e., obtaining COT by performing channel access procedure). The base station may transmit a downlink transmission burst (i.e., Tx burst) at a start part of the COT. In addition, the COT initiated by the base station may be shared with the terminal. Also see paragraph [0069], Each of the base stations 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may control D2D communications between the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5, and thus the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5 may perform the D2D communications (i.e., sidelink communication) under control of the second base station 110-2 and the third base station 110-3);
generate downlink control information to indicate allocation of the COT to user equipment for Sidelink communication (Moon, paragraph [0106], The transmitting node (or receiving node) may inform the receiving node ( or transmitting node) of information on a COT (e.g., COT configuration information) acquired by itself through a signaling procedure (e.g., DCI signaling, uplink control information (UCI) signaling, medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling, RRC signaling, etc.). Also see paragraph [0021], the predefined rule may include that the base station transmits DCI indicating the one COT to the terminal or a rule negotiated in advance between the terminal and the base station. Also see paragraph [0069], Each of the base stations 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may control D2D communications between the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5, and thus the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5 may perform the D2D communications (i.e., sidelink communication) under control of the second base station 110-2 and the third base station 110-3).
Regarding claim 2, Moon discloses wherein the downlink control information includes: COT indication information indicating a period of the COT allocated to the user equipment (Moon, paragraph [0106], The transmitting node (or receiving node) may inform the receiving node ( or transmitting node) of information on a COT (e.g., COT configuration information) acquired by itself through a signaling procedure (e.g., DCI signaling, uplink control information (UCI) signaling (i.e., DCI includes COT indication information), medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling, RRC signaling, etc.). The COT configuration information (or COT indication information) may include a start time of the COT, an end time of the COT, and/or a duration of the COT (e.g., the length of the COT) (i.e., period of the COT allocated to the UE)).
Regarding claim 15, Moon discloses an electronic device (Moon, paragraph [0070], Methods of transmitting and receiving signals in a communication system will be described. In particular, channel occupation methods, signal transmission methods, and channel occupation-related information transmission methods of a communication node ( e.g., base station and/or terminal), for improving transmission reliability and delay time in a wireless communication system supporting communication in an unlicensed band, will be described), comprising:
a processing circuit (Moon, paragraph [0065], Referring to FIG. 2, a communication node 200 may comprise at least one processor 210, a memory 220, and a transceiver 230 connected to the network for performing communications) configured to:
receive downlink control information (Moon, paragraph [0167], The terminal may consider that the COT is acquired by receiving the DCI format 2_0), wherein the downlink control information indicates allocation of a channel occupation time (COT) (Moon, paragraph [0166], the terminal may expect that the COT duration indicator included in the DCI format 2_0 indicates the number of symbols from the reference time (e.g., the first symbol of the slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is transmitted) to the predetermined end time of the COT (i.e., DCI indicates allocation of a COT) (e.g., the last symbol not overlapping with the idle period among the symbols within the FFP). That is, the terminal may expect that the last symbol of the COT acquired from the COT duration indicator coincides with the predetermined end time of the COT (e.g., the last symbol not overlapping with the idle period among the symbols within the FFP)), which is obtained by a base station side device performing channel access processing on an unlicensed frequency band (Moon, paragraph [0108], communication devices (e.g., communication nodes, base stations, and terminals) performing LBT operations (i.e., performing channel access operation) in an unlicensed band may be classified into LBEs and FBEs. In addition, a channel access procedure of an unlicensed band may be performed based on an LBE operation scheme and/or an FBE operation scheme) for Sidelink communication (Moon, paragraph [0102], Referring to FIG. 3A, a base station (e.g., gNB) may initiate a COT by performing an LBT operation (i.e., obtaining COT by performing channel access procedure). The base station may transmit a downlink transmission burst (i.e., Tx burst) at a start part of the COT. In addition, the COT initiated by the base station may be shared with the terminal. Also see paragraph [0069], Each of the base stations 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may control D2D communications between the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5, and thus the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5 may perform the D2D communications (i.e., sidelink communication) under control of the second base station 110-2 and the third base station 110-3), to the electronic device for Sidelink communication (Moon paragraph [0069], Each of the base stations 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may control D2D communications between the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5, and thus the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5 may perform the D2D communications (i.e., sidelink communication) under control of the second base station 110-2 and the third base station 110-3).
Regarding claim 16, Moon discloses wherein the downlink control information includes: COT indication information indicating a time period of the COT allocated to the electronic device (Moon, paragraph [0106], The transmitting node (or receiving node) may inform the receiving node ( or transmitting node) of information on a COT (e.g., COT configuration information) acquired by itself through a signaling procedure (e.g., DCI signaling, uplink control information (UCI) signaling (i.e., DCI includes COT indication information), medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling, RRC signaling, etc.). The COT configuration information (or COT indication information) may include a start time of the COT, an end time of the COT, and/or a duration of the COT (e.g., the length of the COT) (i.e., period of the COT allocated to the UE)).
Regarding claim 31, Moon discloses a method for wireless communication (Moon, paragraph [0028], Methods of transmitting and receiving signals in a communication system will be described), comprising:
receiving downlink control information (Moon, paragraph [0167], The terminal may consider that the COT is acquired by receiving the DCI format 2_0), wherein the downlink control information indicates allocation of a channel occupation time (COT) (Moon, paragraph [0166], the terminal may expect that the COT duration indicator included in the DCI format 2_0 indicates the number of symbols from the reference time (e.g., the first symbol of the slot in which the DCI format 2_0 is transmitted) to the predetermined end time of the COT (i.e., DCI indicates allocation of a COT) (e.g., the last symbol not overlapping with the idle period among the symbols within the FFP). That is, the terminal may expect that the last symbol of the COT acquired from the COT duration indicator coincides with the predetermined end time of the COT (e.g., the last symbol not overlapping with the idle period among the symbols within the FFP)), which is obtained by a base station side device performing channel access processing on an unlicensed frequency band (Moon, paragraph [0108], communication devices (e.g., communication nodes, base stations, and terminals) performing LBT operations (i.e., performing channel access operation) in an unlicensed band may be classified into LBEs and FBEs. In addition, a channel access procedure of an unlicensed band may be performed based on an LBE operation scheme and/or an FBE operation scheme) for Sidelink communication (Moon, paragraph [0102], Referring to FIG. 3A, a base station (e.g., gNB) may initiate a COT by performing an LBT operation (i.e., obtaining COT by performing channel access procedure). The base station may transmit a downlink transmission burst (i.e., Tx burst) at a start part of the COT. In addition, the COT initiated by the base station may be shared with the terminal. Also see paragraph [0069], Each of the base stations 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may control D2D communications between the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5, and thus the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5 may perform the D2D communications (i.e., sidelink communication) under control of the second base station 110-2 and the third base station 110-3), to an electronic device for Sidelink communication (Moon paragraph [0069], Each of the base stations 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may control D2D communications between the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5, and thus the fourth terminal 130-4 and the fifth terminal 130-5 may perform the D2D communications (i.e., sidelink communication) under control of the second base station 110-2 and the third base station 110-3).
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al., US 2023/0354275 A1 (Moon hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Hu, US 2023/0232457 A1 (Hu hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 3 and 17, Moon discloses the electronic device according to claim 2 and the electronic device according to claim 16. Moon does not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the downlink control information further includes: access type information indicating a type of the channel access processing.
Regarding claim 17, wherein the downlink control information further includes: access type information indicating a type of the channel access processing.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Hu discloses method related to a channel occupancy time sharing that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the downlink control information further includes: access type information indicating a type of the channel access processing (Hu, paragraph [0045], The base station may also implicitly indicate a channel access mode within COT. When the UE receives Uplink grant (UL grant) or Downlink grant (DL grant) sent by the base station indicating that a channel access type corresponding to the PUSCH or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) is Type1 channel access, if the UE may determine that the PUSCH or PUCCH belongs to COT of the base station, for example, the UE receives DCI format 2_0 sent by the base station and determines that the PUSCH or PUCCH belongs to the COT of the base station according to the DCI format 2_0, then the UE may update the channel access type corresponding to the PUSCH or PUCCH as Type2A channel access instead of adopting the Type1 channel-access (i.e., DCI indicating a type of the channel access processing)).
Regarding claim 17, wherein the downlink control information further includes: access type information indicating a type of the channel access processing (Hu, paragraph [0045], The base station may also implicitly indicate a channel access mode within COT. When the UE receives Uplink grant (UL grant) or Downlink grant (DL grant) sent by the base station indicating that a channel access type corresponding to the PUSCH or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) is Type1 channel access, if the UE may determine that the PUSCH or PUCCH belongs to COT of the base station, for example, the UE receives DCI format 2_0 sent by the base station and determines that the PUSCH or PUCCH belongs to the COT of the base station according to the DCI format 2_0, then the UE may update the channel access type corresponding to the PUSCH or PUCCH as Type2A channel access instead of adopting the Type1 channel-access (i.e., DCI indicating a type of the channel access processing)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Moon by using the features, as taught by Hu, in order to provide a channel occupancy time (COT) sharing mechanism that realizes a rapid and efficient communication within one COT (see Hu, abstract).
Claim(s) 5 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al., US 2023/0354275 A1 (Moon hereinafter), in view of Hu, US 2023/0232457 A1 (Hu hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Sun et al., US 2021/0306991 A1 (Sun hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 5 and 19, Moon and Hu disclose the electronic device according to claim 3 and the electronic device according to claim 17. Moon and Hu do not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 5, wherein the
downlink control information further includes:
frequency domain resource indication information, indicating frequency domain resources of the unlicensed frequency band allocated to the user equipment.
Regarding claim 19, wherein the downlink control information further includes: frequency domain resource indication information, indicating frequency domain resources of the unlicensed frequency band allocated to the electronic device.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Sun discloses method related to a wireless communication system that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 5, wherein the
downlink control information further includes:
frequency domain resource indication information (Sun, paragraph [0076], In this example, the first configured resource 410 and the second configured resource 415 may occur within the time domain resources of the COT resources 405, but are outside of the associated frequency domain resources (e.g., as indicated in a available RB-Sets field in a DCI that indicates the COT resources 405). Further, in this example, the third configured resource 420 may occur outside of the time domain resources of the COT resources 405), indicating frequency domain resources of the unlicensed frequency band allocated to the user equipment (Sun, paragraph [0060], The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands … When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands, devices such as the base stations 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance).
Regarding claim 19, wherein the downlink control information further includes: frequency domain resource indication information (Sun, paragraph [0076], In this example, the first configured resource 410 and the second configured resource 415 may occur within the time domain resources of the COT resources 405, but are outside of the associated frequency domain resources (e.g., as indicated in a available RB-Sets field in a DCI that indicates the COT resources 405). Further, in this example, the third configured resource 420 may occur outside of the time domain resources of the COT resources 405), indicating frequency domain resources of the unlicensed frequency band allocated to the electronic device (Sun, paragraph [0060], The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands … When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands, devices such as the base stations 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Moon and Hu by using the features, as taught by Sun, in order to provide an improved method that support configured communications techniques in shared radio frequency spectrum based on channel occupancy time (see Sun, abstract and paragraph [0004]).
Claim(s) 7 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al., US 2023/0354275 A1 (Moon hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Zhang et al., US 2022/0046682 A1 (Zhang hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 5 and 19, Moon disclose the electronic device according to claim 2 and the electronic device according to claim 16. Moon does not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 7, wherein the downlink control information further includes: feedback timing information indicating sending timing of an uplink signal for feeding back usage of the COT.
Regarding claim 21, wherein the downlink control information further includes feedback timing information indicating sending timing of an uplink signal for feeding back usage of the COT.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Zhang discloses method related to a wireless communication system that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 7, wherein the downlink control information further includes: feedback timing information indicating sending timing of an uplink signal for feeding back usage of the COT (Zhang, paragraph [0083], The nonnumeric feedback schedule timing offset (i.e., feedback timing information) may trigger the UE 115 to store an HARQ ACK/NACK for the PDSCH transmission 412. The BS 105 may transmit the PDSCH transmission 412 as scheduled. The BS 105 may subsequently acquire a COT 404. The BS 105 may transmit a DCI message 420 at the start of the COT 404 and may include a numeric Kl value in the DCI message 420 to trigger the UE 115 to transmit a HARQ ACK/NACK feedback for the PDSCH transmission 412 (i.e., indicating sending timing of the uplink message). The HARQ ACK/NACK feedback may be transmitted in a PUCCH transmission 430. Also see paragraph [0081], When a BS 105 and a UE 115 utilize HARQ techniques for DL communications (e.g., PDSCH transmissions), the BS 105 may transmit a DL scheduling grant (e.g., DCI message) to the UE 115 and include an UL feedback timing indicator or offset, which may be referred to as a Kl value, in the DL scheduling grant).
Regarding claim 21, wherein the downlink control information further includes feedback timing information indicating sending timing of an uplink signal for feeding back usage of the COT (Zhang, paragraph [0083], The nonnumeric feedback schedule timing offset (i.e., feedback timing information) may trigger the UE 115 to store an HARQ ACK/NACK for the PDSCH transmission 412. The BS 105 may transmit the PDSCH transmission 412 as scheduled. The BS 105 may subsequently acquire a COT 404. The BS 105 may transmit a DCI message 420 at the start of the COT 404 and may include a numeric Kl value in the DCI message 420 to trigger the UE 115 to transmit a HARQ ACK/NACK feedback for the PDSCH transmission 412 (i.e., indicating sending timing of the uplink message). The HARQ ACK/NACK feedback may be transmitted in a PUCCH transmission 430. Also see paragraph [0081], When a BS 105 and a UE 115 utilize HARQ techniques for DL communications (e.g., PDSCH transmissions), the BS 105 may transmit a DL scheduling grant (e.g., DCI message) to the UE 115 and include an UL feedback timing indicator or offset, which may be referred to as a Kl value, in the DL scheduling grant).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Moon by using the features, as taught by Zhang, in order to support spectrum sharing which enables operators to opportunistically aggregate spectrums to dynamically support high-bandwidth services (see Zhang, abstract and paragraph [0004]).
Claim(s) 11 and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al., US 2023/0354275 A1 (Moon hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of KIM et al., US 2020/0267730 A1 (Kim hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 5 and 19, Moon discloses the electronic device according to claim 1 and the electronic device according to claim 15. Moon does not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: scramble the downlink control information with a predefined scrambling sequence.
Regarding claim 26, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive the downlink control information scrambled with a predefined scrambling sequence.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Kim discloses method related to measurement technologies in a communication system that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: scramble the downlink control information with a predefined scrambling sequence (Kim, paragraph [0191], A scrambling sequence of the group common DCI including the COT indicator may be commonly applied to unspecified terminals (i.e., DCI scrambled with a predefined scrambling sequence). The base station may configure an RNTI used for scrambling of the group common DCI including the COT indicator to a plurality of terminals using higher layer signaling. Also see paragraph [0091], Downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI) that schedules a PDSCH on which the RMSI block is transmitted may be scrambled by a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) C-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), a system information (SI) RNTI (SI-RNTI), or a configured scheduling (CS) RNTI (CS-RNTI)).
Regarding claim 26, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive the downlink control information scrambled with a predefined scrambling sequence (Kim, paragraph [0191], A scrambling sequence of the group common DCI including the COT indicator may be commonly applied to unspecified terminals (i.e., DCI scrambled with a predefined scrambling sequence). The base station may configure an RNTI used for scrambling of the group common DCI including the COT indicator to a plurality of terminals using higher layer signaling. Also see paragraph [0091], Downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the DCI) that schedules a PDSCH on which the RMSI block is transmitted may be scrambled by a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) C-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), a system information (SI) RNTI (SI-RNTI), or a configured scheduling (CS) RNTI (CS-RNTI)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Moon by using the features, as taught by Kim, in order to provide radio resource management (RRM) measurement technologies for supporting mobility (see Kim, abstract and paragraph [0002]).
Claim(s) 13-14 and 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al., US 2023/0354275 A1 (Moon hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of ZHOU et al., US 2022/0240260 A1 (Zhou hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 13-14 and 28-29, Moon discloses the electronic device according to claim 1 and the electronic device according to claim 15. Moon does not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: configure an unlicensed resource set for the user equipment for Sidelink communication, and the unlicensed resource set includes at least resources of the unlicensed frequency band.
Regarding claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: send configuration information of the unlicensed resource set to the user equipment via a system information block (SIB).
Regarding claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive configuration information of an unlicensed resource set for Sidelink communication from the base station side device, and the unlicensed resource set includes at least resources of the unlicensed frequency band.
Regarding claim 29, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive the configuration information sent via a system information block (SIB).
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Zhou discloses method related to determining resources for sidelink communication that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: configure an unlicensed resource set for the user equipment for Sidelink communication (Zhou, paragraph [0138], In this embodiment, the UE determines the resource for sidelink communication, including a time domain resource and/or frequency domain resource. The frequency domain resource includes a carrier for sidelink communication, and further includes a carrier on a licensed band and/or unlicensed band for sidelink communication), and the unlicensed resource set includes at least resources of the unlicensed frequency band (Zhou, paragraph [0146], In some implementations, the frequency domain resource set determined by the UE includes at least one of: a set of carriers configured by the base station, further including a set of carriers on a licensed band and/or a set of carriers on an unlicensed band; or a preconfigured set of carriers).
Regarding claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: send configuration information of the unlicensed resource set to the user equipment via a system information block (SIB) (Zhou, paragraph [0149], In some implementations, the acquiring of the resource set from the base station by the UE includes acquiring the resource set from RRC signaling (such as MIB/SIB/RMSI signaling) broadcasted/multicasted/groupcasted by the base station, and/or acquiring the resource set from UE-specific RRC signaling. In some implementations, the resource set is dedicated to UE that has the capability and/or is configured and/or enabled for sidelink communication in an FR2 and/or unlicensed band).
Regarding claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive configuration information of an unlicensed resource set for Sidelink communication from the base station side device (Zhou, paragraph [0138], In this embodiment, the UE determines the resource for sidelink communication, including a time domain resource and/or frequency domain resource. The frequency domain resource includes a carrier for sidelink communication, and further includes a carrier on a licensed band and/or unlicensed band for sidelink communication), and the unlicensed resource set includes at least resources of the unlicensed frequency band (Zhou, paragraph [0146], In some implementations, the frequency domain resource set determined by the UE includes at least one of: a set of carriers configured by the base station, further including a set of carriers on a licensed band and/or a set of carriers on an unlicensed band; or a preconfigured set of carriers).
Regarding claim 29, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receive the configuration information sent via a system information block (SIB) (Zhou, paragraph [0149], In some implementations, the acquiring of the resource set from the base station by the UE includes acquiring the resource set from RRC signaling (such as MIB/SIB/RMSI signaling) broadcasted/multicasted/groupcasted by the base station, and/or acquiring the resource set from UE-specific RRC signaling. In some implementations, the resource set is dedicated to UE that has the capability and/or is configured and/or enabled for sidelink communication in an FR2 and/or unlicensed band).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Moon by using the features, as taught by Zhou, in order to provides a method that enables the sidelink communication to be applied on a wider spectrum and a larger bandwidth, effectively improving the throughput of the sidelink communication and expanding the application scenarios of the sidelink communication (see Zhou, abstract and paragraph [0057]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 12 and 20 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 OBAIDUL HUQ whose telephone number is (571)270-7199. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00.
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/OBAIDUL HUQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473 Dated: 09/16/2026
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