DETAILED ACTION
1. It is hereby acknowledged that 18/859938 the following papers have been received and placed of record in the file: Remark date 10/24/24
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. Claims 1-12, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei et al (WO2021195960A1) in view of WU et al (WO2021262222A1),
Regarding claim 1, Lei teaches a method performed in a shared spectrum by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving configuration information related to a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH); (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0031],[0035],[0037] explains…..The set of candidate ending positions for sidelink transmission may be configured via RRC signaling, e.g., by a base station (such as a gNB) or Tx UE. The Tx UE may also signal the set of candidate ending positions to the Rx UE via RRC signaling….)
receiving sidelink control information (SCI) for scheduling a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH); (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] …..Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH. The associated PSSCH may have various multiplexing manners with the PSCCH. The SCI format may be used to indicate the starting position of the associated PSSCH to the Rx UE. …..claim 2)
receiving the PSSCH based on the SCI; (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] …Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH…claim 2) and transmitting the PSFCH including hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)- acknowledgement (ACK) information in response to the PSSCH, (see Lei paragraph [0033] [0043]…. After receiving the sidelink transmission from a Tx UE, an Rx UE may transmit a HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the sidelink transmission on a PSFCH to the Tx UE….. claim 16 fig. 3, 4)
Lei does not explicitly disclose wherein a slot for transmission of the PSFCH is determined to be a second slot based on information in the SCI, based on a first slot determined based on the configuration information not being included in a channel occupancy time (COT) for sharing channel occupancy. (see paragraph [0033] claim 16 fig. 3)
However WU explains determining whether it is possible for at least one receiver UE to provide, via a resource slot included in a COT, acknowledgment feedback for data transmission (see paragraph [0056],[0078] and [0086],[0091] claim 1 and 6) and if the resource slot, via which acknowledgment feedback can be provided, is not available, allowing monitoring of an acknowledgement feedback transmission window, and determined whether the at least one receiver UE is able to transmit acknowledgment feedback in a subsequent acknowledgment feedback transmission window (see claims 13-14)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine LEI with WU’s invention which can provide improvements in other multi-access technologies (see paragraph[0004]- [0006])
Regarding claim 2, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 1, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein based on the first slot determined based on the configuration information being included in the COT, the slot for transmission of the PSFCH is determined as the first slot, regardless of the information in the SCI for determining the second slot. (see WU paragraphs [0056],[0078], [0086]…. For example, the HARQ feedback slot may fall within a COT (channel occupancy time) initiated by the Tx UE (or another UE). In such cases, the Tx UE may determine that the previous slot (the slot before the PSFCH/HARQ feedback slot) or previous symbols (the symbols before the symbols configured for PSFCH/HARQ feedback transmission in a HARQ feedback back) has been occupied by a sidelink transmission (either the Tx UE’ s sidelink transmission or sidelink transmission from other UEs) and the Tx UE can just transmits the reservation signal in the HARQ feedback slot….also see claims 13-14 )
Regarding claim 3, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 1, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein based on the information in the SCI, the second slot is always determined to be included in the COT. (see WU paragraphs[0113]- [0117] wherein the slot is one of multiple acknowledgment feedback slots within an acknowledgment feedback window; and if the determination is that the resource is not available in the slot, the method further comprises determining if a resource in a subsequent slot in the acknowledgment feedback window is available for the at least one receiver UE to provide the acknowledgment feedback for the data transmission….also see claims 13 and 14 )
Regarding claim 4, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 1, wherein an interlaced resource block (RB) group is determined based on a number of interlace indices and/or a number of RB sets configured by the configuration information within the slot for transmission of the PSFCH. (see WU paragraph [0050]….. The minimum resource allocation, called a resource block (RB), may be 12 consecutive subcarriers. … [0051], [0056] explain…Various sidelink channels may be used for sidelink communications, including a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH)….. )
Regarding claim 5, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 4, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein the interlaced RB group is determined by further considering a number of starting symbol indices of the PSFCH configured by the configuration information. (see WU paragraph [0086]…… the Tx UE may determine that the previous slot (the slot before the PSFCH/HARQ feedback slot) or previous symbols (the symbols before the symbols configured for PSFCH/HARQ feedback transmission in a HARQ feedback back) has been occupied by a sidelink transmission (either the Tx UE’ s sidelink transmission or sidelink transmission from other UEs) and the Tx UE can just transmits the reservation signal in the HARQ feedback slot.)
Regarding claim 6, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 4, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein the interlaced RB group is divided into a plurality of interlaced RB sub-groups based on a number of sub-channels allocated to the PSSCH and a number of slots of the PSSCH associated with the slot for transmission of the PSFCH. (see WU paragraph [0050][0051],[0056]…. NR may utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the uplink and downlink. NR may support half-duplex operation using time division duplexing (TDD). OFDM and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) partition the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Modulation symbols may be sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers may be dependent on the system bandwidth.The minimum resource allocation, called a resource block (RB), may be 12 consecutive subcarriers. …)
Regarding claim 7, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 6, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein the plurality of interlaced RB sub-groups are indexed using at least one of an interlace index, a resource block set index (RB set index), and a starting symbol index. ((see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] ..Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH. The associated PSSCH may have various multiplexing manners with the PSCCH. The SCI format may be used to indicate the starting position of the associated PSSCH to the Rx UE. …..claim 3;
WU paragraph [0050][0051] explains…… Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be partitioned into 10 subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe may include a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ... slots) depending on the SCS. …)
Regarding claim 8, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 6, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein one or more interlaced RB sub-groups are selected within the plurality of interlaced RB sub-groups based on an index of a sub-channel allocated to the PSSCH and a slot in which the PSSCH is transmitted. (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] ..Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH. The associated PSSCH may have various multiplexing manners with the PSCCH. The SCI format may be used to indicate the starting position of the associated PSSCH to the Rx UE. …..claim 3;
WU paragraph [0050][0051] explains…… Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be partitioned into 10 subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe may include a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ... slots) depending on the SCS. …)
Regarding claim 9, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 8, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein a plurality of interlaced PSFCH resources are indexed using at least one of an interlace index, a resource block set index (RB set index), and a cyclic shift pair index (CS pair index) within the selected one or more interlaced RB sub-groups, and
the PSFCH is transmitted in an interlaced PSFCH resource selected from among the plurality of interlaced PSFCH resources. (see paragraph [0078]…. the Tx UE senses the channel to determine if resource is available for HARQ feedback transmission. If the channel (e.g., in a PSFCH slot) is determined to be free based on sensing, the Tx UE transmits a reservation signal in the PSFCH slot (to reserve the resource and indicate availability to one or more Rx UEs.)
Regarding claim 10, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 4, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein the interlaced RB group is determined within M (M> 1, M is a natural number) transmittable slots of the PSFCH. (see WU paragraph [0037],[0050],[0051], [0056] explain…Various sidelink channels may be used for sidelink communications, including a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH),. )
Regarding claim 11, the modified Lei taught the method of claim 10, as described above. The modified Lei further teaches wherein in dividing the interlaced RB group into a plurality of interlaced RB sub-groups, indices of the M slots are preferentially used, and the plurality of interlaced RB sub-groups are indexed by further using at least one of an interlace index, a resource block set index (RB set index), and a starting symbol index. (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] …..Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH. The associated PSSCH may have various multiplexing manners with the PSCCH. The SCI format may be used to indicate the starting position of the associated PSSCH to the Rx UE. …..claim 2)
(see WU paragraph [0035]….)
Regarding claim 12, Lei teaches a user equipment (UE) operating in a shared spectrum in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:
at least one transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal; and at least one processor for controlling the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor configured to:
receive configuration information related to a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH); (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0031],[0035],[0037] explains…..The set of candidate ending positions for sidelink transmission may be configured via RRC signaling, e.g., by a base station (such as a gNB) or Tx UE. The Tx UE may also signal the set of candidate ending positions to the Rx UE via RRC signaling….)
receive sidelink control information (SCI) for scheduling a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH); (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] …..Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH. The associated PSSCH may have various multiplexing manners with the PSCCH. The SCI format may be used to indicate the starting position of the associated PSSCH to the Rx UE. …..claim 2)
receive the PSSCH based on the SCI; (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] …Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH…claim 2) and
transmit the PSFCH including hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)- acknowledgement (ACK) information in response to the PSSCH, (see paragraph [0033] [0043]…. After receiving the sidelink transmission from a Tx UE, an Rx UE may transmit a HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the sidelink transmission on a PSFCH to the Tx UE….. claim 16 fig. 3, 4)
Lei does not explicitly disclose wherein a slot for transmission of the PSFCH is determined to be a second slot based on information in the SCI, based on a first slot determined based on the configuration information not being included in a channel occupancy time (COT) for sharing channel occupancy. (see paragraph [0033] claim 16 fig. 3)
However WU explains determining whether it is possible for at least one receiver UE to provide, via a resource slot included in a COT, acknowledgment feedback for data transmission (see paragraph [0056],[0078] and [0086],[0090] claim 1 and 6) and if the resource slot, via which acknowledgment feedback can be provided, is not available, allowing monitoring of an acknowledgement feedback transmission window, and determined whether the at least one receiver UE is able to transmit acknowledgment feedback in a subsequent acknowledgment feedback transmission window (see claims 13-14)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine LEI with WU’s invention which can provide improvements in other multi-access technologies (see paragraph[0004]- [0006])
13. - 15. (Cancelled)
Regarding claim 16, Lei teaches a user equipment (UE) operating in a shared spectrum in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:
at least one transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal; and at least one processor for controlling the at least one transceiver,
wherein the at least one processor configured to:
transmit sidelink control information (SCI) for scheduling a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH); (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs[0031], [0035] …..Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH. The associated PSSCH may have various multiplexing manners with the PSCCH. The SCI format may be used to indicate the starting position of the associated PSSCH to the Rx UE. …..claim 2)
transmit the PSSCH based on the SCI; (see Lei Fig.3 paragraphs [0035] …Within each slot of the one or more slots, the sidelink transmission may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and an associated physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , which is scheduled by a sidelink control information (SCI) format carried on the PSCCH…claim 2) and
receive a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) including hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information in response to the PSSCH, (see Lei paragraph [0033] [0043]…. After receiving the sidelink transmission from a Tx UE, an Rx UE may transmit a HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the sidelink transmission on a PSFCH to the Tx UE….. claim 16 fig. 3, 4)
Lei Does not explicitly disclose wherein a slot for transmission of the PSFCH is determined to be a second slot based on information in the SCI, based on a first slot determined based on configuration information related to the PSFCH not being included in a channel occupancy time (COT) for sharing channel occupancy. (see paragraph [0033] claim 16 fig. 3)
However WU explains determining whether it is possible for at least one receiver UE to provide, via a resource slot included in a COT, acknowledgment feedback for data transmission (see paragraph [0056],[0078] and [0086],[0090] claim 1 and 6) and if the resource slot, via which acknowledgment feedback can be provided, is not available, allowing monitoring of an acknowledgement feedback transmission window, and determined whether the at least one receiver UE is able to transmit acknowledgment feedback in a subsequent acknowledgment feedback transmission window (see claims 13-14)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine LEI with WU’s invention which can provide improvements in other multi-access technologies (see paragraph [0004]- [0006])
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Gerald Smarth whose telephone number is (571) 270-1923. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 6am-4:30pm ET. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Avellino can be reached on 571-272-3905. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GERALD A SMARTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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