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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/30/24 is being considered by the examiner.
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 1, 2, 26, 33-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Duan et al (Pub No: 2024/0340123), herein Qualcomm (citations from family publication WO 2023/114589).
As to claim 1, Qualcomm teaches a first terminal (Qualcomm, Fig 13, a UE), comprising: a processor (Qualcomm, Fig 13, a processor) configured to determine a resource allocation pattern to be used in a joint transmission to a second terminal (Qualcomm, [0091][0112], determining a resource allocation/interleaving pattern for OFDM resources for RF signals), the resource allocation pattern being determined based on a terminal capability of the first terminal (Qualcomm, [00112][0128], the resource allocation pattern for interleaving based on utilizing processing capability at the receiver); and
a transmitter (Qualcomm, Fig 13, a transmitter) that transmits, to the second terminal, a first signal indicating the resource allocation pattern to be used in the joint transmission (Qualcomm, [0091][0112] [0121], sending the configuration data of a resource allocation/interleaving pattern for OFDM resources for RF signals), the resource allocation pattern including a first set of resources allocated for communication and a second set of resources allocated for sensing (Qualcomm, [0113] Fig 7-9, the allocations that are sent are for sensing resource allocation jointly with data communication resource allocation).
As to claim 2, Qualcomm teaches wherein: the second terminal is a base station (Qualcomm, [0081], the other terminal may be a base station), the transmitter further transmits, to the base station and before the resource allocation pattern is determined, the terminal capability indicating resource allocation support information (Qualcomm, Fig 10 1020 [0119], the network entity is first sent information relating to the capability of the MIMO antenna terminal), and the receiver further receives, from the base station, signaling suggesting the resource allocation pattern to be used in the joint transmission, the resource allocation pattern being determined by the base station based on the terminal capability of the first terminal (Qualcomm, [00112][0128], receiving the resource allocation pattern for interleaving based on utilizing processing capability at the receiver)
As to claim 26, Qualcomm teaches a computer readable-medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one computer processor, cause the at least one computer processor (Qualcomm, Fig 13, a UE with processor and memory),to:
determine a resource allocation pattern to be used in a joint transmission to a second terminal (Qualcomm, [0091][0112], determining a resource allocation/interleaving pattern for OFDM resources for RF signals), the resource allocation pattern being determined based on a terminal capability of the first terminal (Qualcomm, [00112][0128], the resource allocation pattern for interleaving based on utilizing processing capability at the receiver); and
configure a transmitter to transmit, to the second terminal, a first signal indicating the resource allocation pattern to be used in the joint transmission (Qualcomm, [0091][0112] [0121], sending the configuration data of a resource allocation/interleaving pattern for OFDM resources for RF signals), the resource allocation pattern including a first set of resources allocated for communication and a second set of resources allocated for sensing (Qualcomm, [0113] Fig 7-9, the allocations that are sent are for sensing resource allocation jointly with data communication resource allocation).
As to claim 33, Qualcomm teaches wherein at least one part of the second set of resources allocated for sensing overlap the first set of resources allocated for communication in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0091], an overlap of resources).
As to claim 34, Qualcomm teaches wherein an entirety of the second set of resources allocated for sensing overlap the first set of resources allocated for communication in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0091], an overlap of resources).
As to claim 35, Qualcomm teaches wherein none of the second set of resources allocated for sensing overlap the first set of resources allocated for communication in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0161], an do not overlap of resources)..
As to claim 36, Qualcomm teaches wherein: the first set of resources allocated for communication includes a plurality of communication instances, and the second set of resources allocated for sensing includes a plurality of sensing instances (Qualcomm, Fig 7-9 a plurality of sensing resource allocations).
As to claim 37, Qualcomm teaches wherein the second set of resources allocated for sensing are fixed in a frequency domain during each sensing instance in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0170], the sensing resource allocation are in a frequency domain).
As to claim 38, Qualcomm teaches wherein the second set of resources allocated for sensing hop in a frequency domain during each sensing instance in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0170], the sensing resource allocation are in a frequency domain).
As to claim 39, Qualcomm teaches wherein the second set of resources allocated for sensing are allocated in two or more frequency bands in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0064], multiple different frequency bands).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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, 41, 46-49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qualcomm as applied to claims above, and further in view of Idac (WO 2021/030685).
As to claim 3, Qualcomm teaches sensing and communication resources jointly interleaved (Qualcomm, [0113] Fig 7-9, the allocations that are sent are for sensing resource allocation jointly with data communication resource allocation).
Qualcomm does not explicitly teach wherein the joint transmission is a joint communication and sensing (JCAS) transmission configured to perform a collision control procedure in a communication network including the terminal and the base station.
However, Idac teaches the joint transmission is a joint communication and sensing (JCAS) transmission (Idac, [0003] a joint communication and sensing signal transmission) configured to perform a collision control procedure in a communication network including the terminal and the base station (Idac, [0054], performing a collision avoidance communication).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “JCS and collision avoidance” as taught by Idac in the system of Ref-1, so that it would reduce overhead and be efficient (Idac [0002]).
As to claim 41, Qualcomm teaches a method in a communication network (Qualcomm, Fig 10, a method in a network), comprising:
transmitting, by a terminal, a terminal capability indicating resource allocation support information to a base station (Qualcomm, Fig 10 1020 [0119], the network entity is first sent information relating to the capability of the MIMO antenna terminal); receiving, at the terminal, determining, by the base station and based on the resource allocation support information, a resource allocation pattern for a joint transmission to be performed by the terminal (Qualcomm, [0091][0112], determining a resource allocation/interleaving pattern for OFDM resources for RF signals), wherein the resource allocation pattern is determined by the base station and based on the resource allocation support information (Qualcomm, [00112][0128], the resource allocation pattern for interleaving based on utilizing processing capability at the receiver), and wherein the resource allocation pattern including includes a first set of resources allocated for communication and a second set of resources allocated for sensing (Qualcomm, [0113] Fig 7-9, the allocations that are sent are for sensing resource allocation jointly with data communication resource allocation); transmitting, by the base station, signaling indicating the resource allocation pattern to the terminal (Qualcomm, [0091][0112] [0121], sending the configuration data of a resource allocation/interleaving pattern for OFDM resources for RF signals); and implementing, by the terminal, the resource allocation pattern in the joint transmission (Qualcomm, [0130], using in transmission the allocation pattern).
Qualcomm does not explicitly teach performing a collision control procedure.
However, Idac teaches performing a collision control procedure (Idac, [0054], performing a collision avoidance communication).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “collision avoidance” as taught by Idac in the system of Ref-1, so that it would reduce overhead and be efficient (Idac [0002]).
As to claim 46, the combination of Qualcomm and Idac teaches wherein none of the second set of resources allocated for sensing overlap the first set of resources allocated for communication in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0091], an overlap of resources).
As to claim 47, the combination of Qualcomm and Idac teaches wherein the second set of resources allocated for sensing are fixed in a frequency domain during each sensing instant in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0170], the sensing resource allocation are in a frequency domain).
As to claim 48, the combination of Qualcomm and Idac teaches wherein the second set of resources allocated for sensing hop in a frequency domain during each sensing instant in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0170], the sensing resource allocation are in a frequency domain).
As to claim 49, the combination of Qualcomm and Idac teaches wherein the second set of resources allocated for sensing are allocated in two or more frequency bands in the resource allocation pattern (Qualcomm, [0064], multiple different frequency bands).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
EP 3785478 (Detailed Description)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM -5:00 PM.
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/AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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