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 .
Claims 1-17 are pending in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/29/2024 and 06/24/2025 were filed before the mailing of a First Office Action on the Merits. The information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention (METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION) is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al. [Li] (US 2022/0224497 A1).
Regarding claim 8,
Li discloses an apparatus for wireless communication, wherein the apparatus is a first device and comprises a memory and a processor, the memory is configured to store a program, and the processor is configured to call and run the program in the memory to cause the first device to perform (Li: Fig. 3, Refs. 300): determining a start time of a target contiguous partial sensing (CPS) sensing window based on an on duration of a second device (Li: see at least Fig. 16, Refs. 1006, ¶ 0083, the first UE may perform additional sensing, to acquire resource reservation information from one or more other UEs, for a set of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of one sidelink active time. ¶ 0128, the first device assumes or determines the sidelink on-duration active time of the second device based on a sidelink DRX on-duration timer configuration of the second device.), wherein a time interval between the start time of the target CPS sensing window and a start time of the on duration is less than or equal to a time duration of the CPS sensing window (Li: ¶ 0097, additional sensing…consists of the specific value (e.g., 31 slots, ¶ 0111) of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of each side-link active time; [Examiner’s Note: Li’s “starting boundary/timing of each side-link active time” corresponds directly to the claimed “start time of the “on-duration” and Li’s ‘additional sensing ..of contiguous slots” before that boundary defines the “start time of the target CPS sensing window”. Thus, the interval between the start of the sensing window and the start of the on-duration is exactly equal to the duration of the sensing window (e.g., 31 slots, ¶ 0111), satisfying the “less than or equal to” limitation]).
Regarding claim 9, Li discloses the apparatus of claim 8.
Li further discloses wherein determining the start time of the target CPS sensing window based on the on duration of the second device comprises: determining the start time of the target CPS sensing window based on the on duration and a candidate resource set, wherein the time interval between the start time of the target CPS sensing window and the start time of the on duration is less than or equal to the time duration of the CPS sensing window (Li: ¶ 0097, additional sensing…consists of the specific value (e.g., 31 slots, ¶ 0111) of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of each side-link active time; [Examiner’s Note: Thus, the interval between the start of the sensing window and the start of the on-duration is exactly equal to the duration of the sensing window (e.g., 31 slots, ¶ 0111), satisfying the “less than or equal to” limitation]), and a time interval between the start time of the target CPS sensing window and a start time of the first resource in the candidate resource set is less than or equal to the time duration of the CPS sensing window (Li: Fig. 15B, ¶ 0095, the first UE does not perform additional sensing before the specific value of (contiguous) slots (after the timing that the first UE (triggers to) performs the resource sensing (and selection)). Fig. 15C, ¶ 0096, if the first UE (triggers to) performs the resource sensing (and selection) in a timing within the specific value of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of the one sidelink active time, the first UE may start to perform additional sensing when the first UE (triggers to) performs the resource sensing (and selection); [Examiner’s Note: Li discloses that if a UE triggers resource sensing early, it waits to begin sensing until a specific number of slots before the on-duration, whereas it starts immediately if triggered within that window. Because the sensing window is always anchored to the start of the on-duration, the time interval between the start of the sensing window and the candidate resource matches (i.e., equal to) the total window duration).
Regarding claim 10, Li discloses the apparatus of claim 9.
Li further discloses wherein a time interval between the start time of the target CPS sensing window and a first time is equal to the time duration of the CPS sensing window (Li: ¶ 0097, additional sensing…consists of the specific value (e.g., 31 slots, ¶ 0111) of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of each side-link active time), the first time is the later of the start time of the on duration and the start time of the first resource in the candidate resource set (Li: Fig. 15B, ¶ 0095, the first UE does not perform additional sensing before the specific value of (contiguous) slots (after the timing that the first UE (triggers to) performs the resource sensing (and selection)). Fig. 15C, ¶ 0096, if the first UE (triggers to) performs the resource sensing (and selection) in a timing within the specific value of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of the one sidelink active time, the first UE may start to perform additional sensing when the first UE (triggers to) performs the resource sensing (and selection); [Examiner’s Note: Li discloses that if the UE triggers sensing early (i.e., “before the specific value of slots”), it waits to start sensing until the specific value of slots before the on-duration. If triggered within the window, it starts immediately. In all cases, the sensing window is anchored to the start of the on-duration (the ‘later’ event in the context of the window definition), making the interval equal to the window duration]).
Regarding claim 11, Li discloses the apparatus of claim 9.
Li further discloses wherein in response to the start time of the on duration being later than the start time of the first resource in the candidate resource set, the time interval between the start time of the target CPS sensing window and the start time of the on duration is equal to the time duration of the CPS sensing window (Li: ¶ 0097, additional sensing…consists of the specific value (e.g., 31 slots, ¶ 0111) of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of each side-link active time; [Examiner’s Note: Li discloses in ¶¶ 0097 and 0111, the additional sensing duration of 31 contiguous slots immediately preceding the side-link active time. When the start time of the on-duration is later than the first candidate resource, the time interval between the start of the CPS sensing window and the start of the on-duration equals this 31-slot duration, thereby satisfying the "equal to" limitation]; and in response to the start time of the first resource in the candidate resource set being later than the start time of the on duration, the time interval between the start time of the target CPS sensing window and the start time of the first resource in the candidate resource set is equal to the time duration of the CPS sensing window (Li: ¶ 0085, the first UE may trigger resource sensing and selection in slot 210, while the first UE does not perform additional sensing in slot [210, 219], as shown in FIG. 15B. ¶ 0095, first UE does not perform additional sensing in a time gap between the timing of (triggering to) performing the resource sensing (and selection) and the first slot of the specific value of (contiguous) slots before starting boundary/timing of the one sidelink active time; [Examiner’s Note: Because the first candidate resource starts after the on-duration begins, the time gap between the fixed start of the sensing window and the start of the first candidate resource equals the predefined duration of the sensing window]).
Regarding claim 12, Li discloses the apparatus of claim 9.
Li further discloses wherein the candidate resource set is a set of resources selected based on periodic-based partial sensing (PBPS) (Li: ¶ 0050, acquiring sidelink resources, it specifies (periodic-based) partial sensing for sidelink transmission. ¶ 0075, multiple sidelink active times, e.g., the partial/periodic sensing results as shown in FIG. 13).
Regarding claim 13, Li discloses the apparatus of claim 8.
Li further discloses wherein the time duration of the CPS sensing window is 31 slots (Li: ¶ 0111, the specific value is 31. ¶ 0077, T4 may be 31. ¶ 0085, assuming 31 slots are required for additional sensing (e.g., the specific value is 31)).
Regarding claim 14, Li discloses the apparatus of claim 8.
Li further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to call and run the program in the memory to cause the first device to perform: determining a resource selection set according to a sensing result in the CPS sensing window (Li: Fig. 16, refs. 1008, The first device determines/selects a first sidelink resource based on at least sensing result of the additional sensing. ¶ 0078, UE may select one or more sidelink resources from the valid/identified resources, and then perform sidelink transmission(s) on the selected one or more sidelink resources); selecting a target time-frequency resource from the resource selection set (Li: ¶ 0078, the received SCI may schedule/indicate the sidelink resource(s) via "Frequency resource assignment" field and "Time resource assignment field", and/or "Resource reservation period" field); and transmitting sidelink data to the second device on the target time-frequency resource (Li: Fig. 16, Refs. 1010, ¶ 0102, At step 1010, the first device performs a first (control and/or data) sidelink transmission on the first sidelink resource for transmitting a sidelink data to the second device.).
Features of claims 1-7 and 15-17 correspond to features of claims 8-14, and are therefore rejected using the same rationale and same prior art applied to claims 8-14, above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Li (US 2022/0400469 A1); Li teaches how a wireless device picks sidelink transmission resources when it cannot sense every possible time slot. Sidelink is direct device-to-device communication, such as in V2X or other NR sidelink use cases. The device first triggers a partial sensing-based selection process in a sidelink resource pool. It then forms a list of candidate time intervals within a resource-selection window and treats the resources in those intervals as candidate sidelink resources. If the device did not sense during an intermediate time interval, it removes candidate resources linked to that unsensed interval. The idea is to avoid relying on unknown channel/resource conditions from times the device never monitored. The device can also use sensed control signaling in later monitored intervals to exclude more candidates. In one embodiment, the device may work with periodic sensing occasions tied to configured reservation periods. In another embodiment, it may work with a contiguous partial sensing window. After excluding unsuitable candidates, the device keeps a reduced set of sidelink resources. It then chooses one or more of those resources and transmits the sidelink data. The disclosure is framed around improving sidelink resource selection while reducing sensing burden and power use. See ¶¶ [0005, 77-83, 137-147].
Huang et al. (US 2021/0314821 A1); Huang et al. teaches how a wireless device chooses sidelink transmission resources when devices communicate directly with each other, such as in vehicle-to-everything or device-to-device links. The invention focuses on resource reservation periods, which tell other devices when a transmission may repeat or reserve future opportunities. The device is configured with a sidelink resource pool and a list of possible reserved periods. It then picks a reserved period and uses a scaling rule to decide how many transmission opportunities are associated with that period. For shorter reserved periods, the device may scale the number of reserved opportunities differently than for longer periods. In some versions, the scaling factor is based on the largest reserved period in a first group, while in other versions it is based on a different reference value. The device may also randomly choose an integer within a scaled interval, and that integer acts as the count of transmission opportunities. The selected count is then used for transmitting one transport block on one of those opportunities. The specification also describes alternatives for handling very short reservation periods so that sensing and resource selection do not become overly dense or interfere with other transmissions. The specification also describes variants where the scaling factor is based on a different reference value, a step level, a first window, or RSRP-based thresholds. See ¶¶ [0058-69, 118-133, 139-145].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAJDI ALSOMIRI whose telephone number is (571) 270-0427. The examiner can normally be reached 7AM-5PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at (571) 270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.A./Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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