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 10/17/2024 AND 05/09/2025 is considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
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)(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, 3, 5-6, 11, 13 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xue et al. (US 2022/0029747; hereinafter Xue).
Regarding claim 1, Xue shows a user equipment (UE) (Figure 2 shows a UE 120 performing the method shown at least in Figures 9 and 11.) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:
a transceiver (Figure 2; Par. 0047; UE includes a transceiver.) configured to:
receive first information related to a sidelink operation on multiple sidelink carriers (Figures 8-9; Par. 0080, 0084, 0096-0097; receiving the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., another stage two SCI) that is associated with a PSSCH communication. In some aspects, the indication, including the polling SCI, may also include an indication of the one or more data channels of the secondary carrier to be used for the sidelink communications between the first UE 120-1 and the second UE 120-2), and
receive, via a sidelink control information (SCI) format, second information related to a first carrier from the multiple sidelink carriers for transmission of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (Figures 8-9; Par. 0084-0086, 0094-0097; receiving the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., a stage two SCI) that allocates the dynamic resource pool. The polling SCI may identify a dynamic PSFCH resource pool that includes one or more resources on the primary carrier allocated for transmitting the HARQ responses on the PSFCH for the sidelink communications on the secondary carrier.), wherein:
the PSFCH includes hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to reception of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (Figures 8-9; Par. 0055, 0071, 0095; The dynamic resource pool may be orthogonal to the primary PSFCH resource pool allocated for transmitting HARQ responses to sidelink communications on the primary carrier. The dynamic resource pool may include orthogonal resources for collecting sequence-based control information (e.g., the HARQ responses – ACK/NACK information).), and
reception of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) associated with the PSSCH is on a second carrier (Figure 3; Par. 0055; UE receives one or more sidelink channels including at least the PSCCH 315. The PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) 330, which may indicate various control information used for sidelink communications, such as one or more resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and/or spatial resources) where a transport block (TB) 335 may be carried on the PSSCH 320.); and
a processor (Figure 2; Par. 0047; UE includes a processor.) operably coupled to the transceiver (Figure 2; Par. 0047; UE includes a processor operably coupled to the transceiver.), the processor configured to determine a resource for transmission of the PSFCH on the first carrier from a sidelink resource pool of PSFCH resources associated with the first carrier (Figures 8-9; Par. 0084-0086, 0094-0097; identifying a dynamic PSFCH resource pool that includes one or more resources on the primary carrier allocated for transmitting the HARQ responses on the PSFCH for the sidelink communications on the secondary carrier.),
wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the PSFCH on the first carrier using the resource (Figures 8-9; Par. 0084-0086, 0094-0097; transmitting the HARQ responses over the PSFCH through the primary carrier using resources from the dynamic PSFCH resource pool.).
Regarding claim 3, Xue shows wherein: the PSSCH includes the SCI format (Figure 3; Par. 0055, 0059; The PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) 330, which may indicate various control information used for sidelink communications.), and
reception of the PSSCH is on the second carrier or in a third carrier (Par. 0107; For a PSSCH communication on the secondary carrier, the pseudo sub-channel index may be an index of the sub-channel of the primary carrier where the cross carrier indication associated with the PSSCH communication was transmitted.).
Regarding claim 5, Xue shows wherein: the SCI format schedules receptions of a number of PSSCHs on corresponding carriers from the multiple sidelink carriers (Par. 0085, 0096; the first UE 120-1 may transmit the pooling SCI via a PSSCH or outside of the PSSCH. In other words, the first UE 120-1 may transmit the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., a stage two SCI) that allocates the dynamic resource pool and a portion (e.g., another stage two SCI) that is associated with a PSSCH communication.),
the SCI format indicates the first carrier for transmissions of PSFCHs associated with the number of PSSCHs (Par. 0085; the indication may include a configuration that identifies the resources of the primary carrier 805 to be used by the second for HARQ responses 825 for the sidelink communications on the data channels 820 of the secondary carrier 810, and also indicate how the second UE is to perform resource selection for the identified resources.), and
the processor is further configured to determine PSFCH resources for transmissions of PSFCHs from the sidelink resource pool of PSFCH resources associated with the first carrier (Par. 0085; the indication may include a configuration that identifies the resources of the primary carrier 805 to be used by the second for HARQ responses 825 for the sidelink communications on the data channels 820 of the secondary carrier 810, and also indicate how the second UE is to perform resource selection for the identified resources.).
Regarding claim 6, Xue shows wherein: the SCI format schedules a number of receptions of the PSSCH on corresponding carriers from the multiple sidelink carriers (Par. 0085, 0096; the first UE 120-1 may transmit the pooling SCI via a PSSCH or outside of the PSSCH. In other words, the first UE 120-1 may transmit the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., a stage two SCI) that allocates the dynamic resource pool and a portion (e.g., another stage two SCI) that is associated with a PSSCH communication.),
the SCI format indicates the first carrier for transmissions of PSFCHs associated with the number of receptions of the PSSCH (Par. 0084-0086; the indication may include a configuration that identifies the resources of the primary carrier 805 to be used by the second for HARQ responses 825 for the sidelink communications on the data channels 820 of the secondary carrier 810, and also indicate how the second UE is to perform resource selection for the identified resources.), and
the transceiver is further configured to transmit the PSFCH with corresponding negative acknowledgment information (Par. 0054; The PSFCH 325 may be used to communicate sidelink feedback 340, such as HARQ feedback (e.g., acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information).).
Regarding claim 11, Xue shows a method performed by a user equipment (UE) (Figure 2 shows a UE 120 performing the method shown at least in Figures 9 and 11.) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving first information related to a sidelink operation on multiple sidelink carriers (Figures 8-9; Par. 0080, 0084, 0096-0097; receiving the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., another stage two SCI) that is associated with a PSSCH communication. In some aspects, the indication, including the polling SCI, may also include an indication of the one or more data channels of the secondary carrier to be used for the sidelink communications between the first UE 120-1 and the second UE 120-2);
receiving, via a sidelink control information (SCI) format, second information related to a first carrier from the multiple sidelink carriers for transmission of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) (Figures 8-9; Par. 0084-0086, 0094-0097; receiving the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., a stage two SCI) that allocates the dynamic resource pool. The polling SCI may identify a dynamic PSFCH resource pool that includes one or more resources on the primary carrier allocated for transmitting the HARQ responses on the PSFCH for the sidelink communications on the secondary carrier.), wherein:
the PSFCH includes hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to reception of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (Figures 8-9; Par. 0055, 0071, 0095; The dynamic resource pool may be orthogonal to the primary PSFCH resource pool allocated for transmitting HARQ responses to sidelink communications on the primary carrier. The dynamic resource pool may include orthogonal resources for collecting sequence-based control information (e.g., the HARQ responses – ACK/NACK information).), and
reception of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) associated with the PSSCH is on a second carrier (Figure 3; Par. 0055; UE receives one or more sidelink channels including at least the PSCCH 315. The PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) 330, which may indicate various control information used for sidelink communications, such as one or more resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and/or spatial resources) where a transport block (TB) 335 may be carried on the PSSCH 320.);
determining a resource for transmission of the PSFCH on the first carrier from a sidelink resource pool of PSFCH resources associated with the first carrier (Figures 8-9; Par. 0084-0086, 0094-0097; identifying a dynamic PSFCH resource pool that includes one or more resources on the primary carrier allocated for transmitting the HARQ responses on the PSFCH for the sidelink communications on the secondary carrier.); and
transmitting the PSFCH on the first carrier using the resource (Figures 8-9; Par. 0084-0086, 0094-0097; transmitting the HARQ responses over the PSFCH through the primary carrier using resources from the dynamic PSFCH resource pool.).
Regarding claims 13, 15 and 16, these claims are rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claims 3, 5 and 6, 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.
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.
Claim(s) 2, 4, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of Hosseini et al. (US 2023/0254096; hereinafter Hosseini).
Regarding claim 2, Xue shows the PSCCH includes the SCI format that schedules the reception of the PSSCH (Figure 3; Par. 0055, 0059; The PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) 330, which may indicate various control information used for sidelink communications. The UE 305 may generate sidelink grants, and may transmit the grants in SCI 330. A sidelink grant may indicate, in some aspects, one or more parameters (e.g., transmission parameters) to be used for an upcoming sidelink transmission, such as one or more resource blocks to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission on the PSSCH 320 (e.g., for TBs 335), one or more subframes to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission, an MCS to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission.)
Xue does not specifically show reception of the PSSCH is on the first carrier.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Hosseini. Specifically, Hosseini shows reception of the PSSCH is on the first carrier (Par. 0082; a single sidelink resource pool or sidelink component carrier may be assigned to carry sidelink HARQ-ACK feedback for a group of sidelink resource pools or sidelink component carriers when sidelink carrier aggregation is configured across a pair or group of UEs. In some aspects, within a group of sidelink component carriers with a PSFCH configuration, a single sidelink component carrier or a subset of sidelink component carriers for carrying the sidelink HARQ-ACK feedback may be indicated to a sidelink UE. For example, the sidelink UE may receive the indication from a base station or a relay node.).
In view of the above, having the system of Xue, then given the well-established teaching of Hosseini, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xue as taught by Hosseini, in order to provide motivation for increasing reliability of sidelink communications (Par. 0077 of Hosseini).
Regarding claim 4, Xue shows all of the elements except wherein: the transceiver is further configured to receive a mapping that associates a first set of carriers for PSSCH receptions with a second set of carriers for corresponding PSFCH transmissions, and the mapping is a one-to-one mapping or a many-to-one mapping.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Hosseini. Specifically, Hosseini shows wherein: the transceiver is further configured to receive a mapping that associates a first set of carriers for PSSCH receptions with a second set of carriers for corresponding PSFCH transmissions, and the mapping is a one-to-one mapping or a many-to-one mapping (Par. 0082; a single sidelink resource pool or sidelink component carrier may be assigned to carry sidelink HARQ-ACK feedback for a group of sidelink resource pools or sidelink component carriers when sidelink carrier aggregation is configured across a pair or group of UEs. In some aspects, within a group of sidelink component carriers with a PSFCH configuration, a single sidelink component carrier or a subset of sidelink component carriers for carrying the sidelink HARQ-ACK feedback may be indicated to a sidelink UE. For example, the sidelink UE may receive the indication from a base station or a relay node.).
In view of the above, having the system of Xue, then given the well-established teaching of Hosseini, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xue as taught by Hosseini, in order to provide motivation for increasing reliability of sidelink communications (Par. 0077 of Hosseini).
Regarding claims 12 and 14, these claims are rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claims 2 and 4, respectively.
Claim(s) 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of Pan et al. (US 2023/0309116; hereinafter Pan).
Regarding claim 7, Xue shows wherein reception of the PSCCH including the SCI format (Par. 0055; the PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) 330, which may indicate various control information used for sidelink communications.),
the SCI format schedules receptions of a number of PSSCHs on corresponding carriers from the multiple sidelink carriers (Par. 0085, 0096; the first UE 120-1 may transmit the pooling SCI via a PSSCH or outside of the PSSCH. In other words, the first UE 120-1 may transmit the polling SCI with a portion (e.g., a stage two SCI) that allocates the dynamic resource pool and a portion (e.g., another stage two SCI) that is associated with a PSSCH communication.), and
the primary carrier is one of the corresponding carriers (Par. 0059, 0085; In the transmission mode where resource selection and/or scheduling is performed by a UE 305, the UE 305 may generate sidelink grants, and may transmit the grants in SCI 330. A sidelink grant may indicate, in some aspects, one or more parameters (e.g., transmission parameters) to be used for an upcoming sidelink transmission, such as one or more resource blocks to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission on the PSSCH 320 (e.g., for TBs 335), one or more subframes to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission, an MCS to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission.).
Xue shows all of the elements except reception of the PSCCH is on a primary carrier.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Pan. Specifically, Pan shows reception of the PSCCH is on a primary carrier (Figure 4; Par. 0161; Regarding resources such as subchannels and/or resource pools for PSCCH and/or PSSCH is shown in FIG. 4, a primary carrier such as CC1 on the Tx UE side may represent resources, resource pools, resource partitioning, or resource pool partitioning for PSCCH and/or PSSCH.).
In view of the above, having the system of Xue, then given the well-established teaching of Pan, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xue as taught by Pan, in order to provide motivation for an efficient multi-carrier scheduling and operation for NR V2X with sidelink (Par. 0003 of Pan).
Regarding claim 17, this claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 7.
Claim(s) 8-9 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of Yang et al. (US 2021/0314921; hereinafter Yang).
Regarding claim 8, Xue shows all of the elements except wherein: the transceiver is further configured to receive a set of one or more numbers for repetitions of the PSFCH, and the processor is further configured to determine: a number of repetitions, from the set of one or more numbers for repetitions, and PSFCH resources for the transmission of the PSFCH with repetitions on the first carrier based on a higher layer parameter.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Yang. Specifically, Yang shows wherein: the transceiver is further configured to receive a set of one or more numbers for repetitions of the PSFCH, and the processor is further configured to determine: a number of repetitions, from the set of one or more numbers for repetitions, and PSFCH resources for the transmission of the PSFCH with repetitions on the first carrier based on a higher layer parameter (Figure 4; Par. 0080-0083; UE 102 receives the configuration information of the PSFCH including at least the repetition quantity information. The repetition quantity information of the configuration information is used to indicate a quantity of times that the configuration information of the PSFCH can be repeatedly used. If the first user equipment 101 periodically sends the data or the information to the second user equipment 102, or the first user equipment 101 wants to use the same configuration information of the PSFCH, the first user equipment 101 may determine, by configuring a quantity T.sub.1 of repetitions of the configuration information, that the current configuration information of the PSFCH can be repeatedly used. Two or more bits may be used to indicate the repetition quantity information of the configuration information.).
In view of the above, having the system of Xue, then given the well-established teaching of Yang, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xue as taught by Yang, in order to provide motivation for a reliable feedback mechanism for the sidelink.
Regarding claim 9, modified Xue shows wherein, when the set is more than one, the number of repetitions is based on a value of a field in the SCI format (Yang: Figure 4; Par. 0080-0083; UE 102 receives the configuration information of the PSFCH including at least the repetition quantity information. The repetition quantity information of the configuration information is used to indicate a quantity of times that the configuration information of the PSFCH can be repeatedly used. If the first user equipment 101 periodically sends the data or the information to the second user equipment 102, or the first user equipment 101 wants to use the same configuration information of the PSFCH, the first user equipment 101 may determine, by configuring a quantity T.sub.1 of repetitions of the configuration information, that the current configuration information of the PSFCH can be repeatedly used. Two or more bits may be used to indicate the repetition quantity information of the configuration information.).
Regarding claims 18 and 19, these claims are rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claims 8 and 9, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 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.
Examiner submits that none of the prior art references cited in this action teaches the claimed subject matter as specifically presented in the above dependent claims. The allowance of this application is based on an examination wherein the claim limitations recited in the dependent claims were not taken alone but in view of the scope of the claim(s) as a whole including any proceeding and/or preceding claim limitation(s) present within the claims and by their respective dependencies on other claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/REDENTOR PASIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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