DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the original application filed on 10/28/2024. Claims 1-20 are
pending in the application.
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 Objections
3. Claims 1, 7, 11, and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, in line 2, “first channel occupancy time COT” should be replaced by “first channel occupancy time (COT)”
Claim 1, in line 3-4, “second channel occupancy time COT “second COT”
Claim 7, in line 3, “a first RSRP” should be replaced by “a first reference signal received power (RSRP)”
Claim 11, in line 6, “first channel occupancy time COT” should be replaced by “first channel occupancy time (COT)”
Claim 11, in line 7, “second channel occupancy time COT “second COT”
Claim 17, in line 3, “a first RSRP” should be replaced by “a first reference signal received power (RSRP)”
Appropriate corrections are required.
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 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.
(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 1-7 and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being
anticipated by XUE et al. (US 2022/0061095 Al, hereinafter “Xue”).
Regarding claim 1, Xue discloses:
A resource determining method, comprising (method includes determining, based on a projected listen-before-talk (LBT) completion time, at least one of a sensing window or a first resource selection window; sensing, based on the determining, in a sidelink resource pool, Xue: [0007]):
determining, by a first terminal device, first channel occupancy time COT reservation information of the first terminal device and one or more pieces of second channel occupancy time COT reservation information of a second terminal device (the first sidelink UE 215 may indicate that the COT is for sharing by transmitting a COT-structure indicator (COT-SI) at the beginning of the COT and may indicate COT sharing information in the COT-SI. For instance, the COT-SI may indicate a remaining duration in the COT for sharing with another sidelink UE. a sidelink resource pool (e.g., the sidelink resource pool 408) may include a first type of resources that require a CAT4 LBT (a type 1 LBT) prior to transmitting in the resources and may include a second type of resources (shared by other UEs via UE-to-UE COT sharing) that require a CAT2 LBT (a type 2 LBT) prior to transmitting in the resources. The COT-SI may provide COT sharing information, for example, indicating the time and the duration during which another sidelink UE may share the COT, Xue: [0175], [0178]); and
performing, by the first terminal device, resource exclusion on a first COT candidate resource set based on the first COT reservation information and the one or more pieces of second COT reservation information, to obtain an updated first COT candidate resource set (The PHY layer may identify the candidate resources ( available resources) within the resource selection window by excluding resources in the resource selection window based on SCI decoding and signal measurements in the sensing window and traffic priority associated with a MAC PDU to be transmitted over the sidelink channel. the PHY layer may exclude candidate resources that are shared by another UE (e.g., based on the record generated during sensing. UE may filter the resources in the resource selection window based on the decoded SCI, signal measurements, and/or a traffic priority associated with a sidelink transmission., Xue: [0180]-[0181], [0190], [0217]),
wherein the updated first COT candidate resource set is used by the first terminal device and/ or a third terminal device for sidelink transmission (PHY layer identifies candidate resources within a resource selection window (e.g., the resource selection window shown in FIG. 12) based on sensing results in a sensing window. the UE transmits, to a second UE using the selected first resource, the sidelink transmission, Xue: Fig. 12, [0175]-[0176], [0180], [0219]).
Regarding claim 11, Xue discloses:
A communication apparatus, comprising (a wireless communication device, such as a UE, Xue: [0151]):
one or more processors (UE may include a processor, Xue: [0199]); and
at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions, and when executing the instructions stored in the memory, the one or more processors executes operations comprising (The memory may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of the processor), random access memory (RAM). The memory may store, or have recorded thereon, instructions. The instructions may include instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations, Xue: [0201]):
determining first channel occupancy time COT reservation information of a first terminal device and one or more pieces of second channel occupancy time COT reservation information of a second terminal device (the first sidelink UE 215 may indicate that the COT is for sharing by transmitting a COT-structure indicator (COT-SI) at the beginning of the COT and may indicate COT sharing information in the COT-SI. For instance, the COT-SI may indicate a remaining duration in the COT for sharing with another sidelink UE. a sidelink resource pool (e.g., the sidelink resource pool 408) may include a first type of resources that require a CAT4 LBT (a type 1 LBT) prior to transmitting in the resources and may include a second type of resources (shared by other UEs via UE-to-UE COT sharing) that require a CAT2 LBT (a type 2 LBT) prior to transmitting in the resources. The COT-SI may provide COT sharing information, for example, indicating the time and the duration during which another sidelink UE may share the COT, Xue: [0175], [0178]); and
performing resource exclusion on a first COT candidate resource set based on the first COT reservation information and the one or more pieces of second COT reservation information, to obtain an updated first COT candidate resource set (The PHY layer may identify the candidate resources ( available resources) within the resource selection window by excluding resources in the resource selection window based on SCI decoding and signal measurements in the sensing window and traffic priority associated with a MAC PDU to be transmitted over the sidelink channel. the PHY layer may exclude candidate resources that are shared by another UE (e.g., based on the record generated during sensing. UE may filter the resources in the resource selection window based on the decoded SCI, signal measurements, and/or a traffic priority associated with a sidelink transmission., Xue: [0180]-[0181], [0190], [0217]),
wherein the updated first COT candidate resource set is used by the first terminal device and/ or a third terminal device for sidelink transmission (PHY layer identifies candidate resources within a resource selection window (e.g., the resource selection window shown in FIG. 12) based on sensing results in a sensing window. the UE transmits, to a second UE using the selected first resource, the sidelink transmission, Xue: Fig. 12, [0175]-[0176], [0180], [0219]).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 11above.
Xue further discloses:
determining, by the first terminal device, the first COT candidate resource set (PHY layer may determine a start of the resource selection window based on the Tl duration (provided by the MAC layer) after the resource selection trigger and may determine an end of the resource selection window based on the T2 duration. PHY layer may determine the resource selection window and the sensing window based on Tl and T2 durations. PHY layer may identify the candidate resources (available resources) within the resource selection window by excluding resources in the resource selection window based on SCI decoding SCI decoding. Xue: [0105]-[0106], [0180]-[0181]); and
the determining, by the first terminal device, the first COT candidate resource set comprises: selecting, by the first terminal device from a resource selection window based on a preset time domain and a preset frequency domain, all COT transmission resources that meet the preset time domain and the preset frequency domain as first COT candidate resources, to obtain the first COT candidate resource set (The first UE may select at least a first resource from the subset of resources and transmit a sidelink transmission to a second UE using the selected first resource. A sidelink resource pool may refer to a set of time and frequency resources that may be used for sidelink operations. MAC layer at the UE may select multiple resources (e.g., 2, 3, or 4) from a set of candidate resources provided by a PHY layer 304 at the UE, Xue: [0043]-[0045], [0073], [0150]).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 11above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the second COT reservation information indicates resources for second COT transmission, and the resources for the second COT transmission are used by the second terminal device and/ or a plurality of fourth terminal devices for sidelink transmission (UE may select an earliest available resource from the set of candidate resources as a first resource and select a next available resource from the set of candidate resources as the second resource. PHY layer may monitor the resources in the sidelink resource pool for information associated with COT sharing opportunities. For instance, a sidelink UE may also include a COT-SI in SCI in addition to reservation and/or scheduling information. The COT-SI may provide COT sharing information, for example, indicating the time and the duration during which another sidelink UE may share the COT, Xue: [0150], [0178]).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 11above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the first COT reservation information comprises one or more of the following (UE may select an earliest available resource from the subset of resources as the first resource, and select a next available resource from the subset of resources as the second resource. first sidelink UE may indicate that the COT is for sharing by transmitting a COT-structure indicator (COT-SI) at the beginning of the COT and may indicate COT sharing information in the COT-SI. Xue: [0150], [0175], [0224]):
resources for first COT transmission;
a priority value of the first COT transmission (PHY layer may use a combination of SCI decoding, signal measurements, and/or priority information to identify candidate resources. Also, examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “one or more” in the limitation, Xue: [0106]); and
a periodicity of the first COT transmission, wherein
the resources for the first COT transmission are used by the first terminal device and/or the one or more third terminal devices for sidelink transmission, the priority value of the first COT transmission is a smallest value in priority values of the transmission by the first terminal device and/ or the one or more third terminal devices (PHY layer may exclude resources in the resource selection window that are to be used for transmissions with a higher traffic priority than the UE, Xue: [0106]),
and the periodicity of the first COT transmission is determined based on periodicities of the transmission by the first terminal device and/ or the one or more third terminal devices (the first sidelink UE may not utilize the entire duration of the COT, and may allow another sidelink UE (e.g., a third sidelink UE) to share the remaining duration of the COT. , Xue: [0175]).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 3 and 13 above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein each piece of second COT reservation information comprises one or more of the following (UE may select an earliest available resource from the subset of resources as the first resource, and select a next available resource from the subset of resources as the second resource. Xue: [0150], [0224]):
the resources for the second COT transmission;
a priority value of the second COT transmission (PHY layer may use a combination of SCI decoding, signal measurements, and/or priority information to identify candidate resources. Also, examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “one or more” in the limitation, Xue: [0106]); and
a periodicity of the second COT transmission, wherein
the priority value of the second COT transmission is a smallest value in priority values of the transmission by the second terminal device and/or the plurality of fourth terminal devices (PHY layer may exclude resources in the resource selection window that are to be used for transmissions with a higher traffic priority than the UE, Xue: [0106]),
and the periodicity of the second COT transmission is determined based on periodicities of the transmission by the second terminal device and/ or the plurality of fourth terminal devices (the first sidelink UE may not utilize the entire duration of the COT, and may allow another sidelink UE (e.g., a third sidelink UE) to share the remaining duration of the COT, Xue: [0175]).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 11 above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the performing, by the first terminal device, resource exclusion on a first COT candidate resource set based on the first COT reservation information and the one or more pieces of second COT reservation information, to obtain an updated first COT candidate resource set comprises (The PHY layer may identify the candidate resources ( available resources) within the resource selection window by excluding resources in the resource selection window based on SCI decoding and signal measurements in the sensing window and traffic priority associated with a MAC PDU to be transmitted over the sidelink channel. the PHY layer may exclude candidate resources that are shared by another UE (e.g., based on the record generated during sensing, Xue: [0180]-[0181], [0190]):
excluding, by the first terminal device based on the first COT reservation information and the one or more pieces of second COT reservation information, first COT candidate resources that meet a first condition from the first COT candidate resource set, to obtain the updated first COT candidate resource set (UE may filter the resources in the resource selection window based on the decoded SCI, signal measurements, and/or a traffic priority associated with a sidelink transmission, Xue: [0217]).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 6 and 16 above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the first condition is any one or more of the following:
a first RSRP measurement value of the first COT candidate resource is greater than a first RSRP threshold, wherein the first RSRP measurement value of the first COT candidate resource is equal to a first RSRP measurement value of the second COT transmission, and the first RSRP measurement value of the second COT transmission is a largest value in RSRP measurement values of resources that are for the second COT transmission and that overlap with the first COT candidate resources, or the first RSRP measurement value of the second COT transmission is a largest value in RSRP measurement values of all the resources for the second COT transmission; and
the first RSRP threshold is determined based on the priority value of the first COT transmission comprised in the first COT reservation information and the priority value of the second COT transmission comprised in the second COT reservation information (The PHY layer may use a combination of SCI decoding, signal measurements, and/or priority information to identify candidate resources. PHY layer may exclude resources in the resource selection window based on resources within the sensing window that have signal measurements (e.g., RSRP and/or RSSI) higher than a certain signal threshold and a predicted resource usage pattern. Also, examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “any one or more” in the limitation, Xue: [0079], [0106]);
the first COT candidate resources overlap with transmission resources that are reserved by the one or more second terminal devices based on the periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission; and
transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on the periodicity of the first COT transmission overlap with the transmission resources that are reserved by the one or more second terminal devices based on the periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission.
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that
are applied 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.
Claims 8-10 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of He
et al. (US 2020/0037343 Al, hereinafter “He”).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 11 above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the second COT reservation information is for determining resources for third COT transmission, wherein the resources for the third COT transmission comprise (UE may select an earliest available resource from the set of candidate resources as a first resource and select a next available resource from the set of candidate resources as the second resource. PHY layer may monitor the resources in the sidelink resource pool for information associated with COT sharing opportunities. For instance, a sidelink UE may also include a COT-SI in SCI in addition to reservation and/or scheduling information. The COT-SI may provide COT sharing information, for example, indicating the time and the duration during which another sidelink UE may share the COT. Xue: [0150], [0178]):
Xue does not explicitly disclose:
transmission resources that are in resources for second COT transmission and that overlap with the first COT candidate resources, and/or resources that are for the second COT transmission and on which transmission resources that are reserved from the resources for the second COT transmission based on a periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission overlap with transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on a periodicity of first COT transmission.
However, in the same field of endeavor, He teaches:
transmission resources that are in resources for second COT transmission and that overlap with the first COT candidate resources, and/or resources that are for the second COT transmission and on which transmission resources that are reserved from the resources for the second COT transmission based on a periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission overlap with transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on a periodicity of first COT transmission (The time resources used by the two channels are the same. In yet another instance, a part of PSCCH and the associated PSSCH are transmitted using overlapping time resources in non-overlapping frequency resources. If the gNB knows an overlapped resource reserved by another UE for transmission of a packet with lower priority than that of the scheduled UE (e.g., by reports from UEs to gNB) and the gNB cannot find other available resources for the UE, the gNB may still schedule the overlapped resources for the UE and carry a preemption indication in the DCI format to signal to the UE the resources the UE can preempt. transmissions in time of LTE and NR V2X are known to each RAT and a UE behavior when LTE and NR V2X sidelink transmissions overlap in time is provided (coordination details and UE assistance for coordination are provided), He: [0142], [0153]-[0154]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xue in view of He in order to further modify transmission resources that are in resources for second COT transmission and that overlap with the first COT candidate resources, and/or resources that are for the second COT transmission and on which transmission resources that are reserved from the resources for the second COT transmission based on a periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission overlap with transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on a periodicity of first COT transmission from the teachings of He.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because if the resources that are scheduled and exclude the overlapped resources reserved by another UE are sufficient for the transmission, the gNB may indicate to the UE in the DCI format that the overlapped resources may not be used by the UE (He: [0154).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Xue teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 11 above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the first COT reservation information is for determining resources for fourth COT transmission (The first UE may select at least a first resource from the subset of resources and transmit a sidelink transmission to a second UE using the selected first resource, Xue: [0043]), wherein
Xue does not explicitly disclose:
the resources for the fourth COT transmission comprise: first COT candidate resources that overlap with resources for second COT transmission, and first COT candidate resources on which transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on a periodicity of first COT transmission overlap with transmission resources that are reserved from the resources for the second COT transmission based on a periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission.
However, in the same field of endeavor, He teaches:
the resources for the fourth COT transmission comprise: first COT candidate resources that overlap with resources for second COT transmission, and first COT candidate resources on which transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on a periodicity of first COT transmission overlap with transmission resources that are reserved from the resources for the second COT transmission based on a periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission (The time resources used by the two channels are the same. In yet another instance, a part of PSCCH and the associated PSSCH are transmitted using overlapping time resources in non-overlapping frequency resources. If the gNB knows an overlapped resource reserved by another UE for transmission of a packet with lower priority than that of the scheduled UE (e.g., by reports from UEs to gNB) and the gNB cannot find other available resources for the UE, the gNB may still schedule the overlapped resources for the UE and carry a preemption indication in the DCI format to signal to the UE the resources the UE can preempt. transmissions in time of LTE and NR V2X are known to each RAT and a UE behavior when LTE and NR V2X sidelink transmissions overlap in time is provided (coordination details and UE assistance for coordination are provided), He: [0142], [0153]-[0154]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xue in view of He in order to further modify transmission resources that are in resources for second COT transmission and that overlap with the first COT candidate resources, and/or resources that are for the second COT transmission and on which transmission resources that are reserved from the resources for the second COT transmission based on a periodicity corresponding to the second COT transmission overlap with transmission resources that are reserved from the first COT candidate resources based on a periodicity of first COT transmission from the teachings of He.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because if the resources that are scheduled and exclude the overlapped resources reserved by another UE are sufficient for the transmission, the gNB may indicate to the UE in the DCI format that the overlapped resources may not be used by the UE (He: [0154).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Xue in view of He teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 8 and 18 above.
Xue further discloses:
wherein the second COT reservation information comprises one or more of the following (UE may select an earliest available resource from the set of candidate resources as a first resource and select a next available resource from the set of candidate resources as the second resource. PHY layer may monitor the resources in the sidelink resource pool for information associated with COT sharing opportunities. For instance, a sidelink UE may also include a COT-SI in SCI in addition to reservation and/or scheduling information. The COT-SI may provide COT sharing information, for example, indicating the time and the duration during which another sidelink UE may share the COT. Xue: [0150], [0178]):
the resources for the third COT transmission; and
a second priority value of each transmission on the resources for the third COT transmission (The PHY layer may use a combination of SCI decoding, signal measurements, and/or priority information to identify candidate resources. The PHY layer may identify the candidate resources (available resources) within the resource selection window by excluding resources in the resource selection window based on SCI decoding SCI decoding and signal measurements in the sensing window and traffic priority associated with a MAC PDU to be transmitted over the sidelink channel, Also, examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “one or more” in the limitation. Xue: [0079], [0167], [0170]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
References considered relevant to this application are listed in the attached “Notice of References Cited” (PTO-892).
WU et al. (US 2023/0224959 Al); See Fig. 3, [0098]-[0101].
Liu et al. (US 2022/0070925 Al); See Fig. 5, [0105]-[0110], [0118]-[0124].
ZHAO et al. (US 2023/0232375 Al); See Fig. 7, [0107]-[0110].
ZHOU et al. (US 2024/0187936 Al); See Fig. 4, [0095]-[0097], [0163]-[0164].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be
directed to SANG C LEE whose telephone number is (703)756-1461. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM ET.
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, HASSAN PHILLIPS can be reached on (571)272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/S.C.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/MOHAMMED S CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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