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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see REMARKS/ARGUMENTS, filed on 08/06/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-2, 4-8, and 10-12 have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. The factual inquiries 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.
7. Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Si et al., (Pub. No.: US 2023/0299892 A1), in view of Liu et al., (Pub. No.: US 2026/0271027 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Si discloses a terminal configured to operate in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: (Si, paragraph [0005] wireless communication system, Fig. 1, paragraph [0030], [0032], wireless network 100, UE 111 which is a terminal, Fig. 3, paragraphs [0048]-[0049] UE 116)
a processor configured to: (Si, Fig. 3, paragraph [0049] processor 340)
receive a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) on a plurality of resource block (RB) sets; (Si, paragraph [0005] discloses transceiver configured to receive a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), further, paragraphs [0005]-[0006] disclose plurality of RB sets (i.e. first set of RBs, and second set of RBs), Fig. 10, paragraph [0202], a UE receives a PSSCH (block 1001), Fig. 9A, paragraph [0093] multiple RB-sets, Abstract, Fig. 7, and Fig. 10 disclose PSSCH) and
transmit a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) comprising hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the PSSCH, (Si, Abstract, transmitting the PSFCH carrying the HARQ feedback, paragraph [0005] configured to transmit, PSFCH carrying the HARQ feedback, Fig. 6, paragraph [0081] PSFCH is transmitted, Fig. 9A, paragraph [0093], paragraph [0107], [0112], [0116], PSFCH is transmitted, Fig. 9B, paragraphs [0121]-[0132] PSFCH transmission, Fig. 9C, paragraph [0158] PSFCH transmission, Fig. 9D PSFCH is transmitted, Fig. 10, paragraph [0202] UE transmits the PSFCH carrying the HARQ feedback, Abstract, Fig. 7, and Fig. 10 disclose PSSCH)
wherein the PSFCH is transmitted on a resource associated with an RB set corresponding to a lowest index among the plurality of RB sets, (Si, Abstract, Fig. 6, paragraph [0081] PSFCH is transmitted, Fig. 9A, paragraph [0093], paragraph [0107], [0112], [0116], PSFCH is transmitted, Fig. 9B, paragraphs [0121]-[0132] PSFCH transmission, Fig. 9C, paragraph [0158] PSFCH transmission, Fig. 9D PSFCH is transmitted, Fig. 10, paragraph [0202] UE transmits the PSFCH carrying the HARQ feedback, Abstract, Fig. 7, and Fig. 10 disclose PSSCH, paragraphs [0005]-[0006] disclose plurality of RB sets (i.e. first set of RBs, and second set of RBs), Fig. 9A, paragraph [0093] multiple RB-sets)
wherein the HARQ-ACK information is mapped to at the least one PRB in the second interlace. (Si, Abstract, paragraphs [0005]-[0006] disclose HARQ feedback which is HARQ-ACK feedback, Fig. 10, paragraph [0202] discloses HARQ feedback, Fig. 7, paragraph [0083] discloses a single PRB, and PRBs)
Si does not explicitly disclose wherein the resource for transmission of the PSFCH comprises a plurality of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in a first interlace within the RB set and at least one PRB in a second interlace within the RB set,
wherein the plurality of PRBs in the first interlace are commonly configured for terminals.
However, Si in view of Liu disclose wherein the resource for transmission of the PSFCH comprises a plurality of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in a first interlace within the RB set and at least one PRB in a second interlace within the RB set,
wherein the plurality of PRBs in the first interlace are commonly configured for terminals. (Ye, ¶ a PSFCH resource for a PSFCH transmission in an RB set. Specifically, the frequency resource of a PSFCH resource corresponds to the PRBs of an interlace which are within an RB set; also ¶ 0224 ; discloses interlaced PSFCH transmission is configured in a resource pool, the information B may indicate a set of interlaces that are used for PSFCH transmission)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be motivated to combine the teachings of Si before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with that of Liu so that wherein the resource for transmission of the PSFCH comprises a first interlace including a first plurality of physical resource blocks (PRBs) and a second interlace including a second plurality of PRBs within the RB set, wherein the first interlace is commonly configured for terminals be included in a terminal configured to operate in a wireless communication system. The motivation to combine the teachings of Liu would have been because PRBs of an interlace within the resource pool includes PRBs of the interlace in all RB sets and PRBs of the interlace in intra-cell guard band(s) if present in the resource pool. Using all the PRBs of an interlace within the resource pool as a PSFCH resource would not only lead to the resource waste but also increase the risk of LBT failure. Therefore, it would be beneficial to confine the frequency domain resource of a PSFCH resource for a PSFCH transmission in an RB set. (Liu, ¶ 0214)
Claims 2-3. (Cancelled).
Regarding Claim 4, (Currently Amended) The combination of Si, and Liu disclose the terminal of claim 1, (Si, Fig. 1, paragraph [0030], [0032], wireless network 100, UE 111 which is a terminal, Fig. 3, paragraphs [0048]-[0049] UE 116)
wherein the processor is configured to: (Si, Fig. 3, paragraph [0049] processor 340)
receive information for determining the at least one PRB, (Si, Fig. 7, paragraph [0083] discloses a single PRB, and PRBs, the PRB determined from a set. The UE determines configuration or a mapping) and
wherein the at least one PRB is determined by the information. (Si, Fig. 7, paragraph [0083] discloses a single PRB, and PRBs, the PRB determined from a set. The UE determines configuration or a mapping)
Regarding Claim 5, (Original) The combination of Si, and Liu disclose the terminal of claim 4 (Si, Fig. 1, paragraph [0030], [0032], wireless network 100, UE 111 which is a terminal, Fig. 3, paragraphs [0048]-[0049] UE 116), wherein the information is a number of the at least one PRB (Si, Fig. 7, paragraph [0083] discloses a single PRB, and PRBs, the PRB determined from a set. The UE determines configuration or a mapping) .
Regarding Claim 6, (Previously Presented) The combination of Si, and Liu disclose the terminal of claim 1 (Si, Fig. 1, paragraph [0030], [0032], wireless network 100, UE 111 which is a terminal, Fig. 3, paragraphs [0048]-[0049] UE 116), wherein a resource to which the HARQ-ACK information is mapped is determined based on an identity of the terminal (Si, Abstract, paragraphs [0005]-[0006] disclose HARQ feedback which is HARQ-ACK feedback, Fig. 10, paragraph [0202] discloses HARQ feedback, Fig. 7, paragraph [0083] discloses a single PRB, and PRBs, Abstract, paragraphs [0005]-[0006] Si discloses utilizing a cyclic shift as part of the PSFCH transmission, paragraph [0123] and the cyclic shift be based on the source ID (i.e. the identity of the terminal) as in paragraph [0127]).
Claims 7 and 10-12 are the method claims corresponding to the terminal claims 1 and 4-6 that have been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claims 1 and 4-6. Claims 7 and 10-12 are rejected under the same rational as claims 1 and 4-6.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHALED M KASSIM whose telephone number is (571)270-3770. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 PM.
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/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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