DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This action is responsive to communication filed 9/9/2025. Claims 2-9, 11-20 are cancelled. Claims 1 and 10 are pending for examination.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/9/2025 has been entered.
Claim Objections
3. Claims 1 and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities: a) the term “frame type of the second field” is border. The applicant should define the term. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
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.
5. Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (US 2016/0050093 A1) {patented as US 9935802 B2} in view of Chavali (US 2013/0077718 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Choi teaches a method for receiving a Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising:
receiving the PPDU ( [0111], HEW STA receives a PPDU {HEW PPDU of Fig. 8-see [0116]}.), wherein the PPDU includes a first field (L-SIG-Fig. 8) and a second field (HEW-SIG-Fig. 8) (see Fig. 8; [0106]);
identifying the first field(L-SIG) and the second field(HEW-SIG) following the first field(L-SIG)(see Fig. 8, HEW-SIG is after L-SIG)( [0111], HEW STA receives a PPDU; wherein [0116], In an HEW PPDU, HEW STA may distinguish{determines-see [0111]} an HEW PPDU based on constellations used in reference OFDM symbol {810-L-SIG-see [0106]} to third OFDM symbol{820, 830,840—HEW-SIG-see [0106]}. ) (Hence HEW STA determines L-SIG and HEW-SIG in a HEW PPDU.);
Identifying a type (format/HEW-see [0079]) of the PPDU based on the identified first field (L-SIG-Fig. 8) and the identified second field (HEW-SIG-Fig. 8) (see Fig. 8; [0116], In an HEW PPDU, an HEW-SIG is transmitted through three OFDM symbols. Thus, HEW STA may distinguish{determines-see [0111]} an HEW PPDU based on constellations used in reference OFDM symbol {810--L-SIG-see [0106]} to third OFDM symbol{820, 830,840—HEW-SIG-see [0106]}.)(Hence, HEW STA determines HEW PPDU based on the L-SIG and the HEW-SIG field.), the second field(HEW-SIG) including a first symbol(820), a second symbol(830), and a third symbol(840)(See Fig. 8), indicating the type(format/HEW-see [0079]) of the PPDU ( [0161], AP retransmits a PPDU to an STA, the AP transmits retransmission indication/identification information{via HEW-SIG-see [0162]—that includes 1st , 2nd and 3rd symbol-Fig. 8} for indicating that the transmitted PPDU is a previously transmitted PPDU via the PPDU{HEW PPDU-see [0116]}; Wherein [0164], the HEW-SIG may include various pieces of information{i.e. type of PPDU} for supporting the HEW.)(Hence HEW-SIG includes 1st , 2nd and 3rd symbols, indicating HEW PPDU.), and
Choi does not teach identifying a frame type of the second field based on a modulation of the second symbol
However, in an analogous art, Chavali teaches identifying a frame type(format) of the second field (VHT-SIG-A 262-that includes 2nd signal field symbol as 1st VHT-SIG-A 262 and 3rd signal field symbol as 2nd VHT-SIG-A 262--[0076]; Fig. 2) based on a modulation of the second symbol (3rd signal field symbol- 2nd VHT-SIG-A 262-[0076]; Fig. 2) ( [0072]-step 510; wherein [0076], Fig. 6, frame detector verifies whether 3rd signal field symbol {2nd VHT-SIG-A 262} includes the second modulation or Q-BPSK modulation. If the 3rd signal field symbol includes the second modulation, the method 600 moves to a step 618; where the frame detector detects the format of the received frame as the VHT frame format {208} or the third format.) (Hence, detector detects VHT frame format of the VHT-SIG-A based on the modulation of 2nd VHT-SIG-A symbol 262.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to take the teaching of Chavali and apply them on the teaching of Choi to provide development in a very high throughput physical layer and a medium access controller (MAC) layer of the VHT devices to support a data rate of more than 1 Gbps (Chavali; [0004]).
Regarding claim 10, Choi teaches an apparatus (1550) for receiving a Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the apparatus comprising:
a transceiver (1580-Fig. 15; [0172]); and
a processor (1560-Fig.15; [073]),
wherein the processor is configured to:
receive the PPDU ( [0111], HEW STA receives a PPDU {HEW PPDU of Fig. 8-see [0116]}.), wherein the PPDU includes a first field (L-SIG-Fig. 8) and a second field (HEW-SIG-Fig. 8) (see Fig. 8; [0106]);
identify the first field(L-SIG) and the second field(HEW-SIG) following the first field(L-SIG)(see Fig. 8, HEW-SIG is after L-SIG)( [0111], HEW STA receives a PPDU; wherein [0116], In an HEW PPDU, HEW STA may distinguish{determines-see [0111]} an HEW PPDU based on constellations used in reference OFDM symbol {810-L-SIG-see [0106]} to third OFDM symbol{820, 830,840—HEW-SIG-see [0106]}. ) (Hence HEW STA determines L-SIG and HEW-SIG in a HEW PPDU.);
Identify a type (format/HEW-see [0079]) of the PPDU based on the identified first field (L-SIG-Fig. 8) and the identified second field (HEW-SIG-Fig. 8) (see Fig. 8; [0116], In an HEW PPDU, an HEW-SIG is transmitted through three OFDM symbols. Thus, HEW STA may distinguish{determines-see [0111]} an HEW PPDU based on constellations used in reference OFDM symbol {810--L-SIG-see [0106]} to third OFDM symbol{820, 830,840—HEW-SIG-see [0106]}.)(Hence, HEW STA determines HEW PPDU based on the L-SIG and the HEW-SIG field.), the second field(HEW-SIG) including a first symbol(820), a second symbol(830), and a third symbol(840)(See Fig. 8), indicating the type(format/HEW-see [0079]) of the PPDU( [0161], AP retransmits a PPDU to an STA, the AP transmits retransmission indication/identification information{via HEW-SIG-see [0162]—that includes 1st , 2nd and 3rd symbol-Fig. 8} for indicating that the transmitted PPDU is a previously transmitted PPDU via the PPDU{HEW PPDU-see [0116]}; Wherein [0164], the HEW-SIG may include various pieces of information{i.e. type of PPDU} for supporting the HEW.) (Hence HEW-SIG includes 1st , 2nd and 3rd symbols, indicating HEW PPDU.), and
Choi does not teach identifying a frame type of the second field based on a modulation of the second symbol
However, in an analogous art, Chavali teaches identifying a frame type (format) of the second field (VHT-SIG-A 262-that includes 2nd signal field symbol as 1st VHT-SIG-A 262 and 3rd signal field symbol as 2nd VHT-SIG-A 262--[0076]; Fig. 2) based on a modulation of the second symbol (3rd signal field symbol- 2nd VHT-SIG-A 262-[0076]; Fig. 2) ( [0072]-step 510; wherein [0076], Fig. 6, frame detector verifies whether 3rd signal field symbol {2nd VHT-SIG-A 262} includes the second modulation or Q-BPSK modulation. If the 3rd signal field symbol includes the second modulation, the method 600 moves to a step 618; where the frame detector detects the format of the received frame as the VHT frame format {208} or the third format.) (Hence, detector detects VHT frame format of the VHT-SIG-A based on the modulation of 2nd VHT-SIG-A symbol 262.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to take the teaching of Chavali and apply them on the teaching of Choi to provide development in a very high throughput physical layer and a medium access controller (MAC) layer of the VHT devices to support a data rate of more than 1 Gbps (Chavali; [0004]).
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to MEHEDI S ALEY whose telephone number is (571)270-0439. The examiner can normally be reached Mon, Thus, Fri: 9-5. 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.
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/MEHEDI S ALEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/JEFFREY M RUTKOWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415