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 .
Status of claims
In response to applicant’s amendment to claim 1 on 3/15/24 (the amendment added the limitation “provide an acknowledgment of the data frames via a bandwidth that spans the orthogonal frequency resources allocated to each of the participating APs” to claim 1), in the final action dated 7/10/24, examiner added the reference Hedayat (2018/0152935) into the combination of Lin in view of Azizi to provide the teaching for the added limitation for the rejection of claim 1. Claim 6 depends from claim 1. However, the rejection of claim 6 was not updated to add Hedayat (2018/0152935) into the combination of Lin in view of Azizi and Aboul-Magd to address the added limitation in the parent claim 1. As a result, the rejection of claim 6 was reversed by the board because the combination of Lin in view of Azizi and Aboul-Magd does not teach the added limitation “provide an acknowledgment of the data frames via a bandwidth that spans the orthogonal frequency resources allocated to each of the participating APs”.
In the amendment dated 1/20,26, independent claim 1 was amended to incorporate the limitation previously found in claim 6 and remove the above-mentioned limitation of “provide an acknowledgment of the data frames via a bandwidth that spans the orthogonal frequency resources allocated to each of the participating APs”. Consequently, the current scope of claim 1 differs from its previous form and from the now-canceled claim 6. Independent claims 9, 20 and 30 were also amended in the similar fashion. New claim 31 has been added. The rejection of the newly amended claims 1-4,7-11, 15-23 & 25-31 will be discussed below.
Response to Applicant’s Argument
Regarding claim 1, the current scope of claim 1 differs from its previous form and from the now-canceled claim 6.
Regarding claim 20, Applicant argues that Lin in view of Azizi and Hedayat fails to teach obtaining a first frame from the second AP after the second AP has gained access to the wireless medium; outputting a second frame for transmission to the station after obtaining the first frame. It is noted that Lin does teaches obtaining a first frame from a second AP (AP2) after the second AP gain access to the wireless medium (AP1 obtains “data to be sent and coordination mode” from AP2; See figure 9, step of exchange joint transmission information with AP2) and output, to the station (STA1), a second frame for transmission after obtaining the first frame (AP1 transmits JT-RTS to STA1 after obtaining “data to be sent and coordination mode from AP2”; See figure 9, step of exchange joint transmission information with AP2.
Regarding claim 9, Applicant argues that Lin in view of Azizi and Hedayat fails to teach “output a first frame for transmission to the station after the AP gained access to the medium; and obtain, from the station, s second frame after outputting the first frame. It is noted that Lin does teach outputting the first frame for transmission to the station (AP1 transmits JT-RTS to STA1; see par [33]); and obtain, from the station, a second frame after outputting the first frame (AP1 receives JT-CTS from STA1; See par [35]). A complete discussion of how each claim is rejected can be found below.
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.
Claims 1-4, 8-9, 11, 19-20, 22-23 & 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (EP 3043486) in view of Azizi (US 2018/0191546).
Regarding claim 1, Lin teaches an apparatus for wireless communications by a station, comprising a processing system configured to associate with a set of access points (APs); (STA1 is associated with AP1, Ap2 and AP3. See par [31]);
determine APs of the set that are being scheduled to participate in parallel transmissions of data frames to the station within a transmit opportunity (STA1 receives the JT-RTS control frame which include a joint indication and determines which APs will participate in the parallel transmission. See par [31]);
determine resources allocated to AP for parallel transmission allocated to each of the participating APs for the parallel transmission based on indications from participating APs (Channel resources for joint transmission may be allocated by reservation or by contention and may be indicated by JT-CTS from STA1 (See par [39, 72, 73]);
and an interface configured to obtain a first frame (JT-RTS) from an AP of the set that has gained access to a wireless medium for the transmit opportunity (STA1 obtains JT-RTS from AP1; See par [33]);
output a second frame (JT-CTS) for transmission after obtaining the first frame (STA1 outputs JT-CTS after receiving JT-RTS; See par [35]); and
obtain one or more of the data frames on the resources within the transmit opportunity (STA1 receives PPDUs from AP1, AP2 and AP3; See [par [39], figures 8 & 9).
However, Lin does not explicitly teach the use orthogonal frequency resources as channel resources to reduce interferences from parallel transmissions. However, such use of orthogonal frequency resources to alleviate interferences is well known in the art. For example, Azizi in a similar endeavor teaches the use of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)/orthogonal resources in a coordinated AP transmission system (See par [2, 21, 39-40, 46, 54-56, 58, 74, 79, 97 ,112, 114]) to reduce interferences between participating APs during coordinated transmissions. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Azizi’s teaching of using orthogonal frequency resources such as OFDMA/orthogonal resources in the coordinated transmission system of Lin with the motivation being to reduce interference and enhance communications reliability.
Regarding claim 2, Lin further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to provide an indication to at least one of the set of APs that the station has enabled or disabled capability to obtain data frames on the orthogonal frequency resources (STA1’s JT-CTS is the indication to the APs that the STA1 has enabled the ability to receive data frames via a joint transmission over the channel resources)
Regarding claim 3, Lin further teaches that the interface is further configured to obtain, from an AP of the set that has gained access to a wireless medium for the transmit opportunity, an indication that the data frames target the same station (STA1 receives from AP1 which has gain access to the medium, JT-RTS which is an indication for a joint transmission to STA1; See par [33]), and monitor the channel for the for data frames based on the indication (STA1 subsequently monitors and receives data frame over the channel resources; See par [31,39,73]).
Regarding claim 4, Lin further teaches that the indication comprises at least one of:
a bit or field that explicitly indicates the data frames target the same station (Lin teaches that the JT control frames utilize the MAC layer format. For example, Fig. 6 shows a MAC header of the JT-CTS. Since STA1 sends JT-CTS to AP1, the destination address in this MAC header would be the address of the coordinating AP1. Conversely, the MAC header of the JT-RTS frame to STA1 would have had the address of the station STA1 in destination address field).
Regarding claim 8, Lin in view of Azizi further teaches a receiver (STA1) configured to receive the one or more of the data frames on the resources within the transmit opportunity, wherein the apparatus is configured as the station. (See Fig. 8: STA1 receives PPDUs from AP1, AP2 & AP3).
Regarding claim 9, Lin teaches an apparatus for wireless communications by a first access point (AP1), comprising:
a processing system configured to provide one or more second APs (AP2 & AP3) of a set of APs that includes the first AP (AP1) first indication of resources allocated to the first AP for participating in parallel transmissions of data frames to a station within a transmit opportunity in which the second AP has gained access to a wireless medium (When AP1 coordinates joint transmission resource allocation via channel resource reservation or channel resource contention; See par [39, 72-74]);
and an interface configured to output a first frame for transmission to the station (AP1 sends JT-RTS the STA1; See par [35]); and
obtain, from the station, a second frame after outputting the first frame (AP1 obtains JT-CTS from STA1; See par [35]);
and output, during the transmit opportunity, the first data frame of the data frames for transmission to the station (AP1 transmits PPDU to STA1; See par [37]).
However, Lin does not explicitly teach the use orthogonal frequency resources as channel resources to reduce interferences from parallel transmissions. However, such use of orthogonal frequency resources to alleviate interferences is well known in the art. For example, Azizi in a similar endeavor teaches the use of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)/orthogonal resources in a coordinated AP transmission system (See par [2, 21, 39-40, 46, 54-56, 58, 74, 79, 97 ,112, 114]) to reduce interferences between participating APs during coordinated transmissions. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Azizi’s teaching of using orthogonal frequency resources such as OFDMA/orthogonal resources in the coordinated transmission system of Lin with the motivation being to reduce interference and enhance communications reliability.
Regarding claim 11, Lin teaches that the AP interface outputs, for transmission, a second indication (JT-RTS) that the data frames target the same station Lin further teaches that the indication comprises a bit or field that explicitly indicates the data frames target the same station (JT-RTS indicates a request for a joint transmission to the same station STA1 wherein JT-RTS uses the MAC layer format. Fig. 6 shows a MAC header of the JT-CTS. Since JT-CTS is sent to AP1, the destination address in the MAC header of the JT-CTS would contains the address of the AP1. Conversely, the MAC header of the JT-RTS frame going to STA1 would have to contain the address of the station STA1 in destination address field).
Regarding claim 19, Lin further teaches a transmitter (AP1) that transmits the first data frame to the station when the apparatus is configured as the first access point (AP1 transmits data frame PPDU to STA1 after AP1 is configured as the initiating AP; See par [31, 37]).
Regarding claim 20, Lin further teaches an apparatus for wireless communications by a first access point (AP1), comprising:
a processing system configured to generate a first data frame (AP1 sends PPDU/DATA to STA1; See fig 8 & fig 9) and an interface configured to
obtain, from a second AP (AP2) of a set of APs that includes the first AP, a first indication of resources allocated to the first AP for participating in parallel transmissions of data frames to a station within a transmit opportunity in which the second AP has gained access to a wireless medium (AP1 obtains coordination mode from AP2; see fig 9);
obtain a first frame from the second AP (AP2) after the second AP has gained access to the wireless medium (AP1 receives “data to be sent” from AP2; See figure 9);
and output, to the station (STA1), a second frame (JT-RTS) for transmission after obtaining the first frame (AP1 sends JT-RTS to STA1 after receiving data to be sent from AP2; See figure 9).
and output, to the station (STA1), a first data frame after obtaining the first frame (AP1 and coordinated APs sends data to STA1 simultaneously; figure 9).
However, Lin does not explicitly teach the use orthogonal frequency resources as channel resources to reduce interferences from parallel transmissions. However, such use of orthogonal frequency resources to alleviate interferences is well known in the art. For example, Azizi in a similar endeavor teaches the use of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)/orthogonal resources in a coordinated AP transmission system (See par [2, 21, 39-40, 46, 54-56, 58, 74, 79, 97 ,112, 114]) to reduce interferences between participating APs during coordinated transmissions. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Azizi’s teaching of using orthogonal frequency resources such as OFDMA/orthogonal resources in the coordinated transmission system of Lin with the motivation being to reduce interference and enhance communications reliability.
Regarding claim 22, Lin teaches the apparatus of claim 20, wherein the interface is further configured to: obtain, from the second AP (AP2), a second indication (joint transmission information) that the data frames target the same station (See figure 9 where AP1 receives joint transmission information from AP2); and
output the first data frame based on the second indication (See fig 9 where AP1, AP2 & AP3 sends data to STA1 simultaneously).
Regarding claim 23, Lin further teaches that the indication comprises at least one of:
a bit or field that explicitly indicates the data frames target the same station (Lin teaches that the JT control frames utilize the MAC layer format. For example, Fig. 6 shows a MAC header of the JT-CTS. Since STA1 sends JT-CTS to AP1, the destination address in this MAC header would be the address of the coordinating AP1. Conversely, the MAC header of the JT-RTS frame to STA1 would have the address of the station STA1 in destination address field).
Regarding claim 29, Lin teaches a transceiver configured to receive a first indication (AP1 receives coordination relationship from AP2 to establish a joint transmission to STA1. See figure 9, box of establishment of coordination relationship) and transmit the first data frame of the data frames to the station, wherein the apparatus is configured as the first access point (AP1 transmits a data frame PPDU to STA1. See Figure 9, box of initiating AP and coordinated APs send data to STA1 simultaneously).
Regarding claim 30, Lin teaches a method for wireless communications by a station, comprising associating with a set of access points (APs); (STA1 is associated with AP1, Ap2 and AP3. See par [31]);
determining APs of the set that are being scheduled to participate in parallel transmissions of data frames to the station within a transmit opportunity (See par [70-71]; the STA1 receives the JT-RTS control frame which include a joint indication that specifies which APs will participate in the parallel transmission. See par [31]);
determining resources allocated to AP for parallel transmission allocated to each of the participating APs for the parallel transmission based on indications from participating APs (Channel resources may be allocated by reservation or by contention (see par [39, 72]) and may be indicated by JT-CTS from STA1 (See par [73]);
obtaining a first frame (JT-RTS) from an AP of the set that has gained access to a wireless medium for the transmit opportunity (STA1 receives JT-RTS from AP1; See par [33]);
outputting a second frame (JT-CTS) for transmission after obtaining the first frame (STA1 transmits JT-CTS after receiving JT-RTs; See par [35]); and
obtaining one or more of the data frames on the resources within the transmit opportunity (STA1 receives PPDUs from AP1, AP2 and AP3; See [par [39]).
However, Lin does not explicitly teach the use orthogonal frequency resources as channel resources to reduce interferences from parallel transmissions. However, such use of orthogonal frequency resources to alleviate interferences is well known in the art. For example, Azizi in a similar endeavor teaches the use of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) in a coordinated AP transmission system (See par [2], [21], [39], [56], [97] & [112]) to reduce interferences between participating APs during coordinated transmissions. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Azizi’s teaching of using orthogonal frequency resources such as OFDMA in the coordinated transmission system of Lin with the motivation being to reduce interference and enhance communications reliability.
Claims 7, 10, 15-18, 21 and 25-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (EP 3043486), in view of Azizi (US 2018/0191546), as applied to claims 1, 9 & 20 above, and further in view of Talwar et al (US 20110002284 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Lin teaches that when the APs coordinate their joint transmission event, they also coordinate/adjust their transmit power based on the number of participating APs to obtain optimal transmit power (See the end of par [0079]). Lin does not teach providing information comprising target receive signal strength or transmit power of the station to the participating APs for use in setting power of their parallel data transmission. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches a Femto Access Point that sets its transmit power based on information from other APs (Talwar teaches that other AP send information such as SINR to a Femto Access Point to adjust its transmit power in order to reduce interferences. The SINR is the received power. See par [37]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on information from other APS in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Regarding claim 10, Lin further teaches that the AP (AP1) obtains a second indication (JT-CTS) that the station has enabled capability to obtain data frames on the channel resources and the processing system is further configured to decide whether to participate in parallel transmissions of subsequent data frames to the station based on the second indication (AP1 receives JT-RTS from STA1 and decides to transmit PPDUs in parallel with other APS to STA1). However, Lin does not teach setting a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches setting a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station (Talwar teaches that a Femto Access Point adjusts its transmit power based on a power received from wireless device to reduce interference and optimize the performance; See par [29,36], figure 4, steps 420-440). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on a power received from a station in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Regarding claims 15-16, Lin teaches that when the APs coordinate their joint transmission event, they also coordinate/adjust their transmit power based on the number of participating APs to obtain optimal transmit power (See the end of par [0079]). Lin does not teach providing information to the second AP for use in setting power of their parallel data transmission. Even though Lin does not explicitly explain how an AP set transmit power based on information from other APs. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches a Femto Access Point that sets its transmit power based on information from other APs (Talwar teaches that other AP send information such as SINR to a Femto Access Point to adjust its transmit power in order to reduce interferences. The SINR is the received power. See par [37]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on information from other APS in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Regarding claim 17, in Lin’s system, AP1 receives a frame (data to be sent and coordination mode) (interpreted as trigger frame) from AP2 (AP1 receives data to be sent and coordination mode from AP2; See figure 9, step of exchange joint transmission information with AP2).
Regarding claim 18, Lin does not teach that the AP sets a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches setting a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station (Talwar teaches that a Femto Access Point adjusts its transmit power based on a power received from wireless device to reduce interference and optimize the performance; See par [29,36], figure 4, steps 420-440). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on a power received from a station in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Regarding claim 21, Lin further teaches that the AP interface obtains a second indication that the station has enable or disabled capability to obtain data frames on the channel resources and decides whether to participate in parallel transmission of data frames to the station based on the second indication (AP1 obtains JT-CTS from STA1 and transmits a data frame to STA1 based on the JT-CTS; see figure 9). Lin also teaches that the AP detects a first frame from the second AP (AP1 detects “data to be sent” from AP2; See fig 9), and detects the second frame from the station (AP1 detects JT-CTS from STA1; See fig 9).
However, Lin does not teach that the AP sets a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches setting a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station (Talwar teaches that a Femto Access Point adjusts its transmit power based on a power received from wireless device to reduce interference and optimize the performance; See par [29,36], figure 4, steps 420-440). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on a power received from a station in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Regarding claims 25 and 26, Lin teaches at par [79] that when the APs coordinate their joint transmission event, they also coordinate/adjust their transmit power based on the number of participating APs to obtain optimal transmit power (See the end of par [0079]). However, Lin does not explicitly teach how to set transmit power based on information from other APs. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches a Femto Access Point that sets its transmit power based on information from other APs (Talwar teaches that a Femto Access Point adjusts its transmit power based on information from other APs such as SINR in order to reduce interferences. The SINR is the received power. See par [37]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on information from other APS in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Regarding claim 27, in Lin’s system, AP1 receives a frame (data to be sent and coordination mode) (interpreted as trigger frame) from AP2 (AP1 receives data to be sent and coordination mode from AP2; See figure 9, step of exchange joint transmission information with AP2).
Regarding claim 28, Lin does not teach that the AP sets a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station. However, such feature is old and well known in the art. For example, Talwar teaches setting a transmit power of the AP based on the received power of a frame from the station (Talwar teaches that a Femto Access Point adjusts its transmit power based on a power received from wireless device to reduce interference and optimize the performance; See par [29,36], figure 4, steps 420-440). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply Talwar’s teaching of an AP adjusting its transmit power based on a power received from a station in the system of Lin in view of Azizi with the motivation being to reduce interference and optimize the performance.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (EP 3043486), in view of Azizi (US 2018/0191546), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hedayat (US 2018/0152935 A1).
Regarding claim 31, Lin in view of Azizi does not teach that the station provides an acknowledgement of data frames receives form the APs. However, providing acknowledgements of received data frames is old and well known in the art for enhancing communication reliability. For example, Hedayat teaches that the AP transmits one or more DL data frames to a station (STA1, STA2), and receives corresponding ACK or BA responses from the station (STA1, STA2) (See par [0110]). STA1/STA2 responds with an ACK or BA frame that is transmitted in the same bandwidth as the preceding DL frame (See par [0112], [0116-0117] and Fig. 7A/7B): At S706 STA1 transmits ACK1 in response to the DL frame SS702. When DL frame has a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 80+80 MHz, the ACK1 may have a bandwidth of up to 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz or 160 MHz, respectively. Additionally, A STA receives a BAR (block acknowledgement request (BAR) frame 910 (see Fig. 9c and par [164-174]) with the Wideband BA response field 928 to prepare the block acknowledgement (BA) frame (equates to the ACK) (See par [0167-0168]). The bandwidth of the BA frame may be set according to the value of the Wideband BA response field. The STA might perform only when its capabilities allow [0169] that bandwidth (20, 40, 80 MHz); a capability field would be known as a Wideband ACK Capability field [0170], of 1 or 2 bits (See Fig. 9c, field 928, B3-B4). In one embodiment, the STA device's Wideband ACK Capability field may be set to 1 when the STA is sending ACK or BA frames with bandwidth wider than 20 MHz, otherwise set to zero [0171]. Or, the Capability field might have two or more bits where its setting would be: set to "1" (01H) when the STA is capable of sending ACK frames with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, set to "2" (10H) for bandwidth of 80 MHz, set to "0" (00H) when the STA is capable of sending ACCK frames with a 20 MHz bandwidth [0172-0174]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Hedayat’s teaching of providing ACKs via the same bandwidth for receiving frames in the system of Lin in view of Azizi in order to improve communications reliability and efficiency.
Conclusion
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HUY D. VU
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2461
/HUY D VU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2461