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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/26/25 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the simultaneous communication" in line 13. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the simultaneous communication" in lines 13-14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-5, 8-12 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0290093 (hereinafter Adachi) in view of US 2017/0265121 (hereinafter Barberis), US 2014/0112225 (hereinafter Jafarian) and US 9485783 (hereinafter Abraham).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Adachi teaches a frame transmission method implemented by a first device in a multiband communication system, generating in response to the request frame, a first frame carrying indication information, wherein the indication information indicates the radio operation parameters of the first frequency band ([0068]: details using the channel ch.1, the wireless communication base station 101 notifies the wireless communication terminal 201 of the information about the frequency channel ch.2); and sending, to the second device in the second frequency band, the first frame ([0068]: details a large indefinite number of wireless communication terminals (including surrounding wireless communication base stations) are notified).
Adachi does not explicitly teach receiving, from a second device in a second frequency band, a request frame instructing to obtain radio operation parameters of a radio resource of a first frequency band, wherein the radio operation parameters are channels associated with the radio resource, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are of different frequencies; a target wakeup time (TWT) parameter, wherein the TWT parameter determines a time period in which the first device and the second device are to remain in an active state in the first frequency band, wherein the first frame enables the simultaneous communication between the first device and second device on both the first frequency band and the second frequency band.
However, Barberis teaches receiving, from a second device in a second frequency band, a request frame instructing to obtain radio operation parameters of a radio resource of a first frequency band, wherein the radio operation parameters are channels associated with the radio resource, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are of different frequencies ([0090]: details The frequency bands FB are ordered according to an ordered sequence from the most desirable frequency band FB to the least preferable one based on request parameters indicative of the type of request and/or based on user parameters indicative of the category of user which made the request and/or based on user equipment parameters indicative of the category of the user equipment used by the user to make the request. To obtain the above mentioned ranking a set of criteria may be applied. The analysis could be guided by specific Network operator policies regarding the general usage of the different available frequency bands FB).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Barberis and include receiving, from a second device in a second frequency band, a request frame instructing to obtain radio operation parameters of a radio resource of a first frequency band, wherein the radio operation parameters are channels associated with the radio resource, and wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are of different frequencies of Barberis with Adachi. Doing so would increase the overall capacity of the cellular network (Barberis, at [0014]).
Moreover, Jafarian teaches a target wakeup time (TWT) parameter, wherein the TWT parameter determines a time period in which the first device and the second device are to remain in an active state in the first frequency band (FIGs. 1 and 6D; [0144]; clms 17 and 18: details plurality of STAs with an AP; packet to receiver 1 and packet to receiver 2; the target wakeup time signal indicates a time period during which the apparatus is to be awake).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Jafarian and include a target wakeup time (TWT) parameter, wherein the TWT parameter determines a time period in which the first device and the second device are to remain in an active state in the first frequency band of Jafarian with Adachi. Doing so would allow wireless devices to consume less power (Jafarian, at [0037]).
Furthermore, Abraham teaches wherein the first frame enables the simultaneous communication between the first device and second device on both the first frequency band and the second frequency band (claim 1: details information for scheduling multiple simultaneous exchanges of data frames… wherein the scheduling information comprises packet format bits that indicate simultaneous transmissions of the data frames over multiple of the frequency bands).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Abraham and include wherein the first frame enables the simultaneous communication between the first device and second device on both the first frequency band and the second frequency band of Abraham with Adachi. Doing so would improve transmission efficiency (Abraham, at col. 9, ll. 31-34).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Adachi teaches wherein the indication information comprises indexes of the radio operation parameters ([0077][0078]: details frequency bandwidth level and a subset of frequency channels allocated in the frequency bandwidth, as indexes of radio operation parameters).
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, Adachi teaches wherein the indexes are in an operating class field of the first frame (FIG. 38: details supportable channels, as operating class field).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Adachi teaches wherein the indication information comprises a channel starting frequency of the first frequency band and a channel index of the first frequency band (FIG. 10; [0082]: details center frequency, channel band extended direction, channel bandwidth and channel identifier).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 19, Adachi teaches wherein the indication information further comprises a band identifier of the first frequency band ([0078]: details name of the subset of frequencies).
Claims 6, 7, 13, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adachi in view of Barberis, Jafarian and Abraham, further in view of US 2015/0223182 (hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 20, Adachi does not explicitly teach wherein the first frame comprises a beacon, an explorer frame, and a response frame.
However, Kim teaches wherein the first frame comprises a beacon, an explorer frame, and a response frame (FIG. 5: details beacon/probe response frame (enabling signal element), as explorer, response, beacon frame).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Kim and include wherein the first frame comprises a beacon, an explorer frame, and a response frame of Kim with Adachi. Doing so would reduce interference (Kim, at [0090]).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Adachi does not explicitly teach wherein the first frame is the response frame.
However, Kim teaches wherein the first frame is the response frame (FIG. 5: details probe response frame).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Kim and include wherein the first frame is the response frame of Kim with Adachi. Doing so would reduce interference (Kim, at [0090]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jasper Kwoh whose telephone number is (408)918-7644. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Friday, 10am to 4pm Pacific.
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/JASPER KWOH/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415