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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/19/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-25 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.
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 (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.
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 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 1-3, 14-19 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bang et al. (US 2021/0235447 A1), hereinafter “BANG” in view of Niu et al. (US 2022/0312482 A1), hereinafter “NIU”.
Regarding claim 1, BANG teaches, ‘An apparatus comprising:’ (Paragraph [0265], wireless
device of FIG. 11):
‘a memory;’ (Paragraph [0265], a memory (1120));
‘and circuitry of a multilink device coupled with the memory to:’ (Paragraph [0265], transceiver
(1130) may be implemented with a separate chip):
‘place one or more protocol data units (PDUs) in a transmit queue for transmission, at least a
first PDU of the one or more PDUs indicating an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity (TxOP) for a station (STA); (Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP – corresponds to uplink) during a transmission opportunity (“TXOP”). Paragraph [0068], the internally determined MPDU may be understood as the frame included in the transmission queue of the primary AC illustrated in FIG. 3);
‘perform a first directional clear channel assessment (CCA) for a first sector of a 60 gigahertz
(GHz) channel, the first directional CCA to determine if the 60 GHz channel in the first sector is busy or idle;’ (Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction (corresponds to sector), among the multiple directions. Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band);
‘perform a second directional CCA for a second sector of the 60 GHz channel;’ (Paragraph
[0143], a second radio channel may be determined to be in an idle state through a second directions CCA procedure for a second direction (corresponds to sector). Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band));
‘and receive an acknowledgement (ACK) of receipt of the PDU from the STA.’ (Paragraph
[0064], STA may determine whether the STA can transmit the next frame in the same AC and can receive even the ACK of the next frame during the remaining time of the TXOP).
BANG does not explicitly teach but NIU teaches, ‘cause transmission of the first PDU to the STA
via the first sector of the 60 GHz channel and a second PDU to a second STA via a second sector of the 60 GHz channel;’ (NIU - Paragraph [0120], the wireless transmission system may acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 and may transmit using either of the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second intended Tx beam 914 during the associated COT (Channel Occupancy Time – corresponds to concurrent). Paragraph [0124], After the base station 902 uses a directional CCA to acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 for a COT, the base station 202 may use the COT to perform one or more transmissions to the first UE 904 on the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second UE 912 on the second intended Tx beam 914. Paragraph [0095], a wireless transmission system may use an Rx beam that corresponds to an intended Tx beam in order to perform the CCA in the direction of the intended Tx beam. Paragraph [0024], e.g., between 57 GHz and 71 GHz – corresponds to 60 GHz included). These (or other) frequencies may be used to establish/host one or more channels (e.g., a bandwidth which can be used for signaling between devices) according to the transmission abilities of a wireless transmission system. Paragraph [0153], IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay may expect to see channel bandwidths of 2.16 GHz in and around the 60 GHz range);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of NIU with BANG because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of NIU into BANG is that NIU provides that a directional CCA may include the performance of a CCA respective to a beam that is to be used to transmit by the wireless transmission system once it acquires a channel. When the channel is finally acquired, the transmissions allowed during the corresponding COT may be limited to
transmissions (either by or to the wireless transmission system) with similar spatial usage of the channel as the intended Tx beam. Such the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas within the channel using directional CCA may enable more efficient use of the channel than in the onmidirectional case. (See Paragraph [0095 ], NIU)
Regarding claims 2 and 19, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG further
teaches, ‘wherein the circuitry comprises baseband processing circuitry and further comprising a radio coupled with the baseband processing circuitry, and one or more antennas coupled with the radio to transmit the first PDU.’ (Paragraph [0267], the transceiver (1130) may include one or more antennas that transmit and/or receive a wireless signal (or radio signal). Paragraph [0269], the processor (1110) may include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipset, a logical circuit, a data processing device and/or a transformer that transforms a baseband signal and a wireless signal with each other. Paragraph [0255], in step S920, the first wireless device may transmit a PPDU associated with a specific mode).
Regarding claim 3, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG further teaches, ‘the
circuitry to further determine that the first directional CCA and the second directional CCA indicate that the 60 GHz channel is idle.’ (Paragraph [0105], referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, if a particular medium is changed from an occupied or busy state to an idle state, the plurality of STAs may attempt to transmit data (or a frame). Paragraphs [0139]-[0141], the wireless device (600) may perform an individual directional CCA procedure for multiple radio channels corresponding to the multiple directions (corresponds to sectors) during a predetermined time … CCA operation being simultaneously. Paragraph [0150], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band).
Regarding claim 14, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG further teaches, ‘the circuitry, after performing directional CCA in a set of one or more sectors and obtaining a TxOP, to only transmit in the set of one or more sectors during the TxOP’ (Paragraph [0139], the wireless device (600) may perform an individual directional CCA procedure for multiple radio channels corresponding to the multiple directions during a predetermined time. Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP) during a transmission opportunity (hereinafter referred to as 'TXOP')).
Regarding claim 15, BANG teaches, ‘A non-transitory computer-readable medium,
comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations to: (Paragraphs [0265]-[0270], at least two or more blocks/functions may be implemented with a single chip, the memory (1120) may include … storage medium and/or other storage device, the processor (1110) may perform the operation described):
‘place one or more protocol data units (PDUs) in a transmit queue for transmission, at least a
first PDU of the one or more PDUs indicating an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity (TxOP) for a station (STA); (Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP – corresponds to uplink) during a transmission opportunity (“TXOP”). Paragraph [0068], the internally determined MPDU may be understood as the frame included in the transmission queue of the primary AC illustrated in FIG. 3);
‘perform a directional clear channel assessment (CCA) for a first sector of a 60 gigahertz (GHz)
channel, the directional CCA to determine if a 60 GHz link of the 60 GHz channel in the first sector is busy or idle;’ (Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction (corresponds to sector), among the multiple directions. Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band);
‘perform a second directional CCA for a second sector of the 60 GHz channel;’ (Paragraph
[0143], a second radio channel may be determined to be in an idle state through a second directions CCA procedure for a second direction (corresponds to sector). Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band));
‘and receive an acknowledgement (ACK) of receipt of the PDU from the STA.’ (Paragraph
[0064], STA may determine whether the STA can transmit the next frame in the same AC and can receive even the ACK of the next frame during the remaining time of the TXOP).
BANG does not explicitly teach but NIU teaches, ‘cause concurrent transmission of the first PDU
to the STA via the first sector of the 60 GHz channel and a second PDU to a second STA via a second sector of the 60 GHz channel;’ (NIU - Paragraph [0120], the wireless transmission system may acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 and may transmit using either of the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second intended Tx beam 914 during the associated COT (Channel Occupancy Time – corresponds to concurrent). Paragraph [0124], After the base station 902 uses a directional CCA to acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 for a COT, the base station 202 may use the COT to perform one or more transmissions to the first UE 904 on the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second UE 912 on the second intended Tx beam 914. Paragraph [0095], a wireless transmission system may use an Rx beam that corresponds to an intended Tx beam in order to perform the CCA in the direction of the intended Tx beam. Paragraph [0024], e.g., between 57 GHz and 71 GHz – corresponds to 60 GHz included). These (or other) frequencies may be used to establish/host one or more channels (e.g., a bandwidth which can be used for signaling between devices) according to the transmission abilities of a wireless transmission system. Paragraph [0153], IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay may expect to see channel bandwidths of 2.16 GHz in and around the 60 GHz range);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of NIU with BANG because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of NIU into BANG is that NIU provides that a directional CCA may include the performance of a CCA respective to a beam that is to be used to transmit by the wireless transmission system once it acquires a channel. When the channel is finally acquired, the transmissions allowed during the corresponding COT may be limited to
transmissions (either by or to the wireless transmission system) with similar spatial usage of the channel as the intended Tx beam. Such the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas within the channel using directional CCA may enable more efficient use of the channel than in the onmidirectional case. (See Paragraph [0095 ], NIU)
Regarding claim 16, BANG and NIU teach, the non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 15, BANG further teaches, ‘the operations to further perform the second directional CCA for second sector link for the second PDU.’ (Paragraph [0126], a first directional antenna module (670a) may include a first DMG antenna associated with a first user device, and a second directional antenna module (670b) may include a second DMG antenna associated with a second user device. Paragraph [0130], the second to fourth data frames (631, 632, 633) may be understood as MPDUs including Receive Address (RA) information indicating the second user device).
Regarding claim 17, BANG and NIU teach, the non-transitory computer-readable medium of
claim 16, BANG further teaches, ‘the operations to further determine the directional CCA indicates idle for the second sector and to cause transmission of the second PDU of the one or more PDUs to the second STA via the second sector.’ (Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction, among the multiple directions, and a second radio channel may be determined to be in an idle state through a second directions (corresponds to sector) CCA procedure for a second direction. Paragraph [0145], the wireless device … may transmit data (or a data frame) being included in a transmission queue of a primary AC based on at least one directional antenna module being associated with at least one radio channel that is determined to be in an idle state).
Regarding claim 18, BANG teaches, ‘an apparatus comprising:’ (Paragraph [0265], wireless
device of FIG. 11):
‘a memory;’ (Paragraph [0265], a memory (1120));
‘and circuitry of a non-AP multilink device (MLD) coupled with the memory to:’ (Paragraph
[0264], FIG. 11, a wireless device may be an STA … operated as an AP or a non-AP STA. Paragraph [0265], transceiver (1130) may be implemented with a separate chip):
‘receive a packet from a physical layer (PHY) indicating an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity
(TxOP);’ (Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP – corresponds to uplink) during a transmission opportunity (“TXOP”). Paragraph [0068], the internally determined MPDU may be understood as the frame included in the transmission queue of the primary AC illustrated in FIG. 3. Paragraph [0137], the legacy STA may determine a state of a wireless medium by comparing a power level of a signal, which is received from a physical layer of a wireless device during a predetermined time (e.g., DIPS) according to an onmidirectional method, and a predetermined threshold level);
‘place a first protocol data unit (PDU) in a transmit queue for transmission during the TxOP to an
AP MLD via a first sector of a 60 gigahertz (GHz) link;’ (Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP) during a transmission opportunity (“TXOP”). Paragraph [0068], the internally determined MPDU may be understood as the frame included in the transmission queue of the primary AC illustrated in FIG. 3. Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction (corresponds to sector), among the multiple directions. Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band);
‘perform a first directional clear channel assessment (CCA) for the first sector of the 60 GHz
channel, the first directional CCA to determine if the 60 GHz channel in the first sector is busy or idle;’ (Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction (corresponds to sector), among the multiple directions. Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band);
‘perform a second directional CCA for a second sector of the 60 GHz channel;’ (Paragraph
[0143], a second radio channel may be determined to be in an idle state through a second directions CCA procedure for a second direction (corresponds to sector). Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band));
BANG does not explicitly teach but NIU teaches, ‘and cause concurrent transmission of the first
PDU to the AP MLD via the first sector of the 60 GHz channel and a second PDU to a second STA via a second sector of the 60 GHz channel.’ (NIU - Paragraph [0120], the wireless transmission system may acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 and may transmit using either of the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second intended Tx beam 914 during the associated COT (Channel Occupancy Time – corresponds to concurrent). Paragraph [0124], After the base station 902 uses a directional CCA to acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 for a COT, the base station 202 may use the COT to perform one or more transmissions to the first UE 904 on the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second UE 912 on the second intended Tx beam 914. Paragraph [0095], a wireless transmission system may use an Rx beam that corresponds to an intended Tx beam in order to perform the CCA in the direction of the intended Tx beam. Paragraph [0024], e.g., between 57 GHz and 71 GHz – corresponds to 60 GHz included). These (or other) frequencies may be used to establish/host one or more channels (e.g., a bandwidth which can be used for signaling between devices) according to the transmission abilities of a wireless transmission system. Paragraph [0153], IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay may expect to see channel bandwidths of 2.16 GHz in and around the 60 GHz range);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of NIU with BANG because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of NIU into BANG is that NIU provides that a directional CCA may include the performance of a CCA respective to a beam that is to be used to transmit by the wireless transmission system once it acquires a channel. When the channel is finally acquired, the transmissions allowed during the corresponding COT may be limited to
transmissions (either by or to the wireless transmission system) with similar spatial usage of the channel as the intended Tx beam. Such the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas within the channel using directional CCA may enable more efficient use of the channel than in the onmidirectional case. (See Paragraph [0095 ], NIU)
Regrading claim 23, BANG teaches, ‘A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising
instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations to:’ (Paragraphs [0265]-[0270], at least two or more blocks/functions may be implemented with a single chip, the memory (1120) may include … storage medium and/or other storage device, the processor (1110) may perform the operation described):
‘receive a packet from a physical layer (PHY) indicating an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity
(TxOP);’ (Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP – corresponds to uplink) during a transmission opportunity (“TXOP”). Paragraph [0068], the internally determined MPDU may be understood as the frame included in the transmission queue of the primary AC illustrated in FIG. 3. Paragraph [0137], the legacy STA may determine a state of a wireless medium by comparing a power level of a signal, which is received from a physical layer of a wireless device during a predetermined time (e.g., DIPS) according to an onmidirectional method, and a predetermined threshold level);
‘place a protocol data unit (PDU) in a transmit queue for transmission during the TxOP to an AP
MLD via a first sector of a 60 gigahertz (GHz) link;’ (Paragraph [0062], a frame included in a transmission queue corresponding to the primary AC may be transmitted to another entity (e.g., another STA or AP) during a transmission opportunity (“TXOP”). Paragraph [0068], the internally determined MPDU may be understood as the frame included in the transmission queue of the primary AC illustrated in FIG. 3. Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction (corresponds to sector), among the multiple directions. Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band);
‘perform a first directional clear channel assessment (CCA) for the first sector of the 60 GHz
channel, the first directional CCA to determine if the 60 GHz channel in the first sector is busy or idle;’ (Paragraph [0143], the wireless device … may simultaneously perform multiple separate directional CCA procedures according to a direction method. That is, a first radio channel may be determined to be in a busy state through a first directional CCA procedure for a first direction (corresponds to sector), among the multiple directions. Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band);
‘perform a second directional CCA for a second sector of the 60 GHz channel;’ (Paragraph
[0143], a second radio channel may be determined to be in an idle state through a second directions CCA procedure for a second direction (corresponds to sector). Paragraph [0149], an x-axis of FIG. 7 may indicate a frequency (GHz) for a 60 GHz band));
BANG does not explicitly teach but NIU teaches, ‘and cause concurrent transmission of the first PDU to the AP MLD via the first sector of the 60 GHz channel and a second PDU to a second STA via a second sector of the 60 GHz channel(NIU - Paragraph [0120], the wireless transmission system may acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 and may transmit using either of the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second intended Tx beam 914 during the associated COT (Channel Occupancy Time – corresponds to concurrent). Paragraph [0124], After the base station 902 uses a directional CCA to acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 for a COT, the base station 202 may use the COT to perform one or more transmissions to the first UE 904 on the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second UE 912 on the second intended Tx beam 914. Paragraph [0095], a wireless transmission system may use an Rx beam that corresponds to an intended Tx beam in order to perform the CCA in the direction of the intended Tx beam. Paragraph [0024], e.g., between 57 GHz and 71 GHz – corresponds to 60 GHz included). These (or other) frequencies may be used to establish/host one or more channels (e.g., a bandwidth which can be used for signaling between devices) according to the transmission abilities of a wireless transmission system. Paragraph [0153], IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay may expect to see channel bandwidths of 2.16 GHz in and around the 60 GHz range);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of NIU with BANG because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of NIU into BANG is that NIU provides that a directional CCA may include the performance of a CCA respective to a beam that is to be used to transmit by the wireless transmission system once it acquires a channel. When the channel is finally acquired, the transmissions allowed during the corresponding COT may be limited to
transmissions (either by or to the wireless transmission system) with similar spatial usage of the channel as the intended Tx beam. Such the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas within the channel using directional CCA may enable more efficient use of the channel than in the onmidirectional case. (See Paragraph [0095 ], NIU)
Claims 4-8, 20-22 and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BANG in view of NIU in view of Choi et al. (US 10,433,337 B2), hereinafter “CHOI”.
Regarding claim 4, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG and NIU do not
Explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘the circuitry to further generate the first PDU, the second PDU, or both with indications that directional CCA is not required.’ (CHOI – col. 37, lines 7-17, an STA that has received a trigger frame may transmit an UL MU PPDU (or an UL MU frame) through a channel (or a channel allocated to the STA) through which the UL MU PPDU will be transmitted regardless of a result of CCA (corresponds to not required) for the corresponding channel. That is, … an STA that has received a trigger frame may transmit an UL MU PPDU through a channel regardless of whether the corresponding channel allocated to the STA is an idle state or a busy state. In this case, the STA may receive a trigger frame regardless of a result of CCA, and may transmit the UL MU PPDU after an SIPS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claim 5, BANG, NIU and CHOI teach, the apparatus of claim 4, BANG and NIU do not
explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘wherein the circuitry of the multilink device communicates via the first sector and the second sector independently.’ (CHOI – col. 12, lines 6-7, an AP may simultaneously transmit a packet to one or more STAs that have been subjected to MIMO pairing. Col. 46, lines 57-60, the interval between the transmission of the trigger frame and the transmission of the UL MU frame and whether or not to reflect a result of CCA may be independently operated).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claim 6, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG and NIU do not
explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘wherein the UL TxOP for the STA is trigger based and the first PDU comprises a trigger frame. (CHOI - col. 30, lines 49-52, the duration information may include information about the interval of a transmit opportunity (TXOP) allocated for the UL transmission of each STA or information (e.g., a bit or symbol) about the length of an UL frame. Col. 30, lines 26-31, the AP commands the STAs which will transmit UL MU data to prepare UL MU transmission by transmitting an UL MU trigger frame 1510 including various information for UL MU transmission).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claim 7, BANG, NIU and CHOI teach, the apparatus of claim 6, BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘wherein the trigger frame comprises a frame control field, the frame control field comprises a common info field, and the common info field comprises a CS required field.’ (CHOI - col. 34, lines 15-21, Fig. 19, a trigger frame may include a frame control field FC, a duration/ID field Duration, a common information field Common Info, a user-specific information field Per User Info 1 - Per User Info N, and FCS. Col.2, lines 55-Col.3, line 3, receiving a trigger frame including information for UL MU transmission and a carrier sense indicator indicating whether a result of the carrier sensing is to be reflected from an access point (AP), and transmitting an UL MU frame through the channel based on the information for UL MU transmission. Col.4, lines 1-3, the carrier sense indicator is included in a common information field or user-specific information field of the trigger frame).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claim 8, BANG, NIU and CHOI teach, the apparatus of claim 7, BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘the CS required field to comprise a one bit value, the one bit value to comprise a logical one to indicate that the STA can transmit a response to the trigger frame without performing a CCA or comprise a logical zero to indicate that the STA must perform a CCA prior to transmitting a response to the trigger frame.’ (CHOI -Col. 42, lines 14-32, In this case, the CS indicator may have a z bit size. In this case, z may be a specific positive number. For example, the CS indicator of a 1 bit size indicating whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing may be included in the common information field or user-specific information field of the trigger frame (corresponds to CS required field to comprise a one bit value). if an AP sets the CS indicator to "1" (or "0") and transmits the CS indicator (i.e., if the CS indicator does not indicate the reflection of a result of CCA and/or an NAV state (or if the CS indicator is "off")), an STA that has received a corresponding trigger frame may transmit an UL MU frame (or an UL MU PPDU) (refer to FIG. 21(a)) regardless of the NAY state and/or a result of CCA (corresponds to one bit value to comprise a logical one to indicate that the STA can transmit a response without performing a CCA). Col. 42, lines 41-49, if an AP sets the CS indicator to "0" (or "1 ") and transmits the CS indicator (i.e., if the CS indicator indicates the reflection of a result of CCA and an NAV state(if the CS indicator is "on")), an STA that has received a corresponding trigger frame may reflect a result of carrier sensing and may transmit an UL MU frame (or an UL MU PPDU) through a channel (e.g., a secondary channel) of an idle state (corresponds to comprise a logical zero to indicate that the STA must perform a CCA prior to transmitting a response)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claims 20 and 24, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 18, BANG and NIU do
not explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘wherein the UL TxOP for the AP MLD is trigger based and the first PDU comprises a control frame.’ (CHOI – col. 30, lines 49-52, the duration information may include information about the interval of a transmit opportunity (TXOP) allocated for the UL transmission of each STA or information (e.g., a bit or symbol) about the length of an UL frame. Col. 30, lines 26-31, the AP commands the STAs which will transmit UL MU data to prepare UL MU transmission by transmitting an UL MU trigger frame 1510 including various information for UL MU transmission. Col. 35, lines 58-60, a trigger frame may also trigger the transmission of a short management/control frame in addition to an UL MU data frame).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claims 21 and 25, BANG, NIU and CHOI teach, the apparatus of claim 20, BANG and NIU do not teach but CHOI teaches, ‘wherein the packet comprises a frame control field, the frame control field comprises a common info field, and the common info field comprises a CS required field.’ (CHOI - col. 34, lines 15-21, Fig. 19, a trigger frame may include a frame control field FC, a duration/ID field Duration, a common information field Common Info, a user-specific information field Per User Info 1 - Per User Info N, and FCS. Col.2, lines 55-Col.3, line 3, receiving a trigger frame including information for UL MU transmission and a carrier sense indicator indicating whether a result of the carrier sensing is to be reflected from an access point (AP), and transmitting an UL MU frame through the channel based on the information for UL MU transmission. Col.4, lines 1-3, the carrier sense indicator is included in a common information field or user-specific information field of the trigger frame).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Regarding claim 22, BANG, NIU and CHOI teach, the apparatus of claim 21, BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘the CS required field to comprise a one bit value, the one bit value to comprise a logical one to indicate that the non-AP MLD can transmit a response to the trigger frame without performing a CCA or comprise a logical zero to indicate that the STA must perform a CCA prior to transmitting a response to the trigger frame’ (CHOI -Col. 42, lines 14-32, In this case, the CS indicator may have a z bit size. In this case, z may be a specific positive number. For example, the CS indicator of a 1 bit size indicating whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing may be included in the common information field or user-specific information field of the trigger frame (corresponds to CS required field to comprise a one bit value). if an AP sets the CS indicator to "1" (or "0") and transmits the CS indicator (i.e., if the CS indicator does not indicate the reflection of a result of CCA and/or an NAV state (or if the CS indicator is "off")), an STA that has received a corresponding trigger frame may transmit an UL MU frame (or an UL MU PPDU) (refer to FIG. 21(a)) regardless of the NAY state and/or a result of CCA (corresponds to one bit value to comprise a logical one to indicate that the non-AP MLD can transmit a response without performing a CCA). Col. 42, lines 41-49, if an AP sets the CS indicator to "0" (or "1 ") and transmits the CS indicator (i.e., if the CS indicator indicates the reflection of a result of CCA and an NAV state(if the CS indicator is "on")), an STA that has received a corresponding trigger frame may reflect a result of carrier sensing and may transmit an UL MU frame (or an UL MU PPDU) through a channel (e.g., a secondary channel) of an idle state (corresponds to comprise a logical zero to indicate that the STA must perform a CCA prior to transmitting a response)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG and NIU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Claims 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BANG in view of LIU in view of Ajami et al. (US 2023/0104446 A1), hereinafter “AJAMI”.
Regarding claim 9, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but AJAMI teaches, ‘wherein the UL TxOP for the STA comprises a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP) assignment for the STA.’ (AJAMI - Paragraph [0005], receiving a request frame from a wireless station (STA) associated with the AP and also associated with a client device via a peer-to-peer (P2P) link, the request frame indicating that the STA intends to exchange P2P communications with the client device during a restricted target wake time (r-TWT) service period (SP) scheduled on a wireless medium, the request frame identifying the client device. The method can include transmitting a response frame, responsive to receiving the request frame, on the wireless medium to the STA. The method can include obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) on the wireless medium during the rTWT SP).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of AJAMI with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of AJAMI into BANG and NIU is that AJAMI enables a wireless local area network (WLAN) that may be formed by one or more access points (APs) provide a shared wireless medium for use by a number of client devices or stations (STAs). Each AP, which may correspond to a Basic Service Set (BSS), may periodically broadcast beacon frames to enable any STAs within wireless range of the AP to establish and maintain a communication link with the WLAN. WLANs that operate in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards are commonly referred to as Wi-Fi networks. Thus, it is desirable to ensure that WLANs are able to meet the various latency, throughput, and timing requirements of such low-latency applications. (See paragraph [0002-0003], AJAMI)
Claims 10-11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BANG in view of NIU in view of Chu et al. (US 2020/0107393 A1), hereinafter “CHU”.
Regarding claim 10, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG does not explicitly teach but NIU teaches, ‘… per sector … per sector.’ (MIU - Paragraph [0120]: the wireless transmission system may acquire the channel in the direction of the first intended Tx beam 906 and the second intended Tx beam 914 and may transmit using either of the first intended Tx beam 906 and/or the second intended Tx beam 914 during the associated COT. Paragraph [0095], the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas (corresponds to per sector) within the channel using directional CCA),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of NIU with BANG because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of NIU into BANG is that NIU provides that a directional CCA may include the performance of a CCA respective to a beam that is to be used to transmit by the wireless transmission system once it acquires a channel. When the channel is finally acquired, the transmissions allowed during the corresponding COT may be limited to
transmissions (either by or to the wireless transmission system) with similar spatial usage of the channel as the intended Tx beam. Such the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas within the channel using directional CCA may enable more efficient use of the channel than in the onmidirectional case. (See Paragraph [0095 ], NIU)
BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but CHU teaches, ‘the circuitry to maintain at least one retry counter per access category … and at least one contention window per access category ...’ (CHU - Paragraph [0031]: MAC processor 126 (corresponds to circuit) includes one or more multi-band backoff timers. Paragraph [0101], for each access category (AC) …, there is a backoff timer (e.g., an
instance of the backoff timer 516), a contention window CW, a contention window minimum (CWmin), a contention window maximum (CWmax), a slot time, an arbitrary inter-frame space number (AIFSN), a quality of service short retry counter (QSRC), and a quality of service long retry counter (QLRC)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHU with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHU into BANG and NIU is that CHU provides transmitting the first PPDU via a first component channel of the plurality of component channels, the first component channel being within a first radio frequency (RF) channel segment that occupies a first frequency bandwidth, and transmitting the second PPDU via a second component channel of the plurality of component channels, the second component channel being within a second RF channel segment that occupies a second frequency bandwidth that does not overlap the first frequency bandwidth segment, and is separated from the first frequency bandwidth segment by a frequency gap. (See paragraph [0004], CHU)
Regarding claim 11, BANG, NIU and CHU teach, the apparatus of claim 10, BANG does not explicitly teach but NIU teaches, ‘… for quasi-omni operation ...’ (MIU - Paragraph [0034]: "omnidirectional CCA" means that the sensing during the CCA corresponds to the areas sensed by a single antenna. Paragraph [0148], use of onmidirectional CCA and directional CCA, it is anticipated that a wireless transmission system could switch between using each),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of NIU with BANG because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of NIU into BANG is that NIU provides that a directional CCA may include the performance of a CCA respective to a beam that is to be used to transmit by the wireless transmission system once it acquires a channel. When the channel is finally acquired, the transmissions allowed during the corresponding COT may be limited to
transmissions (either by or to the wireless transmission system) with similar spatial usage of the channel as the intended Tx beam. Such the targeting of a specific spatial directions/areas within the channel using directional CCA may enable more efficient use of the channel than in the onmidirectional case. (See Paragraph [0095 ], NIU)
BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but CHU teaches, ‘the circuitry to further maintain, …, at least one retry counter per access category and at least one contention window per access category.’ (CHU - Paragraph [0031]: MAC processor 126 (corresponds to circuit) includes one or more multi-band backoff timers. Paragraph [0101], for each access category (AC) …, there is a backoff timer (e.g., an
instance of the backoff timer 516), a contention window CW, a contention window minimum (CWmin), a contention window maximum (CWmax), a slot time, an arbitrary inter-frame space number (AIFSN), a quality of service short retry counter (QSRC), and a quality of service long retry counter (QLRC)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHU with BANG and NIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHU into BANG and NIU is that CHU provides transmitting the first PPDU via a first component channel of the plurality of component channels, the first component channel being within a first radio frequency (RF) channel segment that occupies a first frequency bandwidth, and transmitting the second PPDU via a second component channel of the plurality of component channels, the second component channel being within a second RF channel segment that occupies a second frequency bandwidth that does not overlap the first frequency bandwidth segment, and is separated from the first frequency bandwidth segment by a frequency gap. (See paragraph [0004], CHU)
Regarding claim 13, BANG and NIU teach, the apparatus of claim 1, BANG and NIU do not explicitly teach but CHU teaches, ‘the circuitry to maintain at least one retry counter per access category and at least one contention window per access category, wherein communications in all sectors share the at least one retry counter per access category and the at least one contention window per access category.’ (CHU - Paragraph [0101], the backoff timer promotes sharing of the operating channel 502 with other communication devices, with each communication device waiting for a different length of time before attempting to use the operating channel 502. The backoff timer is set based on a group of respective backoff parameters, for example, for each access category (AC) (i.e., one of AC_BE (best effort), AC_BK (background), AC_VI (video), AC_VO (voice)), there is a backoff timer (e.g., an instance of the backoff timer 516), a contention window CW, a contention window minimum (CWmin), a contention window maximum (CWmax), a slot time, an arbitrary inter-frame space number (AIFSN), a quality of service short retry counter (QSRC), and a quality of service long retry counter (QLRC)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHU with BANG and LIU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHU into BANG and LIU is that CHU provides transmitting the first PPDU via a first component channel of the plurality of component channels, the first component channel being within a first radio frequency (RF) channel segment that occupies a first frequency bandwidth, and transmitting the second PPDU via a second component channel of the plurality of component channels, the second component channel being within a second RF channel segment that occupies a second frequency bandwidth that does not overlap the first frequency bandwidth segment, and is separated from the first frequency bandwidth segment by a frequency gap. (See paragraph [0004], CHU)
Claims 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BANG in view of LIU in view of CHU in view of CHOI.
Regarding claim 12, BANG, LIU and CHU teach, the apparatus of claim 10, BANG, LIU and CHU do not explicitly teach but CHOI teaches, ‘the circuitry to perform directional CCA in each sector to be used for a multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) transmission and to only initiate the MIMO transmission after all sectors to be used for the MIMO transmission are available for transmission.’ (CHOI - Col.31, lines 57-Col.32, line 11, in the case of UL MU MIMO transmission, each STA may transmit the UL data frame on the same time resource through at least one different of a plurality of spatial streams. In this case, a spatial stream for the UL data frame transmission may be allocated to each of the STA 1 to the STA 3 based on the STA ID/address information and resource allocation information included in the UL MU trigger frame 1510).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of CHOI with BANG, LIU and CHU because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of CHOI into BANG, LIU and CHU is that CHOI enables a load of an STA be reduced because a result of carrier sensing do not need to be reflected in order to send an UL MU frame. Furthermore, there is an advantage in that an UL MU frame can be transmitted more efficiently according to a characteristic of a received trigger frame because whether or not to reflect a result of carrier sensing is determined based on the format of the trigger frame. (See Col.4 lines 10-28, CHOI)
Conclusion
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/HAESHIL JESSICA CHOI/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479