lookNotice 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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is in reply to an amendment filed on 04/03/2025. Status of Claims are:
** Claims 1, 4, 8-10, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24, and 26-28 are pending.
** Claims 1, 9, 10 and 12 are amended
** Claims 2-3, 5-7, 11, 13-15, 17-18, 20, 23, and 25 are cancelled
Response to Arguments
2. Applicant' s arguments filed in the amendment filed 12/15/2025, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The reasons are set forth below.
Applicant argues mid page 2 of arguments
The Applicant's published specification at [0086] recites if "two or more allocated RUs are discontiguous in the frequency domain, beamforming needs to be performed on a carrier of each discontiguous RU separately." Additionally, since "the carrier of one bandwidth needs to occupy one antenna during beamforming, that is, each RU needs to occupy one antenna, the maximum number of the RU allocated to the second radio communication device by the first radio communication device is equal to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device, that is, the number of the RU that the first radio communication device may allocate is less than or equal to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device." Published Specification at [0086]. Further, Published Specification at [0090] teaches that the method includes "performing beam forming on a carrier of each of two or more RUs separately if the two or more RUs allocated to the second radio communication device are contiguous in the frequency domain and a sum of subcarriers included in the two or more RUs is greater than or less than a first subcarrier number." In contrast, neither Chen, nor Cai, nor their combinations teach each feature of amended claim 1.
Examiner’s Response:
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant perspective neither Chen, Cai, or combination of Chen and Cai do not teach above limitation feature. More specifically Applicant argues that according to Applicant’s amendment, the number of resource units allocated to the second radio communication device occupy one antenna, and that the maximum number of resource units is equal to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device. This limitation is consistent with the teachings of Chen in view of Cai, since Chen in para[0094], para[0112] and Fig. 5, #502, teaches WTRU (i.e., a second radio communication device) provides “assistance information” to “gNB/TRP” (i.e., first radio communication device) that includes a “NumbereOfAntennaPanel Information Element (IE)”, indicative of the total number of antenna panels of the WTRU (i.e., indicating a number of antenna of the second radio device) as well as “AntennaPanelStructure IE” which indicates the maximum number of “SRS resource sets” that may be configured for the WTRU “per CC” or “per BWP”, wherein per CC is understood as per channel such as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, etc. Furthermore, Chen in para[0100] teaches that the number of “SRS resource sets” per CC/BWP (i.e., resource units) allocated by gNB/TRP to WTRU (i.e., second radio communication device) may be less than or equal to the number of WTRU’s antenna panels for UL beam transmissions, which is consistent with Applicant specification. See also para[0081] and Table-1, “antenna configuration of WTRU” is done per frequency bandwidth (per BWP) such as 40 GHz, 30 GHz, etc. As such, Chen teaches the number of resource units allocated to the second radio communication device occupy one antenna, and that the maximum number of resource units is equal to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device.
Applicant argues mid page 3 of arguments
Chen discloses the following technical solution: A 160MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. See Chen at [0060]-[0063]. In some cases, the number of the triggered SRS resource sets may be less than or equal to the number of WTRU antenna panels, which may be determined (e.g., based on rules defined herein) to perform UL beam training (e.g., using a U2 or U3 beam management procedure), the triggered SRS resource sets may be transmitted using any one or more of the following example methods. See Chen at [0110]. Thus, Chen teaches limiting the number of triggered SRS resource sets to be less than or equal to the number of WTRU antenna panels according to a defined rule for uplink beam training. Accordingly, although Chen may also limit the number of allocated resource units to be less than or equal to the number of antennas of the second wireless communication device, the condition for doings so in Chen is completely different from that in the present application.
Examiner’s Response:
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s perspective concluding that Chen’s teachings limit the number of WTRU antenna panels according to a defined rule for uplink beam training, and concluding that Chen may also limit the number of allocated resource units to be less than or equal to the number of antennas, and as such, the teachings of Chen is completely different from that in the present application. Applicant’s applied claim language is the basis of Examiner’s teachings of Chen. Had Applicant’s applied claim language been different from the teachings of Chen Examiner would have considered different.
Applicant argues mid page 4 of arguments
Chen does not disclose determining, when combining multiple continuous or discontinuous channels into a single channel, whether the total number of subcarriers exceeds a first subcarrier threshold.
Examiner’s Response:
Examiner respectfully disagrees since Applicant is arguing about something that is not in the applied claims. The notion of “when combining multiple continuous or discontinuous channels into a single channel, whether the total number of subcarriers exceeds a first subcarrier threshold” are not indicated in the claims, as claims do not have the notion of “threshold” but have “a first subcarrier number”. Chen teaches a circumstance that the two or more resource units (i.e., srs resource sets per CC/BWP, e.g., 20 MHz or 80 MHz) allocated to the second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU) are contiguous in the frequency domain and a number of subcarriers (i.e., 20 MHz or 80 MHz) comprised in the number of resource units is greater than or less than a first subcarrier number (i.e., 160 MHz).
Applicant’s all other arguments are based on above’s already answered arguments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4, 8-10, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20210167821 to Chen et al., (hereinafter Chen) in view of US 20160211898 A1 to CAI (hereinafter CAI).
Claim 1. A communication resource unit allocation method, applied to a first radio communication device, and comprising:
receiving a message (Chen: para[0112] TRP/gNB receives antenna panel capability sent by WTRU ) sent by a second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU), wherein the message comprises an information element indicating a number of antennas of the second radio communication device. (Chen: See para[0094], para[0112] and Fig. 5, #502, for WTRU (i.e., a second radio communication device) provides “assistance information” to “gNB/TRP” (i.e., first radio communication device) that includes a “NumbereOfAntennaPanel Information Element (IE)”, indicative of the total number of antenna panels of the WTRU (i.e., indicating a number of antenna of the second radio device) as well as “AntennaPanelStructure IE” which indicates the maximum number of “SRS resource sets” that may be configured for the WTRU “per CC” or “per BWP”.)
determining , in response to a circumstance where two or more resource units (i.e., SRS resource sets per CC, e.g., 80MHz + 80 MHz = 160 MHz) allocated to the second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU) are discontiguous in a frequency domain, that the number of resource units allocated to the second radio communication device is less than or equal to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU); and (Chen: See para[0100] the number of “SRS resource sets” per CC/BWP (i.e., resource units) allocated by gNB/TRP to WTRU may be less than or equal to the number of WTRU antenna panels for UL beam transmissions. See para[0081] and Table-1 for “antenna configuration of WTRU” is done per frequency bandwidth (per BWP) such as 40 GHz, 30 GHz, etc))
in response to a circumstance that the two or more resource units (i.e., srs resource sets per CC/BWP, e.g., 20 MHz or 80 MHz) allocated to the second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU) are contiguous in the frequency domain and a number of subcarriers (i.e., 20 MHz or 80 MHz) comprised in the number of resource units is greater than or less than a first subcarrier number (i.e., 160 MHz).
(Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for “160 MHz bandwidth channel” (i.e., first subcarrier number) can be formed by combining two (2) non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels or by combining eight (8) contiguous 20 MHz channels, wherein 20 MHz or 80 MHz is less than 160 MHz (i.e., a first subcarrier number))
Although Chen teaches two “non-contiguous (i.e., discontiguous) 80MHz channels” (i.e., resource units (RU)) can be combined to form a160 MHz channel, after which beam forming can be done on a 160 MHz channel, or, teaching that the 160 MHz channel alternatively can be formed by combining “contiguous 20 MHz channels” (Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for “160 MHz bandwidth channel” can be formed by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels or by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels) after which beam forming can be done on the 160 MHz channel, however, it does not specifically teach that each one of those non-contiguous (i.e., discontiguous) channel frequencies (i.e., 80 MHz channels), or contiguous channel frequencies (i.e., 20 MHz channels) can be beamformed individually (i.e., separately and/or individually), as understood by applying a notion of “separately” in:
performing beamforming on a carrier of each discontiguous resource unit separately; (i.e., beamforming individually and/or separately, on each one of non-contiguous 80 MHz channels that forms 160 MHz channel) and performing beam forming on a carrier of each of two or more resource units separately (i.e., beamforming individually and/or separately, on each contiguous 20 MHz channels that forms 160 MHz channel)
However, in a similar field, CAI in para[0204] and Fig. 17, teaches any one of contiguous or non-contiguous frequency channels, such as 5 MHz or 12 MHz, can be chosen for beamforming. As such, it is understood that any other contiguous or non-contiguous resource units (i.e., channels) can be used separately and individually for beamforming)
Chen teaches uplink beamforming management techniques wherein two non-consecutive (i.e., discontiguous) 80 MHz channels allocated to a STA can be combined and configuration for beamforming a group or a set of beams. (Chen: See para[0060] & para[0124])
CAI teaches beam forming techniques wherein both of the non-contiguous frequencies could be chosen for beamforming. (CAI: see para[0204] and Fig. 17)
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art beofr3 the time of effective filling to have included separate and non-contiguous frequencies, as taught by CAI, with the teachings of Chen, in order to benefit from enhancements of having separate and non-contiguous frequencies, such as 12MHz and 5 MHz, wherein both of these frequencies could be chosen for beamforming purposes. (CAI: See para[0204] and Fig. 17)
(CAI: para[0204] and Fig. 17, teaches any one of contiguous or non-contiguous frequency channels, such as 5 MHz or 12 MHz, can be chosen for beamforming. As such, it is understood that any other contiguous or non-contiguous resource units (i.e., channels) can be used separately and individually for beamforming)
Claim 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining the number of resource units allocated to the second radio communication device according to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device comprises:
determining, according to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device, the number of the resource units allocated to the second radio communication device in a bandwidth.
(Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for STA (i.e., WTRU) can be configured to support “160 MHz bandwidth channel” by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels or by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels)
Claim 8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: in response to a circumstance that the two or more resource units allocated to the second radio communication device are contiguous in the frequency domain, performing carry aggregation on carriers of the two or more resource units and then performing beamforming. (Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for STA (i.e., WTRU) uses 40 Mhz channel for communication purposes via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with another adjacent 20 MHz channel (i.e., carrier aggregation). STA also supports “160 MHz bandwidth channel”, by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels (i.e., resource units) or by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels (i.e., resource units).
Claim 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information element comprises at least one of:
an information element identifier for identifying the information element; a length identifier for indicating a length of the information element; and a number of antennas identifier for indicating the number of antennas of the second radio communication device.
(Chen: See para[0094], para[0112] and Fig. 5, #502, for WTRU (i.e., a second radio communication device) provides “assistance information” to the gNB/TRP that includes “NumberOfAntennaPanel Information Element (IE)”, indicative of the total number of antenna panels of the WTRU (i.e., indicating a number of antenna of the second radio device) as well as “AntennaPanelStructure IE” which indicates the maximum number of “SRS resource sets” that may be configured for the WTRU “per CC” or “per BWP”.)
Claim 10. A communication resource unit allocation method, applied to a second radio communication device, and comprising:
sending a message, (Chen: para[0112] WTRU (i.e., second communication device) sends to TRP/gNB, its antenna panel capability) wherein the message comprises an information element indicating a number of antennas of the second radio communication device. (Chen: See para[0094], para[0112] and Fig. 5, #502, for WTRU (i.e., a second radio communication device) provides “assistance information” to “gNB/TRP” (i.e., first radio communication device) that includes a “NumbereOfAntennaPanel Information Element (IE)”, indicative of the total number of antenna panels of the WTRU (i.e., indicating a number of antenna of the second radio device) as well as “AntennaPanelStructure IE” which indicates the maximum number of “SRS resource sets” that may be configured for the WTRU “per CC” or “per BWP”.)
wherein in response to a circumstance where two or more resource units (i.e., SRS resource sets per CC, e.g., 80MHz + 80 MHz = 160 MHz) allocated to the second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU) are discontiguous in a frequency domain, it is determined whether a number of resource units allocated to the second radio communication device is less than or equal to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device; (i.e., WTRU) and (Chen: See para[0100] the number of “SRS resource sets” per CC/BWP (i.e., resource units) allocated by gNB/TRP to WTRU may be less than or equal to the number of WTRU antenna panels for UL beam transmissions. See para[0081] and Table-1 for “antenna configuration of WTRU” is done per frequency bandwidth (per BWP) such as 40 GHz, 30 GHz, etc))
in response to a circumstance that the two or more resource units (i.e., srs resource sets per CC/BWP, e.g., 20 MHz or 80 MHz) allocated to the second radio communication device (i.e., WTRU) are contiguous in the frequency domain and a number of subcarriers (i.e., 20 MHz or 80 MHz) comprised in the number of resource units is greater than or less than a first subcarrier number (i.e., 160 MHz).
(Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for “160 MHz bandwidth channel” (i.e., first subcarrier number) can be formed by combining two (2) non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels or by combining eight (8) contiguous 20 MHz channels, wherein 20 MHz or 80 MHz is less than 160 MHz (i.e., a first subcarrier number))
Although Chen teaches two “non-contiguous (i.e., discontiguous) 80MHz channels” (i.e., resource units (RU)) can be combined to form a160 MHz channel, after which beam forming can be done on a 160 MHz channel, or, teaching that the 160 MHz channel alternatively can be formed by combining “contiguous 20 MHz channels” (Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for “160 MHz bandwidth channel” can be formed by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels or by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels) after which beam forming can be done on the 160 MHz channel, however, it does not specifically teach that each one of those non-contiguous (i.e., discontiguous) channel frequencies (i.e., 80 MHz channels), or contiguous channel frequencies (i.e., 20 MHz channels) can be beamformed individually (i.e., separately and/or individually), as understood by applying a notion of “separately” in:
performing beamforming on a carrier of each discontiguous resource unit separately; (i.e., beamforming individually and/or separately, on each one of non-contiguous 80 MHz channels that forms 160 MHz channel) and performing beamforming on a carrier of each of two or more resource units separately (i.e., beamforming individually and/or separately, on each contiguous 20 MHz channels that forms 160 MHz channel)
However, in a similar field, CAI in para[0204] and Fig. 17, teaches any one of contiguous or non-contiguous frequency channels, such as 5 MHz or 12 MHz, can be chosen for beamforming. As such, it is understood that any other contiguous or non-contiguous resource units (i.e., channels) can be used separately and individually for beamforming)
Chen teaches uplink beamforming management techniques wherein two non-consecutive (i.e., discontiguous) 80 MHz channels allocated to a STA can be combined and configuration for beamforming a group or a set of beams. (Chen: See para[0060] & para[0124])
CAI teaches beam forming techniques wherein both of the non-contiguous frequencies could be chosen for beamforming. (CAI: see para[0204] and Fig. 17)
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art beofr3 the time of effective filling to have included separate and non-contiguous frequencies, as taught by CAI, with the teachings of Chen, in order to benefit from enhancements of having separate and non-contiguous frequencies, such as 12MHz and 5 MHz, wherein both of these frequencies could be chosen for beamforming purposes. (CAI: See para[0204] and Fig. 17)
Claim 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the information element comprises at least one of:
an information element identifier for identifying the information element; a length identifier for indicating a length of the information element; and an antenna count identifier for indicating the number of antennas of the second radio communication device.
(Chen: See para[0094], para[0112] and Fig. 5, #502, for WTRU (i.e., a second radio communication device) provides “assistance information” to the gNB/TRP that includes “NumberOfAntennaPanel Information Element (IE)”, indicative of the total number of antenna panels of the WTRU (i.e., indicating a number of antenna of the second radio device) as well as “AntennaPanelStructure IE” which indicates the maximum number of “SRS resource sets” that may be configured for the WTRU “per CC” or “per BWP”.)
Claim 16. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: in response to a circumstance that the two or more resource units allocated to the second radio communication device are contiguous in a frequency domain, performing carry aggregation on carriers of two or more resource units and then performing beamforming. (Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for STA (i.e., WTRU) uses 40 Mhz channel for communication purposes, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with another adjacent 20 MHz channel (i.e., carrier aggregation). STA also supports “160 MHz bandwidth channel”, by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels (i.e., resource units) or by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels (i.e., resource units).
Claim 19. A communication device, comprising a processor, a transceiver, a memory, and an executable program stored on the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the processor executes, when running the executable program, steps of the communication resource unit allocation method according to claim 1. (Chen: See para[0143] for processor, transceiver, memory, of a computer, and a computer program, incorporated in a computer-readable medium, for execution by a computer)
Claim 21. A communication device, comprising a processor, a transceiver, a memory, and an executable program stored on the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the processor executes, when running the executable program, steps of the communication resource unit allocation method according to claim 10. (Chen: See para[0143] for processor, transceiver, memory, of a computer, and a computer program, incorporated in a computer-readable medium, for use by WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, or any host computer)
Claim 22. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
In response to a circumstance that the two or more resource units allocated to the second radio communication device (i.e., 20 MHz channels) are contiguous in the frequency domain (Chen: para[0062] contiguous 20 MHz channels), and a sum of subcarriers comprise in the two or more resource units is equal to a first subcarrier number (i.e., 40 MHz is the sum of two (2) 20 MHz channels), performing carry aggregation on carriers of two or more resource units ( Chen: see para[0062] 40 MHz channel is achieved by combining two (2) contiguous 20 Mhz channels (i.e., carry aggregation)) and then performing beamforming.(Chen: para[0084] beamforming)
Claim 24. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: in response to a circumstance that the two or more resource units allocated to the second radio communication device are contiguous in the frequency domain and a sum of subcarriers comprised in the two or more resource units is equal to a first subcarrier number, performing carry aggregation on carriers of two or more resource units and then performing beamforming. (Chen: See para[0060]-[0063] for STA uses 40 MHz channel for communication via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channe with another 20 MHz channel. STA also supports “160 MHz bandwidth channel” by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz bandwidth channels (i.e.,r esource units) or by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels (i.e., resource units))
Claim 27. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining data transmission capability of the second radio communication device according to the number of antennas of the second radio communication device;
(Chen, in para[0094]-[0112] and Fig. 5, #502 WTRU (i.e., a second radio communication device) provides “assistance information” to “gNB/TRP” (i.e., first radio communication device), that includes a “NumbereOfAntennaPanel Information Element (IE)”, indicative of the total number of antenna panels of the WTRU (i.e., indicating a number of antenna of the second radio device ) as well as “AntennaPanelStructure IE” which indicates the maximum number of “SRS resource sets” that may be configured for the WTRU “per CC” or “per BWP”.)
performing beamforming on a carrier of the resource unit based on the data transmission capability. (Chen: para[0084] WTRU performing beamforming based on its TX and RX beam capabilities)
Claims 26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20210167821 to Chen et al., (hereinafter Chen) in view of US 20160211898 A1 to CAI (hereinafter CAI) and in further view of US 20190191451 A1 to Patil et al. (hereinafter Patil).
Claim 26. Chen in view of CAI teaches the method according to claim 22, but they do not seem to explicitly disclose:
wherein the first subcarrier number is any one of subcarrier numbers comprised in the resource unit formats supported by a standard.
However, in a similar field, Patil teaches:
wherein the first subcarrier number is any one of subcarrier numbers comprised in the resource unit formats supported by a standard.
(Patil: para[0037] in IEEE 802.1ax, an RU may be a sub-channel, within a larger channel bandwidth that includes various subcarriers. For example, RU (resource unit) may be a group of 26 subcarriers (i.e., any one of subcarrier numbers) used by one or more STAs.)
Chen teaches uplink beamforming management techniques wherein two non-consecutive (i.e., discontiguous) 80 MHz channels allocated to a STA can be combined and configuration for beamforming a group or a set of beams. (Chen: See para[0060] & para[0124])
CAI teaches beam forming techniques wherein both of the non-contiguous frequencies could be chosen for beamforming. (CAI: see para[0204] and Fig. 17)
Patil teaches resource unit (RU) in IEEE 802.ax, may be a sub-channel consisting of a group of 26 subcarriers used by STAs. (Patil: See para[0037])
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art beofr3 the time of effective filling to have included subcarrier of a resource unit (RU), as taught by Patil, with the teachings of Chen in view of CAI, in order to benefit from enhancement of IEEE802.11ax standard, that identifies a resource unit (RU) as a sub-channel within a larger channel, consisting of a group of subcarriers used by stations (STAs)).
Claim 28. Chen in view of CAI teaches the method according to claim 24, but they do not seem to explicitly disclose:
wherein the first subcarrier number is any one of subcarrier numbers comprised in the resource unit formats supported by a standard.
However, in a similar field, Patil teaches:
wherein the first subcarrier number is any one of subcarrier numbers comprised in the resource unit formats supported by a standard.
(Patil: para[0037] in IEEE 802.1ax, an RU may be a sub-channel, within a larger channel bandwidth that includes various subcarriers. For example, RU (resource unit) may be a group of 26 subcarriers (i.e., any one of subcarrier numbers) used by one or more STAs.)
Chen teaches uplink beamforming management techniques wherein two non-consecutive (i.e., discontiguous) 80 MHz channels allocated to a STA can be combined and configuration for beamforming a group or a set of beams. (Chen: See para[0060] & para[0124])
CAI teaches beam forming techniques wherein both of the non-contiguous frequencies could be chosen for beamforming. (CAI: see para[0204] and Fig. 17)
Patil teaches resource unit (RU) in IEEE 802.ax, may be a sub-channel consisting of a group of 26 subcarriers used by STAs. (Patil: See para[0037])
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art beofr3 the time of effective filling to have included subcarrier of a resource unit (RU), as taught by Patil, with the teachings of Chen in view of CAI, in order to benefit from enhancement of IEEE802.11ax standard, that identifies a resource unit (RU) as a sub-channel within a larger channel, consisting of a group of subcarriers used by stations (STAs)).
Conclusion
6. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAJID ESMAEILIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7830. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner' s supervisor, Chirag Shah can be reached on 571-272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M. E./
Examiner, Art Unit 2477
/GREGORY B SEFCHECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
Prosecution Insights