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 .
Claims 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 13, 17, 18 have been amended.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4,6-14 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hedayat (US 20180020460 A1) in view of Baek et al.(US US20240284250).
Regarding claim 1, 11, Hedayat teaches A first device comprising: one or more processors configured to ([0131] “The example WLAN device 1 includes a baseband processor 10, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 20, an antenna unit 30, memory 40, an input interface unit 50, an output interface unit 60, and a bus 70. The baseband processor 10 performs baseband signal processing, and includes a MAC processor 11 and a PHY processor 15”):
wirelessly receive, via a transceiver from a second device, a first frame ([0050] “An HE Control subfield that carries information regarding QoSC is referred to herein as an HEC-QoSC subfield. An HEC-QoSC subfield may carry information for requesting a STA to provide its buffer size or for providing buffer size information (e.g., a buffer status report). For example, a requesting STA (e.g., an AP) may use the HEC-QoSC subfield to request that another STA provide its buffer size (e.g., the size of the payload buffered at the STA to be sent to the AP in uplink direction) with a specified granularity.”, (Examiner’s Note: second device is equivalent to AP));
generate a second frame including buffer status data of a plurality wireless traffic streams ([0050] “The responding STA may report buffer size with a given granularity by rounding-up the result of the buffer size divided by the granularity size. In another embodiment, the requesting STA does not indicate a preference for the granularity of the reported buffer size. In this case, the responding STA may decide the granularity to use and may indicate this granularity when reporting the buffer size. In one embodiment, the buffer status report includes a first granularity indicator for a first TID (or first AC), a second granularity indicator for a second TID (or second AC), and a third granularity indicator for all TIDs (or all ACs)”);
and wirelessly transmit, via the transceiver, the generated second frame to the second device ([0050] “The responding STA may report buffer size with a given granularity by rounding-up the result of the buffer size divided by the granularity size. In another embodiment, the requesting STA does not indicate a preference for the granularity of the reported buffer size. In this case, the responding STA may decide the granularity to use and may indicate this granularity when reporting the buffer size. In one embodiment, the buffer status report includes a first granularity indicator for a first TID (or first AC), a second granularity indicator for a second TID (or second AC), and a third granularity indicator for all TIDs (or all ACs)”, [0114] “In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in a QoS field in the MAC header of an MPDU”).
Hedayat does not explicitly teach wherein in generating the second frame, the one or more processors are configured to set a first queue size field of the second frame to a highest queue size among a plurality of queue sizes of a plurality of wireless traffic streams associated with a plurality of traffic identifiers.
Baek teaches wherein in generating the second frame ([0009] “and transmitting to the AP a frame including a second BSR control subfield including second queue size information for the second type traffic, and the second type traffic may correspond to latency sensitive traffic and the first type traffic may correspond to traffic other than the second type traffic”, [0196] “More specifically, a buffer status reported in a QoS control field may include a queue size value for a specific traffic identifier (TID) and a buffer status reported in a BSR control subfield may include an access category indicator (ACI) bitmap, a delta TID, a high-priority access category (AC) and two queue size values.),
the one or more processors are configured to set a first queue size field of the second frame to a highest queue size among a plurality of queue sizes of a plurality of wireless traffic streams associated with a plurality of traffic identifiers ([0270] “of FIG. 20 (a) to (c), at least one subfield of ACI bitmap, LST info, scaling factor, queue size all, . . . may be additionally included “, [0200-201] “An ACI high subfield may indicate an ACI of an AC for BSR indicated in a queue size high subfield. 0, 1, 2, and 3, a value of an ACI, correspond to AC_BE, AC_BK, AC_VI, and AC_VO, respectively… A scaling factor subfield represents a SF, a unit of a queue size high subfield and a queue size all subfield. 0, 1, 2, and 3, a value of a scaling factor subfield, may indicate a SF of 16 octets, 256 octets, 2048 octets and 32768 octets, respectively … A queue size high subfield may indicate the amount of traffic buffered with an intention of sending an AC identified by an ACI high subfield to a STA identified by a receiver address of a frame including a BSR control subfield in a unit of a SF octet”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 2, 12, Hedayat, does not teach wherein the second device is an access point, a soft access point or a peer device.
Baek teaches wherein the second device is an access point ([0009] “A method for transmitting buffer status report (BSR) by a station (STA) in a WLAN system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes transmitting to an access point (AP) a frame including a first BSR control subfield including first queue size information for first type traffic and second type traffic; and transmitting to the AP a frame including a second BSR control subfield including second queue size information for the second type traffic”), a soft access point or a peer device.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 3, 13, Hedayat teaches wherein in generating the second frame, the one or more processors are configured to: to indicate the plurality of traffic identifiers ([0050] “In response to receiving such a request from a requesting STA (e.g., AP), the responding STA may use the HEC-QoSC subfield to report the buffer sizes for the requested TIDs (or ACs) with the indicated granularities (unless the buffer size is zero for some of the TIDs (or ACs)”).
Hedayat, does not explicitly teach set a plurality of bits of a traffic identifier bitmap field of the second frame.
Baek teaches set a plurality of bits of a traffic identifier bitmap field of the second frame ([0270] “of FIG. 20 (a) to (c), at least one subfield of ACI bitmap, LST info, scaling factor, queue size all, . . . may be additionally included”, [0197-198] “An ACI bitmap subfield indicates an access category (AC) that a buffer status is reported and B0, B1, B2 and B3 correspond to AC_BE (best effort), AC_BK (background), AC_VI (video) and AC_VO (voice), respectively. As each bit of an ACI bitmap subfield may be configured as 1, it may indicate that a buffer status of a corresponding AC is included in a queue size all subfield. Except when an ACI bitmap subfield is 0 and a delta TID subfield is 3 (this case shows that a buffer status for all eight TIDs is included), it may be shown that a buffer status for an AC corresponding to a bit configured as 0 is not included in a queue size all subfield …A delta TID subfield, along with a value of an ACI bitmap subfield, may indicate the number of TIDs that a STA reports a buffer status”.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 4, 14, Hedayat, does not teach wherein the traffic identifier bitmap field of the second frame comprises a plurality of bits each corresponding to a traffic identifier associated with one of the plurality of traffic categories.
Baek teaches wherein the traffic identifier bitmap field of the second frame comprises a plurality of bits each corresponding to the traffic identifier associated with one of a plurality of traffic categories [0270] “of FIG. 20 (a) to (c), at least one subfield of ACI bitmap, LST info, scaling factor, queue size all, . . . may be additionally included”, [0197-198] “An ACI bitmap subfield indicates an access category (AC) that a buffer status is reported and B0, B1, B2 and B3 correspond to AC_BE (best effort), AC_BK (background), AC_VI (video) and AC_VO (voice), respectively. As each bit of an ACI bitmap subfield may be configured as 1, it may indicate that a buffer status of a corresponding AC is included in a queue size all subfield. Except when an ACI bitmap subfield is 0 and a delta TID subfield is 3 (this case shows that a buffer status for all eight TIDs is included), it may be shown that a buffer status for an AC corresponding to a bit configured as 0 is not included in a queue size all subfield …A delta TID subfield, along with a value of an ACI bitmap subfield, may indicate the number of TIDs that a STA reports a buffer status”.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 6, 16, Hedayat, does not explicitly teach wherein in generating the second frame, the one or more processors are configured to: set a first traffic identifier field of the second frame to a traffic identifier corresponding to the highest queue size.
Baek teaches wherein in generating the second frame, the one or more processors are configured to: set a first traffic identifier field of the second frame to a traffic identifier corresponding to the highest queue size ([0270] “of FIG. 20 (a) to (c), at least one subfield of ACI bitmap, LST info, scaling factor, queue size all, . . . may be additionally included “, [0200-201] “An ACI high subfield may indicate an ACI of an AC for BSR indicated in a queue size high subfield. 0, 1, 2, and 3, a value of an ACI, correspond to AC_BE, AC_BK, AC_VI, and AC_VO, respectively… A scaling factor subfield represents a SF, a unit of a queue size high subfield and a queue size all subfield. 0, 1, 2, and 3, a value of a scaling factor subfield, may indicate a SF of 16 octets, 256 octets, 2048 octets and 32768 octets, respectively … A queue size high subfield may indicate the amount of traffic buffered with an intention of sending an AC identified by an ACI high subfield to a STA identified by a receiver address of a frame including a BSR control subfield in a unit of a SF octet”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 7, 17, Hedayat does not teach wherein in generating the second frame, the one or more processors are configured to: set a second queue size field of the second frame to a total queue size of traffic associated with the plurality traffic identifiers.
Baek teaches wherein in generating the second frame, the one or more processors are configured to: set a second queue size field of the second frame to a total queue size of traffic associated with the plurality traffic identifiers ([0270] “of FIG. 20 (a) to (c), at least one subfield of ACI bitmap, LST info, scaling factor, queue size all, . . . may be additionally included “, [0202] “A queue size all subfield may indicate the amount of traffic buffered with an intention of sending all AC identified by an ACI bitmap subfield to a STA identified by a receiver address of a frame including a BSR control subfield in a unit of a SF octet.”, [0239] “a TID value to which first type traffic may be associated/mapped is 1-7, a scope of a TID value which may be associated/mapped to second type traffic may be 8-15 (e.g., a reserved scope of the existing TID value’)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 8, 18, Hadayat teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine whether a frame type field of the first frame is a first type indicating a buffer status trigger frame ([0114] “The Trigger Type subfield is used to carry information regarding the type of response that is expected from the STAs that are expected to participate in the UL MU simultaneous transmission. In one embodiment, the Trigger Type subfield is encoded according to Table I… In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in an HEC-QoSC subfield in the MAC header of an MPDU. In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in a QoS field in the MAC header of an MPDU”);
and identify the plurality of traffic identifiers to a defined value ([0050] “In one embodiment, the requesting STA requests that the responding STA provide its buffer size for one or more specified Traffic Identifiers (TIDs) or one or more specified Access Categories (ACs) with a specific granularity. In one embodiment, the requesting STA requests that the responding STA provide its buffer size for a subset of all TIDs or a subset of all ACs, e.g. all TIDs or all ACs. In one embodiment, the request for buffer status report includes a first granularity indicator for a first TID (or first AC), a second granularity indicator for a second TID (or second AC), and a third granularity indicator for the indicated subset of all TIDs (or the indicated subset of all ACs). In response to receiving such a request from a requesting STA (e.g., AP), the responding STA may use the HEC-QoSC subfield to report the buffer sizes for the requested TIDs (or ACs) with the indicated granularities (unless the buffer size is zero for some of the TIDs (or ACs)”).
Hedayat, does explictly teach traffic identifier bitmap field; from the plurality bits of the traffic identifier bitmap field set.
Baek teaches traffic identifier bitmap field; from plurality of the traffic identifier bitmap field set [0270] “of FIG. 20 (a) to (c), at least one subfield of ACI bitmap, LST info, scaling factor, queue size all, . . . may be additionally included”, [0197-198] “An ACI bitmap subfield indicates an access category (AC) that a buffer status is reported and B0, B1, B2 and B3 correspond to AC_BE (best effort), AC_BK (background), AC_VI (video) and AC_VO (voice), respectively. As each bit of an ACI bitmap subfield may be configured as 1, it may indicate that a buffer status of a corresponding AC is included in a queue size all subfield. Except when an ACI bitmap subfield is 0 and a delta TID subfield is 3 (this case shows that a buffer status for all eight TIDs is included), it may be shown that a buffer status for an AC corresponding to a bit configured as 0 is not included in a queue size all subfield …A delta TID subfield, along with a value of an ACI bitmap subfield, may indicate the number of TIDs that a STA reports a buffer status”.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hedayat to incorporate the teachings of Baek. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless communication for low latency traffic.
Regarding claim 9, 19, Hedayat teaches wherein the frame type field of the first frame is a subfield of a common information field that is shared among a plurality of users or devices ([0114] “The Trigger Type subfield is used to carry information regarding the type of response that is expected from the STAs that are expected to participate in the UL MU simultaneous transmission. In one embodiment, the Trigger Type subfield is encoded according to Table I… In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in an HEC-QoSC subfield in the MAC header of an MPDU. In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in a QoS field in the MAC header of an MPDU”, [0113] “The Common Info field may include a Trigger Type subfield, a Length subfield”, [0112] “The Common Info field (which is sometimes referred to as UL MU PPDU attributes field) is used to carry information regarding the UL MU PPDU that is common to all of the STAs that are expected to participate in the UL MU simultaneous transmission”).
Regarding claim 10, 20 Hedayat teaches wherein the frame type field of the first frame indicates a type associated with a trigger frame ([0114] “The Trigger Type subfield is used to carry information regarding the type of response that is expected from the STAs that are expected to participate in the UL MU simultaneous transmission. In one embodiment, the Trigger Type subfield is encoded according to Table I… In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in an HEC-QoSC subfield in the MAC header of an MPDU. In one embodiment, the buffer size information is carried in a QoS field in the MAC header of an MPDU”).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/19/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Argument 1
Hedayat and Trainin, whether taken alone or in combination (which combination Applicant does not acquiesce in), fail to teach the above-noted feature (i) of "the one or more processors are configured to set a first queue size field of the second frame to a highest queue size among a plurality of queue sizes of the plurality of wireless traffic streams associated with a plurality of traffic identifiers" (emphasis added) as recited in amended claim 1.
Examiner’s Response 1
Examiner respectfully disagrees. See updated rejection. Trainin is no longer relied upon, new reference Baek has been added.
Conclusion
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/K.T.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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