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 .
Applicant’s RCE filed 12/11/25 is acknowledged.
Claim 33, 36-39, 42-45, 47, 49, 51, and 52 are amended.
Claims 33, 35-39, 41-52, and 54 are pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/11/25 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the independent claims (pages 12-15) in a reply filed 11/12/2025 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 33, 35, 36, 39, 41, 42, 45, 46, 49, 50, 51, and 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. US 9949063 (hereinafter “Yong”) in view of Liu et al. US 11671259 (hereinafter “Liu”) and in further view of Huang et al. US 20160198494 (hereinafter “Huang”)
As to claim 33 and 45 (claim 33 is the method claim for the terminal device in claim 45):
Yong discloses:
A terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (“As described herein, the client station 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the features described herein. For example, the processor 302 of the client station 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 302 of the UE 106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 330, 335, 340, 345, 350, 360 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.”, Yong [85])
A method, comprising: receiving, by a primary device based on a broadcast function of a Bluetooth (BLE) transmitter of a secondary device, first connection information sent by the secondary device, wherein the first connection information comprises a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) Aware service name required by the secondary device, the first connection information further comprises a Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, and the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises parameters exchanged in a service discovery subscribe frame in a Wi-Fi Aware protocol; (“The client station may be seeking a service (e.g., such as a printing service), and may receive messages (or signals) 520a-520c respectively advertising services for devices 510a-510c. Messages 520a-520c may be received via BLE and, in some embodiments, may be ADV packets as described above in reference to FIGS. 4A-4C. In some embodiments, messages 520a-502c may include a service identifier, advertisement information (e.g., advertiser or seeker), and/or Wi-Fi status (e.g., Wi-Fi on or off).”, Yong [111]) (“In some embodiments, as FIG. 4C illustrates, a transport data field of an ADV packet may include bytes for band support, infrastructure flag, P2P flag, NAN flag, and transport specific information.”, Yong [97])
sending, by the primary device based on a broadcast function of a BLE transmitter of the primary device, second connection information to the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware service name required by the secondary device, (“Client station 106 may respond to messages 520a-520c via transmission of messages 530a-530c to devices 510a-510c. Thus, client station 106 may transmit message 530a to device 510a, message 530b to device 510b, and message 530c to device 510c. Messages 530a-530c may be connection request messages (e.g., a request to connect via BLE) as described above.”, Yong [112]) (“Client station 106 may then determine whether any of devices 610a-610c provide a service match and further may determine whether to establish a data connection (e.g., a datapath) with any of devices 610a-610c. Thus, for example, client station 106 may determine a service match with device 610b, but not with devices 610a and 610c. Hence, client station 106 may respond to device 610b via transmission of message 630. However, client station 106 may not respond to devices 610a or 610c. In some embodiments, message 630 may be a reverse advertisement packet (or message) as described above and may include a service identifier, advertisement information (e.g., advertiser or seeker), and/or Wi-Fi status (e.g., Wi-Fi on or off). For example, message 630 may include a service identifier matching a service identifier received in message 620b, advertisement information indicating client station 106 is a seeker, and/or information indicating that client station 106 has enabled (or turned on) Wi-Fi for a possible data connection with device 610b.”, Yong [117])
wherein the second connection information comprises confirmation information, the confirmation information comprises notification information indicating that the primary device confirms that the Wi-Fi Aware service name is required by the secondary device, wherein the secondary device confirms, based on the confirmation information, that the Wi-Fi Aware service name is required by the secondary device in the primary device, (“Client station 106 may then determine whether any of devices 610a-610c provide a service match and further may determine whether to establish a data connection (e.g., a datapath) with any of devices 610a-610c. Thus, for example, client station 106 may determine a service match with device 610b, but not with devices 610a and 610c. Hence, client station 106 may respond to device 610b via transmission of message 630. However, client station 106 may not respond to devices 610a or 610c. In some embodiments, message 630 may be a reverse advertisement packet (or message) as described above and may include a service identifier, advertisement information (e.g., advertiser or seeker), and/or Wi-Fi status (e.g., Wi-Fi on or off). For example, message 630 may include a service identifier matching a service identifier received in message 620b, advertisement information indicating client station 106 is a seeker, and/or information indicating that client station 106 has enabled (or turned on) Wi-Fi for a possible data connection with device 610b.”, Yong [117])
wherein the second connection information further comprises a Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the primary device, the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the primary device comprises parameters exchanged in a service discovery publish frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol, (“As shown, there may be at least eight use cases for reverse advertisement, according to some embodiments. For example, a first case (case 1) may include publisher (e.g., a wireless device such as client station 106) performing an unsolicited publish of a service. In other words, the publisher may actively send (e.g., transmit or broadcast) an ADV packet. In addition, the publisher may be performing BLE passive scanning (e.g., listening or receiving ADV packets and not requesting additional information regarding the advertisement). Further, the first case may include a subscriber (e.g., a wireless device such as client station 106) performing a passive subscribe while additionally performing BLE passive scanning. In other words, the subscriber may only send an ADV packet where there is a service matched with the publisher.”, Yong [101]) (“Client station 106 may then determine whether any of devices 610a-610c provide a service match and further may determine whether to establish a data connection (e.g., a datapath) with any of devices 610a-610c. Thus, for example, client station 106 may determine a service match with device 610b, but not with devices 610a and 610c. Hence, client station 106 may respond to device 610b via transmission of message 630. However, client station 106 may not respond to devices 610a or 610c. In some embodiments, message 630 may be a reverse advertisement packet (or message) as described above and may include a service identifier, advertisement information (e.g., advertiser or seeker), and/or Wi-Fi status (e.g., Wi-Fi on or off). For example, message 630 may include a service identifier matching a service identifier received in message 620b, advertisement information indicating client station 106 is a seeker, and/or information indicating that client station 106 has enabled (or turned on) Wi-Fi for a possible data connection with device 610b.”, Yong [117]) (“In some embodiments, as FIG. 4C illustrates, a transport data field of an ADV packet may include bytes for band support, infrastructure flag, P2P flag, NAN flag, and transport specific information.”, Yong [97])
wherein the first connection information is received via a BLE broadcast message outside any discovery window, (“At 2058, in response to receiving the request, BLE layer 2038 may transmit a broadcast or unicast message (such as an ADV_IND message) soliciting the service. The message may include information relating to transport status (e.g., whether Wi-Fi is on or off) and supported (or desired) services, among other information.”, Yong [241]) (“At 2088, the devices may proceed to Wi-Fi discovery and connection and establishment of a NAN datapath via communications between Wi-Fi layer 2016 and Wi-Fi layer 2018.”, Yong [250]) (Examiner’s Note: FIG. 20 shows connection information being exchanged via BLE broadcast message which is outside the discovery window 2088)
and wherein the parameters exchanged in the service discovery subscribe frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol via the BLE broadcast message comprise a Wi-Fi Aware management interface media access control (MAC) address of the secondary device (“BLE discovery may provide a publisher (e.g., an advertiser) with a NAN interface address of a subscriber.”, Yong [252]), a Wi-Fi Aware identifier of the secondary device, (“FIG. 4C illustrates, a transport data field of an ADV packet may include bytes for band support, infrastructure flag, P2P flag, NAN flag, and transport specific information. In addition, bits may be reserved for a Bloom filter bit array. In some embodiments, the band support field may include a first bit (BO) to indicate whether 2.4 GHz band supported or if 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands are supported and a second bit (B1) to indicate support for 60 GHz band. The infrastructure flag field may include a first bit (B2) to indicate whether infrastructure communication is supported, a second bit (B3) to indicate an infrastructure channel, and a third bit (B3) to indicate infrastructure information present. The P2P flag field may include a first bit (B5) to indicate whether peer-to-peer (P2P) communication is supported, a second bit (B6) to indicate a P2P channel, and a third bit (B7) to indicate P2P information present. The NAN flag field may include a first bit (B8) to indicate whether NAN communication is supported, a second bit (B9) to indicate a NAN channel, and a third bit (B10) to indicate information present. The Bloom filter bit array may be 53 bits.”, Yong [97]) (“As shown, there may be at least eight use cases for reverse advertisement, according to some embodiments. For example, a first case (case 1) may include publisher (e.g., a wireless device such as client station 106) performing an unsolicited publish of a service. In other words, the publisher may actively send (e.g., transmit or broadcast) an ADV packet. In addition, the publisher may be performing BLE passive scanning (e.g., listening or receiving ADV packets and not requesting additional information regarding the advertisement).”, Yong [101]) and data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device. (“In some embodiments, as FIG. 4A illustrates, the ADV packet may include 1 byte for AD length, 1 byte for service discovery data AD type code (SSD AD type), 1 byte for origin identification (org. ID), 1 byte for SDS flag, 1 byte for length, and up to 25 bytes for origin data.”, Yong [95]) (“In some embodiments, as FIG. 4B illustrates, the ADV packet may include 1 byte for AD length, 1 byte for transport discovery data AD type code (TDD AD type), 1 byte for origin identification (org. ID), 1 byte for TDS flag, 1 byte for transport data length, and up to 26 bytes for transport data.”, Yong [96]) (Examiner’s Note: ADV packet uses certain codes to define various data types which maps to “data encryption pre-configuration information”)
Yong as described above does not explicitly teach:
However, Liu further teaches Wi-Fi Aware data path establishment process which includes:
obtaining, by the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame for a Wi-Fi Aware data path sent by the secondary device; (FIG. 2 232, Liu)
and after the obtaining the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame, completing, by the primary device, link establishment for the Wi-Fi Aware data path with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame, (FIG. 2 shows 202 receiving Data Path Request 232 before establishing secured data communication 240 which maps to “link establishment for the WiFi Aware data path), Liu)
and wherein the completing the link establishment for the Wi-Fi Aware data path bypasses exchanging the service discovery subscribe frame and the service discovery publish frame between the primary device and the secondary device, (FIG. 5 shows that “Secured Data Communication” or Wi-Fi Aware data path is established without exchanging service discovery subscribe and publish frame, Liu)
Yong and Liu are analogous because they both pertain to Wi-Fi Aware (or NAN) protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Wi-Fi Aware data path establishment process as described in Liu into Yong. By modifying the method to include Wi-Fi Aware data path establishment process as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]) and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
The combination of Yong and Liu as described above does not explicitly teach:
and the second connection information further comprises a Wi-Fi Aware timestamp of the primary device that is useable to synchronize a clock of the secondary device
However, Huang further teaches adding Wi-Fi Aware timestamp information to synchronize devices which includes:
and the second connection information further comprises a Wi-Fi Aware timestamp of the primary device that is useable to synchronize a clock of the secondary device (“In some demonstrative embodiments, the Sync beacons and/or Discovery beacons may include information for performing one or more NAN operations, for example, timestamp information, which may be used for time synchronization among the NAN devices.”, Huang [0094])
Yong, Huang, and Liu are analogous because they both pertain to Wi-Fi Aware (or NAN) protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include adding Wi-Fi Aware timestamp information to synchronize devices as described in Huang into Yong as modified by Liu. By modifying the method to include adding Wi-Fi Aware timestamp information to synchronize devices as taught by Huang, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), improved synchronization (Huang [0094]), and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
As to claim 35:
The combination of Yong and Liu as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 33, further comprising: adjusting, by the primary device, a timestamp of the clock of the secondary device to be consistent with the Wi-Fi Aware timestamp of the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware timestamp of the primary device that is sent to the secondary device.
However, Huang further teaches adding Wi-Fi Aware timestamp information to synchronize devices which includes:
The method according to claim 33, further comprising: adjusting, by the primary device, a timestamp of the clock of the secondary device to be consistent with the Wi-Fi Aware timestamp of the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware timestamp of the primary device that is sent to the secondary device. (“In some demonstrative embodiments, devices 102 and 140 may be capable of sharing, showing, sending, transferring, printing, outputting, providing, synchronizing, and/or exchanging content, data, and/or information, e.g., between application 154 and applications 125 and/or 126.”, Huang [0065])
Yong, Huang, and Liu are analogous because they both pertain to Wi-Fi Aware (or NAN) protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include adding Wi-Fi Aware timestamp information to synchronize devices as described in Huang into Yong as modified by Liu. By modifying the method to include adding Wi-Fi Aware timestamp information to synchronize devices as taught by Huang, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), improved synchronization (Huang [0094]), and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
As to claim 36:
Yong discloses:
The method according to claim 33, wherein the parameters exchanged in the service discovery publish frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol via a second BLE broadcast message comprise a Wi- Fi Aware management interface MAC address of the primary device, (“BLE discovery may provide a publisher (e.g., an advertiser) with a NAN interface address of a subscriber.”, Yong [252]) a Wi-Fi Aware identifier of the primary device, (“FIG. 4C illustrates, a transport data field of an ADV packet may include bytes for band support, infrastructure flag, P2P flag, NAN flag, and transport specific information. In addition, bits may be reserved for a Bloom filter bit array. In some embodiments, the band support field may include a first bit (BO) to indicate whether 2.4 GHz band supported or if 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands are supported and a second bit (B1) to indicate support for 60 GHz band. The infrastructure flag field may include a first bit (B2) to indicate whether infrastructure communication is supported, a second bit (B3) to indicate an infrastructure channel, and a third bit (B3) to indicate infrastructure information present. The P2P flag field may include a first bit (B5) to indicate whether peer-to-peer (P2P) communication is supported, a second bit (B6) to indicate a P2P channel, and a third bit (B7) to indicate P2P information present. The NAN flag field may include a first bit (B8) to indicate whether NAN communication is supported, a second bit (B9) to indicate a NAN channel, and a third bit (B10) to indicate information present. The Bloom filter bit array may be 53 bits.”, Yong [97]) (“As shown, there may be at least eight use cases for reverse advertisement, according to some embodiments. For example, a first case (case 1) may include publisher (e.g., a wireless device such as client station 106) performing an unsolicited publish of a service. In other words, the publisher may actively send (e.g., transmit or broadcast) an ADV packet. In addition, the publisher may be performing BLE passive scanning (e.g., listening or receiving ADV packets and not requesting additional information regarding the advertisement).”, Yong [101]) and data encryption pre-configuration information of the primary device. (“In some embodiments, as FIG. 4A illustrates, the ADV packet may include 1 byte for AD length, 1 byte for service discovery data AD type code (SSD AD type), 1 byte for origin identification (org. ID), 1 byte for SDS flag, 1 byte for length, and up to 25 bytes for origin data.”, Yong [95]) (“In some embodiments, as FIG. 4B illustrates, the ADV packet may include 1 byte for AD length, 1 byte for transport discovery data AD type code (TDD AD type), 1 byte for origin identification (org. ID), 1 byte for TDS flag, 1 byte for transport data length, and up to 26 bytes for transport data.”, Yong [96]) (Examiner’s Note: ADV packet uses certain codes to define various data types which maps to “data encryption pre-configuration information”)
As to claim 39 and 49 (claim 39 is the method claim for the terminal device in claim 49):
Claim 39 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 33 from the perspective of the secondary device.
As to claim 41:
Claim 41 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 35 from the perspective of the secondary device.
As to claim 42:
Claim 42 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 36 from the perspective of the secondary device.
As to claim 46:
Claim 46 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 35.
As to claim 50:
Claim 50 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 41.
As to claim 51:
Claim 51 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 42
Claim 54:
Yong as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 33, wherein the Wi-Fi Aware data path is established without exchanging any service discovery subscribe frame and service discovery publish frame.
However, Liu further teaches Wi-Fi Aware data path establishment process which includes:
The method according to claim 33, wherein the Wi-Fi Aware data path is established without exchanging any service discovery subscribe frame and service discovery publish frame. (FIG. 5 shows that “Secured Data Communication” or Wi-Fi Aware data path is established without exchanging service discovery subscribe and publish frame, Liu)
Yong and Liu are analogous because they both pertain to Wi-Fi Aware (or NAN) protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Wi-Fi Aware data path establishment process as described in Liu into Yong. By modifying the method to include Wi-Fi Aware data path establishment process as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]) and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 37 and 43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong in view of Liu and Huang, as applied to claim 33 above, and further in view of Qi et al. US 20170353381 (hereinafter “Qi”)
As to claim 37:
Yong as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 33, wherein the completing, by the primary device, the link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device, and sending a Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame to the secondary device in a next active time window when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device; and completing, by the primary device, link establishment with the secondary device after the secondary device receives the Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame.
However, Liu further teaches data path response and link establishment which includes:
and completing, by the primary device, link establishment with the secondary device after the secondary device receives the Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame. (“Method 1000 includes operation 1002, which detects, during a discovery window, a neighboring client station that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol. Method 1000 then proceeds to operation 1004 to negotiate, after the discovery window, NAN protocol parameters for a datapath with the neighboring client station. The negotiation of operation 1004 includes exchanging NAN data path setup attributes in parallel with an exchange of attributes for an encryption cipher. The encryption cipher can be based on a simultaneous authentication of equals (SAE) protocol. The negotiation can additionally include performing a NAN data path setup handshake process that includes sending or receiving a data path request message, a data path response message, a data path confirm message, and a data path security install message. The negotiation can also include an SAE handshake that includes sending or receiving at least one SAE commit message and at least one SAE confirm message.”, Liu [77])
Yong and Liu are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include data path response and link establishment as described in Liu into Yong. By modifying the method to include data path response and link establishment as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]) and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
The combination of Yong, Huang, and Liu as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 33, wherein the completing, by the primary device, the link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device,
However, Qi further teaches NAN data path link establishment between devices which includes:
The method according to claim 33, wherein completing, by the primary device, the link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device (“In some demonstrative embodiments, a device of devices 102, 140, 160 and/or 180, e.g., device 102, may be configured to terminate the mesh data path, for example, if the mesh data path is idle for a termination threshold period, e.g., a maximal idle period. The termination threshold period may be, for example, preconfigured, negotiated, or dynamically adjusted.”, Qi [0240]), whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device, (“In some demonstrative embodiments, device 102 may wait, e.g., after the transmission of the NAN data path request 171 to device 140, for a response from device 140, for example, in order to determine whether or not to complete to establish the NAN data path between devices 102 and 140 e.g., as described below.”, Qi [0240])
Yong, Huang, Liu, and Qi are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include NAN data path link establishment between devices as described in Qi into Yong as modified by Liu and Huang. By modifying the method to include NAN data path link establishment between devices as taught by Qi, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), minimized power usage (Yong [5]), improved efficiency (Qi [0097]), and improved synchronization (Huang [0094]) are achieved.
As to claim 43:
Claim 43 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 37 from the perspective of the secondary device.
Claim(s) 38, 44, 47, 48, and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong in view of Liu and Huang, as applied to claim 33 above, further in view of Reshef et al. US 20160021560 (hereinafter “Reshef”) and Qi et al. US 20170353381 (hereinafter “Qi”)
As to claim 38 and 48 (claim 38 is the method claim for the terminal device in claim 48):
Yong as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 33, wherein the completing, by the primary device, the link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device, and sending a Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame to the secondary device in a next active time window when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device; determining, by the primary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, and when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises the data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, obtaining, by the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame sent by the secondary device; determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame is from the secondary device, and sending, by the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware data path key installment frame to the secondary device when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame is from the secondary device; and completing, by the primary device, link establishment with the secondary device after the secondary device receives the Wi-Fi Aware data path key installment frame.
However, Liu further teaches data path response and link establishment which includes:
and sending a Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame to the secondary device in a next active time window when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device; (“Method 1000 includes operation 1002, which detects, during a discovery window, a neighboring client station that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol. Method 1000 then proceeds to operation 1004 to negotiate, after the discovery window, NAN protocol parameters for a datapath with the neighboring client station. The negotiation of operation 1004 includes exchanging NAN data path setup attributes in parallel with an exchange of attributes for an encryption cipher. The encryption cipher can be based on a simultaneous authentication of equals (SAE) protocol. The negotiation can additionally include performing a NAN data path setup handshake process that includes sending or receiving a data path request message, a data path response message, a data path confirm message, and a data path security install message. The negotiation can also include an SAE handshake that includes sending or receiving at least one SAE commit message and at least one SAE confirm message.”, Liu [77])
and sending, by the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware data path key installment frame to the secondary device when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame is from the secondary device; and completing, by the primary device, link establishment with the secondary device after the secondary device receives the Wi-Fi Aware data path key installment frame. (“perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol”, Liu [4]) (“FIG. 2 illustrates a system 200 in which NAN publish/subscribe message flow can be performed.”, Liu [19])(“A four-way handshake (Data Path Request, Response, Confirm and Security Install) can then be used to verify the PMK and install a pairwise transient key (PTK), which is derived from the PMK. NAN system 210 can first transmit a data path request message 232 including the selected CSID, SCID, and a key descriptor that contains key related information. A data indication message 233 and data response message 234 are exchanged between service/app layer 204 and NAN system 206, where data response message 234 includes the SCID and the PMK associated with the SCID. NAN system 206 of the NDP responder 202 can then transmit a data path response message 235 including the CSID, SCID, key descriptor, and optional encrypted data, which can be encrypted key data. NAN system 210 can reply with a data path confirm message 236”, Liu [22])
Yong and Liu are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include data path response and link establishment as described in Liu into Yong. By modifying the method to include data path response and link establishment as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]) and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
The combination of Yong, Huang, and Liu as described above does not explicitly teach:
determining, by the primary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, and when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises the data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, obtaining, by the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame sent by the secondary device; determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame is from the secondary device,
However, Reshef further teaches data encryption pre-configuration information which includes:
determining, by the primary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, and when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device comprises the data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, obtaining, by the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame sent by the secondary device; determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path confirm frame is from the secondary device, (“An always-on association technique refers to a communication technique in which a mobile device that has a particular application (such as a gaming application or a social-networking application) is preconfigured to communicate with other mobile devices that have the same particular application. For example, communication parameters, such as MAC addresses, timing information, encryption information, etc. may be stored in a memory of the second mobile device 120. When the second mobile device 120 receives the discovery message 150 and the discovery message indicates that the post-discovery communication technique is an always-on association technique associated with a particular application, the second mobile device 120 may access data associated with the first mobile device 110 and the particular application from a memory of the second mobile device 120.”, Reshef [0028]) (FIG. 4 shows the FTM flow following NAN, Reshef)
Yong, Huang, Liu, and Reshef are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include data encryption pre-configuration information as described in Reshef into Yong as modified by Liu and Huang. By modifying the method to include data encryption pre-configuration information as taught by Reshef, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), minimized power usage (Yong [5]), improved efficiency (Reshef [0035]), and improved performance (Huang [0219]) are achieved.
The combination of Yong, Huang, Liu, and Reshef as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 33, wherein completing, by the primary device, link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device
However, Qi further teaches NAN data path link establishment between devices which includes:
The method according to claim 33, wherein completing, by the primary device, link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, by the primary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device (“In some demonstrative embodiments, a device of devices 102, 140, 160 and/or 180, e.g., device 102, may be configured to terminate the mesh data path, for example, if the mesh data path is idle for a termination threshold period, e.g., a maximal idle period. The termination threshold period may be, for example, preconfigured, negotiated, or dynamically adjusted.”, Qi [0240]), whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device, (“In some demonstrative embodiments, device 102 may wait, e.g., after the transmission of the NAN data path request 171 to device 140, for a response from device 140, for example, in order to determine whether or not to complete to establish the NAN data path between devices 102 and 140 e.g., as described below.”, Qi [0240])
Yong, Huang, Liu, Reshef, and Qi are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include NAN data path link establishment between devices as described in Qi into Huang as modified by Liu and Reshef. By modifying the method to include NAN data path link establishment between devices as taught by Qi, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), improved efficiency (Qi [0097] and Reshef [0035]), minimized power usage (Yong [5]), and improved performance (Huang [0219]) are achieved.
As to claim 44 and 52 (claim 44 is the method claim for the terminal device in claim 52):
Claim 44 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 38 from the perspective of the secondary device.
As to claim 47:
Yong as described above does not explicitly teach:
The primary device according to claim 45, wherein the parameters exchanged in the service discovery publish frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol comprise a Wi-Fi Aware management interface MAC address of the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware identifier of the primary device, and data encryption pre- configuration information of the primary device; wherein completing link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device, and sending a Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame to the secondary device in a next active time window when it is determined that the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device; and completing link establishment with the secondary device after the secondary device receives the Wi-Fi Aware data path response frame.
However, Liu further teaches data path response and link establishment which includes:
The primary device according to claim 45,
(“Method 1000 includes operation 1002, which detects, during a discovery window, a neighboring client station that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol. Method 1000 then proceeds to operation 1004 to negotiate, after the discovery window, NAN protocol parameters for a datapath with the neighboring client station. The negotiation of operation 1004 includes exchanging NAN data path setup attributes in parallel with an exchange of attributes for an encryption cipher. The encryption cipher can be based on a simultaneous authentication of equals (SAE) protocol. The negotiation can additionally include performing a NAN data path setup handshake process that includes sending or receiving a data path request message, a data path response message, a data path confirm message, and a data path security install message. The negotiation can also include an SAE handshake that includes sending or receiving at least one SAE commit message and at least one SAE confirm message.”, Liu [77])
Yong and Liu are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include data path response and link establishment as described in Liu into Yong. By modifying the method to include data path response and link establishment as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]) and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
The combination of Yong, Huang, and Liu as described above does not explicitly teach:
The primary device according to claim 45, wherein the parameters exchanged in the service discovery publish frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol comprise a Wi-Fi Aware management interface MAC address of the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware identifier of the primary device, and data encryption pre- configuration information of the primary device;
However, Reshef further teaches MAC address identifier and data encryption pre-configuration information which includes:
The primary device according to claim 45, wherein the parameters exchanged in the service discovery subscribe frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol comprise a Wi-Fi Aware management interface media access control (MAC) address of the secondary device, a Wi-Fi Aware identifier of the secondary device, and data encryption pre-configuration information of the secondary device, and the parameters exchanged in the service discovery publish frame in the Wi-Fi Aware protocol comprise a Wi-Fi Aware management interface MAC address of the primary device, a Wi-Fi Aware identifier of the primary device, and data encryption pre- configuration information of the primary device; (“The target devices may be identified by a Service Set ID (SSID), a Medium Access Controller (MAC) address, a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) device ID, or a NAN Cluster Basic Service Set ID (BSSID).”, Reshef [0061]) (“An always-on association technique refers to a communication technique in which a mobile device that has a particular application (such as a gaming application or a social-networking application) is preconfigured to communicate with other mobile devices that have the same particular application. For example, communication parameters, such as MAC addresses, timing information, encryption information, etc. may be stored in a memory of the second mobile device 120. When the second mobile device 120 receives the discovery message 150 and the discovery message indicates that the post-discovery communication technique is an always-on association technique associated with a particular application, the second mobile device 120 may access data associated with the first mobile device 110 and the particular application from a memory of the second mobile device 120.”, Reshef [0028]),
Yong, Liu, and Reshef are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include MAC address identifier and data encryption pre-configuration information as described in Reshef into Huang as modified by Liu. By modifying the method to include MAC address identifier and data encryption pre-configuration information as taught by Reshef, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), improved efficiency (Reshef [0035]), improved performance (Huang [0219]), and minimized power usage (Yong [5]) are achieved.
The combination of Yong, Huang, Liu, and Reshef as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein completing link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device, whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device,
However, Qi further teaches NAN data path link establishment between devices which includes:
wherein completing link establishment with the secondary device based on the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame comprises: determining, based on the Wi-Fi Aware parameter preconfigured by the secondary device (“In some demonstrative embodiments, a device of devices 102, 140, 160 and/or 180, e.g., device 102, may be configured to terminate the mesh data path, for example, if the mesh data path is idle for a termination threshold period, e.g., a maximal idle period. The termination threshold period may be, for example, preconfigured, negotiated, or dynamically adjusted.”, Qi [0240]), whether the Wi-Fi Aware data path request frame is from the secondary device, (“In some demonstrative embodiments, device 102 may wait, e.g., after the transmission of the NAN data path request 171 to device 140, for a response from device 140, for example, in order to determine whether or not to complete to establish the NAN data path between devices 102 and 140 e.g., as described below.”, Qi [0240])
Yong, Huang, Liu, Reshef, and Qi are analogous because they pertain to Wi-Fi Aware or NAN protocol
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include NAN data path link establishment between devices as described in Qi into Huang as modified by Liu and Reshef. By modifying the method to include NAN data path link establishment between devices as taught by Qi, the benefits of improved NAN security (Liu [12]), improved efficiency (Qi [0097] and (Reshef [0035])), minimized power usage (Yong [5]), and improved performance (Huang [0219]) are achieved.
Conclusion
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471