DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/2/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 objected to because of the following informalities: a wireless downlink connection” in the last line should be changed to “the wireless downlink connection” for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2021/0120454 (hereinafter Chennichetty) in view of US 20100103864 (hereinafter Ulupinar).
Regarding claims 1 and 6-8, Chennichetty teaches a method of operating a first Access Point (AP) a cellular telecommunications network, the cellular telecommunications network having a plurality of APs and a core network (FIG. 1; [0058]: details root AP 110 may facilitate communications between the root AP 110 and the satellite APs 111-116, and also may facilitate communications between the WLAN and other networks or systems… the root AP 110 may be connected via a wired connection 121 (such as through an Ethernet or PLC), or alternatively, via a wireless connection, or even a hybrid communication link, to a back-end network 120 such as, for example, a LAN, WAN, MAN, a communication service provider network, the Internet, or any combination thereof), the method comprising: receiving, at the first AP, an inter-AP message in a first wireless communication from a second AP of the plurality of APs (FIG. 1; [0039][0061]: details other APs make automatic path or routing selection using a logical topology between each of the other APs and the root AP… sixth AP 116 is connected to the root AP 110 by intervening APs 114 and 115, and therefore may be classified as a 3-hop device of the network); identifying a third AP of the plurality of APs as the further AP based on the destination identifier of the inter-AP message (FIG. 1; [0039][0061]: details other APs make automatic path or routing selection using a logical topology between each of the other APs and the root AP… sixth AP 116 is connected to the root AP 110 by intervening APs 114 and 115, and therefore may be classified as a 3-hop device of the network… The destination address (DA) indicates to which of the stations STA1-STA4 the data is to be transmitted); and sending, from the first AP, the inter-AP message to the third AP in a second wireless communication via a wireless downstream connection (FIG. 1; [0039][0061]: details other APs make automatic path or routing selection using a logical topology between each of the other APs and the root AP… sixth AP 116 is connected to the root AP 110 by intervening APs 114 and 115, and therefore may be classified as a 3-hop device of the network), wherein the first AP is connected to a first subset of the plurality of APs via a wireless upstream connection towards the core network and is further connected to a second subset of the plurality of APs via a wireless downstream connection away from the core network (FIG. 1; [0061]: details Each of the satellite APs 111-116 may be or may include a MAP agent 130 that allows the satellite APs 111-116 to provide wireless services to a number of client devices (such as the stations STA1-STA4). The MAP agents 130 may also allow their corresponding satellite APs 111-116 to communicate with downstream satellite APs or with upstream satellite APs (or both). In some implementations, the satellite APs 111-116 may be used to extend the wireless coverage area of the root AP 110, for example, by operating as relay devices or range extender devices).
Chennichetty does not explicitly teach the inter-AP message comprising a destination identifier of a further AP.
However, Ulupinar teaches the inter-AP message comprising a destination identifier of a further AP ([0054]: details communications over the relay protocol layer can utilize a header, which can include a field to indicate the upper layer protocol or interface type (e.g., S1-U, S1-MME, X2, another transport or application protocol, etc.) in the relay protocol packet payload, a destination or source relay eNB identifier, an internet protocol (IP) address related to a destination network node (e.g., MME, serving gateway (SGW), etc.), and/or the like. In one example, relay eNB 108 can request relay identifier assignment from donor eNB 102 via relay eNB 104. Donor eNB 102 can assign a relay identifier to the relay eNB 108 unique to the cluster provided by donor eNB 102, and provide the relay identifier to relay eNB 108 through one or more intermediary relay nodes, such as relay eNB 104).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chennichetty to incorporate the teachings of Ulupinar and include the inter-AP message comprising a destination identifier of a further AP of Ulupinar with Chennichetty. Doing so expands network capacity and coverage area (Ulupinar, at paragraph [0007]).
Regarding claim 2, Chennichetty teaches wherein the third AP is a destination of the inter-AP message ([0039][0061]: details other APs make automatic path or routing selection using a logical topology between each of the other APs and the root AP… sixth AP 116 is connected to the root AP 110 by intervening APs 114 and 115, and therefore may be classified as a 3-hop device of the network).
Regarding claim 3, Chennichetty teaches wherein the destination identifier of the inter-AP message identifies a first neighbor AP of the third AP (FIG. 1; [0061][0067]: details sixth AP 116 is connected to the root AP 110 by intervening APs 114 and 115, and therefore may be classified as a 3-hop device of the network… the APs 110-116 may classify downlink data (such as data to be transmitted to one or more of its associated STAs) based on its traffic identifier (TID) and a destination address (DA)… The destination address (DA) indicates to which of the stations STA1-STA4 the data is to be transmitted).
Regarding claim 4, Chennichetty teaches, initially: discovering the third AP; identifying the first neighbor AP of the third AP; and recording an association between the third AP and the first neighbor AP of the third AP, wherein identifying the third AP based on the destination identifier of the inter-AP message utilizes the recorded association between the third AP and the first neighbor AP of the third AP ([0039][0064]: details local network which is capable of coordinating between two or more APs to manage a topology or aggregate wireless coverage area… mesh networks may be referred to as Self-Organizing Networks (SONs); MAP agent; SON controller… the APs 110-116 may classify downlink data (such as data to be transmitted to one or more of its associated STAs) based on its traffic identifier (TID) and a destination address (DA)… The destination address (DA) indicates to which of the stations STA1-STA4 the data is to be transmitted).
Regarding claim 5, Chennichetty teaches detecting a termination of an inter-AP connection between the third AP and a second neighbor AP of the third AP; and responsive to the detecting, updating a recorded association between the third AP and the second neighbor AP of the third AP ([0039][0064]: details local network which is capable of coordinating between two or more APs to manage a topology or aggregate wireless coverage area… mesh networks may be referred to as Self-Organizing Networks (SONs); MAP agent; SON controller).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jasper Kwoh whose telephone number is (408)918-7644. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Friday, 10am to 4pm Pacific.
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/JASPER KWOH/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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