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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed November 6, 2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 19-28, 32, 36-38 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of 35 U.S.C. §103.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 19-28, 32, 36-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 20210315036 A1) in view of Cherian et al. (US 20210282186 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Jang et al. teaches a method for operating a device using multi-link in a wireless local area network, the method comprising: performing a first channel access operation on a first link of the multi-link (Paragraph 99, 117, 192, 195, These passages show an STA in a WLAN performing a DCF/EDCA backoff-based channel access procedure to obtain a TXOP on a particular link that becomes the “first link” of the multi-link); identifying that a first backoff counter for the first link is zero (Paragraph 136, 195, 208, 220, 222, These passages describe the STA explicitly checking (“acquire (or check)”) the backoff counter (BC) for a link, comparing it to the “first value” {0}, and detecting when the backoff count becomes 0), determining not to transmit a first frame, and keeping the first backoff counter at zero (Paragraph 210, 222, 247-248, Once the BC for a link becomes 0, the STA explicitly defers that link (decides not to transmit yet) while maintaining its BC at the first value {0}); performing a second channel access operation on a second link of the multi-link (Paragraph 221, 224, 244, 253-257, These passages show that separate TXOPs (channel access opportunities) are established for different links (including a link that later transmits after a previous TXOP ends and a link that is newly added/aggregated)); and transmitting simultaneously the first frame on the first link and a second frame on the second link based on the first link being idle and a transmission opportunity (TXOP) being obtained on the second link (Paragraph 179, 201, 213, 224-225, 257, These passages collectively describe that after a TXOP is obtained on one link and another link’s primary channel is confirmed idle (with its BC at 0), the STA aggregates the links and, in synchronous mode, transmits packets through both links at the same time, corresponding to simultaneously transmitting a first frame on a first link and a second frame on a second link based on one link’s TXOP and the other link being idle).
Jang et al. does not explicitly teach wherein transmission on one of the first link or the second link causes interference to reception on the other of the first link or the second link.
However, Cherian et al. teaches wherein transmission on one of the first link or the second link causes interference to reception on the other of the first link or the second link (Paragraph 97, 100, These passages explicitly state that transmission on one of the two links causes interference that prevents reception or CCA on the other link).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein transmission on one of the first link or the second link causes interference to reception on the other of the first link or the second link as taught by Cherian et al. in the system of Jang et al., so that it would enable accurate coordination of multi-link transmissions under realistic inter-link interference conditions and thereby improve reliability, scheduling correctness, and overall system performance.
Regarding claim 20, Jang et al. teaches the device does not support a simultaneous transmit and receive (STR) operation on the first link and the second link (Paragraph 210, 219, 222, teach that when the backoff counter for the second link reaches zero during transmission on the first link, the device defers transmission on the second link until the first link's TXOP ends, demonstrating that it does not support simultaneous transmit and receive (STR) on both links).
Regarding claim 21, Jang et al. teaches based on the first channel access operation being completed on the first link and the second channel access operation not being completed on the second link of the multi-link, determining not to transmit the first frame (Paragraph 210, 220, 222, The cited passages teach that the transmitting STA completes channel access on a first link (aggregated third and fourth links) and, although the backoff counter for the second link reaches zero, it determines not to transmit on the second link because channel access is not yet completed due to ongoing transmission (TXOP) on the first link, thereby deferring transmission).
Regarding claim 22, Jang et al. teaches each of the first channel access operation and the second channel access operation comprises a backoff operation (Paragraph 113, 116, 156, The text describes a backoff-based channel access operation (DCF/EDCA) where each STA performs a backoff procedure before gaining access. [0156] confirms multi-link capability, implying that both links (first and second) would follow similar backoff-based access procedures. This teaches that each link's channel access includes a backoff operation), and wherein success of each of the first channel access operation and the second channel access operation means that a backoff counter value is zero in the backoff operation (Paragraph 135, 144, 145, 155, These passages collectively describe that successful transmission (i.e., channel access) occurs only when the backoff counter reaches zero, which satisfies the condition for initiating transmission. This is equivalent to "success of a channel access operation means that a backoff counter value is zero").
Regarding claim 23, Jang et al. teaches based on the first channel access operation being completed in the first link (Paragraph 218, 221, These passages describe that the transmitting STA has aggregated the third and fourth links (which form the first link 1810), and that it has set a TXOP and transmitted a packet through it) and the second channel access operation not being completed in the second link (Paragraph 219, 220, 222, The second link 1820 is not aggregated and its backoff counter (BC) value is non-zero, indicating the channel access procedure is still in progress and not completed), maintaining a backoff counter value for the first channel access operation as zero (Paragraph 222, 223, While the second link’s BC is held at 0, the first link is in TXOP; its BC remains zero during TXOP).
Regarding claim 24, Jang et al. teaches maintaining the backoff counter value for the first channel access operation as zero until initiation of a new backoff operation (Paragraph 210, 222, 247, These passages teach that once the BC reaches zero, it is held at zero throughout the TXOP and not changed until a new backoff procedure begins).
Regarding claim 25, Jang et al. teaches obtaining the (TXOP) on the second link at a time in that transmission of a frame is possible based on the second channel access operation being successful (Paragraph 202, 212, 213, When the second link’s backoff counter is zero and its channel is idle, the STA aggregates it and transmits, meaning a TXOP is obtained based on successful channel access).
Regarding claim 26, Jang et al. teaches the second channel access operation on the second link includes a second backoff operation (Paragraph 156, 204, 206-209, The second link has its own backoff counter and performs an independent backoff procedure, including counter selection, countdown, and reset—fully teaching a "second backoff operation" as part of its channel access).
Regarding claim 27, Jang et al. teaches managing backoff parameter for a channel access operation in the multi-link for each link (Paragraph 117, 133, These paragraphs teach the general backoff counter mechanism per STA. In a multi-link context, each link of a multi-link STA can be viewed as operating similarly to a separate STA, thereby justifying per-link backoff management).
Regarding claim 28, Jang et al. teaches transmitting the first frame on the first link comprises; performing a third channel access operation on the first link of the multi- link (Paragraph 244, Setting a new TXOP implies performing a new (i.e., third) channel access operation on the first link, including EDCA/backoff); and transmitting the first frame on the first link after the third channel access operation is completed (Paragraph 245, While this example uses the second link, analogous behavior for the first link is shown in [0229]–[0231], where transmission occurs after channel access completes. This teaches transmitting the first frame after the third channel access).
Regarding claim 32, Jang et al. teaches the third channel access operation on the first link is performed at a time that the second channel access operation of the second link stops (Paragraph 224, When the second link finishes its access attempt (BC=0 and channel idle), the STA resumes transmission on the first link, now aggregated with the second link—constituting a third access on the first link. Thus, the third access occurs when the second link’s access stops).
Regarding claim 36, Jang et al. teaches a device using multi-link in a wireless local area network, the device comprising a processor configured to: perform a first channel access operation on a first link of the multi-link (Paragraph 99, 117, 192, 195, These passages show an STA in a WLAN performing a DCF/EDCA backoff-based channel access procedure to obtain a TXOP on a particular link that becomes the “first link” of the multi-link); identify that a first backoff counter for the first link is zero (Paragraph 136, 195, 208, 220, 222, These passages describe the STA explicitly checking (“acquire (or check)”) the backoff counter (BC) for a link, comparing it to the “first value” {0}, and detecting when the backoff count becomes 0), determine not to transmit a first frame, and keep the first backoff counter at zero (Paragraph 210, 222, 247-248, Once the BC for a link becomes 0, the STA explicitly defers that link (decides not to transmit yet) while maintaining its BC at the first value {0}); perform a second channel access operation on a second link of the multi-link (Paragraph 221, 224, 244, 253-257, These passages show that separate TXOPs (channel access opportunities) are established for different links (including a link that later transmits after a previous TXOP ends and a link that is newly added/aggregated)); and transmit simultaneously the first frame on the first link and a second frame on a second link based on the first link being idle and a transmission opportunity (TXOP) being obtained on the second link (Paragraph 179, 201, 213, 224-225, 257, These passages collectively describe that after a TXOP is obtained on one link and another link’s primary channel is confirmed idle (with its BC at 0), the STA aggregates the links and, in synchronous mode, transmits packets through both links at the same time, corresponding to simultaneously transmitting a first frame on a first link and a second frame on a second link based on one link’s TXOP and the other link being idle).
Jang et al. does not explicitly teach wherein transmission on one of the first link or the second link causes interference to reception on the other of the first link or the second link.
However, Cherian et al. teaches wherein transmission on one of the first link or the second link causes interference to reception on the other of the first link or the second link (Paragraph 97, 100, These passages explicitly state that transmission on one of the two links causes interference that prevents reception or CCA on the other link).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein transmission on one of the first link or the second link causes interference to reception on the other of the first link or the second link as taught by Cherian et al. in the system of Jang et al., so that it would enable accurate coordination of multi-link transmissions under realistic inter-link interference conditions and thereby improve reliability, scheduling correctness, and overall system performance.
Regarding claim 37, Jang et al. teaches based on the first channel access operation being completed on the first link and the second channel access operation not being completed on the second link of the multi-link, it is the processor is further configured to determine that the transmission of the first frame is not performed (Paragraph 210, 220, 222, The cited passages teach that the transmitting STA completes channel access on a first link (aggregated third and fourth links) and, although the backoff counter for the second link reaches zero, it determines not to transmit on the second link because channel access is not yet completed due to ongoing transmission (TXOP) on the first link, thereby deferring transmission).
Regarding claim 38, Jang et al. teaches based on the first channel access operation being completed on the first link (Paragraph 218, 221, These passages describe that the transmitting STA has aggregated the third and fourth links (which form the first link 1810), and that it has set a TXOP and transmitted a packet through it) and the second channel access operation not being completed in the second link (Paragraph 219, 220, 222, The second link 1820 is not aggregated and its backoff counter (BC) value is non-zero, indicating the channel access procedure is still in progress and not completed), the processor is further configured to maintain a backoff counter value for the first channel access operation as zero (Paragraph 222, 223, While the second link’s BC is held at 0, the first link is in TXOP; its BC remains zero during TXOP).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lu et al. (US 20210212118 A1)
Lu et al. (US 20210127420 A1)
Lu et al. (US 11516841 B2)
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/ANDREW SHAJI KURIAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464