DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim 21 has been cancelled.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09/25/2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
3. This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 09/25/2025. Claims 1, 2-20, and 22 through 31 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
4. 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 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.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments filed 09/25/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argued that Taneja in view of Guo does not explicitly teach schedule, within the one or more channel resources, a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (O- SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Taneja teaches request/response for three services CBRS, PAL, and GAA and their associated frequency (channel) ranges (see Fig. 2). Taneja teaches an exemplary design for CBRS, PAL, and GAA services and their allocated channel resources (see Fig. 4). Taneja teaches scheduling techniques for managing CBRS sub channels f1 and f2 for communicating with the same UE 1202A (see paragraph 96). Taneja teaches dynamic channel/bandwidth management (scheduling) of CBRS services (see Pargraph 85 and Fig. 9). Taneja teaches each access license under the PAL (D- SP) is defined as a non-renewable authorization to use a 10 megahertz channel in a single census tract (e.g., in a contained location or small geographic area/district) for a fixed period, e.g., three years (reserved (dedicated) service period (SP)) (see paragraph 60).
Applicant argued that nothing in Guo describes the TWT as having any connection to either of a "dedicated service period (D-SP)" or "an opportunistic service period (O-SP).
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Guo teaches various possible design for scheduling a service period for different types of services groupcast traffic and broadcast traffic. Therefore, various possible design for scheduling a service period for different types of services groupcast traffic and broadcast traffic makes it obvious that various service period can be specified for different types of dedicated (reserved) service period and opportunistic (dynamic) service period) (see at least Guo: paragraph 14).
Applicant argued that Guo does not teach dedicated service period and opportunistic service period.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. There is no continuity between limitations:
“output, for transmission to a network node, a request for channel resources comprising an indication of one or more channel resources within a spectrum; and
obtain, from the network node, a response to the request, the response providing the apparatus with access to the indicated one or more channel resources within the spectrum”; and limitations:
“schedule a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (0- SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients; and
communicate with the one or more clients via the D-SP and O-SP”.
In fact the limitation “schedule a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (O-SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients” does further limit the pervious limitation “obtain, from the network node, a response to the request, the response providing the apparatus with access to the indicated one or more channel resources within the spectrum”. With regard a motivation to combine the teachings of Guo and Taneja it is enough to schedule the D-SP and the O-SP to address the priority requirements of some clients verses some other clients or same client in different time domain. Again since the limitation “schedule a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (O-SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients” has no relation with its previous limitation makes it obvious to any ordinary skill in the art that Guo’ teachings or any other prior art D-SP and O-SP teachings reads on the claim 1.
Incidentally, Taneja teaches some type of services such as fixed satellite services (FSS) and a Priority Access License (PAL) is an access license which can be used by hospitals (clients)…the PAL service period is a fixed (dedicated) period, e.g., three years (see Taneja: paragraph 60). In addition, Taneja teaches that In
some examples the SAS 110 can inform the CBRS Aps 104A-D of frequency bands or channels to use in the CBRS spectrum and transmit/receive powers for any specific time or time period (see Taneja: paragraph 63). In addition, Taneja teaches A third access license referred to as a General Authorized Access (GAA) is provided to users can potentially have access to all 150 megahertz in the 3550-3 700 MHz spectrum. GAA users are permitted to use any portion of the 3550-3700 MHz band not assigned to a higher tier user and may also operate opportunistically (GAA (OP-service period)) on unused Priority Access channels (it is also noted that operations of an enterprise may not be interrupted for using the GAA to perform critical operations) (see Taneja: paragraph 61).
Moreover, Guo teaches in a possible design, the multi-link access point
device generates a second beacon frame, where a target wake time TWT information unit of the second beacon frame carries TWT-type indication information, and the
TWT-type indication information is used to indicate whether a service period specified (dedicated) (see Guo: paragraphs 14-15, 134, 138, ). This teachings indicate that a dedicated service period is a design requirement not an inventive feature. In addition, Guo teaches optionally defining TWT opportunistic service period (see Guo: paragraph 161). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill based on the above reasoning and teachings to combine the two sets of limitation of independent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
Claims 1 and 18-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taneja et al. (US 2021/0099886 A1) in view of Guo et al. (US 2023/0082270 A1).
For claim 1 Taneja teaches an apparatus configured for wireless communication (see paragraph 30 “apparatus”), comprising:
a memory comprising instructions (see paragraph 131 “memory 2106”); and
one or more processors configured to execute the instructions (see paragraph 131 “CPU 2104”) and cause the apparatus to:
output, for transmission to a network node, a request for channel resources comprising an indication of one or more channel resources within a spectrum (see Fig. 2 “204 Spectrum enquiry request message (frequency (range) (channel resource)”); and
obtain, from the network node, a response to the request, the response providing the apparatus with access to the indicated one or more channel resources within the spectrum (see Fig. 2 “Spectrum enquiry response message: (available channel objects - frequency range, type of user: PAL/GAA, max EIRP)” and Fig. 4 “an exemplary allocated channels for CBSD, GAA, and PAL services);
schedule, within the one or more channel resources (see Fig. 15 “scheduling with one or more channel resources (e.g., c1, c2,…)”, pargraph 78, Fig. 6, paragraph 96, and Fig. 12 “coordinated scheduling techniques for managing CBRS sub channels f1 and f2”), a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (0- SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients (see Taneja: paragraph 60 “some type of services such as fixed satellite services (FSS) and a Priority Access License (PAL) is an access license which can be used by hospitals (clients)…the PAL service period is a fixed (dedicated) period, e.g., three years”, paragraph 63 “in some examples the SAS 110 can inform the CBRS Aps 104A-D of frequency bands or channels to use in the CBRS spectrum and transmit/receive powers for any specific time or time period”, and paragraph 61 “a third access license referred to as a General Authorized Access (GAA) is provided to users can potentially have access to all 150 megahertz in the 3550-3 700 MHz spectrum. GAA users are permitted to use any portion of the 3550-3700 MHz band not assigned to a higher tier user and may also operate opportunistically (GAA (OP-service period)) on unused Priority Access channels (it is also noted that operations of an enterprise may not be interrupted for using the GAA to perform critical operations)”); and
communicate with the one or more clients via the D-SP and O-SP (see paragraphs 59-63 “communicating with US Navy , Hospitals…inform CBRS with any specific time period”).
Moreover, Guo teaches in a possible design (there are multiple designs), the multi-link access point
device generates a second beacon frame, where a target wake time TWT information unit of the second beacon frame carries TWT-type indication information, and the
TWT-type indication information is used to indicate whether a service period specified (dedicated) (see Guo: paragraphs 14-15, 134, 138, ). This teachings indicate that a dedicated service period is a design requirement not an inventive feature. In addition, Guo teaches optionally defining TWT opportunistic service period (see Guo: paragraph 161).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill based on the above reasoning and teachings to combine the two sets of limitation of independent claims.
For claim 31 Taneja in view of Guo teaches an access point (AP) configured for wireless communication (as discussed in claim 1), comprising:
at least one transceiver (as discussed in claim 1);
at least one memory comprising instructions (as discussed in claim 1); and
one or more processors configured to execute the instructions and (as discussed in claim 1) cause the AP to:
transmit, via the transceiver, a request for channel resources comprising an indication of one or more channel resources within a spectrum (as discussed in claim 1); and
receive, via the transceiver, a response to the request, the response providing the apparatus with access to the indicated one or more channel resources within the spectrum (as discussed in claim 1);
schedule, within the one or more channel resources, a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (0- SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients (as discussed in claim 1); and
communicate with the one or more clients via the D-SP and O-SP (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 32 Taneja in view of Guo teaches a method for wireless communications at a wireless node (as discussed in claim 1), comprising:
outputting a request comprising an indication of one or more channel resources within a spectrum(as discussed in claim 1);
obtaining a response to the request, the response providing the apparatus with access to the indicated one or more channel resources within the spectrum (as discussed in claim 1);
scheduling, within the one or more channel resources, a dedicated service period (D-SP) and an opportunistic service period (O-SP) for communication with one or more clients, wherein the D-SP is reserved for communication with one of the one or more clients, and wherein the O-SP is dynamically scheduled for communication with one of the one or more clients (as discussed in claim 1); and
communicating with the one or more clients via the D-SP and O-SP (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 18 Taneja teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more channel resources are associated with 20 MHz or higher of bandwidth (see Taneja: paragraph 109 “20 MHz”).
For claim 19 Taneja teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
output, for transmission to a client, an indication of a maximum transmit power for transmission of signaling via the one or more channel resources (see Fig. 2 “Spectrum enquiry response message (available channel objects - frequency range, type of user: PAL/GAA, max EIRP)”).
For claim 20 Taneja teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain instructions for reducing a maximum transmit power for transmission of signaling via the one or more channel resources; and
reduce the maximum transmit power based on the instructions (see Fig. 2 “Spectrum enquiry response message (available channel objects - frequency range, type of user: PAL/GAA, max EIRP)”).
For claim 22 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more channel resources are within a 3.5 GHz band (as discussed in claim 21 and 3.5 GHz is a design choice”), and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
negotiate the schedule of the D-SP with the one or more clients independent of the 3.5 GHz band (see Guo: Fig. 3B “negotiation type”), paragraph 174 “dedicated service period”, and as discussed in claim 21 and 3.5 GHz is a design choice”).
For claim 23 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus claim 21, wherein the one or more channel resources are within a 3.5 GHz band (as discussed in claim 21 and 3.5 GHz is a design choice”), and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
advertise the O-SP independent of the 3.5 GHz band (see Guo: Fig. 2C “broadcast”, Fig. 2G “broadcast over Link 1”, paragraph 11 “In a possible design, the first beacon frame further includes broadcast indication information, used to indicate
whether there is to-be-received broadcast traffic”), paragraph 174 “dedicated service period”, and as discussed in claim 21 and 3.5 GHz is a design choice”).
For claim 24 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus of claim 21, wherein one or more of the D-SP and the O-SP are indicated via a target wake up time (TWT) band (see Guo: paragraph 14 “In a possible design, the multi-link access point
device generates a second beacon frame, where a target wake time TWT information unit of the second beacon frame carries TWT-type indication information, and the TWT-type indication information is used to indicate whether a service period specified by the TWT information unit is used to transmit groupcast traffic and/or broadcast traffic;
and the multi-link access point device sends the second beacon frame on a first link”).
For claim 25 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus of claim 21, wherein one or more of the D-SP and the O-SP are indicated via a bitmap (see Guo: Fig. 3E “bitmap for service period”).
For claim 26 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus of claim 25, wherein each bit in the bitmap is configured to identify a time block corresponding to the D-SP or the O-SP, and wherein the bitmap is further configured to at least one of:
advertise one or more time blocks (see Guo: paragraph 134 “In 301, for the service period specified by the TWT information unit, details are as follows: start time of the TWT service period is indicated by a Target Wake Time field in the TWT information unit, and duration of the TWT service period is indicated by a Nominal Minimum TWT Wake Duration field” and paragraph 142 “broadcast TWT”);
request one or more time blocks (see Guo: Fig. 3B “request TWT”); or
grant one or more time blocks (see Guo: Fig. 3B “grant TWT”).
For claim 27 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
output, for transmission to one or more clients, a polling message (see Guo: Fig. 2A “beacon frame”) configured to at least one of: (i) indicate to the one or more clients that the one or more channel resources are still available for communication (see Taneja: at least pargraph 63 “Upon receiving a Spectrum Inquiry Response to the Spectrum Inquiry, the CBRS APs 104A-D send a Grant Request with one of the operating channels”), (ii) request whether any of the one or more clients have buffered data (see Taneja: at least pargraph 63 “Upon receiving a Spectrum Inquiry Response to the Spectrum Inquiry, the CBRS APs 104A-D send a Grant Request with one of the operating channels”), or (iii) notify the one or more clients that will be served by the apparatus (see Taneja: at least pargraph 63 “Upon receiving a Spectrum Inquiry Response to the Spectrum Inquiry, the CBRS APs 104A-D send a Grant Request with one of the operating channels”).
For claim 28 Taneja in view of Guo teaches the apparatus of claim 27, wherein at least one of:
the polling message is output for transmission at a start of a service period (see Guo: Fig. 3D “start for TWT service period”); or the polling message is a trigger frame (see Guo: Fig. 3B “trigger frame”).
For claim 29 Taneja teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more channel resources are within a 3.5 GHz band (see paragraph 2 “Citizen Broadcast (advertised) Radio Service (CBRS) 1550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) range in United States”), and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to: output, for transmission independent of the 3.5 GHz band, an advertisement for a service period of the 3.5 GHz band (see pargraph 114 “cell neighbor frequencies broadcasted (advertised) to UEs via CBD”-the 3.5 GHz is a design choice).
For claim 30 Taneja teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more channel resources are within a 3.5 GHz band (see paragraph 2 “Citizen Broadcast (advertised) Radio Service (CBRS) 1550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) range in United States”), wherein management frames are configured for at least one of discovery, authentication (see paragraph 64 “manage session states, authenticate, or association with the 3.5 GHz band (see paragraph 2 “Citizen Broadcast (advertised) Radio Service (CBRS) 1550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) range in United States, and manage communication associated
with access points and/or user equipment within the CBRS”), and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
output, for transmission independent of the 3.5 GHz band, the management frames (see paragraph 2 “Citizen Broadcast (advertised) Radio Service (CBRS) 1550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) range in United States”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taneja in view of Guo and further in view of Zhao et al. (US 2022/0053505 A1).
For claim 2 Taneja teaches the apparatus, wherein the indicated one or more channel resources comprise a primary subchannel, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
output, for transmission to at least one of a wireless node or a client, at least one first frame via the primary subchannel (see paragraph 135 “The ASIC 2112 can communicate with other components in the network device 400 via the connection
2110, to exchange data and signals and coordinate various types of operations by the network device 2100, such as routing, switching, and/or data storage operations, for
example” and paragraph 56 “the CBRS network 100 can include an eNodeB,
Core Network for Packet services and IMS for voice and multimedia services”); and
obtain, from at least one of the wireless node or the client, at least one second frame via the primary subchannel (see paragraph 135 “The ASIC 2112 can communicate with other components in the network device 400 via the connection
2110, to exchange data and signals and coordinate various types of operations by the network device 2100, such as routing, switching, and/or data storage operations, for
example”).
Taneja in view of Guo does not explicitly teach a primary subchannel.
However, Zhao teaches assigning a assigning a primary channel using an interference overlapping map; and allowing spectrum extension of CBSD, that is, assigning an extended channel for CBSD, so as to improve spectral efficiency (see Zhao: paragraph 5).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Zhao in the combined CBRS resource management of Guo and Taneja in order to assign a primary channel using an interference overlapping map; and allowing spectrum extension of CBSD, that is, assigning an extended channel for CBSD, so as to improve spectral efficiency (see Zhao: paragraph 5).
For claim 3 Taneja in view of Guo and further in view of Zhao teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors of the apparatus are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
communicate coordinated signaling with the wireless node, wherein the coordinated signaling comprises transmission scheduling information (see Taneja: paragraph 32 “coordination”, paragraph 34 “coordination capabilities …determining performance modifications based on the inter-AP coordination capabilities; and modifying resource allocations to the one or more CBSDs based on the performance modifications”, and paragraph 75 “Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP) techniques can be used, which can include coordinated scheduling”).
8. Claims 4-6, 9-10, 13-15, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taneja in view of Guo and further in view of Zhao and further in view of provisional application No. 63/289,282, filed on Dec. 14, 2021 of Bandyopadhyay et al. (US 2023/0284033 A1) is being considered.
For claim 4 Taneja in view of Guo and further in view of Zhao does not explicitly teach the apparatus, wherein the one or more channel resources are associated with 40 MHz or higher bandwidth, and wherein the spectrum is a 70 MHz band.
However, Bandyopadhyay teaches if all 70 MHz PAL slots have been auctioned off, there still remains 80 MHz of bandwidth available for GAA use. If PAL licenses have not been auctioned off, the entire 150 MHz of the CBRS spectrum will be available for GAA use. It is less likely that the entire 150 MHz of GAA will be available in more densely populated areas of the country than in rural areas (see Bandyopadhyay: paragraph 12). The choice of 70 MHz is a design choice.
For claim 5 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus, wherein the spectrum is a 70 MHz priority access license (PAL) spectrum, wherein a citizen broadband radio spectrum (CBRS) contains the PAL spectrum and a general authorized access (GAA) spectrum, wherein the request for channel resources further comprises an indication of channel resources within the GAA spectrum, and wherein the response to the request further provides the apparatus access to one or more of the indicated channel resources within the GAA spectrum (see Taneja: paragraphs 60-61 “PAL and GAA”, Fig. 2 “Spectrum enquiry response message (available channel objects - frequency range, type of user: PAL/GAA, max EIRP)” (and Bandyopadhyay: paragraph 12 “70 MHz PAL”).
For claim 6 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to, at least one of:
obtain or output for transmission at least one frame via a control channel of the CBRS, wherein a bandwidth of the control channel is less than 20 MHz and is located adjacent to an end of the CBRS (see Taneja: paragraph 109 “remaining 20 MHz”) .
For claim 9 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, from the network node, signaling comprising an indication that access to the CBRS has been suspended or terminated (see Bandyopadhyay: paragraphs 48-49 “suspended or terminated states”).
For claim 10 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
output, for transmission to the network node, another request for channel resources comprising an indication of the channel resources available to the apparatus (see Taneja: paragraphs 67-68 “step 206 and step 208”); and
obtain, from the network node, access to the indicated channel resources available to the apparatus (see Taneja: paragraphs 67-68 “step 206 and step 208”).
For claim 13 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain, from the network node, signaling comprising an indication that access to a channel resource of at least one of the channel resources within the GAA spectrum or the channel resources within the PAL spectrum has been suspended or terminated (see Bandyopadhyay: paragraphs 48-49 “suspended or terminated states”).
For claim 14 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication that access to another channel resource of at least one of the channel resources within the GAA spectrum or the channel resources within the PAL spectrum is available to the apparatus (see Taneja: Fig. 2 “(Spectrum enquiry response message (available channel objects - frequency range, type of user: PAL/GAA, max EIRP)”).
For claim 15 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay teaches the apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least one of a reduced neighbor report (RNR) or a multi-link probe response comprises the indication (see Taneja: Paragraph 99 “report their inter-AP coordination. For instance, the CBSDs may report any modifications to the inter-AP coordination capabilities that are recommended by the SAS 910 to the DNA-C 920”).
9. Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao in view of and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2021/0153126 A1).
For claim 7 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao in view of Bandyopadhyay does not explicitly teach the apparatus of claim 6, wherein a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of the at least one frame is formatted by using an 802.11a half-rate PPDU or an 802.11p PPDU. However, Kim teaches For example, when the main radio module 411 is in the awake state, the first wireless terminal 410 is able to transmit an 802.11-based frame ( e.g., 802.11-type PPDU) or receive an 802.11-based frame on the basis of the main radio module 411. For example, the 802.11-based frame may be a non-HT PPDU of a 20 MHz band-this is a design choice (see Kim: paragraph 62).
For claim 8 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao in view of Bandyopadhyay and further in view of Kim teach the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the indicated one or more channel resources within the PAL spectrum and the indicated channel resources within the GAA spectrum form an operating bandwidth of a basic service set (BSS) of the apparatus (see Kim: paragraph 202 “BSS update” a design choice).
10. Claims 11-12, 16-17, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao further in view of Bandyopadhyay and further in view of Wang et al. (US 2022/0095374 A1 A1).
For claim 11 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao and further in view of Bandyopadhyay does not explicitly teach the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to:
modify a puncturing pattern of the CBRS to reflect the channel resources available to the apparatus.
However, Wang teaches in some embodiments, the receiver may transmit control signaling to the transmitter, indicating the puncturing pattern to be used (see Wang: paragraphs 6 and 76). In addition, Wang teaches wherein the control signaling indicates the puncturing pattern is to be used if the transmitter determines, based on a channel sensing procedure performed on unlicensed frequency spectrum (see Wang: paragraph 232).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Wang in the combined CBRS resource management of Bandyopadhyay, Zhao, Guo, and Taneja in order to not waste that partial transmission opportunity, the transmitter may nonetheless transmit a part of the transmission (e.g., by puncturing the block of modulated symbols to be transmitted)scheduled for that transmission opportunity (see Wang: paragraph 6).
For claim 12 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao further in view of Bandyopadhyay and further in view of Kim teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein a granularity of the puncturing pattern is given in chunks of 5 MHz, 10 MHZ, or 15 MHz (see Bandyopadhyay: paragraph 11 and Fig. 2 “10 MHz” and as discussed in claim 11).
For claim 16 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao further in view of Bandyopadhyay and further in view of Kim teaches the apparatus, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to: generate, based on the response, a puncturing pattern for the one or more channel resources within the spectrum (as discussed in claim 11).
For claim 17 Taneja in view of Guo in view of Zhao further in view of Bandyopadhyay and further in view of Kim teaches the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the response further provides the apparatus access to one or more channel resources within a general authorized access (GAA) spectrum, and wherein the puncturing pattern is generated also for the one or more channel resources within the GAA spectrum (see Taneja: Fig. 2 “(available channel objects - frequency range, type of user: PAL/GAA, max EIRP”).
Conclusion
11. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: Kholaif et al. (US 2012/0213138 A1) and Syed et al. (US 2020/0196196 A1).
12. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David M OVEISSI whose telephone number is (571)270-3127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8Am-5PM.
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/MANSOUR OVEISSI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415