DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1 - 3, 7, 10 - 13 and 17 are presented for examination.
Claims 1 - 3, 7, 11 - 13 and 17 are amended.
Claims 4 - 6, 8, 9, 14 - 16 and 18 – 20 are cancelled.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 26, 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
Regarding the rejection of claim 11, claim 11 recites the same limitations as set forth in claim 1, the response to claim 1 is also applicable to claim 11, and thus please refer to the response to claim 1 above.
Regarding the dependent claims 2, 3, 7, 10, 12-13 and 17, Applicant has not made specific arguments pertaining to why the cited references do not teach the recited claims, other than their dependency to claim 1 or 11. Therefor for at least the reasons presented above for claim 1, the dependent claims are rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHU (US 10939476 B1); hereinafter Chu, in view of Lu (US 20210266960 A1); hereinafter Lu.
Regarding claim 1, Chu teaches an apparatus of an access-point station (AP) (Fig. 1, Access Point 114) configured for wideband channel operation with multiple primary channels (Col. 17, lines 7-8, the operating channel 400 includes more than two primary channels), the apparatus comprising:
processing circuitry (Fig. 1, the MAC processor 126 and the PHY processor 130); and
memory (Col. 5, lines 41-44) a memory device (not shown) such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, etc.), wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
operate using more than one primary channel, including a first primary channel and a second primary channel, within a basic service set (BSS) bandwidth (Fig. 4A, (Col. 15, line2 52-55) In an embodiment, the operating channel 400 corresponds to an operating channel of the AP 114, or of a basic service set (BSS) supported by the AP. Col. 17, lines 7-8, the operating channel 400 includes more than two primary channels);
maintain a network allocation vector (NAV) for each of the primary channels (Fig. 5, (Col. 19, lines 42-53), In an embodiment, for example, the AP 114 starts a network allocation vector (NAV) synchronization timer 515 and starts the backoff timer 516 after expiration of the NAV synchronization timer 515. In an embodiment, the backoff timer 516 is a NAV. In an embodiment, the NAV synchronization timer 515 and the NAV 516 correspond to the multi-band backoff timers 127 (FIG. 1). When starting the second service period 520 at the time t1, the AP 114 starts a NAV synchronization timer 525 and starts a backoff timer 526 after expiration of the NAV synchronization timer 525, where the NAV synchronization timer 525 and backoff timer 526 correspond to the second primary channel 522. (Col. 27, lines 20-22), In an embodiment, the AP 114 starts a network allocation vector (NAV) synchronization timer after designating the second component channel as the primary channel. The AP starts a NAV each time it designates a primary channel.);
assign one of the primary channels to each STA of a plurality of stations (STAs) of the BSS, wherein at least some of the STAs are assigned a different primary channel ((Col. 16, lines 1-3) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4A, the operating channel 400 corresponds to the AP 114 and a first client station STA1 (with first primary channel 412). (Col. 17, lines 33-41) FIG. 4B is a diagram of the operating channel 400 at a second time, according to an embodiment. At the second time, the primary channel of the operating channel 400 has been changed to a different component channel. In an embodiment, for example, the AP 114 designates a second component channel that was previously designated as a secondary channel (e.g., secondary channel 424-2) as a second primary channel 472 and designates the first primary channel 412 as a secondary channel 474. (Col. 18, lines 23-28) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4B, the AP 114 changes from the first primary channel 412 (FIG. 4A) to the second primary channel 472 to support a legacy client station STA2 that has an operating channel that only includes the second primary channel 472 and the secondary channel 424-1 in the second segment 420. (STA2 is assigned to second primary channel 472));
communicate with the STAs over channel bandwidths that include more than one primary channel ((Col. 24, lines 5-18 ) FIG. 9 is an example timing diagram 900 for a WLAN communication device configured to simultaneously utilize multiple primary channels), wherein for a channel bandwidth that includes both the first primary channel, the second primary channel and a plurality of non-primary channels ((Col. 24, lines 5-18 ) The operating channel 902 is similar to the operating channel 600 and includes four component channels Ch0, Ch1, Ch2, and Ch3, where Ch0 and Ch3 are the primary channels.),
Chu does not explicitly teach the processing circuitry is to:
configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on one of the non-primary channels for communicating with the STAs that are assigned the first primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel; and
configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on the second primary channel to the STAs that are assigned the second primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel.
Lu, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on one of the non-primary channels for communicating with the STAs that are assigned the first primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel ([0008] In one aspect, a method may involve detecting a primary channel busy for an operating bandwidth having a plurality of channel segments comprising the primary channel and at least one non-primary channel. The method may also involve obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) through a first non-primary channel of the at least one non-primary channel responsive to the detecting. The method may further involve performing a transmission at least on the first non-primary channel during the TXOP. [0045] A non-AP device parking on the specific non-primary channel(s) or channel segment(s) may receive downlink (DL) transmission or be triggered for uplink (UL) transmission only. [0049] In the various examples shown and described in FIG. 2-FIG. 5, EDCA-based channel contention may be allowed for an AP device on non-primary channels when the primary channel is not available. [0050] When the AP device detects a frame (e.g., a Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU)) on the primary 20-MHz channel of the primary 80-MHz channel segment 1, (primary channel is busy) the AP device may suspend its ongoing backoff counter and obtain duration information of the OBSS transmission in the physical layer (PHY) header of the received PPDU. [0052] In scenario 300, an AP device (e.g., STA 110 or STA 120) may initiate a PBSR TXOP to trigger UL transmissions from non-AP devices. [0056] The TXOP limit for PBSR TXOP may be dynamically limited by the channel busy status on the primary channel (e.g., non-zero NAV, non-zero PPDU length, non-zero channel occupancy time (COT), or a specific value for PBT).); and
configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on the second primary channel to the STAs that are assigned the second primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel ([0081] Under the proposed scheme, a wideband system may apply a dynamic primary channel scheme to control channel access. For instance, an AP device may designate one primary 20-MHz channel for a specific duration for contention-based channel access (e.g., EDCA). The AP device may also designate (assign) one or more 20-MHz channels of different channel segment(s) of the BSS operating bandwidth as auxiliary primary channel(s) (second primary channel) for it to access the channel when the primary 20-MHz channel is blocked/busy (NAV of the first primary channel has not expired). Non-AP devices parking on the primary 20-MHz channel may contend for the channel using EDCA, and non-AP devices associated with the AP device may park on an auxiliary primary 20-MHz channel (assigned the second primary channel) of a bandwidth part/segment. The AP device may control channel access mode for non-AP devices parking on the auxiliary primary 20-MHz channels (assigned the second primary channel) to be restricted from contention-based channel access. For instance, the AP device may change EDCA parameters to low priority parameters or allow trigger-based UL only, or the AP device may change an MU-EDCA counter setting to a specific value to disallow EDCA. This shows channel access on second primary channel may be restricted to trigger-based UL only. [0083] Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, within a specific duration one primary channel and auxiliary primary channel(s) may be used by an AP device for channel access. For instance, within a specific duration, a primary 20-MHz channel may be designated for channel access and one or more 20-mHz channels may be designated as auxiliary primary channel(s) for channel access when the primary 20-MHz channel is blocked/busy. [0115] Moreover, processor 2712 may detect that the current primary channel for the operating bandwidth is busy. In response, processor 2712 may obtain one other TXOP through a first auxiliary primary channel of the one or more auxiliary primary channels. If channel access on auxiliary primary channel is restricted to trigger-based UL only as noted above, then when the primary channel is busy (NAV has not expired) the AP will transmit a trigger frame to establish an UL TXOP.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wideband channel access methods of Lu with the wideband channel access methods of Chu. The motivation to do so would have been to allow transmission with partial bandwidth spectrum reuse in wireless communications when the primary channel is busy for channel contention (Lu, [0005]).
Regarding claim 2, Chu and Lu teach the apparatus of claim 1, and Chu teaches wherein for communicating over a channel bandwidth that includes only one of the primary channels comprising the first primary channel, and wherein when the channel bandwidth is idle and when the NAV for the first primary channel has expired, the processing circuitry is configured to: transmit downlink data packets to or solicit uplink data packets from any of the STAs that are assigned to the first primary channel using the channel bandwidth (Fig. 5 shows an operating channel 502 with only one primary channel 512 and multiple secondary channels. (Col. 19, lines 3-5) In an embodiment, the operating channel 502 corresponds to an operating channel of a client station 154 (e.g., the client station 154-1) (Col. 19, lines 54-63) During the NAV synchronization timers 515 and 525, (i.e., while the timers run and before their respective expirations), the AP 114 monitors the medium of the primary channel for transmissions by other communication devices. In an embodiment, when the AP 114 does not receive or detect a frame in the medium before the NAV synchronization timer expires (e.g., becomes “0”) (meaning the channel bandwidth is idle), the AP starts the backoff timer 516. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the AP 114 transmits a PPDU 517 after expiration of the backoff timer 516 (the NAV for the first primary channel has expired).
Regarding claim 3, Chu teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein for communicating over the channel bandwidth that includes both the first and second primary channels and the plurality of non-primary channels, when the channel bandwidth is idle and the NAV for both the first and second primary channels has expired, the processing circuitry is configured to:
transmit a trigger frame on one of the non-primary channels in the channel bandwidth to solicit uplink data packets from any of the STAs that are assigned to one of either the first primary channel or the second primary channel, using the channel bandwidth ((Col. 20, lines 47-59) The operating channel 602 is similar to the operating channel 400, (where STA1 uses both the first and second segment and STA2 only uses the second segment, see Fig. 4A and 4B), but includes four component channels Ch0, Ch1, Ch2, and Ch3 and has multiple primary channels at the same time (i.e., Ch0 and Ch3). The component channels Ch0 and Ch1 are located in a channel segment within a 5 GHz band and the component channels Ch2 and Ch3 are located in a channel segment within a 6 GHz band. (Col. 21, lines 5-48) In an embodiment, the AP 114 checks an idle/busy status of other primary channels and secondary channels, for example, component channel Ch3 (primary) and component channels Ch1 and Ch2 (secondary), when the backoff timer 606 expires before performing a transmission. When one or more other component channels are idle the AP 114 performs, schedules, or triggers an uplink (transmits a trigger frame) or downlink transmission in the one or more idle component channels. In some embodiments, when the backoff timer of a primary channel related to a channel segment becomes 0, the channel segment is combined with other channel segments whose backoff timers become 0. In this scenario, both backoff timers become 0 (NAV for both the first and second primary channels has expired) and the channel segments can be combined, meaning transmission can occur over the full operating channel. In this scenario, downlink or uplink transmission will occur with any of the STAs that are assigned to one of either the first primary channel or the second primary channel, using the channel bandwidth).
Regarding claim 11, Chu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a Access Point Station (AP) configured for wideband channel operation (Col. 5, lines 41-44) a memory device (not shown) such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, etc.), the processing circuitry to:
operate using more than one primary channel, including a first primary channel and a second primary channel, within a basic service set (BSS) bandwidth (Fig. 4A, (Col. 15, line2 52-55) In an embodiment, the operating channel 400 corresponds to an operating channel of the AP 114, or of a basic service set (BSS) supported by the AP. Col. 17, lines 7-8, the operating channel 400 includes more than two primary channels);
maintain a network allocation vector (NAV) for each of the primary channels (Fig. 5, (Col. 19, lines 42-53), In an embodiment, for example, the AP 114 starts a network allocation vector (NAV) synchronization timer 515 and starts the backoff timer 516 after expiration of the NAV synchronization timer 515. In an embodiment, the backoff timer 516 is a NAV. In an embodiment, the NAV synchronization timer 515 and the NAV 516 correspond to the multi-band backoff timers 127 (FIG. 1). When starting the second service period 520 at the time t1, the AP 114 starts a NAV synchronization timer 525 and starts a backoff timer 526 after expiration of the NAV synchronization timer 525, where the NAV synchronization timer 525 and backoff timer 526 correspond to the second primary channel 522. (Col. 27, lines 20-22), In an embodiment, the AP 114 starts a network allocation vector (NAV) synchronization timer after designating the second component channel as the primary channel. The AP starts a NAV each time it designates a primary channel.);
assign one of the primary channels to each STA of a plurality of stations (STAs) of the BSS, wherein at least some of the STAs are assigned a different primary channel ((Col. 16, lines 1-3) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4A, the operating channel 400 corresponds to the AP 114 and a first client station STA1 (with first primary channel 412). (Col. 17, lines 33-41) FIG. 4B is a diagram of the operating channel 400 at a second time, according to an embodiment. At the second time, the primary channel of the operating channel 400 has been changed to a different component channel. In an embodiment, for example, the AP 114 designates a second component channel that was previously designated as a secondary channel (e.g., secondary channel 424-2) as a second primary channel 472 and designates the first primary channel 412 as a secondary channel 474. (Col. 18, lines 23-28) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4B, the AP 114 changes from the first primary channel 412 (FIG. 4A) to the second primary channel 472 to support a legacy client station STA2 that has an operating channel that only includes the second primary channel 472 and the secondary channel 424-1 in the second segment 420. (STA2 is assigned to second primary channel 472));
communicate with the STAs over channel bandwidths that include more than one primary channel ((Col. 24, lines 5-18 ) FIG. 9 is an example timing diagram 900 for a WLAN communication device configured to simultaneously utilize multiple primary channels), wherein for a channel bandwidth that includes both the first primary channel, the second primary channel and a plurality of non-primary channels ((Col. 24, lines 5-18 ) The operating channel 902 is similar to the operating channel 600 and includes four component channels Ch0, Ch1, Ch2, and Ch3, where Ch0 and Ch3 are the primary channels.),
Chu does not explicitly teach the processing circuitry is to:
configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on one of the non-primary channels for communicating with the STAs that are assigned the first primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel; and
configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on the second primary channel to the STAs that are assigned the second primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel.
Lu, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on one of the non-primary channels for communicating with the STAs that are assigned the first primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel ([0008] In one aspect, a method may involve detecting a primary channel busy for an operating bandwidth having a plurality of channel segments comprising the primary channel and at least one non-primary channel. The method may also involve obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) through a first non-primary channel of the at least one non-primary channel responsive to the detecting. The method may further involve performing a transmission at least on the first non-primary channel during the TXOP. [0045] A non-AP device parking on the specific non-primary channel(s) or channel segment(s) may receive downlink (DL) transmission or be triggered for uplink (UL) transmission only. [0049] In the various examples shown and described in FIG. 2-FIG. 5, EDCA-based channel contention may be allowed for an AP device on non-primary channels when the primary channel is not available. [0050] When the AP device detects a frame (e.g., a Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU)) on the primary 20-MHz channel of the primary 80-MHz channel segment 1, (primary channel is busy) the AP device may suspend its ongoing backoff counter and obtain duration information of the OBSS transmission in the physical layer (PHY) header of the received PPDU. [0052] In scenario 300, an AP device (e.g., STA 110 or STA 120) may initiate a PBSR TXOP to trigger UL transmissions from non-AP devices. [0056] The TXOP limit for PBSR TXOP may be dynamically limited by the channel busy status on the primary channel (e.g., non-zero NAV, non-zero PPDU length, non-zero channel occupancy time (COT), or a specific value for PBT).); and
configure the AP to transmit a trigger frame on the second primary channel to the STAs that are assigned the second primary channel when the NAV of the first primary channel has not expired for communicating over the channel bandwidth excluding the first primary channel ([0081] Under the proposed scheme, a wideband system may apply a dynamic primary channel scheme to control channel access. For instance, an AP device may designate one primary 20-MHz channel for a specific duration for contention-based channel access (e.g., EDCA). The AP device may also designate (assign) one or more 20-MHz channels of different channel segment(s) of the BSS operating bandwidth as auxiliary primary channel(s) (second primary channel) for it to access the channel when the primary 20-MHz channel is blocked/busy (NAV of the first primary channel has not expired). Non-AP devices parking on the primary 20-MHz channel may contend for the channel using EDCA, and non-AP devices associated with the AP device may park on an auxiliary primary 20-MHz channel (assigned the second primary channel) of a bandwidth part/segment. The AP device may control channel access mode for non-AP devices parking on the auxiliary primary 20-MHz channels (assigned the second primary channel) to be restricted from contention-based channel access. For instance, the AP device may change EDCA parameters to low priority parameters or allow trigger-based UL only, or the AP device may change an MU-EDCA counter setting to a specific value to disallow EDCA. This shows channel access on second primary channel may be restricted to trigger-based UL only. [0083] Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, within a specific duration one primary channel and auxiliary primary channel(s) may be used by an AP device for channel access. For instance, within a specific duration, a primary 20-MHz channel may be designated for channel access and one or more 20-mHz channels may be designated as auxiliary primary channel(s) for channel access when the primary 20-MHz channel is blocked/busy. [0115] Moreover, processor 2712 may detect that the current primary channel for the operating bandwidth is busy. In response, processor 2712 may obtain one other TXOP through a first auxiliary primary channel of the one or more auxiliary primary channels. If channel access on auxiliary primary channel is restricted to trigger-based UL only as noted above, then when the primary channel is busy (NAV has not expired) the AP will transmit a trigger frame to establish an UL TXOP.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the wideband channel access methods of Lu with the wideband channel access methods of Chu. The motivation to do so would have been to allow transmission with partial bandwidth spectrum reuse in wireless communications when the primary channel is busy for channel contention (Lu, [0005]).
Regarding claim 12, Chu and Lu teach the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein for communicating over a channel bandwidth that includes only one of the primary channels comprising the first primary channel, and wherein when the channel bandwidth is idle and when the NAV for the first primary channel has expired, the processing circuitry is configured to: transmit downlink data packets to or solicit uplink data packets from any of the STAs that are assigned to the first primary channel using the channel bandwidth (Fig. 5 shows an operating channel 502 with only one primary channel 512 and multiple secondary channels. (Col. 19, lines 3-5) In an embodiment, the operating channel 502 corresponds to an operating channel of a client station 154 (e.g., the client station 154-1) (Col. 19, lines 54-63) During the NAV synchronization timers 515 and 525, (i.e., while the timers run and before their respective expirations), the AP 114 monitors the medium of the primary channel for transmissions by other communication devices. In an embodiment, when the AP 114 does not receive or detect a frame in the medium before the NAV synchronization timer expires (e.g., becomes “0”) (meaning the channel bandwidth is idle), the AP starts the backoff timer 516. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the AP 114 transmits a PPDU 517 after expiration of the backoff timer 516 (the NAV for the first primary channel has expired).
Regarding claim 13, Chu teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein for communicating over the channel bandwidth that includes both the first and second primary channels and the plurality of non-primary channels, when the channel bandwidth is idle and the NAV for both the first and second primary channels has expired, the processing circuitry is configured to:
transmit a trigger frame on one of the non-primary channels in the channel bandwidth to solicit uplink data packets from any of the STAs that are assigned to one of either the first primary channel or the second primary channel, using the channel bandwidth ((Col. 20, lines 47-59) The operating channel 602 is similar to the operating channel 400, (where STA1 uses both the first and second segment and STA2 only uses the second segment, see Fig. 4A and 4B), but includes four component channels Ch0, Ch1, Ch2, and Ch3 and has multiple primary channels at the same time (i.e., Ch0 and Ch3). The component channels Ch0 and Ch1 are located in a channel segment within a 5 GHz band and the component channels Ch2 and Ch3 are located in a channel segment within a 6 GHz band. (Col. 21, lines 5-48) In an embodiment, the AP 114 checks an idle/busy status of other primary channels and secondary channels, for example, component channel Ch3 (primary) and component channels Ch1 and Ch2 (secondary), when the backoff timer 606 expires before performing a transmission. When one or more other component channels are idle the AP 114 performs, schedules, or triggers an uplink (transmits a trigger frame) or downlink transmission in the one or more idle component channels. In some embodiments, when the backoff timer of a primary channel related to a channel segment becomes 0, the channel segment is combined with other channel segments whose backoff timers become 0. In this scenario, both backoff timers become 0 (NAV for both the first and second primary channels has expired) and the channel segments can be combined, meaning transmission can occur over the full operating channel. In this scenario, downlink or uplink transmission will occur with any of the STAs that are assigned to one of either the first primary channel or the second primary channel, using the channel bandwidth).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chu in view of Lu; further in view of Patil (US 20190215884 A1); hereinafter Patil.
Regarding claim 7, Chu teaches the apparatus of claims 3 and teaches the processing circuitry is to further configure the AP to transmit beacon frames in one of the primary channels comprising a first primary channel ((Col. 4, lines 2-8) The AP utilizes primary channels for various operations, such as for transmission of various management transmissions (e.g., transmissions associated with association of a client station 154 with the AP 114, beacon transmissions by the AP 114, operating channel bandwidths switch announcement transmissions, etc.)).
Chu does not explicitly teach wherein the processing circuitry is to further configure the AP to transmit group addressed frames in one of the primary channels comprising the first primary channel, and wherein during a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT), the STAs that are assigned to primary channels other than the first primary channel are configured to tune to the first primary channel for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames.
Patil, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications, teaches wherein the processing circuitry is to further configure the AP to transmit group addressed frames in one of the primary channels comprising a first primary channel ([0212] At 810, AP 105-c may transmit (and STA 115-d may receive) a beacon (e.g., a DTIM) over the primary channel. In some cases, the DTIM may be addressed to a group of STAs 115 (e.g., including STA 115-d).), and wherein during a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT), the STAs that are assigned to primary channels other than the first primary channel are configured to tune to the first primary channel for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames ([0211] AP 105-c may operate using the primary channel and one or more secondary channels of a total bandwidth of AP 105-c. That is, in some examples STA 115-d, which may be parked on a secondary channel of AP 105-c, may continue to tune into the primary channel of AP 105-c for management frames and group-address traffic. For example, STA 115-d may monitor during all (e.g., or a subset of) DTIM TBTTs associated with the primary channel. Applying this scenario to STA2 of Fig. 4B of Chu, STA2 is assigned second primary channel 472 and according to the teachings of Patil can be configured to tune to the first primary channel 412 for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chu with the teachings of Patil to have the STAs that are assigned to primary channels other than the first primary channel tune to the first primary channel for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames. The motivation to do so would have been to provide improved methods that support a station (STA) parked on a secondary channel (Patil; [0005]).
Regarding claim 17, Chu teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claims 13, wherein the processing circuitry is to further configure the AP to transmit beacon frames in one of the primary channels comprising the first primary channel ((Col. 4, lines 2-8) The AP utilizes primary channels for various operations, such as for transmission of various management transmissions (e.g., transmissions associated with association of a client station 154 with the AP 114, beacon transmissions by the AP 114, operating channel bandwidths switch announcement transmissions, etc.)).
Chu does not explicitly teach wherein the processing circuitry is to further configure the AP to transmit group addressed frames in one of the primary channels comprising a first primary channel, and wherein during a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT), the STAs that are assigned to primary channels other than the first primary channel are configured to tune to the first primary channel for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames.
Patil, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications, teaches wherein the processing circuitry is to further configure the AP to transmit group addressed frames in one of the primary channels comprising a first primary channel ([0212] At 810, AP 105-c may transmit (and STA 115-d may receive) a beacon (e.g., a DTIM) over the primary channel. In some cases, the DTIM may be addressed to a group of STAs 115 (e.g., including STA 115-d).), and wherein during a Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT), the STAs that are assigned to primary channels other than the first primary channel are configured to tune to the first primary channel for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames ([0211] AP 105-c may operate using the primary channel and one or more secondary channels of a total bandwidth of AP 105-c. That is, in some examples STA 115-d, which may be parked on a secondary channel of AP 105-c, may continue to tune into the primary channel of AP 105-c for management frames and group-address traffic. For example, STA 115-d may monitor during all (e.g., or a subset of) DTIM TBTTs associated with the primary channel. Applying this scenario to STA2 of Fig. 4B of Chu, STA2 is assigned second primary channel 472 and according to the teachings of Patil can be configured to tune to the first primary channel 412 for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chu with the teachings of Patil to have the STAs that are assigned to primary channels other than the first primary channel tune to the first primary channel for receipt of any beacon frames and group addressed frames. The motivation to do so would have been to provide improved methods that support a station (STA) parked on a secondary channel (Patil; [0005]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chu in view of Lu; further in view of Medapalli (US 10856331 B1); hereinafter Medapalli.
Regarding claim 10, Chu teaches the apparatus of claim 1 and teaches wherein the processing circuitry comprises a baseband processor ((Col. 5, lines 13-20) The network interface device 122 includes one or more medium access control (MAC) processors 126 (sometimes referred to herein as “the MAC processor 126” for brevity) and one or more physical layer (PHY) processors 130 (sometimes referred to herein as “the PHY processor 130” for brevity). These components comprise the baseband processor. (32) In various embodiments, the MAC processor 126 includes one or more multi-band backoff timers 127 configured to perform one or more backoff procedures in connection with multiple communication channels in multiple RF bands. the multi-band backoff timers 127 include one or more network allocation vector (NAV) counters for monitoring use of multiple communication channels in multiple RF bands). Chu also teaches each primary channel has a NAV timer ((Col. 17, lines 46-49) when designating a component channel as a primary channel, the AP 114 creates or initializes one or more backoff timers (e.g., backoff timers 127) for the component channel.).
Chu does not explicitly teach and wherein the memory is configured to store a status of the NAV for each of the primary channels.
Medapalli, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications, teaches and wherein the memory is configured to store a status of the NAV for each of the primary channels ((Col. 8, lines 25-29) To implement virtual carrier sensing, the MAC logic 416 may extract the duration field value from MAC headers and save it as a NAV value 425 in the memory system 422 to mark the medium as busy for the amount of time specified (e.g., in microseconds) in the duration field.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the baseband processor of xx to the apparatus of Chu to store a status of the NAV for each of the primary channels. The motivation to do so would have been
Conclusion
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/NANCY SIXTO/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/GARY MUI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2465