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 .
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.
Claims 14, 18 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lv et al. (US Pub. 2017/0055290) in view of Cherian et al. (US Pub. 2016/0330757).
Regarding claims 14, 18 and 22, Lv teaches a station (STA) apparatus configured to communicate with an access point (AP) apparatus, the STA apparatus comprising: receiving circuitry configured to receive a trigger frame (see 301 RTS in Figure 3); and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, based on information that indicates a time interval contained in the trigger frame (see “Duration” in 701 in Figure 7) , a Clear-to-Send (CTS) frame in response to the trigger frame (see 302 CTS in Figure 3, see also “MU-RTS frame to trigger the MU-CTS responses” in [0081]), wherein the trigger frame includes a field that carries information to enable the STA apparatus to use a wireless link (see “STA info” in 701 in Figure 7). Lv, however, does not teach the transmitting circuitry is further configured to transmit a data frame subsequent to the CTS frame. Cherian teaches the transmitting circuitry is further configured to transmit a data frame subsequent to the CTS frame (“transmit uplink MU PPDU 315 immediately following CTS frames 310” in [0056]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lv to have the transmitting circuitry is further configured to transmit a data frame subsequent to the CTS frame as taught by Cherian in order to generate multi-user ACK frame based on the received MU PPDU and CTS frames [0056].
Claims 16, 17, 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lv et al. in view of Cherian et al. and further in view of Ahn et al. (US Pub. 2018/0192421).
Regarding claims 16 and 20, Lv in view of Cherian teaches the limitations in claims 14 and 18 as shown above. Lv in view of Cherian, however, does not teach the STA apparatus is further configured to determine, based on a specified condition, whether to update Network Allocation Vector when using the information carried in the trigger frame. Ahn teaches the STA apparatus is further configured to determine, based on a specified condition, whether to update Network Allocation Vector when using the information carried in the trigger frame (“transmits a trigger frame and then transmits a CF-END frame to reset a NAV set in a neighboring wireless communication terminal” in [0131]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lv in view of Cherian to have the STA apparatus is further configured to determine, based on a specified condition, whether to update Network Allocation Vector when using the information carried in the trigger frame as taught by Ahn in order to reset NAV through CF-END transmission [0114], [0127].
Regarding claim 17, Ahn teaches the specified condition is that a NAV timer has expired (“If the timer expires, the station around the access point resets the NAV setting” in [0110]).
Regarding claim 21, Ahn teaches the specified condition is a reception of a Contention-Free End (CF-End) frame transmitted by the AP apparatus (“transmits a trigger frame and then transmits a CF-END frame to reset a NAV set in a neighboring wireless communication terminal” in [0131]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 14, 16-18 and 20-22 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 CLEMENCE S HAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3158. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM EST.
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/CLEMENCE S HAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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