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 .
Applicant’s RCE filed 3/17/26 is acknowledged.
Claim 1, 3, 7, 8, 12, 15, 18, and 20 are amended.
Claims 1, 3, 5-13, and 15-21 are pending.
Applicant’s amendment to the claims have overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection previously set forth in the office action mailed 12/18/2025.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/17/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1, 7, 8, 12, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
As amended, claim 1 and 20 recite:
…for load and/or performance information of non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links, determining the one or more transmission links from the part or all of working links according to negotiated target multi-link capability and target operation information…
… for load and/or performance information of non-transmission stations except the one or more transmission stations, determining the one or more transmission stations from the part or all of working stations according to negotiated target multi-station capability and target operation information.
After carefully examining the instant disclosure, the examiner respectfully submits that support for this amendment is lacking and the addition of said limitation is new matter. The specification does not disclose:
non-transmission links
non-transmission stations
The applicant claims that support for this amendment can be found in “The MLD-level information includes enablement information, communication mode parameter information, threshold and/or value range information related to the load or performance parameters of other stations (or links) except the transmission stations", but this does not clearly map “other stations (or links)” to “non-transmission stations/links”. In other words, it does not specify that the other stations (or links) cannot transmit. In addition, the specification (in [0101]) of the instant application also mentions that “one or more working links from the other links as the one or more transmission links” which means these “other links” are not strictly “non-transmission links”. The claim amendment reads as if the “other links/stations” are strictly “non-transmission links/stations”.
Claim 7, 8, 12, and 18 were amended in a similar manner. Claim 3, 5, 6, 9-11, 13, 15-17, 19, and 21 are rejected because they carry the same limitations as the rejected claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the independent claims (pages 10-20) in a reply filed 3/17/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 11-13, 15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. US 20230345349 (hereinafter “Kim”) in view of Kim et al. US 20230224996 (hereinafter “Kim2”)
As to claim 1 and 12 (claim 1 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 12):
Kim discloses:
A data transmission method, applied to a Multi-Link Device (MLD) (FIG. 23 shows an exemplary connection between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD through a Link setup process, Kim) and comprising: acquiring network condition information of a part or all of working links of the MLD, wherein the network condition information comprises load and/or performance information; for the load and/or performance information of the one or more transmission links, determining a current link among the part or all of working links as the one or more transmission links; (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341])
for load and/or performance information of non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links (“In the EHT specification, a device supporting multi-link (i.e., a multi-link device) may operate in a plurality of links. In order to switch a connected link, a multi-link device may need to receive information on another link that is not a link included in the plurality of links. Additionally, while performing communication through a first link, the multi-link device needs to receive information on at least one link among the plurality of links.”, Kim [0005])(“As described above, each AP and STA may perform frame exchange through its connected link. Additionally, information on other link(s) related to other APs or information on other link(s) related to other STAs may be transmitted and/or received through one link.”, Kim [0526]) (Examiner’s Note: the Examiner interpreted “non-transmission links” as links that are not connected or currently not being used to transmit information. Kim teaches exchanging information on “other link(s)” related to other APs/STAs which maps to “non-transmission links”), determining the one or more transmission links from the part or all of working links according to negotiated target multi-link capability and target operation information; (“In order to indicate the methods proposed above, an agreement process between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD may be needed through a negotiation between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. For this, a signaling method for enabling the methods that will hereinafter be proposed in the present specification may be proposed.” Kim [0475]) (“Firstly, in order to indicate the methods that are proposed above, a new element may be proposed. Hereinafter, although an embodiment related to signaling for indicating a link switching and reconnection method will be described, the corresponding embodiment may also be applied to an embodiment related to signaling for indicating an anchored link switching and reconnection method.”, Kim [0529]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532])
and transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links; (“the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transmit and receive and/or exchange a variety of information for each current link and information on a link state. Therefore, based on the link state and the variety of information for each current link, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link which is more appropriate to transmit/receive a signal. For example, the variety of information for each current link may include information on a data traffic load for each link and channel access capability between the links.”, Kim [0303])
wherein before transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links, the method further comprises: during a link set up or link operation procedure, negotiating with an associated device about target multi-link capability and target operation information of the part or all of working links, wherein the target multi-link capability comprises whether transmission of load and/or performance information of other links is allowed; (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532])
the target operation information comprises at least one of: parameter types of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, enablement information of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, and a communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, (“Hereinafter, examples of various fields/elements being defined/configured for obtaining additional information related to a multi-link may hereinafter be described. The various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may be independently configured, or two or more fields/elements may be combined, and may then be transmitted through various frames. For example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may perform operations that are included and defined in another element. As another example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may each be used by being added to another element as an element or an independent field.”, Kim [0536]) (“For example, information that can be designated by the STA (e.g., BSS Load, STR Capability, and so on) may be indicated by a bitmap, within the Info condition field. For example, the type of information indicated by the AP, indication method or order within a bit, and so on, may be variously configured.”, Kim [0575])
and the associated device is a single-link device or an MLD; (“For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532])
and negotiating with the associated device and determining at least one of: whether transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links is allowed, parameter types of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, enablement information of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, and the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted; (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532]) (“Hereinafter, examples of various fields/elements being defined/configured for obtaining additional information related to a multi-link may hereinafter be described. The various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may be independently configured, or two or more fields/elements may be combined, and may then be transmitted through various frames. For example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may perform operations that are included and defined in another element. As another example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may each be used by being added to another element as an element or an independent field.”, Kim [0536])
Kim as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein load and/or performance parameter information comprises update sequence number or timestamp, and the update sequence number or the timestamp is used for synchronizing load and/or performance parameter information of related links in the MLD.
However, Kim2 further teaches including information used for synchronization which includes:
wherein load and/or performance parameter information comprises update sequence number or timestamp, and the update sequence number or the timestamp is used for synchronizing load and/or performance parameter information of related links in the MLD. (“The new frame of FIG. 26 is a frame containing only essential information required when a non-AP STA changes its link to another AP of a connected AP MLD. At this time, the essential information is the information that the STA and the AP must exchange for link re-setup (e.g. attributes in the existing reassociation frame), which are already exchanged between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD during initial multi-link setup, It means essential information excluding redundant information that does not need to be exchanged or unnecessary information that does not need to be exchanged again because it is common information that has a common value among MLDs. For example, this information may be time synchronization information (e.g. timing offset, TSF timer accuracy, time stamp, etc.) or TWT information of an AP to be linked switched.”, Kim2 [0344])
Kim and Kim2 are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include including information used for synchronization as described in Kim2 into Kim. By modifying the method to include including information used for synchronization as taught by Kim2, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Kim2 [0344], and Kim [0341]) are achieved.
As to claim 3:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein negotiating with an associated device about target multi-link capability and target operation information of the part or all of working links comprises: in a case where the MLD is an Access Point Multi-Link Device (AP MLD),
broadcasting multi-link capability and operation information, and/or the network condition information of the part or all of working links to a target station in the associated device, wherein the target station is a station affiliated with the associated device; (“Alternatively, in order to reduce frame overhead, an STA may receive only the information of a connected link or the information of an associated part of a link. Alternatively, when a beacon reception cycle period is long due to the characteristics of a non-AP MLD (e.g., low-power device), the non-AP MLD may not be capable of receiving the capability information per link for selecting a more appropriate link.”, Kim [0385])
receiving an associating request sent by the target station, wherein the associating request is used for indicating an associated station to be associated and capability information of the associated station, (“The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA in response. The association request frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), a supported rate, a supported channel, RSN, a mobility domain, a supported operating class, a traffic indication map (TIM) broadcast request, and an interworking service capability. The association response frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a status code, an association ID (AID), a supported rate, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal-to-noise indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (association comeback time), an overlapping BSS scanning parameter, a TIM broadcast response, and a QoS map.”, Kim [0129])
and the associating request is further used for indicating at least one of: whether transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links is allowed, the parameter types of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, and the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted; sending an associating response to the target station, and determining the target multi-link capability and the target operation information of the associated device. (“According to an embodiment, the STA may designate specific information that is needed and may request the designated information to the AP. The specific information that may be designated may be changed depending upon the circumstances. That is, the STA may request only the information corresponding to a specific link or may request only the information corresponding to a specific capability. For example, the information corresponding to a specific link may include information related to BSS load/parameters of a specific link. Additionally, the information corresponding to a capability may include BSS load information of all links or BSS load information of a specific link. In this case, the AP may transmit only the information designated by the STA through a response message. A detailed embodiment related to the specific information request and response may be described through an embodiment related to the definition and operation of IOM.”, Kim [0388])(“In this case, when requesting information, the STA may include instructions on the information, which the STA wishes to request, in the “IOM capability” element within the request frame (e.g., probe request frame or (re)association frame or new frame, and so on) and may transmit the request frame. The AP may transmit/provide a response message including the information, which the STA wishes to request, to the STA based on the request frame. According to the embodiment, when a field within the IOM capability element is omitted, the AP may provide information to the STA based on previously (or existing) negotiated details.”, Kim [0813]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532]) (“Hereinafter, examples of various fields/elements being defined/configured for obtaining additional information related to a multi-link may hereinafter be described. The various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may be independently configured, or two or more fields/elements may be combined, and may then be transmitted through various frames. For example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may perform operations that are included and defined in another element. As another example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may each be used by being added to another element as an element or an independent field.”, Kim [0536])
As to claim 11:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the MLD comprises an Access Point Multi-Link Device (AP MLD) or a Non-Access Point Multi-Link Device (Non-AP MLD). (FIG. 25, Kim)
As to claim 13:
Kim discloses:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute, when running, the method according to claim 1. (“The technical features of the present specification may be implemented based on a computer readable medium (CRM). For example, the CRM that is proposed in the present specification may encoded as at least one computer program including instructions. When executed by at least one processor, the instructions may perform operations including the steps of transmitting a request frame including an information field for requesting at least one element related to a second link to a first access point (AP) of an AP multi-link device, through a first station (STA) included in the multi-link device, through a first station (STA) operating in a first link, wherein the information field includes information for identifying the at least one element, and receiving a response frame from the first AP through the first STA, based on the request frame, wherein the response frame includes the at least one element. The instructions that are stored in the CRM of the present specification may be executed by at least one processor. At least one processor being related to the CRM of the present specification may be the processor(s) (111, 121) or processing chip(s) (114, 124) of FIG. 1, or the processor (610) of FIG. 19. Meanwhile, the CRM of the present specification may be the memory(s) (112, 122) of FIG. 1, or the memory (620) of FIG. 19, or a separate external memory/storage medium/disc, and so on.”, Kim [0860])
As to claim 15:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein negotiating with an associated device about target multi-link capability and target operation information of the part or all of working links comprises: in a case where the MLD is a Non-Access Point Multi-Link Device (Non-AP MLD), sending an associating request to a target station in the associated device, wherein the target station is a station affiliated with the associated device; the associating request is used for indicating an associated station to be associated and capability information of the associated station, (“When the STA is successfully authenticated, the STA may perform an association process in S330. The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA in response. The association request frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), a supported rate, a supported channel, RSN, a mobility domain, a supported operating class, a traffic indication map (TIM) broadcast request, and an interworking service capability. The association response frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a status code, an association ID (AID), a supported rate, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal-to-noise indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (association comeback time), an overlapping BSS scanning parameter, a TIM broadcast response, and a QoS map.”, Kim [0129])
and the associating request is further used for indicating at least one of: whether transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links is allowed, the parameter types of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, and the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted; (“According to an embodiment, the STA may designate specific information that is needed and may request the designated information to the AP. The specific information that may be designated may be changed depending upon the circumstances. That is, the STA may request only the information corresponding to a specific link or may request only the information corresponding to a specific capability. For example, the information corresponding to a specific link may include information related to BSS load/parameters of a specific link. Additionally, the information corresponding to a capability may include BSS load information of all links or BSS load information of a specific link. In this case, the AP may transmit only the information designated by the STA through a response message. A detailed embodiment related to the specific information request and response may be described through an embodiment related to the definition and operation of IOM.”, Kim [0388])(“In this case, when requesting information, the STA may include instructions on the information, which the STA wishes to request, in the “IOM capability” element within the request frame (e.g., probe request frame or (re)association frame or new frame, and so on) and may transmit the request frame. The AP may transmit/provide a response message including the information, which the STA wishes to request, to the STA based on the request frame. According to the embodiment, when a field within the IOM capability element is omitted, the AP may provide information to the STA based on previously (or existing) negotiated details.”, Kim [0813]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532]) (“Hereinafter, examples of various fields/elements being defined/configured for obtaining additional information related to a multi-link may hereinafter be described. The various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may be independently configured, or two or more fields/elements may be combined, and may then be transmitted through various frames. For example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may perform operations that are included and defined in another element. As another example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may each be used by being added to another element as an element or an independent field.”, Kim [0536])
and receiving a associating response sent by the target station, (“When the STA is successfully authenticated, the STA may perform an association process in S330. The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA in response. The association request frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), a supported rate, a supported channel, RSN, a mobility domain, a supported operating class, a traffic indication map (TIM) broadcast request, and an interworking service capability. The association response frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a status code, an association ID (AID), a supported rate, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal-to-noise indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (association comeback time), an overlapping BSS scanning parameter, a TIM broadcast response, and a QoS map.”, Kim [0129])
and determining the target multi-link capability and the target operation information of the associated device. . (“According to an embodiment, the STA may designate specific information that is needed and may request the designated information to the AP. The specific information that may be designated may be changed depending upon the circumstances. That is, the STA may request only the information corresponding to a specific link or may request only the information corresponding to a specific capability. For example, the information corresponding to a specific link may include information related to BSS load/parameters of a specific link. Additionally, the information corresponding to a capability may include BSS load information of all links or BSS load information of a specific link. In this case, the AP may transmit only the information designated by the STA through a response message. A detailed embodiment related to the specific information request and response may be described through an embodiment related to the definition and operation of IOM.”, Kim [0388])(“In this case, when requesting information, the STA may include instructions on the information, which the STA wishes to request, in the “IOM capability” element within the request frame (e.g., probe request frame or (re)association frame or new frame, and so on) and may transmit the request frame. The AP may transmit/provide a response message including the information, which the STA wishes to request, to the STA based on the request frame. According to the embodiment, when a field within the IOM capability element is omitted, the AP may provide information to the STA based on previously (or existing) negotiated details.”, Kim [0813]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532]) (“Hereinafter, examples of various fields/elements being defined/configured for obtaining additional information related to a multi-link may hereinafter be described. The various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may be independently configured, or two or more fields/elements may be combined, and may then be transmitted through various frames. For example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may perform operations that are included and defined in another element. As another example, various fields/elements that will hereinafter be described may each be used by being added to another element as an element or an independent field.”, Kim [0536])
As to claim 18:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein determining one or more transmission links from the part or all of working links comprises: classifying load and/or performance information sent by one or more stations in an associated device so as to obtain classified data, (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341])
wherein the classified data comprises: load and/or performance information of the one or more transmission links, and/or load and/or performance information of non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links; (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341])
and determining the one or more transmission links from the part or all of working links according to the classified data. (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341])
As to claim 19:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: acquiring network condition information of a part or all of working stations of the MLD, wherein the network condition information comprises load and/or performance information; determining one or more transmission stations from the part or all of working stations; and transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working stations on the one or more transmission stations. (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341])
As to claim 20:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 19, wherein determining one or more transmission stations from the part or all of working stations comprises: for the load and/or performance information of the one or more transmission stations, determining a current station among the part or all of working stations as the one or more transmission stations; (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341]) and for load and/or performance information of non-transmission stations except the one or more transmission stations (“As described above, each AP and STA may perform frame exchange through its connected link. Additionally, information on other link(s) related to other APs or information on other link(s) related to other STAs may be transmitted and/or received through one link.”, Kim [0526]) (Examiner’s Note: the Examiner interpreted “non-transmission links” as links that are not connected or currently not being used to transmit information. Kim teaches exchanging information on “other link(s)” related to other APs/STAs which maps to “non-transmission links”), determining the one or more transmission stations from the part or all of working stations according to negotiated target multi-station capability and target operation information. (“In order to indicate the methods proposed above, an agreement process between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD may be needed through a negotiation between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. For this, a signaling method for enabling the methods that will hereinafter be proposed in the present specification may be proposed.” Kim [0475]) (“Firstly, in order to indicate the methods that are proposed above, a new element may be proposed. Hereinafter, although an embodiment related to signaling for indicating a link switching and reconnection method will be described, the corresponding embodiment may also be applied to an embodiment related to signaling for indicating an anchored link switching and reconnection method.”, Kim [0529]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532])
Claim(s) 5, 6, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Kim2, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kim et al. US 20230254802 (hereinafter “Kim3”)
As to claim 5:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the one or more transmission links from the part or all of working links according to negotiated target multi-link capability and target operation information comprises: in a case where the target multi-link capability of the current link allows transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links, determining the current link as the one or more transmission links; (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341]) (“In order to indicate the methods proposed above, an agreement process between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD may be needed through a negotiation between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. For this, a signaling method for enabling the methods that will hereinafter be proposed in the present specification may be proposed.” Kim [0475]) (“Firstly, in order to indicate the methods that are proposed above, a new element may be proposed. Hereinafter, although an embodiment related to signaling for indicating a link switching and reconnection method will be described, the corresponding embodiment may also be applied to an embodiment related to signaling for indicating an anchored link switching and reconnection method.”, Kim [0529]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532])
The combination of Kim and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
and in a case where the target multi-link capability of the current link does not allow the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links, and the target multi-link capability of the other links allows the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links, determining one or more working links from the other links as the one or more transmission links.
However, Kim3 further teaches:
and in a case where the target multi-link capability of the current link does not allow the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links, and the target multi-link capability of the other links allows the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links, determining one or more working links from the other links as the one or more transmission links. (“the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transmit/receive/exchange various types of information and link state information for each current link. Accordingly, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link more suitable for transmitting and receiving signals based on various information and link states for each current link. For example, various types of information for each current link may include information about data traffic load for each link and channel access capability between links.”, Kim3 [0145]) (“For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when an STA of a non-AP MLD determines that direct link change is necessary (for example, when an existing linked link is busy for a long time or when an STA of a non-AP MLD wants to acquire QoS for data transmission, etc.), the STA may directly reselect an appropriate link and request a link change from the AP MLD.”, Kim3 [0178]) (Examiner’s Note: if the link is busy, STA cannot exchange network information with the AP MLD which maps to “current link does not allow transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links”; based on this teaching, it’s implied that the STA selects another link for transmission based on whether QoS for data transmission is available
Kim, Kim2, and Kim3 are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include selecting another link for transmission if current link does not allow transmission of load and/or performance information of other links as described in Kim3 into Kim as modified by Kim2. By modifying the method to include selecting another link for transmission if current link does not allow transmission of load and/or performance information of other links as taught by Kim3, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Kim [0341], and Kim2 [0344], and Kim3 [0178]) are achieved.
As to claim 6:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 5, wherein transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links comprises: in a case where a communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted is a complete communication mode, transmitting the load and/or performance information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links.(“ The STA may indicate a Link ID, which is intended to be requested through a Per STA Profile (x) within the ML IE, and whether the information that is currently requested is Complete or Partial in the Request frame. The STA may then perform transmission after indicating the specific information that is to be additionally requested through the Requested Element IDs/Requested Element ID extensions field.”, Kim [0698])
As to claim 21:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 20, wherein determining the one or more transmission stations from the part or all of working stations according to negotiated target multi-station capability and target operation information comprises: in a case where the target multi-station capability of the current station allows transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other stations, determining the current station as the one or more transmission stations; (“According to an embodiment, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transceive (or transmit and/or receive)/exchange various information per current link and information related to a link state. Therefore, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link that is more appropriate (or adequate) for transmitting and/or receiving signals, based on the various information per current link and information related to the link state. For example, the various information per current link may include information on data traffic load per link and information on channel access capability between links. For example, the link state may be configured as disable or enable, and so on.”, Kim [0341]) (“In order to indicate the methods proposed above, an agreement process between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD may be needed through a negotiation between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. For this, a signaling method for enabling the methods that will hereinafter be proposed in the present specification may be proposed.” Kim [0475]) (“Firstly, in order to indicate the methods that are proposed above, a new element may be proposed. Hereinafter, although an embodiment related to signaling for indicating a link switching and reconnection method will be described, the corresponding embodiment may also be applied to an embodiment related to signaling for indicating an anchored link switching and reconnection method.”, Kim [0529]) (“An IOM Capability Element may include information related to enabling or disabling of a method for additionally obtaining information for a multi-link. For example, in a process of exchanging messages for an operation negotiation (or agreement) (e.g., a capability negotiation process) between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD during a multi-link setup process, an IOM capability value may be present in an element of the message. And, the presence of an IOM capability value in an element of the message may denote that the IOM capability is supported.”, Kim [0532])
The combination of Kim and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
and in a case where the target multi-station capability of the current station does not allow the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other stations, and the target multi-station capability of the other stations allows the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other stations, determining one or more working stations from the other stations as the one or more transmission stations.
However, Kim3 further teaches:
and in a case where the target multi-station capability of the current station does not allow the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other stations, and the target multi-station capability of the other stations allows the transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other stations, determining one or more working stations from the other stations as the one or more transmission stations. (“the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may transmit/receive/exchange various types of information and link state information for each current link. Accordingly, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD may select a link more suitable for transmitting and receiving signals based on various information and link states for each current link. For example, various types of information for each current link may include information about data traffic load for each link and channel access capability between links.”, Kim2 [0145]) (“For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when an STA of a non-AP MLD determines that direct link change is necessary (for example, when an existing linked link is busy for a long time or when an STA of a non-AP MLD wants to acquire QoS for data transmission, etc.), the STA may directly reselect an appropriate link and request a link change from the AP MLD.”, Kim3 [0178]) (Examiner’s Note: if the link is busy, STA cannot exchange network information with the AP MLD which maps to “current link does not allow transmission of the load and/or performance information of the other links”; based on this teaching, it’s implied that the STA selects another link for transmission based on whether QoS for data transmission is available
Kim, Kim3, and Kim2 are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include selecting another link for transmission if current link does not allow transmission of load and/or performance information of other links as described in Kim3 into Kim as modified by Kim2. By modifying the method to include c selecting another link for transmission if current link does not allow transmission of load and/or performance information of other links as taught by Kim2, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Kim [0341], and Kim2 [0344], and Kim3 [0178]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Kim2 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hsu et al. IEEE 802.11-20/0105r7 “Link Latency Statistics of Multi-band Operation in EHT” (hereinafter “Hsu”)
As to claim 7:
The combination of Kim and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the load and/or performance information of the one or more transmission links comprises: load and/or performance statistical parameter information of the one or more transmission links, and load and/or performance statistical information of the one or more transmission links; and the load and/or performance information of the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links comprises: at least one piece of information among enablement information, communication mode, threshold and/or value range of MLD-level load and/or performance information of the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links; or MLD-level load and/or performance statistical information among the working links of the MLD or the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links.
However, Hsu further teaches:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the load and/or performance information of the one or more transmission links comprises: load and/or performance statistical parameter information of the one or more transmission links, and load and/or performance statistical information of the one or more transmission links; (“EHT AP should provide BSS latency statistics…”, Hsu [slide 12])
and the load and/or performance information of the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links comprises: at least one piece of information among enablement information, communication mode, threshold and/or value range of MLD-level load and/or performance information of the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links; or MLD-level load and/or performance statistical information among the working links of the MLD or the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links. (“EHT AP should provide BSS latency statistics…”, Hsu [slide 12]) (Slide 11 shows “working links of the MLD” between the AP and STA, Hsu)
Kim, Kim2, and Hsu are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include statistical information related to the links as described in Hsu into Kim as modified by Kim2. By modifying the method to include statistical information related to the links as taught by Hsu, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Hsu [slide 12], Kim2 [0344], and Kim [0341]) are achieved.
As to claim 8:
Kim discloses:
The method according to claim 7, wherein the load and/or performance information of the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links further comprises: parameter information satisfying the MLD-level load and/or performance information of the non-transmission links except the one or more transmission links; (“As described above, each AP and STA may perform frame exchange through its connected link. Additionally, information on other link(s) related to other APs or information on other link(s) related to other STAs may be transmitted and/or received through one link.”, Kim [0526]) (Examiner’s Note: the Examiner interpreted “non-transmission links” as links that are not connected or currently not being used to transmit information. Kim teaches exchanging information on “other link(s)” related to other APs/STAs which maps to “non-transmission links”) (“In the above-described cases, the non-AP MLD may request recent information of capability information per link and the information per link (e.g., BSS parameter information or Operation element information, and so on) of the AP MLD. The links of the capability information per link and the information per link may not only include the link(s) being transmitted and/or received but also other link(s). For example, a field (A-Control field of the 11ax standard) of a QoS data frame, a management frame, a Probe response/request frame, a PS-Poll frame or a Null frame may be used for requesting/transmitting recent information. Alternatively, in order to request/transmit recent information, a separate new frame may be defined.”, Kim [0386])
As to claim 9:
The combination of Kim and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 7, wherein the load or performance statistical information comprises at least one of: a Basic Service Set (BSS) Load, information of delay parameters, and throughput information, wherein the delay parameters at least comprise following types of delay parameters: an access delay of each of a part or all of access categories (ACs), a transmission delay, a BSS internal delay, and a BSS external delay.
However, Hsu further teaches:
The method according to claim 7, wherein the load or performance statistical information comprises at least one of: a Basic Service Set (BSS) Load, information of delay parameters, and throughput information, wherein the delay parameters at least comprise following types of delay parameters: an access delay of each of a part or all of access categories (ACs), a transmission delay, a BSS internal delay, and a BSS external delay. (“BSS load statistics”, Hsu [slide 2]) (“BSS Average Access Delay element” and “BSS AC Access Delay element”, Hsu [slide 3]) (“transmit delay”, Hsu [slide 4])
Kim, Kim2, and Hsu are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include BSS load and delay information as described in Hsu into Kim as modified by Kim2. By modifying the method to include BSS load and delay information as taught by Hsu, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Hsu [slide 12], Kim2 [0344], and Kim [0341]) are achieved.
As to claim 10:
The combination of Kim and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 9, wherein each of the access delay, the transmission delay, the BSS internal delay, and the BSS external delay at least comprises an average delay, a maximum delay, a minimum delay, a delay of a specific percentile.
However, Hsu further teaches:
The method according to claim 9, wherein each of the access delay, the transmission delay, the BSS internal delay, and the BSS external delay at least comprises an average delay, a maximum delay, a minimum delay, a delay of a specific percentile. (“BSS Average Access Delay element” and “BSS AC Access Delay element”, Hsu [slide 3]) (“transmit delay”, Hsu [slide 4]) (“average and percentile statistics of transmit delay on each link are necessary”, Hsu [slide 10]) (Examiner’s Note: minimum and maximum delay values can be acquired based on the data needed to calculate the average)
Kim, Kim2, and Hsu are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include BSS load and delay information as described in Hsu into Kim as modified by Kim2. By modifying the method to include BSS load and delay information as taught by Hsu, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Hsu [slide 12], Kim2 [0344], and Kim [0341]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Kim2 and Kim3, as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Ghosh et al. US 20210029741 (hereinafter “Ghosh”)
As to claim 16:
The combination of Kim, Kim3 and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 5, wherein transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links comprises: in a case where the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted is a conditional communication mode, and a value range preset for the conditional communication mode is not exceeded or a threshold condition is satisfied, transmitting the load and/or performance information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links.
However, Ghosh further teaches:
The method according to claim 5, wherein transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links comprises: in a case where the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted is a conditional communication mode, and a value range preset for the conditional communication mode is not exceeded or a threshold condition is satisfied, transmitting the load and/or performance information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links. (“The announcement information comprises a time after which a restricted transmission will start or end during which the second device should not try to communicate on the first link without verifying if the medium is idle. The announcement information comprises statistical information about a channel quality associated with one or more other links, wherein the statistical information comprises a channel load over a time window, transmit opportunity (TXOP) lengths observed over the time window, overlapping basic service set (OBSS) channel load over the time window, or an average or a maximum backoff duration for last N transmission attempts. The announcement information may be carried in a medium access control (MAC) header of the frame.”, Ghosh [0099]) (Examiner’s Note: “announcement information” comprising load and performance information associated with one or more other links is transmitted conditionally within a restricted time window that is preset)
Kim, Kim2, Kim3, and Ghosh are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include conditional communication mode as described in Ghosh into Kim as modified by Kim2 and Kim3. By modifying the method to include conditional communication mode as taught by Ghosh, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Kim3 [0178], Kim2 [0344], and Kim [0341]) are achieved.
As to claim 17:
The combination of Kim,Kim3 and Kim2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method according to claim 5, wherein transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links comprises: in a case where the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted is the conditional communication mode, and a value range preset for the conditional communication mode is not exceeded or a threshold condition is satisfied, transmitting the load and/or performance information, which corresponds to parameter types of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links.
However, Ghosh further teaches:
The method according to claim 5, wherein transmitting the network condition information of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links comprises: in a case where the communication mode used for the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted is the conditional communication mode, and a value range preset for the conditional communication mode is not exceeded or a threshold condition is satisfied, transmitting the load and/or performance information, which corresponds to parameter types of the load and/or performance information allowed to be transmitted, of the part or all of working links on the one or more transmission links. (“The announcement information comprises a time after which a restricted transmission will start or end during which the second device should not try to communicate on the first link without verifying if the medium is idle. The announcement information comprises statistical information about a channel quality associated with one or more other links, wherein the statistical information comprises a channel load over a time window, transmit opportunity (TXOP) lengths observed over the time window, overlapping basic service set (OBSS) channel load over the time window, or an average or a maximum backoff duration for last N transmission attempts. The announcement information may be carried in a medium access control (MAC) header of the frame.”, Ghosh [0099]) (Examiner’s Note: “announcement information” comprising load and performance information associated with one or more other links is transmitted conditionally within a restricted time window that is preset)
Kim, Kim2, Kim3, and Ghosh are analogous because they pertain to MLD management.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include conditional communication mode as described in Ghosh into Kim as modified by Kim2 and Kim3. By modifying the method to include conditional communication mode as taught by Ghosh, the benefits of improved multi-link setup process (Kim3 [0178], Kim2 [0344], and Kim [0341]) are achieved.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW C KIM whose telephone number is (703)756-5607. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM (PST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Prosecution Insights