DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the application filed on February 18, 2026
Claims 1, 3-8 and 11 is/are under examination.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/18/2026 has been entered.
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 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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, 3-8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI et al. (USP: 2017/0041798), in view of Kim et al. (USP: 2016/0057779 A1).
As per Claim 1 LI teaches a radio communication apparatus that is a first access point (AP) belong to a basic service set (Paragraph 0004, 0023 A station may implement spatial reuse by determining whether a received frame is from its own basic service set (BSS). A BSS may be a single AP together with all associated stations. An OBSS may be a different AP together with a set of associated stations that overlaps in coverage with the BSS), the radio communication apparatus comprising:
a controller, which, in operation, selects an identifier from a range of identifiers assignable by the first AP to non-AP stations (STAs) and assigns the selected identifier as an identifier of a second AP not belonging to the basic service (Paragraph 0007, 0027, 0048, 0056, 0065, 0069, the legacy station resets its NAV if the legacy station determines that no second frame was received within a threshold time after SIFS. Alternatively, the legacy station maintains its NAV if the legacy station determines that the second frame was received within a threshold time after SIFS. The legacy station sets its network allocation vector (NAV) based on the RTS frame (e.g., based on a duration field in the RTS frame). The legacy station then determines whether a second frame was received within a threshold time after a Short Interframe Space (SIFS). Thereafter, the legacy station resets its NAV based on whether the second frame was received within the threshold time. a bit value of ‘0’, a neighboring station may use a CCA threshold of, e.g., −82 dBm to decide to set the NAV. On the other hand, when the spatial reuse rule indication is set to a bit value of ‘1’, the neighboring station may use a CCA threshold of, e.g., −72 dBm to decide to set the NAV.). Also, any threshold value or values may be selected for use. a wireless communications protocol from an access point (AP). The RTS frame redefines a field to specify spatial reuse information (e.g., basic service set (BSS) identifier information, spatial reuse rules, etc.). Specifically, because a standard CTS frame does not contain BSS identifier information, a station receiving the standard CTS frame may have to set its NAV, thereby limiting its spatial reuse capability. the TA field may be redefined to include spatial reuse information instead of the MAC address of the station transmitting the RTS frame onto the wireless medium. Specifically, the TA field may be a 48-bit field in which the most significant bit (MSB) is not redefined to enable dynamic bandwidth signaling, but some or all of the remaining 47-bits are redefined. The remaining 47-bits may include a special bit pattern that identifies the TA field as a special type of TA field to HE stations. The remaining 47-bits of the TA field may further include BSS identifier information (e.g., BSS color), a station AID, and/or any other indication information sought to be specified to the stations that receive the RTS frame); such that the selected identifier is no longer assignable by the first AP to non-AP STAs (Paragraph 0008, 0021, 0027, 0034 network allocation vector (NAV) reset capabilities at legacy stations that do no implement spatial reuse. Some embodiments operate by receiving a Request to Send (RTS) frame from an access point (AP) for a wireless communications protocol. Some embodiments set a NAV at a legacy station based on the RTS frame. The value of the NAV may indicate how long the neighboring station must defer from accessing the wireless medium. In some embodiments, the neighboring station may set the NAV (e.g., a number of microseconds) based on a duration field of the RTS frame. A HE station receives a standard RTS frame for a wireless communications protocol from an AP. The RTS frame redefines a field to specify spatial reuse information (e.g., basic service set (BSS) identifier information, spatial reuse rules, etc.). This redefined field enables a spatial reuse opportunity at the HE station. The HE station determines whether the RTS frame is from a BSS associated with the HE station. This determination may be based on BSS identifier information specified in the redefined field. The legacy station then sets its NAV based on this determination and the spatial reuse information in the redefined field.); and
a transmitter, which, in operation, transmits a signal including the selected identifier assigned as the identifier of the second AP in an association identifier field in a user information field of the (Paragraph 0041, 0048, 0066, 0075, 0094 For example, a bit value of ‘0’, a neighboring station may use a CCA threshold of, e.g., −82 dBm to decide to set the NAV. On the other hand, when the spatial reuse rule indication is set to a bit value of ‘1’, the neighboring station may use a CCA threshold of, e.g., −72 dBm to decide to set the NAV. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, multiple bits may be used for the spatial reuse rule indication to indicate multiple CCA threshold levels, as well as other spatial reuse parameters (e.g., transmit power). Also, any threshold value or values may be selected for use. communication interface 824 may allow computer system 800 to communicate with remote devices 828 over communications path 826, which may be wired and/or wireless, and which may include any combination of LANs, WANs, the Internet, etc. Control logic and/or data may be transmitted to and from computer system 800 via communication path 826. The TA field may be redefined to include spatial reuse information instead of the MAC address of the station transmitting the RTS frame onto the wireless medium. The BSS identifier information in the TA field may be combined with spatial reuse information specified in the frame control field or the HT control field in order to enable a spatial reuse opportunity at a HE station. ).
However Li does not explicitly disclose a range of identifiers
Kim disclose a range of identifiers (Paragraph 0008, 0146,0103, 0147 determined depending on whether or not an association identifier (AID) of the STA is within an AID range, wherein the RAW Assignment field includes a subfield indicating whether or not the AID range is determined by a TIM bitmap.. he RAW Group subfield indicates the AID range of the STAs of the group related to the current RAW Assignment field. If an STA moves out of the BSA, the STA cannot directly communicate with the other STAs in the corresponding BSA. As shown in FIG. 16(c), the RAW Group field may include Page Index, RAW Start AID and RAW End AID subfields. Since description of how the range of AID is determined by these subfields has been given above in relation to the RAW, it will not be given below. However, since STA A is actually located out of the transmission range of STA C, transmission from STA C may not collide with transmission from STA B from the viewpoint of STA A, so that STA C unnecessarily enters a standby state until STA B stops transmission. Here, STA C is referred to as an exposed node of STA B. ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Li with the teachings of Kim in order to the make the system more efficient. Because whether or not the STA belongs to the RAW group is determined depending on whether or not an association identifier (AID) of the STA is within an AID range (see Kim Paragraph 0009).
(Canceled)
As per Claim 3 LI – Kim teaches the radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller assigns the identifier to a reserved value of the association identifier of the second AP field (Paragraph 0026, 0043 For example, the HE station may transmit a RTS frame to a neighboring station via an AP to reserve the wireless medium and to protect upcoming transmissions from interference from a neighboring station. In response, the neighboring station may reply with a CTS frame to confirm the reservation. After receiving the CTS frame, the HE station may transmit its data. In some embodiments, HT control 204 may include at least the following sub-fields: link adaptation control 301, calibration position 302, calibration sequence 303, reserved 304, channel state information (CSI)/steering 305, high throughput (HT) null data packet (NDP) announcement 306, reserved 307, and drop eligibility indicator (DEI) 308.).
As per Claim 4 LI – Kim teaches the radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second AP is performing at least one of uplink communication and downlink communication in coordination with the first AP (Paragraph 0053 In addition to a non-redefined RTS frame, in some embodiments, an AP may send a multiuser (MU) RTS frame to solicit multiple CTS frames from one or more stations at the same time. Specifically, a MU-RTS frame may be a downlink (DL) request that solicits multiple CTS frames simultaneously in an uplink (UL) multiuser transmission.).
As per Claim 5 LI– Kim teaches the radio communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first access point is a master access point that controls the second AP (Paragraph 0032, 0055, System 100 includes an access point (AP) 102, an electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) 104, and an electronic device (e.g., a laptop) 106. Electronic devices 104 and 106 may be considered stations (STAs) in a network. Together with AP 102, electronic devices 104 and 102 form a BSS. It is to be appreciated that system 100 may include other electronic devices in addition to or in place of the electronic devices illustrated in FIG. 1 without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure. ).
As per Claim 6 LI– Kim teaches the radio communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, the signal is an association request (Paragraph 0005, 0021 the station may use Request to Send and/or Clear to Send (RTS and/or CTS) frames to reserve the wireless medium and protect upcoming transmissions from interference from neighboring stations. For example, the station may transmit a RTS frame on the primary link to reserve the wireless medium and prevent the neighboring stations from transmitting on the primary link.).
As per Claim 7 LI– Kim teaches the radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller sets, to the identifier, a destination specified in the user information field of the signal, the signal being a trigger frame (Paragraph 0053 an AP may send a multiuser (MU) RTS frame to solicit multiple CTS frames from one or more stations at the same time. Specifically, a MU-RTS frame may be a downlink (DL) request that solicits multiple CTS frames simultaneously in an uplink (UL) multiuser transmission. In some embodiments, a MU-RTS frame may be a trigger frame for, e.g, the IEEE 802.11ax standard (current proposals and/or future versions), or various other wireless communication protocols.).
As per Claim 8 LI – Kim teaches the radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller sets, in the user information field of the signal, information indicating that a destination is an AP, the signal being a trigger frame; and the controller sets the identifier in an information field in the user information field, the information field being for a non-AP (Paragraph 0053 Specifically, a MU-RTS frame may be a downlink (DL) request that solicits multiple CTS frames simultaneously in an uplink (UL) multiuser transmission. In some embodiments, a MU-RTS frame may be a trigger frame for, e.g, the IEEE 802.11ax standard (current proposals and/or future versions), or various other wireless communication protocols. ).
9-10. (Canceled)
As per Claim 11 LI teaches a radio communication method, comprising: selecting, by a first access point (AP) belonging to a basic service set (Paragraph 0004, 0023 A station may implement spatial reuse by determining whether a received frame is from its own basic service set (BSS). A BSS may be a single AP together with all associated stations. An OBSS may be a different AP together with a set of associated stations that overlaps in coverage with the BSS), an identifier from a
range of identifiers assignable by the first AP to non-AP stations
assigning, by the first AP, the selected identifier as an identifier for a second AP not belonging to the basic service set such that the selected identifier is no longer assignable by the first AP to non-AP STAs; to which the first access point belongs (Paragraph 0007, 0056, 0065 a wireless communications protocol from an access point (AP). The RTS frame redefines a field to specify spatial reuse information (e.g., basic service set (BSS) identifier information, spatial reuse rules, etc.). Specifically, because a standard CTS frame does not contain BSS identifier information, a station receiving the standard CTS frame may have to set its NAV, thereby limiting its spatial reuse capability. the TA field may be redefined to include spatial reuse information instead of the MAC address of the station transmitting the RTS frame onto the wireless medium. Specifically, the TA field may be a 48-bit field in which the most significant bit (MSB) is not redefined to enable dynamic bandwidth signaling, but some or all of the remaining 47-bits are redefined. The remaining 47-bits may include a special bit pattern that identifies the TA field as a special type of TA field to HE stations. The remaining 47-bits of the TA field may further include BSS identifier information (e.g., BSS color), a station AID, and/or any other indication information sought to be specified to the stations that receive the RTS frame.); and transmitting, by the first AP, a signal including the value assigned as the identifier of the second AP in an association identifier field in a user information field of the identifier (Paragraph 0040, 0041, 0066, 0075, 0094 For example, a bit value of ‘0’, a neighboring station may use a CCA threshold of, e.g., −82 dBm to decide to set the NAV. On the other hand, when the spatial reuse rule indication is set to a bit value of ‘1’, the neighboring station may use a CCA threshold of, e.g., −72 dBm to decide to set the NAV. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, multiple bits may be used for the spatial reuse rule indication to indicate multiple CCA threshold levels, as well as other spatial reuse parameters (e.g., transmit power). Also, any threshold value or values may be selected for use.communication interface 824 may allow computer system 800 to communicate with remote devices 828 over communications path 826, which may be wired and/or wireless, and which may include any combination of LANs, WANs, the Internet, etc. Control logic and/or data may be transmitted to and from computer system 800 via communication path 826. The TA field may be redefined to include spatial reuse information instead of the MAC address of the station transmitting the RTS frame onto the wireless medium. The BSS identifier information in the TA field may be combined with spatial reuse information specified in the frame control field or the HT control field in order to enable a spatial reuse opportunity at a HE station. ).
However Li does not explicitly disclose a range of identifiers
Kim disclose a range of identifiers (Paragraph 0008, 0146,0103, 0147 determined depending on whether or not an association identifier (AID) of the STA is within an AID range, wherein the RAW Assignment field includes a subfield indicating whether or not the AID range is determined by a TIM bitmap.. he RAW Group subfield indicates the AID range of the STAs of the group related to the current RAW Assignment field. If an STA moves out of the BSA, the STA cannot directly communicate with the other STAs in the corresponding BSA. As shown in FIG. 16(c), the RAW Group field may include Page Index, RAW Start AID and RAW End AID subfields. Since description of how the range of AID is determined by these subfields has been given above in relation to the RAW, it will not be given below. However, since STA A is actually located out of the transmission range of STA C, transmission from STA C may not collide with transmission from STA B from the viewpoint of STA A, so that STA C unnecessarily enters a standby state until STA B stops transmission. Here, STA C is referred to as an exposed node of STA B. ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Li with the teachings of Kim in order to the make the system more efficient. Because whether or not the STA belongs to the RAW group is determined depending on whether or not an association identifier (AID) of the STA is within an AID range (see Kim Paragraph 0009).
12-13. (Canceled)
Response to Argument(s)
Applicant's argument(s) filed on February 18, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
All arguments are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner is open for discussion if the applicant’s representative need further clarifications.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (See form 892).
Conclusion
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/SYED ALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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