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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/24/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment/Remarks
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 11/24/2025.
Claims 1-20 are pending and are examined in this office action.
Claims 1,12, 18, have been amended.
No new claim has been added and no claim has been canceled.
Response to Arguments
Regarding Independent claim 1 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's arguments, see “Applicant disagrees with aspects of the rejection. Nevertheless, in the interest of expediting prosecution, Applicant has herein amended the claims to recite features not taught or suggested by the cited combination of references. The claim amendments, taken as a whole, render the rejections moot. Applicant notes that portions of the claims other than those specifically amended and/or mentioned above may contribute to patentability. In light of the references as now understood by Applicant and the amendments made herein, the claims appear to be allowable. Applicant therefore respectfully requests that the rejections of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 be withdrawn.” on pages 7-8, filed on 11/24/2025, with respect to ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA, have been fully considered but are moot, over the limitations of “the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs).”. Said limitations are newly added to the amended Claim 1 and have been addressed in instant office action, as shown in section 35 USC 103 rejection below, with newly identified prior art teachings from newly found references XIN et al. (US 20210218492 A1; hereinafter as “XIN”), thus rendering said Applicant’s arguments moot.
Regarding all dependent claims: the applicant alleges that all dependent claims are allowable since they depend from all the independent claims above. The examiner respectfully disagrees in view of the above explanation of independent claims. Thus the rejection is deemed proper.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/24/2025 have been placed in record and considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 4-9, 12-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ISLAM et al. (US 20180070341 A1; hereinafter as “ISLAM”; provided in IDS). in view of YOSHIKAWA et al. (US 20240121607 A1; hereinafter as “YOSHIKAWA”, which has a foreign priority dated June 9, 2021) and further in view of XIN et al. (US 20210218492 A1; hereinafter as “XIN”).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to ISLAM unless otherwise mentioned.
Regarding claim 1, ISLAM teaches, a method (Base Station is serving multiple UEs with low latency and latency tolerant communications i: [abstract]) , comprising:
obtaining data to be transmitted, the data including latency sensitive data and non- latency sensitive data (“FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a base station communicating with four UEs ”; [0012]; aforesaid Base Station service multiple UEs UEs 102a, 102b, 104a, 104b in fig. 1: Base Station 100 services both “low Latency UEs” (==latency sensitive data ) and “latency Tolerant UEs” (==non latency sensitive data): [0033]-[0035]; see fig. 1: Base Station is severing both “latency Tolerant Region” and “co-existence Region” ; Uplink/downlink communications from/To Base Station and UEs use OFDMA: [0033]-[0035]) ; and
within an available bandwidth, allocating a portion of the available bandwidth to a resource unit (RU), the RU being for the latency sensitive data within an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission (see fig. 1 where base station communicates to Multiple UEs using connection 126, has “ Latency Tolerant Region 128 and “co-existence Region 130” ; “base station 100 and one or more of UEs 102a, 102b, 104a, and/or 104b, the transmission uses allocated resources, e.g. time-frequency resources. An example of time-frequency resources is indicated at 126. Example specific resource partitions allocated to UEs are shown at 118 and 120 ”: “A region 128 of the time-frequency resources 126 is reserved or used for the transmission of latency tolerant data, and this region 128 will be referred to as the latency tolerant region. Another region 130 of the time-frequency resources 126 is reserved or used for the transmission of both latency tolerant data and low latency data, and this region 130 will be referred to as the co-existence region ”: [0039]-[0040]; Base Station services UEs in OFDMA: “The uplink and downlink communications may use OFDM symbols, possibly in combination with either an orthogonal multiple access scheme, such as OFDMA, or a non-orthogonal multiple access scheme, such as SCMA.
[0034] UEs 102a and 102b require lower latency uplink and/or downlink communication compared to UEs 104a and 104b. For example, UEs 102a and 102b may be URLLC UEs, and UEs 104a and 104b may be eMBB UEs. ”: [0033]-[0035]; NOTE: BS allocates different available bandwidth to different RU/UEs based on need),
the OFDMA transmission also including a multiple RU (MRU) for non-latency sensitive data, the RU being a different size than the MRU ( see fig. 1 element 126 which includes “latency Tolerant Region 128” and “Co-Existence Region” 130; “A region 128 of the time-frequency resources 126 is reserved or used for the transmission of latency tolerant data, and this region 128 will be referred to as the latency tolerant region. Another region 130 of the time-frequency resources 126 is reserved or used for the transmission of both latency tolerant data and low latency data, and this region 130 will be referred to as the co-existence region”: [0040]-[0042] ; see fig. 7: : [0043]-[0047]; “For example, the subcarrier spacing in the latency tolerant region 128 may be different from the subcarrier spacing in the coexistence region 130. ” ; “A first traffic type, like eMBB, and a second traffic type, like URLLC, may use a scalable numerology. In some embodiments, eMBB and URLLC may use a different numerology when they coexist in same time-frequency resources under a common carrier. eMBB and URLLC may or may not be assigned a separate sub-band. The numerology switching may occur in same sub-band, for example, the eMBB transmission band, e.g. in the latency tolerant region 128. ”; [0051]; “Some embodiments include dynamic sub-band bandwidth adjustment and/or a change in sub-carrier spacing assignments. This implies that resource assignment for transmission with different numerologies can be dynamically updated and indicated to the UEs. For example, FIG. 11 shows first and second time division duplex frames 500 and 502. After the first frame 500, the bandwidth of the 30 kHz and 60 kHz sub-bands is updated. This can be signalled to UEs, for example at the start of the second frame 502. The update can, for example, be based on traffic load for traffic of the URLLC and eMBB traffic types ”[0079]).
While ISLAM teaches, “the OFDMA transmission also including a multiple RU (MRU) for non-latency sensitive data, the RU being a different size than the MRU” ISLAM does not expressively teach:
the RU having a channel width of: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, 1280 MHz, or 2560 MHz,
the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs).
YOSHIKAWA, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
the RU having a channel width of: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, 1280 MHz, or 2560 MHz (see fig. 1 where “The communication apparatuses 101 and 102 can each execute wireless communication complying with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11be (extremely high throughput (EHT)) standard. ”; aforesaid “ the communication apparatuses 101 and 102 can implement multi user (MU) communication in which signals of a plurality of users are multiplexed. The OFDMA stands for orthogonal frequency division multiple access. In the OFDMA communication, a part (resource unit (RU)) of divided frequency bands is allocated to each STA while avoiding redundancy, and carriers of the respective STAs are orthogonal. ”: [0044]; aforesaid communication apparatuses 101 and 102 (==RU in claim) can have channel bandwidths ”including a 20-megahertz (MHz) band, a 40-MHz band, a 80-MHz band, a 160-MHz band, and a 320-MHz band. Bandwidths to be used by each communication apparatus are not limited to these, and a different bandwidth such as 240 MHz or 4 MHz, for example, may be used. “ : [0044]; NOTE: RU can have different bandwidth including other bandwidth such as 640, 1280 or 2560. Examiner interpreted “not limited to these” to be “640”, 1280 or 2560 Mhz as well).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM to include the above recited limitations as taught by YOSHIKAWA. The suggestion/motivation would be allowing Access Point (AP) concurrently communicate with a plurality of STAs in a prescribed bandwidth. (YOSHIKAWA; para [0044]).
The combination of ISLAM and YOSHIKAWA does not expressively disclose:
the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs).
XIN, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
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the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs) (“multiple RUs are assigned to a single target station”; “ In this regard, FIG. 3 illustrates a representative example of multiple RUs ( ==MRU in claim ) assigned to a single station (STA 0) according to example embodiments. In the example of FIG. 3, the STA (STA 00) has been assigned two non-contiguous RUs, namely RU 0 and RU 2,”: [0045]-[0046]; “ According to a first example aspect is a method of transmitting data in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless local area network. The method includes selecting, for a first resource unit assigned to the target station, a first modulation type; selecting, for a second resource unit assigned to the target station, a second modulation type different from the first modulation type; and modulating coded data and mapping the modulated data onto subcarriers associated with the assigned resource units based on the respective modulation types selected for each of the assigned resource units.”: [0011]; “ method of transmitting a data unit in a wireless local area network, the data unit comprising a physical payload that includes an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol that comprises a plurality of resource units used for data modulated according to a respective modulation type, wherein the resource units include first and second resource units intended for a same receiving station and further resource units intended for one or more further receiving stations, the data unit comprising a header that includes, individually for each of the first and second resource unit, information identifying the respective modulation types used to modulate the data of the first and second resource units, respectively.”: [0017]).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA to include the above recited limitations as taught by XIN. The suggestion/motivation would be allow unlicensed operations, double the 160 Mhz maximum bandwidth currently used in IEEE 802.11ax, optimize channel efficiency in large bandwidth multi-RU applications. (XIN; para [0004, [0010]]).
Regarding claim 2, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 1, the MRU including a mix of non-latency sensitive data and latency sensitive data (see fig. 1 element 126: coexistence region [0040]).
Regarding claim 4 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 1, wherein the OFDMA transmission spans an entire available bandwidth (see fig. 1 element 126: entire available bandwidth is divided for low latency tolerant region and non-low latency tolerant region: : [0035], [0039]-[0040] ).
Regarding claim 5, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 1, wherein allocating the portion of the available bandwidth to the RU includes allocating the portion of the available bandwidth for a plurality of sequential data packets to be transmitted (low latency data would reasonably includes sequential data packets to be transmitted, : [0035], [0040]).
Regarding claim 6 , ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 1, the latency sensitive data being associated with a first entity, the RU being associated with the first entity, and the MRU being associated with a second entity (low latency data transmitted via the low latency region is associated with a low latency UEs : [0035], [0040] and MRU being associated with a second entity which is latency tolerant data associated with latency tolerant UEs: [0035]-[0040]).
Regarding claim 7, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 6, the first entity being either a user or a service (Lower Latency service : “ Similarly, although URLLC UEs and URLLC data are described later in some embodiments, more generally the UEs in these embodiments may instead be replaced with low latency UEs having low latency data instead of URLLC data. Even more generally, low latency UEs, such as URLLC UEs, may instead be replaced with second traffic type UEs having traffic of a second type. ”; [0037], [0035]-[0040] ; “One example is depicted in FIG. 4. In this and some other examples below, the latency tolerant traffic will be referred to as eMBB traffic, and the low latency traffic will be referred to as URLLC traffic, but more generally, for any of these embodiments, other traffic types can be used instead. For example, the eMBB traffic may instead be replaced with traffic of a first type, and the URLLC traffic may instead be replaced with traffic of a second type. The traffic of the first type and the traffic of the second type may not necessarily have different latency requirements. In other embodiments, the traffic of the first type may be latency tolerant data, and the traffic of the second type may be low latency data. ”;[0067]).
Regarding claim 8, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 6 further comprising:
defining a second OFDMA transmission including:
a second RU for latency sensitive data associated with the first entity ((partitions may be updated such that resources freed from not transmitting latency tolerant data re-used to send low latency data instead; para [0040], [0066]) ), and a
second MRU for a third entity; and transmitting the second OFDMA transmission region 128 used for transmission of latency tolerant data at a second time for multiple latency tolerant UEs; para [0035], [0040]).
Regarding claim 9, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The method of claim 1, the MRU comprising a third RU to carry at least a portion of the latency sensitive data and at least a portion of the non-latency sensitive data time-frequency resources partitioned into a low latency region, a coexistence region, which transmits both low latency data and latency tolerant data, and a latency tolerant region, where partitions change dynamically over time; para [0040]).
Regarding claim 12, ISLAM teaches, An access point (Base Station is serving multiple UEs with low latency and latency tolerant communications: [abstract]), see fig. 1 : Base Station 100) , comprising:
one or more processors (“A base station comprising a memory and at least one processor, ”: [0437]); and
a memory coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to execute instructions to cause the access point (“A base station comprising a memory and at least one processor, wherein instructions are stored in the memory that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the base station to perform any one of the base station method examples outlined, ”: [0437], [0054]-[0055]) to perform operations comprising:
identify a plurality of users to receive an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission (determining UEs for receiving an OFDMA transmission : [0033], [0054]-[0055]);
and for the OFDMA transmission, allocate an uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, with a portion of the frequency being reserved for latency sensitive data (available time-frequency resources are shown to be partitioned unevenly, where the time-frequency resources include a region reserved for transmission of low latency data; fig. 1, para (0040]).
While ISLAM teaches, “and for the OFDMA transmission, allocate an uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, with a portion of the frequency being reserved for latency sensitive data” ISLAM does not expressively teach:
wherein the OFDMA transmission comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (EHT-PPDU),
having a channel width of: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, 1280 MHz, or 2560 MHz,
wherein when the access point allocates the uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, the access point is to allocate within the EHT-PPDU, one or more multiple resource units (MRUs), each MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous resource units (RUs) allocated to one or more stations (STAs).
YOSHIKAWA, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
Having a channel width of: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, 1280 MHz, or 2560 MHz.
(see fig. 1 where “The communication apparatuses 101 and 102 can each execute wireless communication complying with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11be (extremely high throughput (EHT)) standard. ”; aforesaid “ the communication apparatuses 101 and 102 can implement multi user (MU) communication in which signals of a plurality of users are multiplexed. The OFDMA stands for orthogonal frequency division multiple access. In the OFDMA communication, a part (resource unit (RU)) of divided frequency bands is allocated to each STA while avoiding redundancy, and carriers of the respective STAs are orthogonal. ”: [0044]; aforesaid communication apparatuses 101 and 102 (==RU in claim) can have channel bandwidths ”including a 20-megahertz (MHz) band, a 40-MHz band, a 80-MHz band, a 160-MHz band, and a 320-MHz band. Bandwidths to be used by each communication apparatus are not limited to these, and a different bandwidth such as 240 MHz or 4 MHz, for example, may be used. “ : [0044]; NOTE: RU can have different bandwidth including other bandwidth such as 640, 1280 or 2560. Examiner interpreted “not limited to these” to be “640”, 1280 or 2560 Mhz as well).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM to include the above recited limitations as taught by YOSHIKAWA. The suggestion/motivation would be allowing Access Point (AP) concurrently communicate with a plurality of STAs in a prescribed bandwidth. (YOSHIKAWA; para [0044]).
The combination of ISLAM and YOSHIKAWA does not expressively disclose:
wherein the OFDMA transmission comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (EHT-PPDU),
wherein when the access point allocates the uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, the access point is to allocate within the EHT-PPDU, one or more multiple resource units (MRUs), each MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous resource units (RUs) allocated to one or more stations (STAs).
XIN, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
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wherein the OFDMA transmission comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (EHT-PPDU) (“IEEE 802.11be (also called Extremely High Throughput (EHT)) is expected to support a data rate of at least 30 Gbps and may use a spectrum bandwidth up to 320 MHz for unlicensed operations, double the 160 MHz maximum bandwidth currently contemplated by IEEE 802.11ax.”: “ IEEE 802.11ax supports Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) transmission, in which data intended for different stations can be multiplexed within an OFDM symbol through the allocation of different subsets of subcarriers (tones). In IEEE 802.11ax, a Resource Unit (RU) includes a group of contiguous subcarriers defined in the frequency domain. Different RUs can be assigned to different stations within a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU). Each RU is used for one OFDM symbol for one station (also referred to as a STA). FIG. 1 illustrates an example of station (STA) resource allocation in IEEE 802.11ax. In the allocated RU, the MCS for each station is the same across all the OFDM symbols (i.e., a single MCS is used for each station) within one PPDU. The MCSs used for RUs for different stations can be different within one PPDU.”: [0004]-[0005]; MRU supporting EHT : [0008], “ FIG. 6 illustrates an example frame format that may be used for an EHT PPDU according to example embodiments. As illustrated, the PHY header appended to the data portion (e.g., PHY payload) of a PPDU may include the following header fields: EHT”: [0053]),
wherein when the access point allocates the uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission (BS/AP supporting OFDMA transmission : [0005]; “ According to a first example aspect is a method of transmitting data in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless local area network. ”: [0011]; [0020],[0028]) , the access point is to allocate within the EHT-PPDU, one or more multiple resource units (MRUs), each MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous resource units (RUs) allocated to one or more stations (STAs) ( “multiple RUs are assigned to a single target station”; “ In this regard, FIG. 3 illustrates a representative example of multiple RUs ( ==MRU in claim ) assigned to a single station (STA 0) according to example embodiments. In the example of FIG. 3, the STA (STA 00) has been assigned two non-contiguous RUs, namely RU 0 and RU 2,”: [0045]-[0046]; “ According to a first example aspect is a method of transmitting data in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless local area network. The method includes selecting, for a first resource unit assigned to the target station, a first modulation type; selecting, for a second resource unit assigned to the target station, a second modulation type different from the first modulation type; and modulating coded data and mapping the modulated data onto subcarriers associated with the assigned resource units based on the respective modulation types selected for each of the assigned resource units.”: [0011]; “ method of transmitting a data unit in a wireless local area network, the data unit comprising a physical payload that includes an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol that comprises a plurality of resource units used for data modulated according to a respective modulation type, wherein the resource units include first and second resource units intended for a same receiving station and further resource units intended for one or more further receiving stations, the data unit comprising a header that includes, individually for each of the first and second resource unit, information identifying the respective modulation types used to modulate the data of the first and second resource units, respectively.”: [0017]).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA to include the above recited limitations as taught by XIN. The suggestion/motivation would be allow unlicensed operations, double the 160 Mhz maximum bandwidth currently used in IEEE 802.11ax, optimize channel efficiency in large bandwidth multi-RU applications. (XIN; para [0004, [0010]).
Regarding claim 13, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 12 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The access point of claim 12 further comprising a transmitter coupled to the one or more processors, the transmitter to transmit the OFDMA transmission to the plurality of users (the base station incudes a transmitter for transmitting OFDMA transmissions to the UEs; fig. 1, para [0033], [0054]-[0055]).
Regarding claim 14, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 12 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The access point of claim 12, wherein when allocating the uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, the access point is to allocate the uneven distribution of available bandwidth among the plurality of users for a plurality of OFDMA transmissions (time-frequency resources are partitioned such that latency tolerant UEs are assigned to a latency tolerant region, and low latency UEs are assigned to a low latency region; para [0035], [0040], [0054]).
Regarding claim 15, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 14 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The access point of claim 14, wherein the plurality of users includes an intended recipient of the latency sensitive data, wherein each OFDMA transmission of the plurality of OFDMA transmissions includes a resource unit (RU) that is reserved for the latency sensitive data ( low latency UEs; para [0035]), wherein each OFDMA transmission of the plurality of OFDMA transmissions includes a resource unit "RU" that is reserved for the latency sensitive data (low latency region (RU) reserved for low latency data; para [0040]).
Regarding claim 16, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 12 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The access point of claim 12, wherein the OFDMA transmission includes a first resource unit (RU) and a second RU that collectively comprise a multiple RU (MRU), wherein the OFDMA transmission includes a third RU independent of the MRU that is dedicated for the latency sensitive data, wherein the MRU is for non-latency sensitive data, latency sensitive data, or both (co-existence region includes resources for low latency data and latency tolerant data; fig. 1, para [0040]), wherein the OFDMA transmission includes a third RU independent of the MRU that is dedicated for the latency sensitive data (low latency region reserved just for low latency data; para [0040]), wherein the MRU is for non-latency sensitive data, latency sensitive data, or both (co-existence region includes resources for low latency data and latency tolerant data; fig. 1, para [0040]).
Regarding claim 17, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 16 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The access point of claim 16, wherein the MRU and the third RU are different sizes (latency tolerant region and co-existence region are partitioned into different sizes; fig. 1, para [0040]).
Regarding claim 18, ISLAM teaches, A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that, when executed by a processor included in a computing device (Base Station is serving multiple UEs with low latency and latency tolerant communications: [abstract]), see fig. 1 : Base Station 100), cause the computing device to perform operations comprising :
for an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission (determining UEs for receiving an OFDMA transmission : [0033], [0054]-[0055]),
allocate an asymmetrical amount of frequency among a plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, with a portion of the frequency being reserved for latency sensitive data (available time-frequency resources are shown to be partitioned unevenly, where the time-frequency resources include a region reserved for transmission of low latency data; fig. 1, para (0040]).
While ISLAM teaches, “allocate an asymmetrical amount of frequency among a plurality of users to receive the OFDMA transmission, with a portion of the frequency being reserved for latency sensitive data”, ISLAM does not expressively teach:
Having a channel width of: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, 1280 MHz, or 2560 MHz,
the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs).
YOSHIKAWA, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
Having a channel width of: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 640 MHz, 1280 MHz, or 2560 MHz.
(see fig. 1 where “The communication apparatuses 101 and 102 can each execute wireless communication complying with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11be (extremely high throughput (EHT)) standard. ”; aforesaid “ the communication apparatuses 101 and 102 can implement multi user (MU) communication in which signals of a plurality of users are multiplexed. The OFDMA stands for orthogonal frequency division multiple access. In the OFDMA communication, a part (resource unit (RU)) of divided frequency bands is allocated to each STA while avoiding redundancy, and carriers of the respective STAs are orthogonal. ”: [0044]; aforesaid communication apparatuses 101 and 102 (==RU in claim) can have channel bandwidths ”including a 20-megahertz (MHz) band, a 40-MHz band, a 80-MHz band, a 160-MHz band, and a 320-MHz band. Bandwidths to be used by each communication apparatus are not limited to these, and a different bandwidth such as 240 MHz or 4 MHz, for example, may be used. “ : [0044]; NOTE: RU can have different bandwidth including other bandwidth such as 640, 1280 or 2560. Examiner interpreted “not limited to these” to be “640”, 1280 or 2560 Mhz as well).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM to include the above recited limitations as taught by YOSHIKAWA. The suggestion/motivation would be allowing Access Point (AP) concurrently communicate with a plurality of STAs in a prescribed bandwidth. (YOSHIKAWA; para [0044]).
The combination of ISLAM and YOSHIKAWA does not expressively disclose:
the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs).
XIN, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
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the MRU comprising a plurality of non-contiguous RUs allocated to one or more stations (STAs) ( “multiple RUs are assigned to a single target station”; “ In this regard, FIG. 3 illustrates a representative example of multiple RUs ( ==MRU in claim ) assigned to a single station (STA 0) according to example embodiments. In the example of FIG. 3, the STA (STA 00) has been assigned two non-contiguous RUs, namely RU 0 and RU 2,”: [0045]-[0046]; “ According to a first example aspect is a method of transmitting data in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless local area network. The method includes selecting, for a first resource unit assigned to the target station, a first modulation type; selecting, for a second resource unit assigned to the target station, a second modulation type different from the first modulation type; and modulating coded data and mapping the modulated data onto subcarriers associated with the assigned resource units based on the respective modulation types selected for each of the assigned resource units.”: [0011]; “ method of transmitting a data unit in a wireless local area network, the data unit comprising a physical payload that includes an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol that comprises a plurality of resource units used for data modulated according to a respective modulation type, wherein the resource units include first and second resource units intended for a same receiving station and further resource units intended for one or more further receiving stations, the data unit comprising a header that includes, individually for each of the first and second resource unit, information identifying the respective modulation types used to modulate the data of the first and second resource units, respectively.”: [0017]).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA to include the above recited limitations as taught by XIN. The suggestion/motivation would be allow unlicensed operations, double the 160 Mhz maximum bandwidth currently used in IEEE 802.11ax, optimize channel efficiency in large bandwidth multi-RU applications. (XIN; para [0004, [0010]]).
Regarding claim 19, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 18 as above. Furthermore, ISLAM teaches, The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the frequency is allocated using a plurality of resource units (RUs) in a multiple RU (MRU), wherein at least two RUs of the plurality of RUs are allocated a different amount of frequency latency tolerant region and co-existence region are partitioned into different sizes; fig. 1, para [0040]).
Claims 3, 10-11, 20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN and further in view of WU et al. (US 20210281363 A1; hereinafter as “WU”, provide in IDS) .
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to ISLAM unless otherwise mentioned.
Regarding claim 3, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as shown above. ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN does not expressively disclose: The method of claim 1, wherein the data to be transmitted includes a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), or an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU (EHT- PPDU).
WU, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein the data to be transmitted includes a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), or an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU (EHT- PPDU) (PPDU assigned to two OFDMA users; [0047], [0088]).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN to include the above recited limitations as taught by WU. The suggestion/motivation would to provide the advantages of avoiding wasting resources through the use of smaller bandwidth PPDUs (WU; para [0004]-[0005]).
Regarding claim 10, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as shown above. ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN does not expressively disclose: The method of claim 1, the RU for the for the latency sensitive data having fewer than 242 tones, the MRU having at least one RU equal to or larger than 242-tones.
WU, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
The method of claim 1, the RU for the for the latency sensitive data having fewer than 242 tones, the MRU having at least one RU equal to or larger than 242-tones ( discloses the RU having fewer than 242 tones, the MRU having at least one RU equal to or larger than 242-tones (first predefined Rus have less than 242 tones and second Rus include more than 242 tones; para [0046]). .
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN to include the above recited limitations as taught by WU. The suggestion/motivation would to provide the advantages using multiple pre-defined Rus to allow devices to more-efficiently use the available set of predefined RUs (WU; [0047]).
Regarding claim 11, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 1 as shown above. ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN does not expressively disclose: The method of claim 1, the available bandwidth being 160 megahertz.
WU, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
The method of claim 1, the available bandwidth being 160 megahertz (MHz) or greater (MHz) or greater ( multiple frequency fub-blocks having 80 MHz bandwidth are combined to provide at least 160 MHz of available bandwidth; [0045]).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN to include the above recited limitations as taught by WU. The suggestion/motivation would be to provide the advantages ensuring sufficient bandwidth is available. (WU; 0045]).
Regarding claim 20, ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN teaches claim 18 as shown above. ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN does not expressively teaches The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein a total amount of frequency available to allocate is at least 160 megahertz (MHz).
WU, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
The method of claim 1, the available bandwidth being 160 megahertz (MHz) or greater ( multiple frequency fub-blocks having 80 MHz bandwidth are combined to provide at least 160 MHz of available bandwidth; [0045]).
Therefore, 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 ISLAM in view of YOSHIKAWA and XIN to include the above recited limitations as taught by WU. The suggestion/motivation would be to provide the advantages ensuring sufficient bandwidth is available. (WU; 0045]).
Conclusion
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/M Mostazir Rahman/Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411