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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/15/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the species corresponding to claim 4 for the first group, the species corresponding to claim 9 for the second group, and the species corresponding to claim 24 for the third group in the reply filed on 06/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Accordingly, Claims 1- 25 are pending in the application and Claims 5-6, 8, 10-13, 22-23, and 25 are not elected.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph ¶0093, the applicant introduces “a channel-sounding transmission, which may be configured for channel-sounding-based measurements, e.g., as described below” as a self-transmission. Although the applicant states “as described below”, the specification fails to provide further clarification or description to its meaning.
This objection follows in ¶0164, ¶0346, and ¶0371. (see also §112 rejection of Claim 9, which corresponds to this Objection).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-4, 7, 9, 14-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 9 “the first duration” should read - - the first reserved duration - - for clarity.
Claim 1, line 10, “the self-transmission” should read - - the at least one self-transmission - - -.
Claim 3, line 2, “an other STA” should read - - - another STA- - -.
Claims 3-4, 7, 9, 14-19 are objected to by virtue of their dependency on Claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION. —The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 9, “a channel-sounding transmission” and “a channel-sounding based measurement” is unclear/ambiguous for a “channel-sounding transmission” could mean a reference signal (SRS) transmission, ambient device data signaling, a test signal, spatial channel sounding, or another meaning altogether and “a channel-sounding based measurement” could mean a data rate, a channel performance metric, an RSSI or something altogether different and applicant fails to provide further explanation/support for the meaning of the terms in the specification.
For examination purposes, examiner interprets “a channel-sounding transmission” to correspond to a multiple set of beam patterns and “a channel sounding base measurement” to correspond to - -a wireless sensing measurement - - - as cited herein.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
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.
1-3 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin et al. (US 20220007417 A1), hereinafter Xin, in view of ADACHI et al. (US 20230180058 A1), hereinafter ADACHI.
Regarding Claim 1, Xin teaches an apparatus comprising [:] logic and circuitry (Xin, FIG. 6A, ¶0086-0088 a wireless station (STA) / “apparatus”) configured to cause a wireless communication station (STA) to:
transmit a reservation frame to reserve a wireless communication medium for a Transmit Opportunity (TxOP) (Xin, FIG. 11, ¶0144, AP MLD / “STA” transmits 134 a CTS-to-Self frame to reserve a TXOP on that link; ¶0146, [a] CTS-to-Self frame can be generally utilized for obtaining TXOP reservations), wherein the TxOP is configured to cover a first reserved duration and a second reserved duration (Xin, FIG. 38, TXOP reserved, 1192 first duration and 1212 Max TXOP extended, “a second duration”; see also ADACHI cited herein, and
transmit the at least one self-transmission during the first duration, the self-transmission configured for transmission from a transmitter of the STA to a receiver of the STA (Xin, FIG. 10, ¶0142-0143, a CTS-to-Self frame is preferred for reserving TXOP on a link when there is a UL packet transmission on other links within a CTS-to-Self transmission time; ¶0326 the MLD reserving the TXOP duration on a link, performs reserving the TXOP duration . . . and generates a clear-to-send to itself (CTS-to-Self) to reserve TXOP on a link).
Xin further teaches a STA sending a CTS-to-self frame to initiate a TXOP (cited above).
Yet, Xin does not explicitly teach the first reserved duration is configured for at least one self-transmission of the STA, wherein the second reserved duration is configured for communication of at least one non-self-transmission by the STA.
However, in the analogous art, ADACHI discloses the first reserved duration is configured for at least one self-transmission of the STA (ADACHI, FIG. 6, ¶0010, ¶0119, part of the wireless resources (time/”duration” is divided by time; AP1 as a sharing AP obtains TXOP1 and uses part of the time TXOP11 (“a first reserved duration”) by itself (for “at least one self-transmission”), wherein the second reserved duration (ADACHI, FIG. 6; FIG. 9, TXOIP 12 (or TXOP 13)) is configured for communication of at least one non-self-transmission by the STA (ADACHI, FIG. 6, ¶0119 [a]fter the end of TXOP11, AP1 shares the remaining part of the time TXOP12 with AP2 that is one of the shared APs (“a non-self-transmission”); see also FIG. 9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol with ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination. The motivation would be to comply with the next generation high-speed WLAN standard [ADACHI, ¶0003; ¶0100].
Regarding Claim 2, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin does not explicitly teach to communicate the at least one non-self-transmission with an other STA during the second reserved duration.
However, in the analogous art, ADACHI discloses to communicate the at least one non-self-transmission with an other STA during the second reserved duration (ADACHI, FIG. 6; FIG. 9, ¶0119, [a]fter the end of TXOP11 (first reserved duration), AP1 shares the remaining part of the time TXOP12 with AP2 that is one of the shared AP (i.e. “an other STA”)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol with ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination. The motivation would be to comply with the next generation high-speed WLAN standard [ADACHI, ¶0003; ¶0100].
Regarding Claim 3, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin further teaches to determine a duration of the TxOP based on a duration of the at least one self-transmission of the STA and the at least one non-self-transmission by the STA (Xin, ¶0069, the TXOP limit represents the maximum duration of TXOP that each AC could reserve every time for transmitting multiple packets; ¶0083 The disclosed technology sends a broadcast CTS-to-Self frame so that the other STAs on that link set the NAV and stop contending for channel access on that link until the NAV ends).
Xin does not explicitly teach to set a duration field in the reservation frame to indicate the duration of the TxOP.
However, in the analogous art, ADACHI discloses to set a duration field in the reservation frame to indicate the duration of the TxOP (ADACHI, ¶0103, the foregoing transmission opportunity (TXOP) indicated by the Duration/ID field is also set to the TXOP field . . .[and] 0093, [the] medium reservation time is set to the Duration/ID field).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol with ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination. The motivation would be to comply with the next generation high-speed WLAN standard [ADACHI, ¶0003; ¶0100].
Regarding Claim 14, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin does not explicitly teach the second reserved duration is equal to or longer than a duration of a Media Access Control (MAC) frame.
However, in the analogous art, ADACHI discloses the second reserved duration is equal to or longer than a duration of a Media Access Control (MAC) frame (¶0087, [t]he above Ack frame is classified as a Control frame of the MAC frames; FIG. 9, ¶0125, TXOP12 /”a second reserved duration”; [where] ¶0128 during TXOP12, AP2 can transmit data frames to STA21 and STA22 connected to AP2 and receive frame responses to the data frames, such as Ack frames and BlockAck frames [and] ¶0128 [t]hese continuous frames may be exchanged if they fall within TXOP12/second reserved duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol with ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination. The motivation would be to comply with the next generation high-speed WLAN standard [ADACHI, ¶0003; ¶0100].
Regarding Claim 15, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin further teaches the STA comprises a non Access Point (AP) (non-AP) STA (Xin, ¶0088, STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station or a non-AP (regular) station (STA)), wherein the reservation frame comprises a reservation frame from the non-AP STA to an AP STA (¶0233, STA1 reserves the 676 TXOP on Link1 and starts to transmit packets, commencing with an RTS frame 680 to STA4) / “a reservation frame . . to an AP STA”), wherein the at least one non-self-transmission comprises an Uplink (UL) frame from the non-AP STA to the AP STA (Xin, FIG. 9A, ¶0153, at 100, STA1 reserves the TXOP of VO on Link1 and starts to transmit downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) packets).
Xin does not explicitly teach the at least one non-self-transmission comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) from the AP STA to the non-AP STA.
However, in the analogous art, ADACHI discloses the at least one non-self-transmission comprises an Acknowledgement (ACK) from the AP STA to the non-AP STA (¶0128 during TXOP12, AP2 can transmit data frames to STA21 and STA22 connected to AP2 and receive frame responses to the data frames, such as Ack frames and BlockAck frames [and] ¶0128 [t]hese continuous frames may be exchanged if they fall within TXOP12/second reserved duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol with ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination. The motivation would be to comply with the next generation high-speed WLAN standard [ADACHI, ¶0003; ¶0100].
Regarding Claim 16, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin further teaches the STA comprises an Access Point (AP) STA (Xin, ¶0088, STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station or a non-AP (regular) station (STA)).
Regarding Claim 17, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin further teaches [the apparatus] comprising at least one radio comprising the transmitter of the STA and the receiver of the STA (Xin, FIG. 6A, ¶0086 one RF module 24 / “radio”, 28 connected to one or more antennas 26 a, 26 b, 26 c through 26 n, and 29).
Regarding Claim 18, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 17.
Xin further teaches one or more antennas connected to the radio (Xin, FIG. 6A, one or more antennas 26a – 26n and 29 connected to RF module 24/28), and a processor (Xin FIG. 6A, ¶0088 CPU/”processor) to execute instructions of an operating system of the STA (Xin, FIG. 6B, MLD 32 and CPU 34, 10’CPU (STA 1)).
Regarding Claims [19-20], the claims disclose similar features of Claims [1, 3] and are rejected same rationales of Claims [1, 3].
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin in view of ADACHI and further in view of Sehgal et al. (US 20240027572 A1), hereinafter, Sehgal.
Regarding Claim 4, Xin and ADACHI teaches Claim 1.
Xin and ADACHI do not explicitly teach the first reserved duration is after the second reserved duration.
However, in the analogous art, Sehgal discloses the first reserved duration is after the second reserved duration (Sehgal FIG. 17, ¶0031, [FIG. 17] illustrates temporally radar mode / “first reserved duration”, i.e. “self or unbounded transmission” is after the WiFi mode / data transmission, ie “second reserved duration”/non-self-transmission; see also FIG. 15, ¶0100 the monostatic radar (self Tx/Rx) operation of the Wi-Fi node can be enabled by reserving the transmit opportunity (TXOP) using the CTS-to-self frame and using the contention free burst interval to perform the radar operation; FIG. 15, ¶0100, performing radar operation using reserved TXOP with CTS-to-self).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol and ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination with Sehgal’s method to enable an unbounded mode for Wi-Fi devices. The motivation would be to improve power efficiency at the STA without adding too much latency [Sehgal, ¶0068].
Claims 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin in view of ADACHI and further in view of Fang et al. (US 20150016309 A1), hereinafter, Fang.
Regarding Claim 7, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin and ADACHI do not explicitly teach the at least one self-transmission comprises a self-measurement transmission, which is configured for a self-measurement at the STA based on reception of the self-transmission at the receiver of the STA.
However, in the analogous art, Fang discloses the at least one self-transmission comprises a self-measurement transmission, which is configured for a self-measurement at the STA based on reception of the self-transmission at the receiver of the STA (Fang, ¶0086 the [STA’s] transmitting signal looped back from its transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna; [and] ¶0103, uses the calibration result for the self-interference cancellation algorithm to cancel its transmissions at the receiver of the station during full-duplex communications in the TXOP interval).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol and ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination with Fang’s full duplex operation in a wireless network. The motivation would be to improve the medium usage efficiency and/or to reduce transmission latency. [Fang, ¶0061]
Regarding Claim 9, Xin and ADACHI teach Claim 1.
Xin further teaches the at least one self-transmission comprises a channel-sounding transmission (Xin, FIG. 6A, ¶0087, the STA may transmit signals using one or multiple sets of beam patterns / “a channel sounding transmission”) ; see also §112 rejection herein).
Xin and ADACHI do not explicitly teach [the channel-sounding transmission is] configured for a channel-sounding-based measurement at the STA based on reception of the self-transmission at the receiver of the STA.
However, in the analogous art, Fang discloses [the channel-sounding transmission is] configured for a channel-sounding-based measurement at the STA based on reception of the self-transmission at the receiver of the STA (Fang, ¶0086 the transmitting signal looped back from its transmitting antenna to [it’s] the receiving antenna. . . [and] ¶0101, us[ing] the preamble training sequence of RTS frame to calibrate radio parameters for self-interference cancellation algorithm; see also ¶0103, the station uses the calibration result for the self-interference cancellation algorithm to cancel its transmissions at the receiver of the station during full-duplex communications in the TXOP interval).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin’s apparatus and method for obtaining transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in a wireless communications network protocol and ADACHI’s wireless communication device and multi-AP coordination with Fang’s full duplex operation in a wireless network. The motivation would be to improve the medium usage efficiency and/or to reduce transmission latency. [Fang, ¶0061]
Claims 21 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over, Xin et al. (US 20230117842 A1), hereinafter Xin2, in view of Sehgal (‘572, previously cited).
Regarding Claim 21, Xin2 teaches an apparatus comprising [:] logic and circuitry configured to cause a non Access Point (AP) (non-AP) wireless communication station (STA) (Xin2, FIG. 9, ¶0098, a TXOP duration requested field is set by the non-AP STA to indicate the TXOP duration it is requesting) to:
request a time allocation from an AP STA (Xin2, ¶0058, AP can share TXOP time with the non-AP STA ; FIG. 9; ¶0097),[a] TXOP duration requested before Expiration field is set by the non-AP STA to indicate the TXOP duration it is requesting . . .
[to] process a reservation frame from the AP STA, the reservation frame to reserve a wireless communication medium for a Transmit Opportunity (TxOP) based on the time allocation requested by the non-AP STA (Xin2, FIG. 9, ¶0074, AP to share a TXOP with a non-AP STA according to the TXOP duration / “time allocation” requested ; and
transmit at least one self-transmission during the first duration, the self- transmission configured for transmission from a transmitter of the non-AP STA to a receiver of the non-AP STA (Xin2, ¶0144-0146, STA2 P2P transmission/ non-AP STA to non-AP STA transmission).
Xin2 does not explicitly teach the first reserved duration is configured for at least one self-transmission of the non-AP STA [and] wherein the second reserved duration is configured for communication of at least one non-self- transmission by the non-AP STA.
However, in the analogous art Sehgal discloses the first reserved duration is configured for at least one self-transmission of the non-AP STA, wherein the second reserved duration is configured for communication of at least one non-self- transmission by the non-AP STA (Sehgal FIG. 17, ¶0031, [FIG. 17] illustrates temporally radar mode / “first reserved duration”, i.e. “self or unbounded transmission” is after the WiFi mode / data transmission, ie “second reserved duration”/non-self-transmission; see also FIG. 15, ¶0100 the monostatic radar (self Tx/Rx) operation of the Wi-Fi node can be enabled by reserving the transmit opportunity (TXOP) using the CTS-to-self frame and using the contention free burst interval to perform the radar operation; FIG. 15, ¶0100, performing radar operation using reserved TXOP with CTS-to-self).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Xin2’s apparatus and method for AP and non-AP stations sharing transmit opportunities (TXOPs) with one another in a wireless communications network with Sehgal’s method to enable an unbounded mode for Wi-Fi devices. The motivation would be to improve power efficiency at the STA without adding too much latency [Sehgal, ¶0068].
Regarding Claim 24, Xin2 and Sehgal teach Claim 21.
Xin2 further teaches to determine a duration of the time allocation requested by the non-AP STA based on a duration of the at least one self-transmission of the non-AP STA and the at least one non-self-transmission by the non-AP STA (Xin2, ¶0058 shared TXOP; ¶0097 TXOP duration requested before Expiration field is set by the non-AP STA to indicate the TXOP duration [and] ¶0144 STA2 / a non-AP STA The QoS BSR subfield indicates that STA2 has the P2P traffic of AC_VO (i.e., SCS0 and SCS1) in its buffer and requesting an 0.8 ms TXOP duration; ¶0146 The QoS BSR subfield indicates that STA2 has the P2P traffic of AC_VO (i.e., SCS0 and SCS1) in its buffer and requesting an 0.8 ms TXOP duration)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MONAJEMI et al. (US 20220248423 A1): Abstract; ¶0017; FIG. 2, ¶0025; application based TXOP sharing.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY L WILLIAMS whose telephone number is 571-270-7694. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30-5:30. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRACY L WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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