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 .
This office action is a response to an application filed on 04/20/2023 in which claims 1-7 and 15-20 are pending. Claims 8-14 were not elected.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of Claims 1-7 and 15-20 in the reply filed on 12/01/2025 is acknowledged.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 04/20/2023 has been considered by the examiner. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 4-7, 15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al. (US 2019/0253968) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Xiao”.
As to claim 1, Xiao teaches an electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 18, [0169], a station STA 115) comprising:
a wireless communication circuit configured to perform Wi-Fi communication with a first external electronic device of a plurality of external electronic devices (Xiao, [0051], the communication via IEEE 802.11 compliant networks. Fig. 18, [0141], a transceiver 1802 (WLAN transceiver), Fig. 7, [0178], the transceiver is used to communicate with an AP and another STAs);
a memory storing at least one instruction (Xiao, Fig. 18, [0172], the station included a memory storing applications and computer-executable codes executed by a processor); and
a processor operatively coupled to the wireless communication circuit and the memory, the processor being configured to execute the at least one instruction to (Xiao, Fig. 18, [0172], the station included processor connected to the transceiver and memory to execute the code stored and perform the functions of the station):
broadcast, using the wireless communication circuit and based on a time interval, a first signal comprising first data that comprises time information (Xiao, [0153], [0157], the station transmits a TWT set-up frame for TWT communication including TWT parameters that enable the TWT duty cycle to match the duty cycle of the current TWT wake interval. The TWT parameters include a wake duration, wake interval exponent, etc.);
detect, during a time span corresponding to the time information (Xiao, [0083], the wake duration of the SP or TWT communications), at least one second external electronic device from among the plurality of external electronic devices that uses a radio resource for communication with at least one of the electronic device and the first external electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0083], Fig. 7, the station monitors congestion metrics using a counter to track or monitor frames transmitted by and addressed to the other STAs), wherein the time span occurs after the broadcasting of the first signal (Xiao, Fig. 4, [0153], [0157], the TWT set-up frame for TWT communication includes the wake duration. As shown in Fig. 4, the TWT wake duration is after the TWT setup);
determine a number of detections made by the detecting of the at least one second external electronic device, during the time span (Xiao, Fig. 4, Figs. 6-7, [0084], it is determined that the congestion metric (congestion=f(all_others)) exceeds the congestion threshold. TX/Rx occur during the TWT wake duration); and
based on the number of detections exceeding a threshold value, perform, using the wireless communication circuit, communication with the first external electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 6, [0086], [0152], [0180], the station transmits a TWT set-up frame for the TWT communications with the AP to adjust the duty cycle, after the congestion metric meets the congestion threshold) based on a trigger frame signal received from the first external electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0059], “Solicited TWT communications may occur when an STA initiates or sets up TWT communications with an AP. For example, the STA1 115-a may suggest or request some TWT parameters, which the AP1 105-a may accept, reject, or adjust/change”, [0062], “a trigger is generated by the AP1 105-a that initiates a trigger-enabled TWT SP and wake interval. During the trigger-enabled TWT SP, the STA1 115-a may transmit or send data to the AP1 105-a (e.g., UL Data 1) and the STA2 115-b may transmit or send data to the AP1 105-a (e.g., UL Data 2)”, [0063], “the TWT communications for each STA may need to be set up individually, whether it is done in a solicited fashion by the STA or in an unsolicited fashion by the AP”. The TWT communication between the station and the AP is based on a trigger from the AP, where the TWT communication is for the station transmitting the TWT set-up frame ([0086]). The station transmits the TWT set-up frame after the congestion metric meets the congestion threshold. This would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art in order to allow the scheduling and operation of TWT communications in a manner that is responsive to network congestion that may occur in dense WLAN deployments (Xiao, [0005])).
As to claim 4, Xiao teaches wherein the processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
based the trigger frame signal being received from the first external electronic device, transmit, to the first external electronic device, a second signal comprising second data (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0062], the AP transmits a trigger to the station and the station transmits or sends data to the AP. Fig. 8, [0104]-[0105], in certain situations (i.e. the station may need to receive frames buffered at the AP) during a specific period, where the UE sends a QoS null frame to the AP, after the UE receives the queued frames from the AP).
As to claim 5, Xiao teaches wherein the second data comprises at least one of a power saving (PS)-poll frame, an unscheduled-automatic power saver delivery (U-APSD) frame, and a null frame (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0062], the AP transmits a trigger to the station and the station transmits or sends data to the AP. Fig. 8, [0104]-[0105], in certain situations (i.e. the station may need to receive frames buffered at the AP) during a specific period, where the UE sends a QoS null frame to the AP, after the UE receives the queued frames from the AP. This would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art in order to meet the latency requirements indicated by a host operation or host-level software).
As to claim 6, Xiao teaches wherein the memory further stores target wake time (TWT) setting information associated with the performing of the communication with the first external electronic device (Xiao, [0157], “storing, in a memory of the STA, the one or more TWT parameters as current TWT parameters”), and
wherein the TWT setting information comprises at least one of a TWT identifier (ID), a service type allocated to the TWT, a service period of the TWT, and a TWT interval (Xiao, [0157], the TWT parameters include a wake duration, a wake interval exponent, flow type, a flow ID of the TWT communications).
As to claim 7, Xiao teaches wherein the processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
perform a TWT negotiation with the first external electronic device (Xiao, [0003], “The use of TWT may be negotiated between an AP and each individual STA”), wherein a flow type field value of the TWT setting information is changed from a first flow type to a second flow type (Xiao, [0157], the TWT communication is adjusted via a TWT set-up frame containing modified or updated parameters for the current TWT communications to the AP. The parameters include flow ID, flow type, etc. The current TWT communications to the AP is performed using the updated flow ID, flow type, etc.); and
perform the communication with the first external electronic device using the second flow type (Xiao, [0157], the TWT communication is adjusted via a TWT set-up frame containing modified or updated parameters for the current TWT communications to the AP. The parameters include flow ID, flow type, etc. The current TWT communications to the AP is performed using the updated flow ID, flow type, etc.).
As to claim 15, Xiao teaches a method for performing wireless communication by an electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 18, [0169], a station STA 115 performing wireless communication), the method comprising:
broadcasting, based on a time interval, a first signal comprising first data that comprises time information (Xiao, [0153], [0157], the station transmits a TWT set-up frame for TWT communication including TWT parameters that enable the TWT duty cycle to match the duty cycle of the current TWT wake interval. The TWT parameters include a wake duration, wake interval exponent, etc.);
detecting, during a time span corresponding to the time information (Xiao, [0083], the wake duration of the SP or TWT communications), at least one second external electronic device from among a plurality of external electronic devices that uses a radio resource for communication with at least one of the electronic device and a first external electronic device of the plurality of external electronic devices (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0083], Fig. 7, the station monitors congestion metrics using a counter to track or monitor frames transmitted by and addressed to the other STAs), wherein the time span occurs after the broadcasting of the first signal (Xiao, Fig. 4, [0153], [0157], the TWT set-up frame for TWT communication includes the wake duration. As shown in Fig. 4, the TWT wake duration is after the TWT set-up);
determining a number of detections made by the detecting of the at least one second external electronic device, during the time span (Xiao, Fig. 4, Figs. 6-7, [0084], it is determined that the congestion metric (congestion=f(all_others)) exceeds the congestion threshold. TX/Rx occur during the TWT wake duration); and
based on determining that the number of detections exceeds a threshold value, performing communication with the first external electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 6, [0086], [0152], [0180], the station transmits a TWT set-up frame for the TWT communications with the AP to adjust the duty cycle, after the congestion metric meets the congestion threshold) based on a trigger frame signal received from the first external electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0059], “Solicited TWT communications may occur when an STA initiates or sets up TWT communications with an AP. For example, the STA1 115-a may suggest or request some TWT parameters, which the AP1 105-a may accept, reject, or adjust/change”, [0062], “a trigger is generated by the AP1 105-a that initiates a trigger-enabled TWT SP and wake interval. During the trigger-enabled TWT SP, the STA1 115-a may transmit or send data to the AP1 105-a (e.g., UL Data 1) and the STA2 115-b may transmit or send data to the AP1 105-a (e.g., UL Data 2)”, [0063], “the TWT communications for each STA may need to be set up individually, whether it is done in a solicited fashion by the STA or in an unsolicited fashion by the AP”. The TWT communication between the station and the AP is based on a trigger from the AP, where the TWT communication is for the station transmitting the TWT set-up frame. The station transmits the TWT set-up frame after the congestion metric meets the congestion threshold. This would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art in order to allow the scheduling and operation of TWT communications in a manner that is responsive to network congestion that may occur in dense WLAN deployments (Xiao, [0005])).
As to claim 18, Xiao teaches further comprising:
based on the trigger frame signal being received from the first external electronic device, transmitting, to the first external electronic device, a second signal comprising second data (Xiao, Fig. 3, [0062], the AP transmits a trigger to the station and the station transmits or sends data to the AP).
As to claim 19, Xiao teaches further comprising:
performing a target wake time (TWT) negotiation with the first external electronic device (Xiao, [0003], “The use of TWT may be negotiated between an AP and each individual STA”), wherein at least one of a flow type field value and a trigger subfield value of the TWT setting information is changed from a first value to a second value (Xiao, [0157], the TWT communication is adjusted via a TWT set-up frame containing modified or updated parameters for the current TWT communications to the AP. The parameters include flow ID, flow type, etc. The current TWT communications to the AP is performed using the updated flow ID, flow type, etc.).
As to claim 20, Xiao teaches further comprising:
setting a target wake time (TWT) interval to a first interval based on the performing of the TWT negotiation with the first external electronic device (Xiao, [0003], “The use of TWT may be negotiated between an AP and each individual STA…an STA and an AP exchange information that includes an expected activity duration…STAs that use it can reduce power consumption by entering into a sleep (or similar) state until their corresponding TWT slot is available”, Fig. 4, [0065]-[0066], [0157], the station transmits a TWT set-up frame containing updated TWT parameters and the AP accepts the TWT parameters, [0039], where the parameters include a a Target Wake Time start, a nominal TWT wake duration, a TWT wake interval, service period or SP start time, etc.);
based on the first interval elapsing, transitioning from a sleep state to a wake-up state when a first service is executed to communicate with the first external electronic device (Xiao, Fig. 4, [0066], during the target wake time 402, the STA is shut down and then, after the target wake time 402, the STA is turned on to perform transmission and receptions with the AP); and
transmitting, to the first external electronic device, the first signal comprising the first data, after the transitioning to the wake-up state (Xiao, Fig. 4, Fig. 6, [0086], “The TWT communications may be an individual, solicited TWT communications, for example. set-up frame”. [0153], [0157], the station transmits the TWT set-up frame for TWT communication including TWT parameters that enable the TWT duty cycle to match the duty cycle of the current TWT wake interval. The TWT parameters include a wake duration, wake interval exponent, etc.).
Claims 2 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al. (US 2019/0253968) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Xiao” in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 2021/0007168), hereinafter “Asterjadhi”.
As to claim 2, Xiao teaches wherein the processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
broadcast the first signal comprising the first data (Xiao, [0153], [0157], the station transmits the TWT set-up frame to the AP for TWT communication including TWT parameters that enable the TWT duty cycle to match the duty cycle of the current TWT wake interval. The TWT parameters include a wake duration, wake interval exponent, etc.).
Xiao teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Xiao does not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 2, after setting values corresponding to a rate subfield and a length subfield in the first data to specified values.
However, Asterjadhi teaches after setting values corresponding to a rate subfield and a length subfield in the first data to specified values (Asterjadhi, Figs. 3A-3B, [0133]-[0134], a PDU is used for the communication between the STAs and AP, where the PDU includes a L-SIG field. The L-SIG field in the PDU includes a data rate field, length field, etc. The fields are set before the transmission of the PDU).
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 invention of Xiao to have the features, as taught by Asterjadhi in order for the receiving device to determine the duration of the packet in units of, for example, microseconds (μs) (Asterjadhi, [0034]).
As to claim 16, Xiao teaches wherein the broadcasting of the first signal comprises:
broadcasting the first signal comprising the first data (Xiao, [0153], [0157], the station transmits the TWT set-up frame to the AP for TWT communication including TWT parameters that enable the TWT duty cycle to match the duty cycle of the current TWT wake interval. The TWT parameters include a wake duration, wake interval exponent, etc.).
Xiao teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Xiao does not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 16, after setting values corresponding to a rate subfield and a length subfield in the first data to specified values.
However, Asterjadhi teaches after setting values corresponding to a rate subfield and a length subfield in the first data to specified values (Asterjadhi, Figs. 3A-3B, [0133]-[0134], a PDU is used for the communication between the STAs and AP, where the PDU includes a L-SIG field. The L-SIG field in the PDU includes a data rate field, length field, etc. The fields are set before the transmission of the PDU).
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 invention of Xiao to have the features, as taught by Asterjadhi in order for the receiving device to determine the duration of the packet in units of, for example, microseconds (μs) (Asterjadhi, [0034]).
Claims 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al. (US 2019/0253968) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Xiao” in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 2021/0007168), hereinafter “Asterjadhi” and further in view of Son et al. (US 2017/0202024) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Son”.
Xiao and Asterjadhi teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Xiao and Asterjadhi do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
determine a delay time for delaying use of the radio resource for communication used by the at least one second external electronic device, based on the predetermined value corresponding to the rate subfield and the another predetermined value corresponding to length subfield; and
determine, based on the delay time, whether the at least one second external electronic device is using the radio resource for communication with the at least one of the electronic device and the first external electronic device.
As to claim 3, Son teaches wherein the processor is further configured to execute the at least one instruction to:
determine a delay time for delaying use of the radio resource for communication used by the at least one second external electronic device, based on the predetermined value corresponding to the rate subfield and the another predetermined value corresponding to length subfield (Son, [0152], “even when the rate bit field includes the non-legacy wireless LAN information, the legacy terminal may analyze the non-legacy wireless LAN information as rate information. For such a situation, by appropriately configuring a length field of the L-SIG, the legacy terminals may perform a transmission delay (NAV configuration, and the like) by using L-SIG length information of other terminal packets when the transmission delay is required due to transmission of other terminals…the network allocation vector (NAV) configuration may be performed according to the obtained number of OFDM symbols, and when the rate bit field is used as the non-legacy wireless LAN information in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the NAV may be configured as large as a required length by adjusting the length field”. The transmission delay is performed based on L-SIG length information and the rate information, where the transmission delay is required due to transmission of other terminals); and
determine, based on the delay time, whether the at least one second external electronic device is using the radio resource for communication with the at least one of the electronic device and the first external electronic device (Son, [0152], “…by appropriately configuring a length field of the L-SIG, the legacy terminals may perform a transmission delay (NAV configuration, and the like) by using L-SIG length information of other terminal packets when the transmission delay is required due to transmission of other terminals”. The delay is required due to transmission of other terminals, which indicates that the other terminals are performing transmissions).
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 invention of Xiao and Asterjadhi to have the features, as taught by Son in order to extract non-legacy wireless LAN information from the predetermined bit field of the legacy preamble under a specific condition and decide a CCA threshold by using extracted BSS configuration information (Son, [0153], [0161]).
Xiao and Asterjadhi teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Xiao and Asterjadhi do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 17, further comprising:
determining a delay time for delaying use of the radio resource for communication used by the at least one second external electronic device, based on the predetermined value corresponding to the rate subfield and the another predetermined value corresponding to length subfield; and
determining, based on the delay time, whether the at least one second external electronic device is using the radio resource for communication with the at least one of the electronic device and the first external electronic device.
As to claim 17, Son teaches further comprising:
determining a delay time for delaying use of the radio resource for communication used by the at least one second external electronic device, based on the predetermined value corresponding to the rate subfield and the another predetermined value corresponding to length subfield (Son, [0152], “even when the rate bit field includes the non-legacy wireless LAN information, the legacy terminal may analyze the non-legacy wireless LAN information as rate information. For such a situation, by appropriately configuring a length field of the L-SIG, the legacy terminals may perform a transmission delay (NAV configuration, and the like) by using L-SIG length information of other terminal packets when the transmission delay is required due to transmission of other terminals…the network allocation vector (NAV) configuration may be performed according to the obtained number of OFDM symbols, and when the rate bit field is used as the non-legacy wireless LAN information in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the NAV may be configured as large as a required length by adjusting the length field”. The transmission delay is performed based on L-SIG length information and the rate information, where the transmission delay is required due to transmission of other terminals); and
determining, based on the delay time, whether the at least one second external electronic device is using the radio resource for communication with the at least one of the electronic device and the first external electronic device (Son, [0152], “…by appropriately configuring a length field of the L-SIG, the legacy terminals may perform a transmission delay (NAV configuration, and the like) by using L-SIG length information of other terminal packets when the transmission delay is required due to transmission of other terminals”. The delay is required due to transmission of other terminals, which indicates that the other terminals are performing transmissions).
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 invention of Xiao and Asterjadhi to have the features, as taught by Son in order to extract non-legacy wireless LAN information from the predetermined bit field of the legacy preamble under a specific condition and decide a CCA threshold by using extracted BSS configuration information (Son, [0153], [0161]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hwang et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0015165 – Method and apparatus for low power communication in communication system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICARDO H CASTANEYRA whose telephone number is (571)272-2486. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am - 5:30pm.
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/RICARDO H CASTANEYRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473