DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to the Reply filed September 1, 2025.
Claims 1-16 remain pending in the application.
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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 9 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 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 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. No. 2024/0090034 (hereinafter “Kim”) in view of US Pub. No. 2021/0345403 (newly cited, hereinafter “Kneckt”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Kim discloses or suggests a method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a control frame with bandwidth signaling that is transmitted in a channel width of the control frame including one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraphs 191-194, an MU-RTS frame is received through subchannels SC #1-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8, which includes at least one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width);
determining, by the processor, the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width of the control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, a station determines whether a CTS frame can be transmitted through subchannels SC #1-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8 each corresponding to a subchannel indicated by the RU allocation subfield of the MU-RTS frame);
determining, by the processor, whether to transmit a response control frame responsive to receiving the control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, a station determines whether a CTS frame can be transmitted through subchannels SC #1-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8 each corresponding to a subchannel indicated by the RU allocation subfield of the MU-RTS frame); and
depending on a result of the determining, either:
refraining, by the processor, from transmission of the response control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines that the subchannel SC #5 is not idle (i.e., busy) and does not transmit a CTS frame on subchannel SC #5); or
transmitting, by the processor, the response control frame in at least one subchannel within the channel width of the control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines an MRU having the largest bandwidth among the types of MRUs and that subchannels SC #1-SC #3 are idle and transmits CTS frames on subchannels SC #1-SC #3).
Kim does not explicitly disclose that the transmitting comprises transmitting in one of a first mode, a second mode, a third mode, and a fourth mode such that: the first mode involves transmitting in an 80MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured, the second mode involves transmitting in the 80MHz operating bandwidth with either a left 20MHz channel (S40-L) or a right 20MHz channel (S40-R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of the two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured, the third mode involves transmitting in a 160MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40Hz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of a respective primary 80MHz channel of two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured, and the fourth mode involves transmitting in the 160MHz operating bandwidth with at least one 20MHz channel (S40-L or S40-R or both the S40-L and the S40- R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the respective primary 80MHz of the two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured.
However, in an analogous art, Kneckt discloses or suggests transmitting in one of a first mode, a second mode, a third mode, and a fourth mode (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, a plurality of puncturing configurations associated with transmissions) such that:
the first mode involves transmitting in an 80MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 80MHz operating bandwidth in which the S20 channel is punctured, which is one of the 4 possible configurations),
the second mode involves transmitting in the 80MHz operating bandwidth with either a left 20MHz channel (S40-L) or a right 20MHz channel (S40-R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of the two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 80MHz operating bandwidth in which either the S40-1 channel or S40-2 channel is punctured, which is one of the 4 possible configurations),
the third mode involves transmitting in a 160MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40Hz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of a respective primary 80MHz channel of two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 160MHz operating bandwidth in which the S20 channel is punctured, which is 1 of the 11 possible configurations), and
the fourth mode involves transmitting in the 160MHz operating bandwidth with at least one 20MHz channel (S40-L or S40-R or both the S40-L and the S40- R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the respective primary 80MHz of the two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 160MHz operating bandwidth in which either or both of the S40-1 channel and S40-2 channel are punctured, which is 1 of the 11 possible configurations).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the teaching of Kneckt in to the invention of Kim in order to provide a flexible Extremely High Throughput bandwidth channel reservation scheme that maximizes the reserved bandwidth.
Regarding independent claim 9, Chu discloses or suggests an apparatus (see at least Fig. 1 and paragraph 38, an access point (AP)), comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly (see at least paragraph 9, transceiver); and
a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform, via the transceiver, operations comprising (see at least paragraph 9 and claim 1, a processor configured to use the transceiver to receive an MU-RTS frame and to transmit a CTS frame):
receiving, via the transceiver, a control frame with bandwidth signaling that is transmitted in a channel width of the control frame including one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraphs 191-194, the MU-RTS frame is received through subchannels SC #1-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8, which includes at least one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width);
determining the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width of the control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, a station determines whether the CTS frame can be transmitted through subchannels SC #1-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8 each corresponding to a subchannel indicated by the RU allocation subfield of the MU-RTS frame);
determining whether to transmit a response control frame responsive to receiving the control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, a station determines whether a CTS frame can be transmitted through subchannels SC #1-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8 each corresponding to a subchannel indicated by the RU allocation subfield of the MU-RTS frame); and
depending on a result of the determining, either:
refraining from transmission of the response control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines that the subchannel SC #5 is not idle (i.e., busy) and does not transmit a CTS frame on subchannel SC #5); or
transmitting, via the transceiver, the response control frame in at least one subchannel within the channel width of the control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines an MRU having the largest bandwidth among the types of MRUs and that subchannels SC #1-SC #3 are idle and transmits CTS frames on subchannels SC #1-SC #3).
Kim does not explicitly disclose that the transmitting comprises transmitting in one of a first mode, a second mode, a third mode, and a fourth mode such that: the first mode involves transmitting in an 80MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured, the second mode involves transmitting in the 80MHz operating bandwidth with either a left 20MHz channel (S40-L) or a right 20MHz channel (S40-R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of the two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured, the third mode involves transmitting in a 160MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40Hz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of a respective primary 80MHz channel of two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured, and the fourth mode involves transmitting in the 160MHz operating bandwidth with at least one 20MHz channel (S40-L or S40-R or both the S40-L and the S40- R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the respective primary 80MHz of the two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured.
However, in an analogous art, Kneckt discloses or suggests transmitting in one of a first mode, a second mode, a third mode, and a fourth mode (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, a plurality of puncturing configurations associated with transmissions) such that:
the first mode involves transmitting in an 80MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 80MHz operating bandwidth in which the S20 channel is punctured, which is one of the 4 possible configurations),
the second mode involves transmitting in the 80MHz operating bandwidth with either a left 20MHz channel (S40-L) or a right 20MHz channel (S40-R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of the two respective 40MHz channels of the 80MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 80MHz operating bandwidth in which either the S40-1 channel or S40-2 channel is punctured, which is one of the 4 possible configurations),
the third mode involves transmitting in a 160MHz operating bandwidth with a respective secondary 20MHz channel (S20) in a respective primary 40Hz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of a respective primary 80MHz channel of two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 160MHz operating bandwidth in which the S20 channel is punctured, which is 1 of the 11 possible configurations), and
the fourth mode involves transmitting in the 160MHz operating bandwidth with at least one 20MHz channel (S40-L or S40-R or both the S40-L and the S40- R) of a respective secondary 40MHz channel of two respective 40MHz channels of the respective primary 80MHz of the two 80MHz channels of the 160MHz operating bandwidth being punctured (see at least Figs. 11C and 11D, and paragraphs 121-122, 160MHz operating bandwidth in which either or both of the S40-1 channel and S40-2 channel are punctured, which is 1 of the 11 possible configurations).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the teaching of Kneckt in to the invention of Kim in order to provide a flexible Extremely High Throughput bandwidth channel reservation scheme that maximizes the reserved bandwidth.
Regarding dependent claims 2 and 10, Kim discloses or suggests the determining of the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width of the control frame comprises determining based on a Disabled Subchannel Bitmap field in an Extremely- High-Throughput (EHT) Operation element for a basic service set (BSS) with which the apparatus is associated indicating punctured subchannels (see at least paragraph 246, the disabled subchannel may indicate a subchannel determined by the AP not to use the BSS operated by the AP, where the disabled subchannel may be signaled through a disabled subchannel bitmap of an EHT operation element.
Regarding dependent claims 3 and 11, Kim discloses or suggests that the determining whether to transmit the response control frame comprises performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) on the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width of the received control frame to determine whether each of the one or more non- punctured non-primary subchannels is CCA idle or busy (see at least paragraphs 79 and 193, a terminal performs a wireless LAN communication checks whether a channel is busy by performing carrier sensing, which is referred to as clear channel assessment (CCA), where the terminal may determine whether each of subchannels SC #2-SC #3 and SC #5-SC #8 is idle or busy, as shown in Fig. 14).
Regarding dependent claims 4 and 12, Kim discloses or suggests that the control frame indicates static bandwidth negotiation with a DYN_BANDWIDTH_IN_NON_HT field set to indicate Static (see at least paragraph 130, DYN_BANDWIDTH_IN_NON_HT is configured to be static).
Regarding dependent claims 5 and 13, Kim discloses or suggests that the refraining from transmission of the response control frame comprises refraining from transmission of the response control frame responsive to at least one of the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels being determined to be CCA busy (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines that the subchannel SC #5 is not idle (i.e., busy) and does not transmit a CTS frame on subchannel SC #5).
Regarding dependent claims 6 and 14, Kim discloses or suggests that the transmitting of the response control frame comprises transmitting the response control frame in all the one or more non- punctured non-primary subchannels within the channel width of the received control frame responsive to each of the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels being determined to be CCA idle (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines an MRU having the largest bandwidth among the types of MRUs and that subchannels SC #1-SC #3 are idle and transmits CTS frames on subchannels SC #1-SC #3).
Regarding dependent claims 7 and 15, Kim discloses or suggests that the control frame indicates static bandwidth negotiation with a DYN_BANDWIDTH_IN_NON_HT field set to indicate Dynamic (see at least paragraph 130, DYN_BANDWIDTH_IN_NON_HT is configured to be dynamic).
Regarding dependent claims 8 and 16, Kim discloses or suggests that the transmitting of the response control frame comprises transmitting the response control frame with a second channel width for which all the one or more non-punctured non-primary subchannels are within the second channel width responsive to each of the one or more non-punctured non- primary subchannels being determined to be CCA idle, and wherein the second channel width is less than or equal to the channel width of the received control frame (see at least Fig. 14 and paragraph 193, the station determines an MRU having the largest bandwidth among the types of MRUs (i.e., 484+242-tone RU region) and that subchannels SC #1-SC #3 are idle and transmits CTS frames on subchannels SC #1-SC #3, where the channel width of subchannels SC #1-SC #3 is less than or equal to the channel width of the received MU-RTS frame).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Pawaris Sinkantarakorn whose telephone number is (571)270-1424. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hadi Armouche can be reached at (571) 270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAO SINKANTARAKORN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409 10/02/2025