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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/18/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-4 and 6-17, 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
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 14-16, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Erez (US Publication No. 20190250930) in view of Hu et al. (US Publication No. 20220124855) and further in view of Matsuura et al. (US Publication No. 20140286253).
As to claims 1 and 14, Erez teaches a communication method of an electronic device and a circuitry of an electronic device (fig. 1, fig. 2), configured to perform the steps of: determining one link plan (link configuration) from a plurality link plans; using the determined link plan as a current link plan to configure a first link and a second link of the electronic device to communicate with another electronic device (fig. 1, fig. 4, #402, #404, using a current link (PCIe #110) configuration in a plurality of link configurations); determining whether the current link plan satisfies a first condition (fig. 1, fig. 4, #404, and pp0034, detects a condition for changing the link configuration of the serial data link. For example, the device may determine the condition based on whether the current PCIe configuration (e.g., lane width and technology generation) can meet the power consumption, performance (e.g., data transfer rate)); in response to the current link plan satisfying the first condition, determining whether [link configurations performance is met] (fig. 1, fig. 4, #406, and pp0035, selects a link configuration among the plurality of link configurations that prioritizes reduction of the lane width over downgrading the technology generation to meet a predetermined performance requirement of the serial data link. In some embodiments, the performance requirement may include data rate (bandwidth) and/or power consumption); and in response to [link configurations performance is met], determining the another as the current link plan to configure the first link and the second link of the electronic device to communicate with the another electronic device (fig. 1, fig. 4, #406, #408, pp0035, selects a link configuration among the plurality of link configurations that prioritizes reduction of the lane width over downgrading the technology generation to meet a predetermined performance requirement of the serial data link. In some embodiments, the performance requirement may include data rate (bandwidth) and/or power consumption, and pp0036, device modifies the serial data link to use the selected link configuration). Although, Erez teaches that host 202 may be any system or device having a need for data storage or retrieval and a compatible interface for communicating with the SSD 204. For example, the host 202 may a computing device, a personal computer, a portable computer, a workstation, a server, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, a digital phone, or the like (see fig. 2, and pp0024). Erez fails to explicitly teach wirelessly communicate with another device.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Hu teaches the concept of multi-link reconfiguration, wherein electronic device wirelessly communicate with another device (fig. 5, wireless communications and pp0054, tablet computer, wearable computing device (e.g., smart watch, eyeglasses, head wearable display), desktop computer, laptop computer, or implemented with distributed computing devices). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Erez with the teachings of Hu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing links reconfiguration and using communication links to reduce latency in communication in a communication system (Hu, ppp0002). However, the failed to explicitly teach that [link configurations performance is met] is wherein a goodput or a throughput of another link plan is higher than a goodput or throughput of the current link plan.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Matsuura teaches the concept that a goodput or a throughput of another link plan (i.e. channel group) is higher than a goodput or throughput of the current link plan (fig. 1, fig. 7, S530, S540, determines whether the effective throughputs of the respective channel groups are comparable to one another, and selects a channel group having the maximum effective throughput, pp0046, pp0047, and pp0043, each channel group herein means a single channel or a set of two or more channels). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Erez and Hu with the teachings of Matsuura to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably selecting the channel to maximize an effective throughput of the connection and thereby allows for transmission and reception of large-volume data in a communication system (Matsuura, pp0070).
As to claims 2 and 15, Erez in view of Hu and Matsuura teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, Erez fails to explicitly teach wherein the electronic device supports at least three bands, and the plurality of link plans comprises a plurality of combinations including two different bands.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Hu teaches the concept of Multi-Link configuration wherein the electronic device supports at least three bands, and the plurality of link plans comprises a plurality of combinations including two different bands (fig. 5, fig. 7, fig. 8, multi-link configuration (mapping) using combinations of different bands i.e. 2.4GHZ, 5GHZ, and 6GHZ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Erez with the teachings of Hu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing link configuration in a communication system to reduce latency and enhance user experience (Hu, pp0002, pp0004).
As to claims 3 and 16, Erez in view of Hu and Matsuura teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, Erez fails to explicitly teach wherein the electronic device supports at least a 2.4GHz band, a 5GHz band and a 6GHz band; and the plurality of link plans comprises a first link plan including the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz band, a second link plan including the 2.4GHz band and the 6GHz band, and a third link plan including the 5GHz band and the 6GHz band.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Hu teaches the concept of Multi-Link configuration wherein the electronic device supports at least a 2.4GHz band, a 5GHz band and a 6GHz band (fig. 5, fig. 7, fig. 8, multi-link configuration (mapping) using combinations of different bands i.e. 2.4GHZ, 5GHZ, and 6GHZ); and the plurality of link plans comprises a first link plan including the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz, a second link plan including the 2.4GHz band and the 6GHz band, and a third link plan including the 5GHz and the 6GHz band (fig. 5, fig. 7, fig. 8, multi-link configuration (mapping) using combinations of different bands i.e. 2.4GHZ, 5GHZ, and 6GHZ, and pp0078, pp0079). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Erez with the teachings of Hu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing link configuration in a communication system to reduce latency and enhance user experience (Hu, pp0002, pp0004).
Claim(s) 4 and 17, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Erez (US Publication No. 20190250930) in view of Hu et al. (US Publication No. 20220124855) and further in view of in view of Matsuura et al. (US Publication No. 20140286253) and Seely (US Patent No. 10624041).
As to claims 4 and 17, Erez in view of Hu and Matsuura teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, Erez fails to explicitly teach wherein the step of determining whether the current link plan satisfies the first condition comprises: determining whether a packet error rate of the first link and the second link is greater than a threshold, or whether a goodput or a throughput of the first link and the second link is lower than a threshold.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Seely teaches the concept of channel plan selection wherein the step of determining whether the current link plan satisfies the first condition comprises: determining whether a packet error rate of the first link and the second link is greater than a threshold, or whether a goodput or a throughput of the first link and the second link is lower than a threshold (fig. 1, col. 13, lines 51-60, one or more thresholds may be used to estimate the packet error rate (PER) at different frequencies (channels) and for different transmission power levels. The relationship may be used to build and maintain a database that aids in the selection of channel(s) and/or channel plan(s) for use, and col. 21, lines 32-37, a packet error rate is estimated for each stream of I/Q samples. In the example of FIG. 8, the output 814 shows which thresholds were exceeded by the incoming maximum energy value. The more threshold that were exceeded, the noisier the RF spectrum). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Erez, Hu, and Matsuura, with the teachings of Seely to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably adapting or changing a channel plan with less radio frequency noise and/or interference in a communication system (Seely, col. 2, lines 42-43).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 10-13 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMONIYI OBAYANJU whose telephone number is (571)270-5885. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thur 10:30-7pm.
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/OMONIYI OBAYANJU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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