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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 November 25, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-12, 14-29 and 31 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.
Regarding independent claims 1, 12, 22, and 27 as described below in more details, Wang discloses the announcement/indication of a newly joining AP. These APs are assigned MAPs AIDs and in a coordinated system as described, the other AP would know this assignment. The new secondary prior art discloses this information explicitly.
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, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, and 27 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (WO 2022051408 A1, hereinafter Wang) in view of Oduwaiye et al. (US 20210014819 A1, hereinafter Oduwaiye).
Regarding claims 1, 12, 22, and 27 Wang discloses:
A first access point (AP)/second access point, comprising: at least one memory; (Paragraph [0276], “Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.”)
and at least one processor communicatively coupled with the at least one memory, (Paragraph [0120], “A multi-AP set (MAPS) may comprise one or more coordinating AP and one or more coordinated AP.” And paragraph [0276], “In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor.” In a multi-AP set up it is inherently known that each ap has a memory coupled to a processor.)
the at least one processor operable to cause the first AP to:
obtain a transmission opportunity assigned to communication via a wireless channel; (Paragraph [0120], “A coordinating AP may also be called a sharing AP, primary AP or master AP. The coordinating AP or sharing AP may be the AP that obtained a TXOP and decides to share with a number of other APs in its vicinity.” And paragraph [0276], “…the "wired” link between APs may be another wireless link/channel/band…”)
transmit a frame comprising an AP-specific association identifier assigned to a second AP based at least in part on the indication, (Paragraph [0167], “A coordinating AP or sharing AP may start the multi-AP sounding procedure by sending a CTI frame after obtaining a TXOP.” And Paragraph [0153], “In addition, one or more member APs or coordinating or sharing AP ID addresses (such as MAC addresses, or MLD IDs) may also be indicated by an AP in the MAPS element, and/or one or more MAPS IDs, which may be included in any frames transmitted such as CAP TXOP Indication (CTI) frame…” And paragraph [0154], “an AP may request a certain range of MAPS AIDs (or an ID representing the MAPS) for its associated STAs when joining a MAPS. The MAPS AID (or MAPS ID) range for a member AP may be assigned by the coordinating AP or sharing AP. The MAPS AID (or MAPS ID) range may be headed by one or more bits that identify APs.” The coordinating AP can transmit a CTI frame which can include MAPS AIDs (association identifier). There is AP ID addresses (AP specific aid) in the MAPS element.)
the frame allocating a portion of the transmission opportunity to the second AP for communicating via the wireless channel based at least in part on the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP; (Paragraph [0168], “The CTI frame may indicate one or more member APs that are being requested to participate in the shared TXOP.” And paragraph [0276], “…the "wired” link between APs may be another wireless link/channel/band…” And Paragraph [0153], “In addition, one or more member APs or coordinating or sharing AP ID addresses (such as MAC addresses, or MLD IDs) may also be indicated by an AP in the MAPS element, and/or one or more MAPS IDs, which may be included in any frames transmitted such as CAP TXOP Indication (CTI) frame…”)
and receive, based at least in part on transmitting the frame, a confirmation of an allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity to the second AP. (Paragraph [0169], “One or more member APs of the MAPS, or an AP that is willing to participate in the multi- AP sounding or transmission, may respond with a CTR frame after receiving the CTI frames indicating that it wants to participate in the shared TXOP.”)
Specifically regarding claims 12 and 27 Wang discloses:
and transmitting, based at least in part on the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity to the second AP, one or more frames during the portion of the transmission opportunity. (Paragraph [0185], “In an example, during the shared TXOP, AP 1 which is a coordinating AP may transmit a sounding frame according to the transmission schedule and APs 2-4 which are member APs in a MAPS may transmit sounding frames according to the transmission schedule.”)
Wang does not fully disclose:
receive, via a backhaul link associated with a network controller that is associated with the first AP and a second AP, an indication that an AP-specific association identifier is assigned to the second AP;
(Wang does disclose a backhaul link associated with a controller connected to different APs. (Paragraph [0269], “example of Wi-Fi networks or multi-AP with wired backhaul connection. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the domain controller 1505 which is a server may be connected with APs 1 , 2, 3 1501a, 1501 b, 1501c via a wired link, which may be used in combination with any of other embodiments described herein.”) Further it is stated that an AP joining the set will announce its membership as well as its links through frames however, as stated above, in a backhaul setting with a centralized controller, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the information could be distributed via this link. (Paragraph [0153], “An AP which joined a MAPS may announce its membership of the MAPS in the MAPS element or any other element or frames which may be included in the beacon, short beacon, probe request frame, probe response frame, association request frame, association response frames, FILS discovery frames, MAPS frames, action or public action frames, or the like. It may also indicate the operating links, operating bandwidth, channels, or likely assigned channels, links, or RUs during any coordinated MAPS transmissions or sharing or shared TXOP.”)
Oduwaiye discloses:
receive, via a backhaul link associated with a network controller that is associated with the first AP and a second AP, an indication that an AP-specific association identifier is assigned to the second AP; (Paragraph [0020], “[the first ap] sending client device request information and AP schedule information to an AP Controller… the AP Controller create an optimized transmission schedule for the client request, and sending instructions, including the optimized transmission schedule, to one or more APs… The instructions also contain identification/address information of the AP that the client device is associated with. In one implementation, fulfilling at least part of the client request includes transmitting data to the client device under the BSSID of the associated AP.” Other APs receiving an AP specific AID (BSSID) of one AP to another through the AP controller (backhaul link). While Wang utilizes MAPs AID it is functionally identical to BSSID allowing for the identification of an ap (Wang, paragraph [0154], “The MAPS AID (or MAPS ID) range may be headed by one or more bits that identify APs.”). )
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method indication of an AP AID in Wang in view of Oduwaiye to incorporate backhaul links, a known and predictable way to exchange AP-specific IDs, in his multi-access point coordination. One would have been motivated to do this to increase reliability in the system as to not overload some AP and underutilize others (Oduwaiye, paragraph [0006]).
Regarding claim 6 and 14 Wang discloses:
receive, via a communication link between the first AP and the second AP, a first indication that the AP-specific association identifier is assigned to the second AP, wherein, to transmit the frame, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit the frame based at least in part on the first indication. (Paragraph [0152], “Another example, an AP may request to join a MAPS after receiving a frame including advertisement of one or more MAPSs, which may be transmitted by a member AP or coordinating or sharing AP of a MAPS. The AP may transmit a MAPS setup request frame or any other frames that includes a MAPS element, in the MAPS action field of which a request to join is indicated. The requesting AP may indicate whether it wants to function as a coordinating AP or sharing AP or just as a coordinated AP. Once an AP (a member of the MAPS) receives a MAPS setup request frame or a frame including a request to join action, the AP may respond with a MAPS setup response frame or another frame including a MAPS element which may include a response action such as accept, reject, etc. The MAPS setup response frame may include one or more MAPS operating parameters, such as MAPS ID, MAPS BSS color, MAPS operation modes, whether the receiving AP is expected to be a coordinating AP, sharing AP, sharing AP of a TXOP, or just coordinated AP or shared AP.” A requesting AP (second AP) joining the group sends a request setup frame to a member (first AP). The member will then send a response frame based on the indication/MAPS operating parameters (like the MAPS ID), of the request frame sent from the second AP.)
Regarding claim 8 and 18 Wang discloses:
The first AP of claim 6, wherein the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP is based at least in part on a basic service set color assigned to the second AP, a basic service set identifier assigned to the second AP, a compressed basic service set identifier assigned to the second AP, or any combination thereof. (Paragraph [0131], “The MAPS ID may also be a BSS color identifying a MAPS. Or the MAPS ID may be any other type of IDs agreed.” The MAPS ID disclosed in Wang is similar to AIDs associated to the multiple APs in the set.)
Regarding claims 16 Wang discloses:
receive, via a communication link between the second AP and a third AP, a second indication that a AP-specific second association identifier is assigned to the second AP; (Paragraph [0154], “The MAPS AID (or MAPS ID) range for a member AP may be assigned by the coordinating AP or sharing AP. The MAPS AID (or MAPS ID) range may be headed by one or more bits that identify APs. Once the range of MAPS AID (or MAPS ID) is assigned to a member AP, the AP may then announce the MAPS AIDs (or MAPS IDs) for its associated STAs.” And Paragraph [0153], “In addition, one or more member APs or coordinating or sharing AP ID addresses (such as MAC addresses, or MLD IDs) may also be indicated by an AP in the MAPS element, and/or one or more MAPS IDs, which may be included in any frames transmitted such as CAP TXOP Indication (CTI) frame…” In multi-access point setup there are a plurality of AP and the described limitation functions similarly to what is in the reference. So there is no patentable weight given to the words “second” and “third” in this limitation.)
receive a second frame from the third AP at the second AP, the second frame comprising the second AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP, the second frame allocating a portion of a second transmission opportunity assigned to communication via the wireless channel obtained by the third AP to the second AP based at least in part on the second AP-specific association identifier of the second AP; (Paragraph [0167], “A coordinating AP or sharing AP may start the multi-AP sounding procedure by sending a CTI frame after obtaining a TXOP. The CTI frame may indicate the purpose of the shared TXOP.” And paragraph [0168], “The CTI frame may indicate one or more member APs that are being requested to participate in the shared TXOP.” The indication of members requested to participate in the shared TXOP (allocation of a portion of TXOP) must include an association identifier assigned to the second or third or other AP for it to know to participate in this transmission.)
and transmit, based at least in part on the allocation of the portion of the second transmission opportunity to the second AP, one or more frames during the portion of the second transmission opportunity. (Paragraph [0167], “A coordinating AP or sharing AP may start the multi-AP sounding procedure by sending a CTI frame after obtaining a TXOP.” And paragraph [0169], “One or more member APs of the MAPS, or an AP that is willing to participate in the multi- AP sounding or transmission, may respond with a CTR frame after receiving the CTI frames indicating that it wants to participate in the shared TXOP. A member AP may also send request frames to one or more APs in the MAPS before receiving a CTI frames to request a certain type of shared TXOP operations, such as shared TXOP data transmission, shared TXOP low latency data transmission, or shared TXOP multi-AP sounding, or shared TXOP feedback.” After an AP gets the TXOP, it sends multiple frames to other APs to share the TXOP.)
Claims 3-5, 9-11, 15, 17, 19-21, 23, 25-26, 29 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou et al. (WO 2022212468 A1, hereinafter Lou).
Regarding claims 3, 17 and 23 Wang discloses:
AP-specific association identifier (Paragraph [0153], “An AP which joined a MAPS may announce its membership of the MAPS in the MAPS element… In addition, one or more member APs or coordinating or sharing AP ID addresses (such as MAC addresses, or MLD IDs) may also be indicated by an AP in the MAPS element, and/or one or more MAPS IDs, which may be included in any frames transmitted such as CAP TXOP Indication (CTI) frame…” Along with this information the AID is assigned in the setup)
Wang and Oduwaiye does not fully disclose:
select the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP from a set of association identifiers specific to APs; and transmit, based at least in part on the selecting, an indication that the AP-specific association identifier is assigned to the second AP, wherein, to transmit the frame, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit the frame based at least in part on the indication.
Lou does disclose:
select the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP from a set of association identifiers specific to APs; (Paragraph [0105], “In one embodiment, some AID values may be reserved to identify APs. For example, AID values 2008 to 2044 and 2047 to 2094 may be reserved. A subset of these values may be used for an AP in MAP transmissions.” AID associated to AP from a set reserved specifically for AP identification.)
and transmit, based at least in part on the selecting, an indication that the AP-specific association identifier is assigned to the second AP, wherein, to transmit the frame, (Paragraph [0106], “In one embodiment, a sharing AP may use the MAP AID to trigger transmissions from the shared APs by using the enhanced trigger frame. For example, 12 bits from the MAP AID may be used in the AID12 subfield in a User information field (e.g., EHT variant User information field) of enhanced trigger frame. Unintended STAs may check the AID 12 field and notice the trigger frame may trigger a response frame from another AP.” The assignment of the reserved AIDs must be in some indication for the APs to know the identity and interpret the AID 12 field.)
the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit the frame based at least in part on the indication. (Paragraph [0106], “In one embodiment, a sharing AP may use the MAP AID to trigger transmissions from the shared APs by using the enhanced trigger frame. For example, 12 bits from the MAP AID may be used in the AID12 subfield in a User information field (e.g., EHT variant User information field) of enhanced trigger frame. Unintended STAs may check the AID 12 field and notice the trigger frame may trigger a response frame from another AP.” The trigger frame transmitted because of the assignment of the AID (the indication) which allows the other APs or their STAs to interpret and check the AID 12 field.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teachings of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by including the selection/assignment of an AID. One would have been motivated to do this to help identify each AP in the set.
Regarding claims 4 and 15 Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
the frame comprises an indication of a basic service set identifier assigned to the first AP.
Lou discloses:
the frame comprises an indication of a basic service set identifier assigned to the first AP. (Paragraph [0120], “In another example, the MU-RTS frame or TXS frame may be addressed to the broadcast address, or addressed to another ID, such as the BSSID.” And paragraph [0003], “Methods and apparatuses are described herein for an enhanced trigger fame and its variants…. a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing (TXS) trigger frame…” The MU-RTS TXS frame is a variant of the enhanced trigger frame and includes the BSSID.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by including the BSSID in a transmission frame. One would have been motivated to do this to avoid collision.
Regarding claim 5 Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: store a mapping between association identifiers and APs; and select the AP-specific association identifier to be different from association identifiers assigned to one or more other APs based at least in part on the mapping.
Lou does disclose:
the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: store a mapping between association identifiers and APs; and select the AP-specific association identifier to be different from association identifiers assigned to one or more other APs based at least in part on the mapping. (Paragraph [0105], “In one embodiment, some AID values may be reserved to identify APs. For example, AID values 2008 to 2044 and 2047 to 2094 may be reserved. A subset of these values may be used for an AP in MAP transmissions.” The mapping is the some AID values reserved for APs identity and these AID has to be different they’re ID to distinguish one AP from another.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by including the storage of some AID values. One would have been motivated to do this to help identify each AP in the set.
Regarding claims 9 and 19 Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit a second frame, the second frame being assigned to triggering the second AP to request the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity;
and receive a response frame indicating that the second AP requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity, wherein, to transmit the frame, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit the frame based at least in part on the response frame.
Lou discloses:
the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit a second frame, the second frame being assigned to triggering the second AP to request the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity; (Paragraph [0127], “The term sharing AP may refer to an AP that solicits other STAs or APs to share one or more TXOPs that the AP obtained. Other terms may be used to indicate the same AP.” And paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.” The Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame (second frame) is used by the sharing AP (first AP) to solicit the buffer status report to help determine the AP’s traffic. Based on the traffic the second AP can request how much TXOP it needs.)
and receive a response frame indicating that the second AP requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity, wherein, to transmit the frame, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first AP to: transmit the frame based at least in part on the response frame. (Paragraph [0127], “The term sharing AP may refer to an AP that solicits other STAs or APs to share one or more TXOPs that the AP obtained. Other terms may be used to indicate the same AP.” And paragraph [0131], “In one embodiment, low latency traffic may be corresponding to multiple TIDs. Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may be used to solicit buffer status report for one or more TIDs.” And paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.” The Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame (second frame) is used by the sharing AP (first AP) to solicit the buffer status report to help determine the AP’s traffic. Based on the traffic the second AP can request how much TXOP it needs.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by including the enhanced BSRP trigger frame. One would have been motivated to do this so each AP may accurately report their traffic and request how much TXOP they need.
Regarding claims 10 and 20 Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
The first AP of claim 9, wherein the second frame is a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame or a null data physical layer protocol data unit feedback report poll (NFRP) frame.
Lou does disclose:
The first AP of claim 9, wherein the second frame is a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame or a null data physical layer protocol data unit feedback report poll (NFRP) frame. (Paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by including the enhanced BSRP trigger frame. One would have been motivated to do this so each AP may accurately report their traffic and request how much TXOP they need.
Regarding claims 11 Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
The first AP of claim 1, wherein: the frame is a trigger frame comprising a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) transmission opportunity sharing (TXS) frame, a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame, or a null data physical layer protocol data unit feedback report poll (NFRP) frame, and the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP is included in an association identifier 12 (AID12) subfield of a user information field of the trigger frame.
Lou does disclose:
The first AP of claim 1, wherein: the frame is a trigger frame comprising a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) transmission opportunity sharing (TXS) frame, a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame, or a null data physical layer protocol data unit feedback report poll (NFRP) frame, and the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP is included in an association identifier 12 (AID12) subfield of a user information field of the trigger frame. (Paragraph [0106], “In one embodiment, a sharing AP may use the MAP AID to trigger transmissions from the shared APs by using the enhanced trigger frame. For example, 12 bits from the MAP AID may be used in the AID12 subfield in a User information field (e.g., EHT variant User information field) of enhanced trigger frame.” And paragraph [0120], “The MU-RTS TXS frame or TXS frame may include two user information field in its frame body, one of which is the special user information field, which may be used to indicate the MU- RTS TXS is meant to trigger EHT PPDUs.” The trigger frame disclosed is a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) transmission opportunity sharing (TXS) frame and AID with the second AP is included in the AID12 in the user information field in the trigger frame.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by including AID12 within the MU-RTS frame. One would have been motivated to do this so only the STAs that were listed in the AID12 will respond to prevent collisions.
Regarding claims 21 and 26 Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
The AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP is included in a set of association identifiers for identifying a respective AP, a set of association identifiers having a most significant bit of 1, a set of association identifiers assigned to a high efficiency (HE) multi-user (MU) physical protocol data unit (PPDU), a set of association identifiers assigned to an extremely high throughput (EHT) MU PPDU, or any combination thereof.
Lou discloses:
The AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP is included in a set of association identifiers for identifying a respective AP, a set of association identifiers having a most significant bit of 1, a set of association identifiers assigned to a high efficiency (HE) multi-user (MU) physical protocol data unit (PPDU), a set of association identifiers assigned to an extremely high throughput (EHT) MU PPDU, or any combination thereof. (Paragraph [0077], “It is noted that the control information subfield in a triggered response scheduling (TRS) control subfield in A-control subfield of the HE variant HT control field may contain triggered response scheduling (TRS) information for soliciting an EHT TB PPDU that follows an EHT MU PPDU carrying the control subfield. In one method, the PPDU Type and Compression Mode subfield in U-SIG of the EHT MU PPDU that carries the TRS control subfield may be set to 0 so that the RU allocation subfield may present in the EHT MU PPDU that carries the TRS.” And paragraph [0105], “In one embodiment, some AID values may be reserved to identify APs. For example, AID values 2008 to 2044 and 2047 to 2094 may be reserved. A subset of these values may be used for an AP in MAP transmissions.” Set of AID reserved for identification and the set is assigned to the EHT MU PPDU because it carries data in a multi-access point set.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by reserving some AID values and incorporating EHT MU PDDU in its transmission. One would have been motivated to do this to help identify each AP/STA in the set during transmission.
Regarding claims 25 and 29 Wang discloses:
and selecting the second AP for allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity based at least in part on the first priority being greater than the second priority, wherein the transmitting the frame comprises: transmitting the frame based at least in part on the selecting. (Paragraph [0188], “In an example where member APs 1-4 are in a MAPS, the channel is 80 MHz, and a shared TXOP is 4 ms, a coordinating AP may allocate the entire 80 MHz channel to the member AP 1 during the first 1 ms of the shared TXOP. The coordinating AP may allocate the entire 80 MHz channel to each member AP 2, 3, 4 during the second, third, and fourth 1 ms of the shared TXOP, respectively. Each member AP 1-4 may transmit sounding frames to its associated STA according to the transmission schedule as described above. In another example where member APs 1-4 are in a MAPS, the channel is 80 MHz, and a shared TXOP is 4 ms, a coordinating AP may allocate the entire 4 ms of the shared TXOP to the member AP 1 to transmit frames over the first 20 MHz. The coordinating AP may allocate the entire 4 ms of the shared TXOP to each member AP 2, 3, 4 to transmit frames over the second, third, and fourth 20 MHz, respectively.” And paragraph [0114], “The BSR in 802.11 ax supports the granularity of access category (AC).” Inherently the one with the higher priority should receive or get allocated the portion of TXOP first. Wang discloses several examples of how the AP may allocate the portions of TXOP along with the BSR mechanism supporting access category (priority).)
Wang and Oduwaiye does not disclose:
transmitting a second frame, the second frame being assigned to triggering a set of stations comprising the second AP to indicate whether a respective station requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity and to indicate a priority assigned to traffic to be communicated during the portion of the transmission opportunity;
receiving a first response frame indicating that the second AP requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity and indicating a first priority assigned to first traffic to be communicated during the portion of the transmission opportunity by the second AP;
receiving a second response frame indicating that a third AP requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity and indicating a second priority assigned to second traffic to be communicated during the portion of the transmission opportunity by the third AP;
Lou discloses:
transmitting a second frame, the second frame being assigned to triggering a set of stations comprising the second AP to indicate whether a respective station requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity and to indicate a priority assigned to traffic to be communicated during the portion of the transmission opportunity; (Paragraph [0097], “Enhanced buffer status report poll (BSRP) operation may be used by a STA to report its buffer status so that the AP may schedule its uplink transmission accordingly. Existing BSR mechanism allows a STA to report buffer status of one or all access categories.” And paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.” The sharing/coordinating AP may solicit STAs for their BSR through a trigger frame (second frame). The STA responds with a BSR to indicate/request for how much allocation it needs of the TXOP. The BSR mechanism allows the STA to also report the priority (access categories).)
receiving a first response frame indicating that the second AP requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity and indicating a first priority assigned to first traffic to be communicated during the portion of the transmission opportunity by the second AP; (Paragraph [0097], “Enhanced buffer status report poll (BSRP) operation may be used by a STA to report its buffer status so that the AP may schedule its uplink transmission accordingly. Existing BSR mechanism allows a STA to report buffer status of one or all access categories.” And paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.” The STA responding with their BSR is functionally similar to the limitation as the BSR mechanism allows for access categories (priority) to be reported and it indicates to the AP how much of the TXOP it needs.)
receiving a second response frame indicating that a third AP requests the allocation of the portion of the transmission opportunity and indicating a second priority assigned to second traffic to be communicated during the portion of the transmission opportunity by the third AP; (Paragraph [0097], “Enhanced buffer status report poll (BSRP) operation may be used by a STA to report its buffer status so that the AP may schedule its uplink transmission accordingly. Existing BSR mechanism allows a STA to report buffer status of one or all access categories.” And paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.” This process is an outline for one instance, but one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a BSR could be solicited from more than one AP in the set. Thus the sharing AP can solicit BSR from any AP in the set and receive a response frame with how much of the TXOP they need and their traffic priority (access category).)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teaching of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou by incorporating enhanced trigger frame to solicit BSR. One would have been motivated to do this so each AP may accurately report their traffic, its priority and request how much TXOP they need.
Regarding claim 31 Wang discloses:
AP-specific association identifier and identification of APs in association with TXOP sharing, of a set of association identifiers.
(Paragraph [0153], “In addition, one or more member APs or coordinating or sharing AP ID addresses (such as MAC addresses, or MLD IDs) may also be indicated by an AP in the MAPS element, and/or one or more MAPS IDs, which may be included in any frames transmitted such as CAP TXOP Indication (CTI) frame…” AP ID addresses is Ap-specific AID and it is used in frames associated with TXOP sharing in this Multi-ap set. )
Wang does not disclose:
The first AP of claim 1, wherein the AP-specific association identifier is from a subset of reserved association identifiers, the reserved association identifiers configured for identification of APs in association with TXOP sharing, of a set of association identifiers.
Lou discloses:
is from a subset of reserved association identifiers, (Paragraph [0105], “In one embodiment, some AID values may be reserved to identify APs. For example, AID values 2008 to 2044 and 2047 to 2094 may be reserved. A subset of these values may be used for an AP in MAP transmissions”)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teachings of Wang and Oduwaiye in view of Lou to have reserves for ap-specific AID. One would have been motivated to do this for efficient scheduling and scalability.
Claims 7, 24, 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Wang, Oduwaiye and Lou in view of Hart (US 8971213 B1, hereinafter Hart).
Regarding claim 7 Lou discloses:
receive, via a communication link between the first AP and a third AP, a second indication of a second AP-specific association identifier assigned to the third AP; (Paragraph [0106], “In one embodiment, a sharing AP may use the MAP AID to trigger transmissions from the shared APs by using the enhanced trigger frame.” And paragraph [0132], “STAs which are solicited by the Enhanced BSRP Trigger frame may respond with existing BSR control field or an enhanced BSR control field.” In a multi-AP set the APs are in communication via some communication link inherently to be able to send frames to each other. The AID of the STA assigned to the third AP is contained in the response frame (second indication) in the BSR control field.)
Wang, Oduwaiye and Lou does not fully disclose:
and transmit, via the communication link between the first AP and the third AP, a third indication to modify the second AP-specific association identifier assigned to the third AP based at least in part on a match with the second AP-specific association identifier.
Hart discloses:
and transmit, via the communication link between the first AP and the third AP, a third indication to modify the second AP-specific association identifier assigned to the third AP based at least in part on a match with the AP-specific association identifier. (Col. 3 lines 1-3, “Another option to reduce partial AID collisions is to add an offset determined from the AP MAC (Media Access Control) address plus bits from the AID.” From the specs the modification of the AID in the case that it matches is to try and avoid collision. The communication link and AID association with an AP are already disclosed above.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teaching of the combination of Wang, Oduwaiye and Lou in view of Hart by incorporating partial AID modification. One would have been motivated to do this to reduce partial AID collisions (Col. 3 lines 1-3, Hart).
Regarding claims 24 and 28 Lou discloses:
transmitting, via a communication link between the first AP and the second AP, a first indication of a second AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP to the first AP; (Paragraph [0102], “With multi-AP transmission, frame exchanges between APs may be over the air… AID is an identity assigned by an AP to a STA when the STA is assigned to the AP. MAP AID may enable APs to communicate each other.” Within multiple access point set they can communicate over a link (sending frames to each other). Through the MAP AID an AP may notify the sharing AP (first AP) of the AID it assigns a STA.)
selecting, based at least in part on the second indication, the AP-specific association identifier for assignment to the second AP; (Paragraph [0104], “MAP AID may be an AID used by the sharing AP to refer a shared AP.” And paragraph [0105], “In one embodiment, some AID values may be reserved to identify APs. For example, AID values 2008 to 2044 and 2047 to 2094 may be reserved. A subset of these values may be used for an AP in MAP transmissions.” And paragraph [0107], “a sharing AP may assign a shared AP a MAP AID when they start negotiation of the MAP transmissions. In one embodiment, the MAP AID may have a lifetime which may be predetermined in the system or assigned by the sharing AP.” From the specs, this action is performed to avoid/reduce collision when overlapping BSS APs matches. As stated, before in claim 9, the sharing AP can solicit BSR from the STAs which includes their AIDs. Inherently to avoid/reduce collision there must be some indication telling the member APs that an AID is matching with another AP’s AID when the coordinating AP receives these BSR.)
and transmitting, via the communication link based at least in part on the selecting, a third indication of the AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP. (Paragraph [0106], “In one embodiment, a sharing AP may use the MAP AID to trigger transmissions from the shared APs by using the enhanced trigger frame. For example, 12 bits from the MAP AID may be used in the AID12 subfield in a User information field (e.g., EHT variant User information field) of enhanced trigger frame. Unintended STAs may check the AID 12 field and notice the trigger frame may trigger a response frame from another AP.” It is inherent that there must be some indication sent to the coordinating AP in the multi-AP transmission about the AID value selected for identification otherwise the APs cannot interpret the AID 12 field.)
Hart discloses:
receiving, via the communication link, a second indication that the second AP-specific association identifier assigned to the second AP matches an AP-specific association identifier assigned to a third AP; (Col. 3 lines 24-29, “The offset reduces the probability of collision between the partial AID of overlapping BSSs. Since the AIDs are unique within a BSS, the offset generally makes them different across overlapping BSSs and therefore avoids partial AID overlap between the BSSs of multiple BSS APs.” And Col. 2 Lines 64-67, “One option to reduce partial AID collisions is to partition the partial AID. For example, the partial AID may be renamed to a partial station AID which includes a random partial BSSID and a reduced partial AID field.” Inherently if there is a collision avoidance procedure for the AID there must be some indication sent by a controller or coordinating AP to tell the other APs about matching AID to reduce or avoid the collision.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teaching of the combination of Wang, Oduwaiye and Lou in view of Hart by incorporating a collision avoidance/reduction procedure. One would have been motivated to do this to detect and “reduce partial AID collisions” (Col. 3 lines 1-3, Hart).
Conclusion
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/NAM P. CAO/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479