DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 5/11/2026 has been entered. In response to amendment filed on 5/11/2026, claims 1, 7, 10, 11- 12, 15- 17 and 20 are amended, claims 21- 22 are added and claims 9 and 19 are cancelled. Claims 1- 8, 10- 18 and 20- 22 are pending for examinations. Further in light of amendments, the previously given rejections based on 35 USC 112 second paragraph is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) filed in the remarks on 5/11/2026 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
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1- 3, 5- 6, 11- 13, 15- 16, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asterjadhi et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0007168 A1), hereafter Alfred in view of Ghosh et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0274574 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Alfred teaches a method for wireless communication (see abstract and Fig. 1 and 2A regarding wireless communication method), comprising:
receiving, from a first access point (AP), an indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP (see [0003].. An AP (i.e. first AP) periodically broadcasts beacon frames so that a STA within wireless range of the AP can establish an association with the WLAN; further see [0030] the AP MLD (i.e. first AP) includes non-colocated APs (i.e. APs (first and second AP) having first link and second link i.e. seamlessly roaming without losing connection); further see Fig. 2A, where #110 (first AP is a multi link device) connected via two links (where #120 receives (i.e. through anchor link) from first AP (i.e. see [0030] non-colocated APs) information of the second AP);
performing a multi-link association, comprising transmitting an association request to the first AP (see [0006].. The method may include establishing a multi-link association between an access point (AP) MLD and a non-AP MLD. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD and further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD. The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link; further see abstract… for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS). The signaling also may include requests, acknowledgments, or negotiation regarding multi-link connections.; further see [0019]…. establishing the multi-link association includes communicating a configuration of the second link. The configuration may indicate one or more parameters selected from a group consisting of bandwidth, wireless channel, transmission rate, and frequency band (i.e. this is done via association request frame); further see Fig. 7 step 710 establishing a multi-link association), the association request comprising (i) a request to establish a first link with the first AP (see [0006- 0007].. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD ….In some implementations, the first link is an anchor link of the multi-link association; further see [0026]…. establishing the multi-link association includes communicating multi-link capability parameters between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD (i.e. here first/anchor link as a first link and first BSS of the AP MLD as a first AP) and (ii) a request to pre-establish a second link with the second AP (see [0006- 0007].. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD and further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD (i.e. second AP). …., the first link is an anchor link of the multi-link association and the second link is an auxiliary link of the multi-link association; further see [0018- 0019].. he first frame further includes a configuration for the second link………establishing the multi-link association includes communicating a configuration of the second link.. (i.e. here second/auxiliary link as a second link); now refer to [0027].. the multi-link capability parameters include at least a first value indicating a warm up time associated with a radio to activate the second link by the non-AP MLD (i.e. this warm up time is exchanged during association means the second link is set up (pre-established) at association time ready to be activated later).; further see Fig. 14 wherein step 1410…[0186].. non-AP MLD may establish a multi-link association with an AP MLD. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a first BSS of the AP MLD and may further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD; now see [0186] step 1420 the non-AP MLD may determine that the second link can be deactivated based (i.e. hence it was pre-established at association time), at least in part, on an amount of traffic for the second link being below a threshold amount.).
after performing the multi-link association, communicating with the first AP to exchange data at a first instance in time via the first link (see [0006]… The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link (i.e. data flows over the first link after association); further see Fig. 4A data is being transmitted on first link and second link is deactivated initially and second link is activated later time hence data exchange in the first link occurs at a first time instance while the second link is inactive; further see [0025].. some implementations, the method may include determining a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP) for the second link and activating the second link during the TWT SP (i.e. before TWT SP, data is exchanged on the first link at a first instance in time).),
wherein the first link and the second link are independently selectable for communication (see abstract;.. a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS).; further see [0037].. the method includes designating one of the first link or the second link as an anchor link of the multi-link association regardless of which link was used to establish the multi-link association; further see [0038].. changing a designation of the anchor link to another one of the first link or the second link,…).
But fails to clearly state about the indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP; however Ghosh states in [0011] and Fig. 1 about Embodiments are directed to an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) (AP MLD) comprising a plurality of affiliated access points (APs) including a first affiliated AP (AP1) and a second affiliated AP (AP2). In these embodiments, when the first affiliated AP (AP1) is configured to operate as a reporting AP, the reporting AP (i.e. first AP) may be configured to encode MLD information in a management frame for transmission to one or more STAs of a station MLD (STA MLD). In these embodiments, the MLD information may include a basic service set (BSS) identifier (ID) (BSSID) of the AP1 and may include a BSSID index of at least the AP2 when the AP2 is in a multiple BSSID (MBSSID) set that does not include the BSSID of the AP1. In these embodiments, the MLD information may further include at least one of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) period of the AP2….; further see [0015]; further see claims 19- 20. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ghosh with the teachings of Alfred to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP being received; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 2, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 1, further comprising, upon detecting that a condition is satisfied, communicating with the second AP to exchange data at a subsequent second point in time via the second link; already discussed above; Alfred see abstract… methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-readable media, for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS); further refer to [0006]… The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link (i.e. data flows over the first link after association); further see Fig. 4A data is being transmitted on first link and second link is deactivated initially and second link is activated later time (i.e. second instance) hence data exchange in the first link occurs at a first time instance while the second link is inactive; further see [0025].. some implementations, the method may include determining a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP) for the second link and activating the second link during the TWT SP (i.e. at second instance).
Regarding claim 3, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 2, wherein communicating with the second AP comprises refraining from transmitting a re-association frame to the second AP upon detecting that the condition is satisfied; Alfred see abstract and [0006 where second AP comprises is not transmitting a re-association frame to the second AP upon detecting that the condition is satisfied.
Regarding claim 5, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 2, further comprising, prior to communicating with the at least one second AP via the second link, transmitting a message to the second AP to enable the second link upon detecting that the condition is satisfied; Alfred see abstract… methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-readable media, for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS); further see Fig. 7 #710 and 720.
Regarding claim 6, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 2, further comprising transmitting a message to the first AP to disable the first link upon detecting that the condition is satisfied; see Fig. 6 (where second AP is our first AP and first AP as our second AP); Alfred as discussed above in abstract regarding based in the condition like load, throughput activation/deactivation of the links can be carried out; now refer to [0036].. , the indication to activate the second link is transmitted via a non-multiple-input-multiple-output (non-MIMO) communication via the first link. The method may include deactivating the second link or the first link during a MIMO communication via the other one of the second link or the first link; further see [0042] in above context (abstract and [0039]) about .. activating the second link includes deactivating the first link by causing the first STA interface to enter a doze state…; further see [0044].. The method may include deactivating the first link by causing the first STA to enter a doze state; further see [0166] and claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, Alfred teaches a computing device, comprising: a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to perform an operation comprising (see abstract and Fig. 1 and 2A regarding wireless communication method wherein #120 non-AP MLD as a computing device), comprising:
receiving, from a first access point (AP), an indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP (see [0003].. An AP (i.e. first AP) periodically broadcasts beacon frames so that a STA within wireless range of the AP can establish an association with the WLAN; further see [0030] the AP MLD (i.e. first AP) includes non-colocated APs (i.e. APs (first and second AP) having first link and second link i.e. seamlessly roaming without losing connection); further see Fig. 2A, where #110 (first AP is a multi link device) connected via two links (where #120 receives (i.e. through anchor link) from first AP (i.e. see [0030] non-colocated APs) information of the second AP);
performing a multi-link association, comprising transmitting an association request to the first AP (see [0006].. The method may include establishing a multi-link association between an access point (AP) MLD and a non-AP MLD. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD and further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD. The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link; further see abstract… for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS). The signaling also may include requests, acknowledgments, or negotiation regarding multi-link connections.; further see [0019]…. establishing the multi-link association includes communicating a configuration of the second link. The configuration may indicate one or more parameters selected from a group consisting of bandwidth, wireless channel, transmission rate, and frequency band (i.e. this is done via association request frame); further see Fig. 7 step 710 establishing a multi-link association), the association request comprising (i) a request to establish a first link with the first AP (see [0006- 0007].. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD ….In some implementations, the first link is an anchor link of the multi-link association; further see [0026]…. establishing the multi-link association includes communicating multi-link capability parameters between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD (i.e. here first/anchor link as a first link and first BSS of the AP MLD as a first AP) and (ii) a request to pre-establish a second link with the second AP (see [0006- 0007].. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD and further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD (i.e. second AP). …., the first link is an anchor link of the multi-link association and the second link is an auxiliary link of the multi-link association; further see [0018- 0019].. he first frame further includes a configuration for the second link………establishing the multi-link association includes communicating a configuration of the second link.. (i.e. here second/auxiliary link as a second link); now refer to [0027].. the multi-link capability parameters include at least a first value indicating a warm up time associated with a radio to activate the second link by the non-AP MLD (i.e. this warm up time is exchanged during association means the second link is set up (pre-established) at association time ready to be activated later).; further see Fig. 14 wherein step 1410…[0186].. non-AP MLD may establish a multi-link association with an AP MLD. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a first BSS of the AP MLD and may further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD; now see [0186] step 1420 the non-AP MLD may determine that the second link can be deactivated based (i.e. hence it was pre-established at association time), at least in part, on an amount of traffic for the second link being below a threshold amount.).
after performing the multi-link association, communicating with the first AP to exchange data at a first instance in time via the first link (see [0006]… The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link (i.e. data flows over the first link after association); further see Fig. 4A data is being transmitted on first link and second link is deactivated initially and second link is activated later time hence data exchange in the first link occurs at a first time instance while the second link is inactive; further see [0025].. some implementations, the method may include determining a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP) for the second link and activating the second link during the TWT SP (i.e. before TWT SP, data is exchanged on the first link at a first instance in time).),
wherein the first link and the second link are independently selectable for communication (see abstract;.. a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS).; further see [0037].. the method includes designating one of the first link or the second link as an anchor link of the multi-link association regardless of which link was used to establish the multi-link association; further see [0038].. changing a designation of the anchor link to another one of the first link or the second link,…).
But fails to clearly state about the indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP; however Ghosh states in [0011] and Fig. 1 about Embodiments are directed to an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) (AP MLD) comprising a plurality of affiliated access points (APs) including a first affiliated AP (AP1) and a second affiliated AP (AP2). In these embodiments, when the first affiliated AP (AP1) is configured to operate as a reporting AP, the reporting AP (i.e. first AP) may be configured to encode MLD information in a management frame for transmission to one or more STAs of a station MLD (STA MLD). In these embodiments, the MLD information may include a basic service set (BSS) identifier (ID) (BSSID) of the AP1 and may include a BSSID index of at least the AP2 when the AP2 is in a multiple BSSID (MBSSID) set that does not include the BSSID of the AP1. In these embodiments, the MLD information may further include at least one of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) period of the AP2….; further see [0015]; further see claims 19- 20. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ghosh with the teachings of Alfred to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP being received; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 12, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 11, wherein the operation further comprises, upon detecting that a condition is satisfied, communicating with the second AP to exchange data at a subsequent second point in time via the second link; already discussed above; Alfred see abstract… methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-readable media, for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS); further refer to [0006]… The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link (i.e. data flows over the first link after association); further see Fig. 4A data is being transmitted on first link and second link is deactivated initially and second link is activated later time (i.e. second instance) hence data exchange in the first link occurs at a first time instance while the second link is inactive; further see [0025].. some implementations, the method may include determining a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP) for the second link and activating the second link during the TWT SP (i.e. at second instance).
Regarding claim 13, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 12, wherein communicating with the second AP comprises refraining from transmitting a re-association frame to the second AP upon detecting that the condition is satisfied; Alfred see abstract and [0006 where second AP comprises is not transmitting a re-association frame to the second AP upon detecting that the condition is satisfied.
Regarding claim 15, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 12, wherein the operation further comprises, prior to communicating with the at least one second AP via the second link, transmitting a message to the second AP to enable the second link upon detecting that the condition is satisfied; Alfred see abstract… methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-readable media, for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS); further see Fig. 7 #710 and 720.
Regarding claim 16, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 12, wherein the operation further comprises transmitting a message to the first AP to disable the first link upon detecting that the condition is satisfied; see Fig. 6 (where second AP is our first AP and first AP as our second AP); Alfred as discussed above in abstract regarding based in the condition like load, throughput activation/deactivation of the links can be carried out; now refer to [0036].. , the indication to activate the second link is transmitted via a non-multiple-input-multiple-output (non-MIMO) communication via the first link. The method may include deactivating the second link or the first link during a MIMO communication via the other one of the second link or the first link; further see [0042] in above context (abstract and [0039]) about .. activating the second link includes deactivating the first link by causing the first STA interface to enter a doze state…; further see [0044].. The method may include deactivating the first link by causing the first STA to enter a doze state; further see [0166] and claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, Alfred teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable code, which when executed by one or more processors, performs an operation comprising (see abstract and Fig. 1 and 2A regarding wireless communication method):
receiving, from a first access point (AP), an indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP (see [0003].. An AP (i.e. first AP) periodically broadcasts beacon frames so that a STA within wireless range of the AP can establish an association with the WLAN; further see [0030] the AP MLD (i.e. first AP) includes non-colocated APs (i.e. APs (first and second AP) having first link and second link i.e. seamlessly roaming without losing connection); further see Fig. 2A, where #110 (first AP is a multi link device) connected via two links (where #120 receives (i.e. through anchor link) from first AP (i.e. see [0030] non-colocated APs) information of the second AP);
performing a multi-link association, comprising transmitting an association request to the first AP (see [0006].. The method may include establishing a multi-link association between an access point (AP) MLD and a non-AP MLD. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD and further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD. The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link; further see abstract… for signaling between an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) and a non-AP MLD that support multi-link communication in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some implementations, a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS). The signaling also may include requests, acknowledgments, or negotiation regarding multi-link connections.; further see [0019]…. establishing the multi-link association includes communicating a configuration of the second link. The configuration may indicate one or more parameters selected from a group consisting of bandwidth, wireless channel, transmission rate, and frequency band (i.e. this is done via association request frame); further see Fig. 7 step 710 establishing a multi-link association), the association request comprising (i) a request to establish a first link with the first AP (see [0006- 0007].. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD ….In some implementations, the first link is an anchor link of the multi-link association; further see [0026]…. establishing the multi-link association includes communicating multi-link capability parameters between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD (i.e. here first/anchor link as a first link and first BSS of the AP MLD as a first AP) and (ii) a request to pre-establish a second link with the second AP (see [0006- 0007].. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first station (STA) interface of the non-AP MLD and a first basic service set (BSS) of the AP MLD and further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD (i.e. second AP). …., the first link is an anchor link of the multi-link association and the second link is an auxiliary link of the multi-link association; further see [0018- 0019].. he first frame further includes a configuration for the second link………establishing the multi-link association includes communicating a configuration of the second link.. (i.e. here second/auxiliary link as a second link); now refer to [0027].. the multi-link capability parameters include at least a first value indicating a warm up time associated with a radio to activate the second link by the non-AP MLD (i.e. this warm up time is exchanged during association means the second link is set up (pre-established) at association time ready to be activated later).; further see Fig. 14 wherein step 1410…[0186].. non-AP MLD may establish a multi-link association with an AP MLD. The multi-link association may include a first link between a first STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a first BSS of the AP MLD and may further include a second link between a second STA interface of the non-AP MLD and a second BSS of the AP MLD; now see [0186] step 1420 the non-AP MLD may determine that the second link can be deactivated based (i.e. hence it was pre-established at association time), at least in part, on an amount of traffic for the second link being below a threshold amount.).
after performing the multi-link association, communicating with the first AP to exchange data at a first instance in time via the first link (see [0006]… The method may include sending or receiving signaling, via the first link, to activate or deactivate the second link (i.e. data flows over the first link after association); further see Fig. 4A data is being transmitted on first link and second link is deactivated initially and second link is activated later time hence data exchange in the first link occurs at a first time instance while the second link is inactive; further see [0025].. some implementations, the method may include determining a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP) for the second link and activating the second link during the TWT SP (i.e. before TWT SP, data is exchanged on the first link at a first instance in time).),
wherein the first link and the second link are independently selectable for communication (see abstract;.. a multi-link association may include a first link (referred to as an anchor link) and one or more other links (referred to as auxiliary links). The signaling may include control information to activate or deactivate auxiliary links dynamically based on communication load, throughput requirements, or quality of service (QoS).; further see [0037].. the method includes designating one of the first link or the second link as an anchor link of the multi-link association regardless of which link was used to establish the multi-link association; further see [0038].. changing a designation of the anchor link to another one of the first link or the second link,…).
But fails to clearly state about the indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP; however Ghosh states in [0011] and Fig. 1 about Embodiments are directed to an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) (AP MLD) comprising a plurality of affiliated access points (APs) including a first affiliated AP (AP1) and a second affiliated AP (AP2). In these embodiments, when the first affiliated AP (AP1) is configured to operate as a reporting AP, the reporting AP (i.e. first AP) may be configured to encode MLD information in a management frame for transmission to one or more STAs of a station MLD (STA MLD). In these embodiments, the MLD information may include a basic service set (BSS) identifier (ID) (BSSID) of the AP1 and may include a BSSID index of at least the AP2 when the AP2 is in a multiple BSSID (MBSSID) set that does not include the BSSID of the AP1. In these embodiments, the MLD information may further include at least one of a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) period of the AP2….; further see [0015]; further see claims 19- 20. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ghosh with the teachings of Alfred to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the indication of at least one second AP neighboring the first AP being received; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim(s) 4, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asterjadhi et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0007168 A1), hereafter Alfred in view of Ghosh et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0274574 A1) and further in view of Nam et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0232293 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 2, but Alfred is silent about wherein the condition comprises (i) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the first AP being less than a threshold and (ii) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the second AP being greater than the threshold; however Nam states in [0062- 0064] about roaming may refer to a series of operations (or processes) of switching the connection from a first AP to second AP while being connected to and communicating with the first AP ….Hereinafter, the roaming operation performed by the STA 301 is described in detail. In operation 810, the STA 301 may determine whether roaming is triggered (e.g., whether roaming is to be performed) while communicating with the currently connected AP 401. The STA 301 may monitor parameters (e.g., the received signal strength indicator (RSSI), the transmission (Tx) error rate, the signal to noise ratio (SNR), and/or the like including combinations and/or multiples thereof) of the AP 401 and may determine that roaming is to be performed if the monitored parameter value is less than or equal to a designated threshold value (e.g., 75 decibel-milliwatts (dBm) in the case of RSSI); see [0062] further refer to [0064]… The STA 301 may select a candidate AP (e.g., an AP which has an RSSI that is substantially 10 dBm higher than the currently connected AP 401, in the case of RSSI), which meets the criteria according to an AP selection criteria (e.g., parameters, such as RSSI, channel utilization, SNR, maximum link rate, and estimated throughput, channel, or band), among at least one found APs and determine a suitable AP (e.g., an AP with the highest RSSI) among the selected candidate APs as the target roaming AP 402. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Nam with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more reliable. Having a mechanism wherein the condition comprises (i) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the first AP being less than a threshold and (ii) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the second AP being greater than the threshold; greater way more reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 14, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 12, but Alfred is silent about wherein the condition comprises (i) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the first AP being less than a threshold and (ii) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the second AP being greater than the threshold; however Nam states in [0062- 0064] about roaming may refer to a series of operations (or processes) of switching the connection from a first AP to second AP while being connected to and communicating with the first AP ….Hereinafter, the roaming operation performed by the STA 301 is described in detail. In operation 810, the STA 301 may determine whether roaming is triggered (e.g., whether roaming is to be performed) while communicating with the currently connected AP 401. The STA 301 may monitor parameters (e.g., the received signal strength indicator (RSSI), the transmission (Tx) error rate, the signal to noise ratio (SNR), and/or the like including combinations and/or multiples thereof) of the AP 401 and may determine that roaming is to be performed if the monitored parameter value is less than or equal to a designated threshold value (e.g., 75 decibel-milliwatts (dBm) in the case of RSSI); see [0062] further refer to [0064]… The STA 301 may select a candidate AP (e.g., an AP which has an RSSI that is substantially 10 dBm higher than the currently connected AP 401, in the case of RSSI), which meets the criteria according to an AP selection criteria (e.g., parameters, such as RSSI, channel utilization, SNR, maximum link rate, and estimated throughput, channel, or band), among at least one found APs and determine a suitable AP (e.g., an AP with the highest RSSI) among the selected candidate APs as the target roaming AP 402. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Nam with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more reliable. Having a mechanism wherein the condition comprises (i) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the first AP being less than a threshold and (ii) a signal strength of one or more beacons from the second AP being greater than the threshold; greater way more reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Claim(s) 7, 17, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asterjadhi et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0007168 A1), hereafter Alfred in view of Ghosh et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0274574 A1) and further in view of Jiang et al. (EP 3849099 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 1, but Alfred is silent about performing the multi-link association further comprises generating security context information for each of the first link and the second link; however Jiang states in [0040] about .. if the STA wants to signal presence to multiple APs, it can transmit a broadcast or unicast or multicast frame that is expected to be parsed by all the APs. On receipt of this frame all recipient APs are aware of the STA's presence and can communicate to it during the SP. It is assumed that the STA has established security context with those APs during Multi-link or Multi-AP setup. This frame could be a Ctrl (e.g., PS-Poll) or Mgt frame or QoS-Null frame with the RA field set to a pre-agreed multicast address. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Jiang with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more efficient. Having a mechanism wherein establishing the first link with the first AP and pre-establishing the second link with the second AP comprises generating security context information for each of the first link and the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 17, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 11, but Alfred is silent about performing the multi-link association further comprises generating security context information for each of the first link and the second link; however Jiang states in [0040] about .. if the STA wants to signal presence to multiple APs, it can transmit a broadcast or unicast or multicast frame that is expected to be parsed by all the APs. On receipt of this frame all recipient APs are aware of the STA's presence and can communicate to it during the SP. It is assumed that the STA has established security context with those APs during Multi-link or Multi-AP setup. This frame could be a Ctrl (e.g., PS-Poll) or Mgt frame or QoS-Null frame with the RA field set to a pre-agreed multicast address. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Jiang with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more efficient. Having a mechanism wherein establishing the first link with the first AP and pre-establishing the second link with the second AP comprises generating security context information for each of the first link and the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 21, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 20, but Alfred is silent about wherein performing the multi-link association further comprises generating security context information for each of the first link and the second link; however Jiang states in [0040] about .. if the STA wants to signal presence to multiple APs, it can transmit a broadcast or unicast or multicast frame that is expected to be parsed by all the APs. On receipt of this frame all recipient APs are aware of the STA's presence and can communicate to it during the SP. It is assumed that the STA has established security context with those APs during Multi-link or Multi-AP setup. This frame could be a Ctrl (e.g., PS-Poll) or Mgt frame or QoS-Null frame with the RA field set to a pre-agreed multicast address. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Jiang with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more efficient. Having a mechanism wherein establishing the first link with the first AP and pre-establishing the second link with the second AP comprises generating security context information for each of the first link and the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim(s) 8, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asterjadhi et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0007168 A1), hereafter Alfred in view of Ghosh et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0274574 A1) and further in view of Luo et al. (US 2016/0198424 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 1, but Alfred is silent about receiving the indication of the at least one second AP comprises receiving a probe response message comprising an extended multi-link device information element; and the extended multi-link device information element comprises an extended multi-link device capability of the first AP and an identifier of the second link; however Luo states in [0276- 0277] about .. response message may be carried in a probe response (Probe Response) frame and the interface information response message includes an AP identifier, and only the AP (the second AP) having the capability of supporting a communications interface between APs sends the interface information response message including the AP identifier…..response message that is sent by the AP in the extended service set system and the coexistence system and that includes an AP identifier and interface type information is periodically received, and only the AP (the second AP) having the capability of supporting a communications interface between APs sends the Beacon frame including the AP identifier, and the interface information of the at least one second AP is acquired from the Beacon frame sent by the at least one second AP. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Luo with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more efficient. Having a mechanism about receiving the indication of the at least one second AP comprises receiving a probe response message comprising an extended multi-link device information element; and the extended multi-link device information element comprises an extended multi-link device capability of the first AP and an identifier of the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 18, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 11, but Alfred is silent about receiving the indication of the at least one second AP comprises receiving a probe response message comprising an extended multi-link device information element; and the extended multi-link device information element comprises an extended multi-link device capability of the first AP and an identifier of the second link; however Luo states in [0276- 0277] about .. response message may be carried in a probe response (Probe Response) frame and the interface information response message includes an AP identifier, and only the AP (the second AP) having the capability of supporting a communications interface between APs sends the interface information response message including the AP identifier…..response message that is sent by the AP in the extended service set system and the coexistence system and that includes an AP identifier and interface type information is periodically received, and only the AP (the second AP) having the capability of supporting a communications interface between APs sends the Beacon frame including the AP identifier, and the interface information of the at least one second AP is acquired from the Beacon frame sent by the at least one second AP. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Luo with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more efficient. Having a mechanism about receiving the indication of the at least one second AP comprises receiving a probe response message comprising an extended multi-link device information element; and the extended multi-link device information element comprises an extended multi-link device capability of the first AP and an identifier of the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim(s) 10, 19, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asterjadhi et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0007168 A1), hereafter Alfred in view of Ghosh et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0274574 A1) and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2023/0354146 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 1, but Alfred is silent about wherein the request to pre-establish the second link comprises an extended multi-link device information element comprising an identifier of the second link; however Kim teaches in claim 33 about .. the method comprising: receiving, by a first access point (AP), an Association Request frame from a first station (STA) affiliated with a multi-link device (MLD) through a first link among a plurality of links, wherein the Association Request frame comprises a link element field related to a second link which is in addition to the first link among the plurality of links, and the link element field carries profile information for a second STA related to the second link, wherein the link element field includes a first information field related to a link identifier (ID) of the second link and a second information field having a length of 1-bit related to whether complete profile information of the second STA is included in the link element field or partial profile information of the second STA is included in the link element field.. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Kim with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the request to pre-establish the second link comprises an extended multi-link device information element comprising an identifier of the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 22, Alfred in view of Ghosh teaches as per claim 20, but Alfred is silent about wherein the request to pre-establish the second link comprises an extended multi-link device information element comprising an identifier of the second link; however Kim teaches in claim 33 about .. the method comprising: receiving, by a first access point (AP), an Association Request frame from a first station (STA) affiliated with a multi-link device (MLD) through a first link among a plurality of links, wherein the Association Request frame comprises a link element field related to a second link which is in addition to the first link among the plurality of links, and the link element field carries profile information for a second STA related to the second link, wherein the link element field includes a first information field related to a link identifier (ID) of the second link and a second information field having a length of 1-bit related to whether complete profile information of the second STA is included in the link element field or partial profile information of the second STA is included in the link element field... It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Luo with the teachings of Alfred in view of Ghosh to make system more efficient. Having a mechanism about wherein the request to pre-establish the second link comprises an extended multi-link device information element comprising an identifier of the second link; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 form for considered prior arts for record.
Reference Kwon et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0266931 A1) teaches wherein the first-device is configured to be coupled to a second-device over an IEEE 802.11 communications link; and wherein the first-device is configured to, store a current setup between the first-device and the second-device; identify a unique identifier of the second-device; transmit a request frame to a third-device; wherein at least one of the second-device and third-device is a multi-link-device (MLD); wherein the request frame is configured to request an association with the third-device and includes the unique identifier of the second-device; receive a response frame from the third-device; and wherein the response frame includes an indication that request was successful.; see abstract.
Reference Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0014911 A1) teaches the frame may also include a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element carrying one or more neighbor AP information fields, each field of the one or more neighbor AP information fields carrying the unique link ID of a corresponding secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may further include an MLD common element or field carrying common attributes shared by each secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the AP MLD, and the RNR element may also include a control field indicating a presence or absence of one or more of the common attributes in the MLD common element or field; see [0012].
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
/PARTH PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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