CTNF 18/187,511 CTNF 81018 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (US 2025/0393090) . Regarding claim 1, Huang teaches an apparatus of a station device (STA) [Figs. 5-6], the station device comprising processing circuitry coupled to storage, the processing circuitry configured to: identify a frame (communication frame) received from a first access point to which the station device is associated while being associated to a second access point that is not collocated with the first access point (see “501: An AP sends a communication frame , and correspondingly, a STA receives the communication frame” [par148] and “The AP may be an AP that is in a collocated AP MLD affiliated with a non-collocated AP MLD and that is affiliated with the collocated AP MLD” [par 149] and “Optionally, when the non-AP MLD is not only located in the coverage area of the collocated AP MLD 1, but also located in the coverage area of the collocated AP MLD 2 , both the collocated AP MLD 1 and the collocated AP MLD 2 may perform data transmission with the non-AP MLD” [par 188; Fig. 9A] which in combination suggests STA of a non-AP MLD may receive a frame from a first AP of AP MLD 1 while being in the coverage area, or “ associated ” as claimed, with a second AP of AP MLD 2 which is no collocated with the first AP because it is in AP MLD 2); decode (parse) a traffic identifier (TID) in the frame, the TID indicative of a type of traffic associated with the frame (see “For information obtained by parsing the communication frame by the STA, refer to descriptions of a multi link element in the communication frame described below, refer to descriptions of a TID-to-link mapping element in the communication frame described below…” [par 155] wherein TID-to-link mapping by definition is a Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) feature within Multi-Link Operation (MLO) that assigns specific traffic types (TIDs), such as voice or video, to dedicated radio frequency bands (2.4, 5, or 6 GHz)); and select, based on the TID, either a first communication link to the first access point or a second communication link to the second access point for the type of traffic (see “For example, the TID-to link mapping element may include a collocated AP MLD ID field 1 (for example, corresponding to a collocated AP MLD 1 ), a link ID bitmap field 1, a collocated AP MLD ID field 2 (for example, corresponding to a collocated AP MLD 2 )…” [par 183] which suggests the STA may select a first AP from AP MLD 1 or a second AP from AP MLD 2 for communication based on the received TID-to-link mapping) Regarding claim 2, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first access point is part of a first collocated AP multi-link device (AP MLD) (Collocated AP MLD 1) comprising multiple first access points, wherein the second access point is part of a second collocated AP MLD (Collocated AP MLD 2) comprising multiple second access points, and wherein the station device is associated to an extended service set (ESS) of the first access point and the second access point (see Fig. 9A and “…both the collocated AP MLD 1 and the collocated AP MLD 2 may perform data transmission with the non-AP MLD which suggest the non-AP MLD or STA may be in the ESS of the AP MLD 1 and AP MLD 2). Regarding claim 3, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein at least one access point of the first collocated AP MLD and at least one access point of the second collocated AP MLD are incorporated into a non-collocated AP MLD (see Fig. 9A). Regarding claim 4, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the TID maps to the multiple first access points of the first collocated AP MLD (AP MLD 1) or to the multiple second access points of the second collocated AP MLD (AP MLD 2) (see “for example, corresponding to a collocated AP MLD 1 ), a link ID bitmap field 1, a collocated AP MLD ID field 2 (for example, corresponding to a collocated AP MLD 2 ) …” [par 183]. Regarding claim 5, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the frame is an 802.11 management frame (see “In an example, the communication frame may be generated by the AP. For example, the communication frame may be a management frame after a link is established between the AP and the STA, for example, a channel switching announcement” [par 151]), and wherein the TID maps to a subset of the multiple first access points of the first collocated AP MLD or to a subset of the multiple second access points of the second collocated AP MLD (see “As shown in FIG. 1, an AP MLD includes an AP 1, an AP 2, ... , and an APn” [par 123] which suggests the AP MLD 1 and AP MLD 2 information in the TID-to-link mapping element maps to a subset of access points). Regarding claim 6, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the multiple first access points use a same packet number space for replay detection (see “For example, the high MAC layer mainly completes operations such as allocation, encryption, and decryption on a sequence number (SN) and a packet number (PN) of a MAC service data unit (MSDU)” [par 125]). Regarding claim 7, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first access point is an access point of a first AP MLD (Collocated AP MLD 1) , wherein the second access point is an access point of a second AP MLD (Collocated AP MLD 2) , and wherein the first AP MLD and the second AP MLD are incorporated into an AP multi-MLD (see Fig. 12B Collocated AP MLD 0-2 is connected to non-AP MLD). Regarding claim 8, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the TID maps to either the first AP MLD (AP MLD 1) or to the second AP MLD (AP MLD 2) , wherein a first link identifier (link ID bitmap field 1) maps to the first AP MLD, and wherein a second link identifier (link ID bitmap field 2) maps to the second AP MLD (see “For example, the TID-to link mapping element may include a collocated AP MLD ID field 1 (for example, corresponding to a collocated AP MLD 1 ), a link ID bitmap field 1 , a collocated AP MLD ID field 2 (for example, corresponding to a collocated AP MLD 2), a link ID bitmap field 2 …” [par 183]). Regarding claim 9, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first AP MLD uses a first packet number space for replay detection, and wherein the second AP MLD uses a second packet number space for replay detection (see “For example, the high MAC layer mainly completes operations such as allocation, encryption, and decryption on a sequence number (SN) and a packet number (PN) of a MAC service data unit (MSDU)” [par 125]). Regarding claim 10, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first access point is part of a primary access point comprising a medium access control (MAC) service access point (SAP) (see Fig. 4, AP MLD upper MAC sublayer MAC SAP 7), and wherein the second access point is part of a dependent access point without a MAC SAP (see Fig. 4, MAC SAP 1-6). Regarding claim 11, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the primary access point uses a first packet number space for replay detection, and wherein the dependent access point uses a second packet number space for replay detection (see “For example, the high MAC layer mainly completes operations such as allocation, encryption, and decryption on a sequence number (SN) and a packet number (PN) of a MAC service data unit (MSDU)” [par 125]). Regarding claim 12, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals comprising the frame (see “The transceiver unit 1302 is configured to perform a receiving/sending-related operation of the STA in the foregoing method embodiments” [par 293]). Regarding claim 13, Huang teaches the apparatus of claim 12, further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver to receive the frame (see “The transceiver 1410 may include a control circuit and an antenna ” [par 334]). Claims 14 and 18 recite subject matter similar to claim 1 and are therefore rejected on the same basis. Claims 15 and 19 recite subject matter similar to claim 2 and are therefore rejected on the same basis. Claims 16 recites subject matter similar to claim 3 and is therefore rejected on the same basis. Claims 17 recites subject matter similar to claim 10 and is therefore rejected on the same basis. Claims 20 recites subject matter similar to claim 7 and is therefore rejected on the same basis. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nam T Huynh whose telephone number is (571)272-5970. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Slater can be reached at 571-270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NAM T HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647 Application/Control Number: 18/187,511 Page 2 Art Unit: 2647 Application/Control Number: 18/187,511 Page 3 Art Unit: 2647 Application/Control Number: 18/187,511 Page 4 Art Unit: 2647 Application/Control Number: 18/187,511 Page 5 Art Unit: 2647 Application/Control Number: 18/187,511 Page 6 Art Unit: 2647 Application/Control Number: 18/187,511 Page 7 Art Unit: 2647
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