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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/29/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 07/29/2026 have been fully considered, but are moot in view
of new ground of rejection presented in this office action, which better addresses the claims as amended.
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, 7, 9-10, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN et al. (US 20220393790 A1) in view of HUANG (US 20240283613 A1), and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20210320831 A1).
Regarding claim 1,
CHEN discloses “A station (STA) comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the STA to” (See Fig. 5B, ¶ [0024] FIG. 5B shows a block diagram of an example STA) “transmit a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) comprising” (See ¶ [0025] FIG. 6 shows an example PPDU usable for communications between an AP and a number of STAs): “a data field; a non-High Throughput (non-HT) signal field (L-SIG)” (See Fig. 6, [0066] The PPDU 600 includes a data field 626. [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble includes L-SIG 612) “comprising first parameters configured for demodulating the data field” (See [0054] The L-SIG includes a data rate field, a reserved bit, a length field, a parity bit, and a tail field); “a universal signal field (U-SIG) comprising second parameters configured for demodulating the data field, wherein the second parameters comprise a bandwidth of the PPDU” (See [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble includes a universal signal field (U-SIG) 616. [0068] U-SIG 616 may include signaling which may be carried in one or more version-independent fields 632, including a bandwidth subfield. The bandwidth subfield carries information indicating a bandwidth associated with the PPDU 600), “and wherein the U-SIG indicates a frequency- domain duplicate (DUP) mode in which the data field is duplicated in frequency” (See [0087] the PPDU type and compression mode subfield of U-SIG may be set to 1 and the MCS subfield of the user field in EHT-SIG may be set to a value representing EHT-MCS14, which indicates that the data portion of the PPDU 900 is transmitted in a DUP mode. See Fig. 7, [0075] FIG. 7 shows an example mapping of a data payload 702 to a set of tones or subcarriers for transmission over a wireless channel), “and a non-HT long training field (L-LTF) configured for estimating channel equalization coefficients for the L-SIG and the U-SIG” (See Fig. 6, [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble L-LTF 610. [0053] The L-LTF generally enables a receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation and also to perform an initial estimate of the wireless channel. Note: The channel estimation would inherently apply to subsequent fields
including the L-SIG and U-SIG fields).
CHEN discloses a signal field following the U-SIG field in Fig. 6, but does not explicitly disclose that the signal field comprises an indication that jointly indicates a GI duration and an LTF size.
However, HUANG discloses “a first signal field, following the U-SIG, wherein the first signal field comprises an indication that jointly indicates a guard interval (GI) duration and a size of one or more first long training field (LTF) symbols of the PPDU” (See Fig. 3, EHT-SIG field following the U-SIG field. [0080] The GI And EHT-LTF Type subfield indicates the value of the GI+LTF Size subfield of the EHT-SIG field of the solicited EHT MU PPDUs, i.e., indicates the GI duration and EHT-LTF size for the solicited EHT MU PPDUs), “the GI duration being applicable to the one or more first LTF symbols and to the data field” (See [0065] Each EHT-LTF symbol has the same GI duration as each data symbol).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN with the teachings of HUANG, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable the receiving STA to determine the applicable GI and LTF configuration, thereby facilitating reliable processing of the received PPDU.
CHEN in view of HUANG does not explicitly disclose that the L-LTF is configured for decoding
the data field.
However, PARK discloses “and a non-HT long training field (L-LTF) configured for decoding
the data field” (See [0162] an L-STA can decode the data field through the L-LTF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN and
HUANG with the teachings of PARK, and the motivation to do so would have been to
improve decoding reliability for receiving STAs processing the PPDU.
Regarding claim 7,
CHEN in view of HUANG and PARK discloses “The STA of claim 1, wherein the data field is duplicated in frequency according to a duplicate factor, the duplicate factor indicating a number of times a symbol of the data field is duplicated to fill the bandwidth of the PPDU” (See CHEN Fig. 7, [0075] FIG. 7 shows an example mapping of a data payload 702 to a set of tones or subcarriers for transmission over a wireless channel. [0076] the logical RU 704 may include any suitable number of tones. DCM is a modulation technique that encodes the same user data 701 on two tones or subcarriers of the logical RU 704. [0077] In a duplicate transmission, the logical RU 704 is duplicated across the pair of physical RUs 706 and 708. For example, the logical RU 704 may be mapped to a number (N) of subcarrier indices spanning the first RU 706 and also mapped to N subcarrier indices spanning the second RU 708. As a result, the first RU 706 carries the same information as the second RU 708. Because the information in the logical RU 704 is mapped to each of the physical RUs 706 and 708, the user data 701 is effectively transmitted 4 times (in the frequency domain) on 2N subcarrier indices spanning the bandwidth of the RUs 706 and 708, which occupies a 160 MHz- wide channel).
Regarding claim 9,
CHEN in view of HUANG and PARK discloses “The STA of claim 7, wherein the U-SIG or the first signal field comprises an indication of a number of the one or more first LTF symbols in the PPDU” (See HUANG [0080] The Number Of EHT-LTF Symbols subfield indicates the value of the Number Of EHT-LTF Symbols subfield of the EHT-SIG field of the solicited EHT MU PPDUs, i.e., indicates the number of EHT-LTF symbols in the solicited EHT MU PPDUs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN with the teachings of HUANG, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable the receiving STA to determine the number of LTF symbols in order to properly process the received PPDU.
Regarding claim 10,
CHEN discloses “A station (STA) comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the STA to” (See Fig. 5B, ¶ [0024] FIG. 5B shows a block diagram of an example STA) “receive a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) comprising” (See ¶ [0025] FIG. 6 shows an example PPDU usable for communications between an AP and a number of STAs): “a data field; a non-High Throughput (non-HT) signal field (L-SIG)” (See Fig. 6, [0066] The PPDU 600 includes a data field 626. [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble includes L-SIG 612) “comprising first parameters configured for demodulating the data field” (See [0054] The L-SIG includes a data rate field, a reserved bit, a length field, a parity bit, and a tail field); “a universal signal field (U-SIG) comprising second parameters configured for demodulating the data field, wherein the second parameters comprise a bandwidth of the PPDU” (See [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble includes a universal signal field (U-SIG) 616. [0068] U-SIG 616 may include signaling which may be carried in one or more version-independent fields 632, including a bandwidth subfield. The bandwidth subfield carries information indicating a bandwidth associated with the PPDU 600), “and wherein the U-SIG indicates a frequency- domain duplicate (DUP) mode in which the data field is duplicated in frequency” (See [0087] the PPDU type and compression mode subfield of U-SIG may be set to 1 and the MCS subfield of the user field in EHT-SIG may be set to a value representing EHT-MCS14, which indicates that the data portion of the PPDU 900 is transmitted in a DUP mode. See Fig. 7, [0075] FIG. 7 shows an example mapping of a data payload 702 to a set of tones or subcarriers for transmission over a wireless channel), “and a non-HT long training field (L-LTF) configured for estimating channel equalization coefficients for the L-SIG and the U-SIG” (See Fig. 6, [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble L-LTF 610. [0053] The L-LTF generally enables a receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation and also to perform an initial estimate of the wireless channel. Note: The channel estimation would inherently apply to subsequent fields
including the L-SIG and U-SIG fields).
CHEN discloses a signal field following the U-SIG field in Fig. 6, but does not explicitly disclose that the signal field comprises an indication that jointly indicates a GI duration and an LTF size.
However, HUANG discloses “a first signal field, following the U-SIG, wherein the first signal field comprises an indication that jointly indicates a guard interval (GI) duration and a size of one or more first long training field (LTF) symbols of the PPDU” (See Fig. 3, EHT-SIG field following the U-SIG field. [0080] The GI And EHT-LTF Type subfield indicates the value of the GI+LTF Size subfield of the EHT-SIG field of the solicited EHT MU PPDUs, i.e., indicates the GI duration and EHT-LTF size for the solicited EHT MU PPDUs), “the GI duration being applicable to the one or more first LTF symbols and to the data field” (See [0065] Each EHT-LTF symbol has the same GI duration as each data symbol).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN with the teachings of HUANG, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable the receiving STA to determine the applicable GI and LTF configuration, thereby facilitating reliable processing of the received PPDU.
CHEN in view of HUANG does not explicitly disclose that the L-LTF is configured for decoding
the data field.
However, PARK discloses “and a non-HT long training field (L-LTF) configured for decoding
the data field” (See [0162] an L-STA can decode the data field through the L-LTF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN and
HUANG with the teachings of PARK, and the motivation to do so would have been to
improve decoding reliability for receiving STAs processing the PPDU.
Regarding claim 16, these limitations are rejected on the same ground as claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, these limitations are rejected on the same ground as claim 9.
Regarding claim 19,
CHEN discloses “A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a station (STA), cause the STA to” (See Fig. 5B, ¶ [0024] FIG. 5B shows a block diagram of an example STA. [0063] The memory also can store non-transitory processor- or computer-executable software (SW) code containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform various operations described herein for wireless communication) “transmit a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) comprising” (See ¶ [0025] FIG. 6 shows an example PPDU usable for communications between an AP and a number of STAs): “a data field; a non-High Throughput (non-HT) signal field (L-SIG)” (See Fig. 6, [0066] The PPDU 600 includes a data field 626. [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble includes L-SIG 612) “comprising first parameters configured for demodulating the data field” (See [0054] The L-SIG includes a data rate field, a reserved bit, a length field, a parity bit, and a tail field); “a universal signal field (U-SIG) comprising second parameters configured for demodulating the data field, wherein the second parameters comprise a bandwidth of the PPDU” (See [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble includes a universal signal field (U-SIG) 616. [0068] U-SIG 616 may include signaling which may be carried in one or more version-independent fields 632, including a bandwidth subfield. The bandwidth subfield carries information indicating a bandwidth associated with the PPDU 600), “and wherein the U-SIG indicates a frequency-domain duplicate (DUP) mode in which the data field is duplicated in frequency” (See [0087] the PPDU type and compression mode subfield of U-SIG may be set to 1 and the MCS subfield of the user field in EHT-SIG may be set to a value representing EHT-MCS14, which indicates that the data portion of the PPDU 900 is transmitted in a DUP mode. See Fig. 7, [0075] FIG. 7 shows an example mapping of a data payload 702 to a set of tones or subcarriers for transmission over a wireless channel), “and a non-HT long training field (L-LTF) configured for estimating channel equalization coefficients for the L-SIG and the U-SIG” (See Fig. 6, [0067] The first portion 602 of the PHY preamble L-LTF 610. [0053] The L-LTF generally enables a receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation and also to perform an initial estimate of the wireless channel. Note: The channel estimation would inherently apply to subsequent fields
including the L-SIG and U-SIG fields).
CHEN discloses a signal field following the U-SIG field in Fig. 6, but does not explicitly disclose that the signal field comprises an indication that jointly indicates a GI duration and an LTF size.
However, HUANG discloses “a first signal field, following the U-SIG, wherein the first signal field comprises an indication that jointly indicates a guard interval (GI) duration and a size of one or more first long training field (LTF) symbols of the PPDU” (See Fig. 3, EHT-SIG field following the U-SIG field. [0080] The GI And EHT-LTF Type subfield indicates the value of the GI+LTF Size subfield of the EHT-SIG field of the solicited EHT MU PPDUs, i.e., indicates the GI duration and EHT-LTF size for the solicited EHT MU PPDUs), “the GI duration being applicable to the one or more first LTF symbols and to the data field” (See [0065] Each EHT-LTF symbol has the same GI duration as each data symbol).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN with the teachings of HUANG, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable the receiving STA to determine the applicable GI and LTF configuration, thereby facilitating reliable processing of the received PPDU.
CHEN in view of HUANG does not explicitly disclose that the L-LTF is configured for decoding
the data field.
However, PARK discloses “and a non-HT long training field (L-LTF) configured for decoding
the data field” (See [0162] an L-STA can decode the data field through the L-LTF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN and
HUANG with the teachings of PARK, and the motivation to do so would have been to
improve decoding reliability for receiving STAs processing the PPDU.
Regarding claim 20, these limitations are rejected on the same ground as claim 7.
Claims 2-4 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN et al. (US 20220393790 A1) in view of HUANG (US 20240283613 A1), and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20210320831 A1), and further in view of LEE et al. (US 20150334708 A1).
Regarding claims 2 and 21,
CHEN in view of HUANG and PARK discloses claim 2 of “The STA of claim 1” and claim 21 of “The non-transitory computer-readable medium, of claim 19”, but does not explicitly disclose selecting the subcarrier spacing of the data field from a set of a first and second subcarrier spacings.
However, LEE discloses “wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more
processors, further cause the station to select a subcarrier spacing of the data field from a set comprising a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing” (See [0180] an OFDMA scheme where transmission performed on the sub band by using the reduced subcarrier spacing is referred to as a narrow band reduced subcarrier spacing OFDMA (NB-RSS-OFDMA) scheme. [0197] Differently from the NB-RSS-OFDMA transmission, the subcarrier spacing may remain the same as the legacy compatible part without being reduced. Hereinafter, this transmission scheme is referred to as a narrow band OFDMA (NB-OFDMA) transmission. [0229] Referring to FIG. 50, a transmitting device can select NB-OFDMA or NB-RSS-OFDMA based on a current condition). Note: the STA selects between NB-OFDMA (non-reduced spacing) and NB-RSS-OFDMA (reduced spacing) for NB OFDMA transmission. Since the data field is transmitted using the same OFDMA transmission, the selected subcarrier spacing is applied to the data field.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN, HUANG and PARK, with the teachings of LEE, and the motivation to do so would have been to select an appropriate subcarrier spacing based on current channel conditions, thereby achieving optimal performance (LEE [0230-0235]).
Regarding claims 3 and 22,
CHEN in view of HUANG, PARK and LEE disclose claim 3 of “The STA of claim 2” and claim 22 of “The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21”, “wherein the first subcarrier spacing is equal to a subcarrier spacing of the L- LTF” (See LEE [0197] Differently from the NB-RSS- OFDMA transmission, the subcarrier spacing may remain the same as the legacy compatible part without being reduced. Hereinafter, this transmission scheme is referred to as a narrow band OFDMA (NB-OFDMA) transmission. See LEE [0123] The legacy compatible part includes a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF). Note: The first subcarrier spacing (NB- OFDMA) is equal to the subcarrier spacing of the legacy part including legacy L-LTF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN, HUANG and PARK, with the teachings of LEE, and the motivation to do so would have been to select an appropriate subcarrier spacing based on current channel conditions, thereby achieving optimal performance (LEE [0230-0235]).
Regarding claims 4 and 23,
CHEN in view of HUANG, PARK and LEE disclose claim 4 of “The STA of claim 3” and claim 23 of “The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22”, “wherein the first subcarrier spacing is a fraction or a multiple of the subcarrier spacing of the L-LTF” (See LEE [0180] Subcarrier spacing that is reduced than subcarrier spacing (hereinafter referred to as “normal subcarrier spacing”) of a legacy compatible part is applied to the sub-band. Hereinafter, an OFDMA scheme where transmission performed on the sub-band by using the reduced subcarrier spacing is referred to as a narrow band reduced subcarrier spacing OFDMA (NB-RSS-OFDMA) scheme. [0182] In some embodiments, when a band is divided into N sub bands, subcarrier spacing corresponding to 1/N of the normal subcarrier spacing may be used as the reduced subcarrier spacing. Note: The second subcarrier spacing (NB- RSS-OFDMA) is a fraction of the subcarrier spacing of the legacy part including legacy L-LTF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN, HUANG and PARK, with the teachings of LEE, and the motivation to do so would have been to select an appropriate subcarrier spacing based on current channel conditions, thereby achieving optimal performance (LEE [0230-0235]).
Claims 11-13 and 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN et al. (US 20220393790 A1) in view of HUANG (US 20240283613 A1), and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20210320831 A1), and further in view of LEE et al. (US 20150334708 A1), and further in view of CARIOU et al. (US 20250202746 A1).
Regarding claim 11,
CHEN in view of HUANG and PARK discloses “The STA of claim 10”, but does not explicitly disclose determining the subcarrier spacing of the data field from a set of a first and second subcarrier spacings.
However, LEE discloses “wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more
processors, further cause the station to determine a subcarrier spacing of the data field from a set comprising a first subcarrier spacing and a second subcarrier spacing” (See [0180] an OFDMA scheme where transmission performed on the sub band by using the reduced subcarrier spacing is referred to as a narrow band reduced subcarrier spacing OFDMA (NB-RSS-OFDMA) scheme. [0197] Differently from the NB-RSS-OFDMA transmission, the subcarrier spacing may remain the same as the legacy compatible part without being reduced. Hereinafter, this transmission scheme is referred to as a narrow band OFDMA (NB-OFDMA) transmission. [0229] Referring to FIG. 50, a transmitting device can select NB-OFDMA or NB-RSS-OFDMA based on a current condition). Note: the STA selects between NB-OFDMA (non-reduced spacing) and NB-RSS-OFDMA (reduced spacing) for NB OFDMA transmission. Since the data field is transmitted using the same OFDMA transmission, the selected subcarrier spacing is applied to the data field.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN, HUANG and PARK, with the teachings of LEE, and the motivation to do so would have been to select an appropriate subcarrier spacing based on current channel conditions, thereby achieving optimal performance (LEE [0230-0235]).
CHEN, in view of HUANG, PARK and LEE does not explicitly disclose that the subcarrier spacing is determined based on parameters in the U-SIG field.
However, CARIOU discloses “determine a subcarrier spacing of the data field based on the second parameters” (See [0053] In this PPDU structure, the W8-SIG contains a sort of universal SIG field, which will contain: [0055] a field that parametrizes the subcarrier spacing for the rest of the PPDU).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN, HUANG, PARK and LEE with the teachings of CARIOU, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable efficient and reliable demodulation of the data field by signaling the subcarrier spacing information.
Regarding claim 12,
CHEN in view of HUANG, PARK, LEE and CARIOU discloses “The STA of claim 11, wherein the first subcarrier spacing is equal to a subcarrier spacing of the L-LTF” (See LEE [0197] Differently from the NB-RSS- OFDMA transmission, the subcarrier spacing may remain the same as the legacy compatible part without being reduced. Hereinafter, this transmission scheme is referred to as a narrow band OFDMA (NB-OFDMA) transmission. See LEE [0123] The legacy compatible part includes a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF). Note: The first subcarrier spacing (NB- OFDMA) is equal to the subcarrier spacing of the legacy part including legacy L-LTF).
Regarding claim 13,
CHEN, in view of HUANG, PARK, LEE and CARIOU discloses “The STA of claim 12, wherein the second subcarrier spacing is a fraction or a multiple of the subcarrier spacing of the L-LTF” (See LEE [0180] Subcarrier spacing that is reduced than subcarrier spacing (hereinafter referred to as “normal subcarrier spacing”) of a legacy compatible part is applied to the sub-band. Hereinafter, an OFDMA scheme where transmission performed on the sub-band by using the reduced subcarrier spacing is referred to as a narrow band reduced subcarrier spacing OFDMA (NB-RSS-OFDMA) scheme. [0182] In some embodiments, when a band is divided into N sub bands, subcarrier spacing corresponding to 1/N of the normal subcarrier spacing may be used as the reduced subcarrier spacing. Note: The second subcarrier spacing (NB- RSS-OFDMA) is a fraction of the subcarrier spacing of the legacy part including legacy L-LTF).
Regarding claims 24-25,
CHEN in view of HUANG, PARK and LEE discloses claim 24 of “The non-transitory computer-
readable medium of claim 21” and claim 25 of “The STA of claim 2”, and also discloses selecting between first and second subcarrier spacings (See LEE [0229]), but does not explicitly disclose that the U-SIG indicates whether the data field is encoded using the first or the second subcarrier spacing.
However, CARIOU discloses “wherein the U-SIG indicates whether the data field is encoded using the first subcarrier spacing or the second subcarrier spacing” (See [0053] In this PPDU structure, the W8-SIG contains a sort of universal SIG field, which will contain: [0055] a field that parametrizes the subcarrier spacing for the rest of the PPDU).
CARIOU teaches that the U-SIG includes parameters for the subcarrier spacing of the PPDU
(including the data field), while LEE teaches selecting between first (non-reduced) and
second (reduced) subcarrier spacings. It would have been obvious to signal the selected
subcarrier spacing of LEE using the U-SIG field of CARIOU so that a receiving STA can
properly demodulate and the decode the PPDU/ data field.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of CHEN, HUANG, PARK and LEE with the teachings of CARIOU, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable efficient and reliable demodulation of the data field by signaling the subcarrier spacing information.
Regarding claim 26,
CHEN in view of HUANG, PARK, LEE and CARIOU discloses “The STA of claim 11, wherein the U-SIG indicates whether the data field is encoded using the first subcarrier spacing or the second subcarrier spacing” (See CARIOU [0053] In this PPDU structure, the W8-SIG contains a sort of universal SIG field, which will contain: [0055] a field that parametrizes the subcarrier spacing for the rest of the PPDU. See LEE [0229] Referring to FIG. 50, a transmitting device can select NB-OFDMA (non-reduced subcarrier spacing) or NB-RSS-OFDMA (reduced subcarrier spacing) based on a current condition).
CARIOU teaches that the U-SIG includes parameters for the subcarrier spacing of the PPDU
(including the data field), while LEE teaches selecting between first (non-reduced) and
second (reduced) subcarrier spacings. It would have been obvious to signal the selected
subcarrier spacing of LEE using the U-SIG field of CARIOU so that a receiving STA can
properly demodulate and the decode the PPDU/ data field.
Conclusion
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/SALMA AYAD/Examiner, Art Unit 2462
/YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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