DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 3, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
3. The outstanding rejections of Claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 are withdrawn in light of Applicant's amendment to Claims 1 and 15 filed on April 3, 2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement(s) submitted on February 12, 2026 and April 20, 2026 have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 of this title, 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.
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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 10-13, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2020/0137690 A1), in view of Nurchis et al. (“Target Wake Time: Scheduled Access in IEEE 802.11AX WLANs”, April 2019), and Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0159571 A1).
Min et al. teach a first Access Point (AP) (Fig.1 @ 102) comprising:
circuitry (Fig.8 @ 806), which in operation, generates a request frame (read as TWT frame (Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135])) indicating one or more service periods (SPs) between the first AP and a second AP (read as “… the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig.1 @ 102 and 104, 8 @ 800, and 9 @ 900; Paragraph [0127]) Also, “existing TWT elements and frame formats can be modified/extended to signal additional information.”(Fig(s).5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135])); and
a transmitter, which in operation, transmits the request frame to the second AP. (Fig.1 @ 102, 104 and Fig.8 @ 810)
However, Min et al. fail to explicitly teach initiating a negotiation for one or more service periods (SPs) coordinated between the first AP and a second AP;
wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP to one or more stations (STAs) associated with the second AP, the control frame including information on the one or more SPs of the first AP.
Nurchis et al. teach a method for initiating a negotiation for one or more service periods (SPs) coordinated between the first AP and a second AP (read as negotiation phase for a TWT agreement (page 145); For example, “… each AP communicates the desired period(s) of time for its own TWT session(s) to a central entity, or directly to the other APs, a kind of TDMA scheduling for the OBSSs can be found.”(page 149) For example, “the requesting station sends a TWT Request message to the responding station.”(page 145) Further, the request frames can comprise of a specific type (e.g.: Suggest, Request, Demand) (page 145));
the control frame (read as beacon(s)) including information on the one or more SPs of the first AP.(read as “beacons carry the necessary information about the Broadcast TWT session that allow the involved stations to follow the session schedule. In addition, the AP may also broadcast any update on the TWT parameters' set of the session so that all the involved stations can properly update it.”(page 146))
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 employ the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement and the function for generating beacons as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
However, Min et al. and Nurchis et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP to one or more stations (STAs) associated with the second AP,
Zhou et al. teach a method wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP (read as AP2 (Fig.4)) to one or more stations (STAs) (read as STA (Fig.4)) associated with the second AP (read as “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.”(Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])),
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 employ the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station as taught by Zhou et al. and the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of improving broadcast services to devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 15, Min et al. teach a communication method (Fig(s).1 and 5A-5E) comprising:
generating a request frame (read as TWT frame (Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135])) indicating one or more service periods (SPs) between the first AP and a second AP (read as “… the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig.1 @ 102 , 8 @ 800, and 9 @ 900; Paragraph [0127]) Also, “existing TWT elements and frame formats can be modified/extended to signal additional information.”(Fig(s).5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135])); and
transmitting, by the first AP, the request frame to the second AP. (Fig.1 @ 102, 104 and Fig.8 @ 810)
However, Min et al. fail to explicitly teach initiating a negotiation for one or more service periods (SPs) coordinated between the first AP and a second AP;
wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP to one or more stations (STAs) associated with the second AP, the control frame including information on the one or more SPs of the first AP.
Nurchis et al. teach a method for initiating a negotiation for one or more service periods (SPs) coordinated between the first AP and a second AP (read as negotiation phase for a TWT agreement (page 145); For example, “… each AP communicates the desired period(s) of time for its own TWT session(s) to a central entity, or directly to the other APs, a kind of TDMA scheduling for the OBSSs can be found.”(page 149) For example, “the requesting station sends a TWT Request message to the responding station.”(page 145) Further, the request frames can comprise of a specific type (e.g.: Suggest, Request, Demand) (page 145));
the control frame (read as beacon(s)) including information on the one or more SPs of the first AP.(read as “beacons carry the necessary information about the Broadcast TWT session that allow the involved stations to follow the session schedule. In addition, the AP may also broadcast any update on the TWT parameters' set of the session so that all the involved stations can properly update it.”(page 146))
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 employ the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement and the function for generating beacons as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP to one or more stations (STAs) associated with the second AP.
However, Min et al. and Nurchis et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP to one or more stations (STAs) associated with the second AP,
Zhou et al. teach a method wherein, a control frame is transmitted by the second AP (read as AP2 (Fig.4)) to one or more stations (STAs) (read as STA (Fig.4)) associated with the second AP (read as “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.”(Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])),
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 employ the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station (STA) as taught by Zhou et al. and the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of improving broadcast services to devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 2, and as applied to claim 1 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) comprising
a receiver, which in operation, receives a response frame from the second AP (Fig(s).1, 8 @ 810),
the response frame transmitted in response to the request frame (read as TWT response (Fig(s).1 and 5A-5E));
wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit frames to one or more associated STAs to setup Scheduled SPs that overlap with the SPs coordinated between the first AP and the second AP. (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig.1; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135]))
Regarding claim 3, and as applied to claim 2 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the request frame and the response frame are target wait time (TWT) Setup frames and the SPs coordinated between the first AP and the second AP are TWT SPs. (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig(s).5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135]))
Regarding claim 5, and as applied to claim 3 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the TWT Setup frames received from the second AP (Fig(s).1 @ 104, 5A-5E, and 8) also carry identity information of one or more other APs that are also members of the SPs coordinated between the first AP and the second AP. (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig(s).5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135]))
Regarding claim 10, and as applied to claim 1 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1@ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) comprising a receiver (Fig.8 @ 810), which in operation, receives a frame transmitted by the second AP, the frame being one of a Beacon frame, Action frame or Data frame (read as AP Beacon (Fig(s).5A-5E)); and
wherein the circuitry is configured to extract information of SPs associated with the second AP from the received frame.(Fig.8 @ 806)
Regarding claim 11, and as applied to claim 10 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) clearly shows and discloses a first AP wherein the SPs coordinated between the first AP and the second AP are target wait time (TWT) SPs. (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig(s).5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135]))
Regarding claim 12, and as applied to claim 11 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit a TWT Setup Request frame to the second AP for requesting to join one or more of the second AP's associated SPs.(Fig(s).5A-5E and 8 @ 810)
Regarding claim 13, and as applied to claim 10 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit frames to one or more associated STAs to setup Scheduled SPs that do not overlap with the second AP's associated SPs. (Fig(s).5A-5E and 8 @ 810)
Regarding claim 16, and as applied to claim 1 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the control frame is a beacon frame. (read as beacon frames (Fig(s).1 @ 104, 4A; 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph [0102])
Regarding claim 17, and as applied to claim 16 above, Min et al. teach a first AP (read as “the STA 1 (or the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph [0127])
Zhou et al. teach “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.” (Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])
However, Min et al. and Zhou et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the beacon frame includes a target wait time (TWT) element indicating a Broadcast TWT and a TWT Wake Interval.
Nurchis et al. teach a method wherein the beacon frame includes a target wait time (TWT) element indicating a Broadcast TWT and a TWT Wake Interval. (read as a Broadcast TWT ID and TWT Wake Interval mantissa (Fig.3, page 145))
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 employ the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station (STA) as taught by Zhou et al. and the TWT frame architecture comprising of a Broadcast TWT ID and TWT Wake Interval mantissa as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 18, and as applied to claim 1 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the receiver, in operation, receives a response frame transmitted from the second AP in response to the request frame, and the request frame and the response frame are a Public Action frame or a new Action frame. (read as action frame (Paragraph [0034]))
Regarding claim 19, and as applied to claim 1 above, Min et al. teach a first AP (read as “the STA 1 (or the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph [0127])
Zhou et al. teach “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.” (Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])
However, Min et al. and Zhou et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the request frame includes information on a Target Wake Time (TWT), including a TWT Wake Interval Mantissa and a Nominal Minimum TWT Wake Duration.
Nurchis et al. teach a method wherein the request frame includes information on a Target Wake Time (TWT), including a TWT Wake Interval Mantissa and a Nominal Minimum TWT Wake Duration. (read as a Minimal TWT wake duration and TWT Wake Interval mantissa (Fig.3, page 145))
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 employ the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station (STA) as taught by Zhou et al. and the TWT frame architecture comprising of a Minimal TWT wake duration and TWT Wake Interval mantissa as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 20, and as applied to claim 1 above, , Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al. and Zhou et al., teach a first AP (Fig(s).1 @ 102, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the request frame includes identity information of the second AP. (read as Bluetooth ID (Paragraph [0075]))
Claims 4 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2020/0137690 A1), in view of Nurchis et al. (“Target Wake Time: Scheduled Access in IEEE 802.11AX WLANs”, April 2019), Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0159571 A1), and Patil et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2020/0137702 A1).
Regarding claim 4, and as applied to claim 3 above, Min et al. teach “the STA 1 (or the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig(s).1, 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph [0127]) Also, Min et al. teach a first AP (Fig(s).1, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the TWT Setup frames carry an indication that the SPs coordinated between the first AP and the second AP are for Multi-AP Coordinated transmissions (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig(s).1 and 5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135])), and
Nurchis et al. teach negotiation phase for a TWT agreement (page 145) For example, “… each AP communicates the desired period(s) of time for its own TWT session(s) to a central entity, or directly to the other APs, a kind of TDMA scheduling for the OBSSs can be found.”(page 149)
Zhou et al. teach “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.”(Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])),
However, Min et al., Nurchis et al., and Zhou et al. fail to explicitly teach a timing synchronization function (TSF) value of the AP transmitting the TWT Setup frames.
Patil et al. teach a method wherein a timing synchronization function (TSF) value of the AP transmitting the TWT Setup frames. (read as an initial TSF (Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0133]))
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 employ the function for generating a beacon with an TSF value as taught by Patil et al., the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station (STA) as taught by Zhou et al., and the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 6, and as applied to claim 1 above, Min et al. teach “the STA 1 (or the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig(s).1, 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph [0127]) Also, Min et al. teach a first AP wherein the transmitter of the first AP is further configured to transmit frames to its associated STAs in a coordinated manner with the second AP. (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig(s).1, 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135]))
Nurchis et al. teach negotiation phase for a TWT agreement (page 145) For example, “… each AP communicates the desired period(s) of time for its own TWT session(s) to a central entity, or directly to the other APs, a kind of TDMA scheduling for the OBSSs can be found.”(page 149)
Zhou et al. teach “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.”(Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])),
However, Min et al., Nurchis et al., and Zhou et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the first AP is further configured to participate in a shared TXOP for Multi-AP Coordinated transmission initiated by the second AP within a SP coordinated between the first AP and the second AP, and
Patil et al. teach a method wherein the first AP is further configured to participate in a shared TXOP for Multi-AP Coordinated transmission initiated by the second AP within a SP coordinated between the first AP and the second AP (read as “APs may coordinate with each other for interference management, and simultaneous uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission during a transmit opportunity (TXOP).”(Paragraph [0108])), and
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 employ the function for coordinating UL and DL transmissions during a TXOP as taught by Patil et al., the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station (STA) as taught by Zhou et al., and the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 7, and as applied to claim 6 above, Min et al. teach “the STA 1 (or the AP) may request to setup TWT SPs with different SP durations depending on requirements based on traffic load, etc.”(Fig(s).1, 5A-5E, and 8; Paragraph [0127])
Nurchis et al. teach negotiation phase for a TWT agreement (page 145) For example, “… each AP communicates the desired period(s) of time for its own TWT session(s) to a central entity, or directly to the other APs, a kind of TDMA scheduling for the OBSSs can be found.”(page 149)
Zhou et al. teach “AP2 also sends beacons 422, 426 at predetermined intervals.”(Fig.4 @ 422; Paragraph [0044])),
However, Min et al., Nurchis et al., and Zhou et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit, at a start of a shared TXOP, a frame reporting a downlink (DL) & uplink (UL) buffer status of its basic service set (BSS) to the second AP.
Patil et al. teach a method wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit, at a start of a shared TXOP, a frame reporting a downlink (DL) & uplink (UL) buffer status of its basic service set (BSS) to the second AP. (read as “APs may coordinate with each other for interference management, and simultaneous uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission during a transmit opportunity (TXOP).”(Paragraph [0108])), and
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 employ the function for coordinating UL and DL transmissions during a TXOP as taught by Patil et al., the transmission of a beacon by a second AP to a station (STA) as taught by Zhou et al., and the function for generating a negotiation phase for a TWT agreement as taught by Nurchis et al. with the AP as taught by Min et al. for the purpose of enhancing TWT negotiations between devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 8, and as applied to claim 6 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al., Zhou et al., and Patil et al., teach a first AP (Fig.1, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the Multi-AP Coordinated transmission is one of a Coordinated-orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission, Coordinated-time division multiple access (TDMA) transmission, Coordinated-spatial reuse (SR) transmission, Coordinated-Beamforming (BF) transmission or Coordinated multi-user multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO) transmission. (read as OFDMA (Paragraph [0235]))
Regarding claim 9, and as applied to claim 8 above, Min et al., as modified by Nurchis et al., Zhou et al., and Patil et al., teach a first AP (Fig.1, 5A-5E, and 8) wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a suitable type of Multi-AP Coordinated transmission for each associated STA (Fig.8 @ 806), and
wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit TWT Setup frames (read as TWT frame(s) and TWT elements (Fig(s).5A-5E; Paragraph(s) [0132]-[0135])) to the associated STAs to setup Scheduled SPs that overlap with corresponding SPs coordinated between the first AP and the second AP based on the determined Multi-AP Coordinated transmission types (Fig(s).1, 5A-5E and 8 @ 810),
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-13 and 15-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure:
Asterjadhi et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2016/0219510 A1) teach systems “to triggered target wake time operation.”(Paragraph [0002])
Luo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0037546 A1) teach “an AP can schedule TWTs with service periods sufficient to provide the QoS indicated (in nonvolatile storage on the AP) for the on-board STA.”(Paragraph [0049])
Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Any inquiry concerning this communication or early communications from the Examiner should be directed to Salvador E. Rivas whose telephone number is (571) 270-1784. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:00AM to 3:30PM.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Un C. Cho can be reached on (571) 272- 7919. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/SALVADOR E RIVAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
May 15, 2026
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