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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/31/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3, 9, 14, 15, 29 and 32 are currently amended.
Claims 1-3, 8-16, 20, 24, 26, 29, 31 and 32 are currently pending consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to Claims 1-3, 8-16, 20, 24, 26, 29, 31 and 32 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 1-3, 10, 14-16, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reial et al. (EP 3 560 236 B1) in view of Kneckt et al. (EP 3 764 702 A1) in further view of Chu et al. (US 2020/0374802 A1).
1. Regarding claim 1, Reial teaches a method for communication on multiple links (Fig. 1 and Paragraph [0039] select a target link from a set of multiple links), comprising:
determining a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises information indicating dynamic link transition (Paragraph [0043] signal indicating the target link; dynamic link transition); and
sending the first message frame (Paragraph [0043], [0053] and [0063] indication signal).
Reial does not explicitly disclose wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the method further comprises: receiving an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, and keeping the device sending the first frame in the power save state.
Kneckt teaches wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the method further comprises: receiving an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, and keeping the device sending the first frame in the power save state (Paragraphs [0039], [0040], and [0042] to [0049] power management field indicate power save mode, PM=1; dynamically signal its availability; when AP has acknowledged the PPDU, STA returns to doze state/keep in power save state).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the method further comprises: receiving an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, and keeping the device sending the first frame in the power save state as taught by Kneckt in the system of Reial for mitigating against excess power consumption see Paragraph [0039] of Kneckt.
Reial in view of Kneckt does not explicitly disclose the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame; and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition.
Chu teaches the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame (Fig 14, Paragraph [0221] indication in MAC header; client ending TWT SP early/dynamic link transition); and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition (Figure 14, Paragraph [0225] transition to doze state in response to receiving the acknowledgement frame).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame; and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition as taught by Chu in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt for compliance with the IEEE 802.11 Standard see Paragraph [0005] of Chu.
2. Regarding claim 14, Reial teaches a method for communication on multiple Iinks (Fig. 1 and Paragraph [0039] select a target link from a set of multiple links), comprising:
receiving a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises information indicating dynamic link transition (Paragraph [0043] signal indicating the target link; dynamic link transition); and
performing link transition operation based on the first frame (Paragraph [0043], [0053] and [0063] indication signal).
Reial does not explicitly disclose wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the method further comprises: sending an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, thereby causing the device to be kept the power save state.
Kneckt teaches wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the method further comprises: sending an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, thereby causing the device to be kept the power save state (Paragraphs [0039], [0040], and [0042] to [0049] power management field indicate power save mode, PM=1; dynamically signal its availability; when AP has acknowledged the PPDU, STA returns to doze state/keep in power save state).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the method further comprises: sending an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, thereby causing the device to be kept the power save state as taught by Kneckt in the system of Reial for mitigating against excess power consumption see Paragraph [0039] of Kneckt.
Reial in view of Kneckt does not explicitly disclose the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame; and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition.
Chu teaches the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame (Fig 14, Paragraph [0221] indication in MAC header; client ending TWT SP early/dynamic link transition); and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition (Figure 14, Paragraph [0225] transition to doze state in response to receiving the acknowledgement frame).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame; and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition as taught by Chu in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt for compliance with the IEEE 802.11 Standard see Paragraph [0005] of Chu..
3. Regarding claims 2 and 15, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu teaches wherein the information indicating the dynamic link transition is determined according to at least one of:
access delay time on each of the multiple links:
load condition on each link: or
requirement of service to be sent (Reial, Paragraph [0059] target link determined based on load, uplink quality, latency, usage statistics, separation requirements and multi-connectivity requirements).
4. Regarding claims 3 and 16, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu teaches wherein the information indicating the dynamic link transition comprises information of a link to be transitioned to, wherein the information indicating the dynamic link transition further comprises at least one of information of a current link or delay information of link transition (Reial, Paragraph [0059] target link determined based on load, uplink quality, latency, usage statistics, separation requirements and multi-connectivity requirements).
5. Regarding claim 29, Reial teaches a communication device (Fig. 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B), comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing a computer program executable by the processor
wherein the processor is configured to:
determine a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises information indicating dynamic link transition (Paragraph [0043] signal indicating the target link; dynamic link transition), and
send the first frame (Paragraph [0043], [0053] and [0063] indication signal).
Reial does not explicitly disclose wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the processor is further configured to: receive an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, and keeping the device sending the first frame in the power save state.
Kneckt teaches wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the processor is further configured to: receive an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, and keeping the device sending the first frame in the power save state.
(Paragraphs [0039], [0040], and [0042] to [0049] power management field indicate power save mode, PM=1; dynamically signal its availability; when AP has acknowledged the PPDU, STA returns to doze state/keep in power save state).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the first frame further comprises information indicating that a device sending the first frame is in a power save state; and the processor is further configured to: receive an acknowledgement frame corresponding to the first frame, and keeping the device sending the first frame in the power save state as taught by Kneckt in the system of Reial for mitigating against excess power consumption see Paragraph [0039] of Kneckt.
Reial in view of Kneckt does not explicitly disclose the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame; and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition.
Chu teaches the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame (Fig 14, Paragraph [0221] indication in MAC header; client ending TWT SP early/dynamic link transition); and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition (Figure 14, Paragraph [0225] transition to doze state in response to receiving the acknowledgement frame).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in a media access control (MAC) frame header of the first frame; and wherein the acknowledgement frame indicates that a device receiving the first frame performs link transition based on the information indicating the dynamic link transition as taught by Chu in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt for compliance with the IEEE 802.11 Standard see Paragraph [0005] of Chu.
6. Regarding claim 10, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu teaches wherein the first message frame further comprises link set information indicating the multiple links, wherein a bit corresponding to a link to be transitioned to in the link set information is set to a first value to indicate transitioning to the link (Kneckt, Paragraph [0042] one bit designated per link).
Claims 8, 9, 11-13, 20, 24, 26, 31, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reial et al. (EP 3 560 236 B1) in view of Kneckt et al. (EP 3 764 702 A1) in further view of Chu et al. (US 2020/0374802 A1) in further view of Patil et al. (US 2018/0206143 A1).
7. Regarding claim 8, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu does not explicitly disclose wherein the first frame is a link transition frame, and the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in the first frame in a form of an information element.
Patil teaches wherein the first frame is a link transition frame, and the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in the first frame in a form of an information element (Paragraph [0065] to [0068] beacons or other control information).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the first frame is a link transition frame, and the information indicating the dynamic link transition is comprised in the first frame in a form of an information element as taught by Patil in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu for improved utilization of available channels see abstract of Patil.
8. Regarding claims 9, 20, 31, and 32, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu does not explicitly disclose wherein the frame is one of a data frame or an association frame.
Patil teaches wherein the frame is one of a data frame or an association frame, (Paragraph [0065] to [0068] association frames).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the frame is one of a data frame or an association frame, as taught by Patil in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu for improved utilization of available channels see abstract of Patil.
9. Regarding claims 11 and 24, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu does not explicitly disclose further comprising:
sending capability information of supporting multi-link operation,
wherein the multi-link operation indicates one of enhanced multi-link multi-radio communication or enhanced multi-link single-radio communication.
Patil teaches sending capability information of supporting multi-link operation,
wherein the multi-link operation indicates one of enhanced multi-link multi-radio communication or enhanced multi-link single-radio communication (Paragraph [0065] to [0068] capabilities).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide sending capability information of supporting multi-link operation, wherein the multi-link operation indicates one of enhanced multi-link multi-radio communication or enhanced multi-link single-radio communication as taught by Patil in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu for improved utilization of available channels see abstract of Patil.
10. Regarding claim 12, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu in view of Patil teaches wherein the capability information of supporting the multi-link operation indicates capability information of supporting the dynamic link transition (Patil, Paragraph [0065] to [0068] capabilities).
11. Regarding claims 13 and 26, Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu does not explicitly disclose further comprising:
sending capability information of supporting the dynamic link transition.
Patil teaches sending capability information of supporting the dynamic link transition (Paragraph [0065] to [0068] capabilities).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to sending capability information of supporting the dynamic link transition as taught by Patil in the system of Reial in view of Kneckt in view of Chu for improved utilization of available channels see abstract of Patil.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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