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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 –
(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.
Claims 1-2, 6-8, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Seok et al. (U.S. Publication US 2023/0040899 A1).
With respect to claims 1 and 12, Seok et al. discloses a transmitting station (STA) used in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, comprising: a transceiver transmitting and/or receiving a wireless signal; and a processor controlling the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to perform a method (See the abstract, paragraph 131, paragraphs 151-152, and Figures 11 and 19 of Seok et al. for reference to a STA in a WLAN comprising a transceiver and a processor running software to control the functions of the STA). Seok et al. also discloses transmitting, by a transmitting station (STA), a first Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) including a MultiUser-Request to Send (MU-RTS) trigger frame through a first band, wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes preamble puncturing information, wherein the preamble puncturing information indicates a second band to which preamble puncturing is applied to the first PPDU within the first band (See paragraph 129 and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to the STA transmitting a PPDU including a MU-RTS trigger frame through a band as illustrated in Figure 10 wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes a Disallowed Subchannel Bitmap indicating preamble puncturing subchannels and 242-tone RUs). Seok et al. further discloses receiving, by the transmitting STA, a second PPDU including a clear to send (CTS) frame from a receiving STA in response to the first PPDU (See paragraph 129 and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to receiving a PPDU including CTS frame in response to the MU-RTS trigger frame).
With respect to claim 2, Seok et al. discloses wherein the second PPDU is transmitted through a band other than the second band within the first band (See paragraph 129 and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to the PPDU including the CTS frame being sent with a punctured preamble excluding the disallowed subchannel indicated by the MU-RTS).
With respect to claim 6, Seok et al. discloses wherein the preamble puncturing information is included in a common information field of the MU-RTS trigger frame (See paragraphs 125-128 of Seok et al. for reference to an embodiment wherein mode indication for a preamble punctured PPDU is encoded in a common SIG field of a MU-RTS trigger frame).
With respect to claim 7, Seok et al. discloses wherein preamble puncturing information is included in a user information field of the MU-RTS trigger frame (See paragraph 129 of Seok et al. for reference to an embodiment wherein the Disallowed Subchannel Bitmap is sent in the User Info filed of the MU-RTS trigger frame).
With respect to claim 8, Seok et al. discloses wherein the user information field includes a resource unit (RU) allocation subfield, wherein the second band is a remaining band except for a band corresponding to an RU indicated by the RU allocation subfield in the first band (See paragraph 129 of Seok et al. for reference to the Disallowed Subchannel Bitmap including a field to indicate which 242-tone Rus are disallowed).
With respect to claim 11, Seok et al. discloses wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes different information in units of 80 MHz (See paragraph 129 and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to embodiments wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes information regarding an 80+80 MHz channel, which includes different information in units of 80 MHz).
With respect to claim 13, Seok et al. discloses a method used in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system (See the abstract, paragraph 129, and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to a method by a non-AP STA in a WLAN system). Seok et al. also discloses receiving, by a receiving (STA), a first Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) including a MultiUser-Request to Send (MU-RTS) trigger frame from a transmitting STA through a first band, wherein the first PPDU is transmitted to a plurality of receiving STAs including the receiving STA, wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes preamble puncturing information, wherein the preamble puncturing information indicates a second band to which preamble puncturing is applied to the first PPDU within the first band (See paragraph 129 and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to the non-AP STA receiving a PPDU including a MU-RTS trigger frame through a band as illustrated in Figure 10 wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes a Disallowed Subchannel Bitmap indicating preamble puncturing subchannels and 242-tone RUs). Seok et al. further discloses transmitting, by the receiving STA, a second PPDU including a clear to send (CTS) frame to the transmitting STA in response to the first PPDU, wherein the second PPDU is transmitted through a band other than the second band within the first band (See paragraph 129 and Figure 10 of Seok et al. for reference to the non-AP STA transmitting a PPDU including CTS frame in response to the MU-RTS trigger frame, wherein the CTS frame is transmitted with a punctured preamble excluding the disallowed subchannel indicated by the MU-RTS).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 3-4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok et al. in view of Sun et al. (U.S. Publication US 2022/0085910 A1).
With respect to claim 3, although Seok et al. discloses using a bitmap to indicate preamble puncturing (See paragraph 129 of Seok et al.), Seok et al. does not specifically disclose wherein the preamble puncturing information is configured as a bitmap having a length of 16 bits, wherein the bitmap indicates whether to puncture sixteen (16) frequency channels each having a size of 20 MHz. The exact format of the bitmap indicating preamble puncturing is a design choice based on the size of the band and the number of frequency channels needed to be indicated within the band. For example, Sun et al., in the field of communications, discloses a bitmap including bits used to indicate subchannels of a wireless channel to be punctured including an embodiment wherein a 16-bit bitmap may be used to indicate puncturing patterns for wireless channels of any size wherein each bit of the bitmap may represent a 20 MHz subchannel (See paragraph 67 of Sun et al.). Therefore, in view of these teachings of Sun et al., it would have been an obvious design choice for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to select a 16-bit bitmap used to indicate preamble puncturing of 20 MHz subchannels within a wireless channel for use within the system and method of Seok et al.
With respect to claim 4, although Seok et al. discloses using a bitmap to indicate preamble puncturing (See paragraph 129 of Seok et al.), Seok et al. does not specifically disclose wherein the preamble puncturing information is configured as a bitmap having a length of 8 bits, wherein the bitmap indicates whether to puncture eight (8) frequency channels each having a size of 40 MHz based on a bandwidth of the first band being 320 MHz, wherein the bitmap indicates whether to puncture eight (8) frequency channels each having a size of 20 MHz based on a bandwidth of the first band being smaller than 320 MHz. The exact format of the bitmap indicating preamble puncturing is a design choice based on the size of the band and the number of frequency channels needed to be indicated within the band. For example, Sun et al., in the field of communications, discloses a bitmap including bits used to indicate subchannels of a wireless channel to be punctured including an embodiment wherein an 8-bit bitmap may be used to indicate puncturing patterns for wireless channels of any size, wherein for a channel of 160 MHz, which is smaller than 320 MHz, each bit of the bitmap may represent a 20 MHz subchannel, and wherein for a channel of 320 MHz, each bit of the bitmap may represent a 40 MHz subchannel (See paragraph 5 and paragraph 67 of Sun et al. for reference to using bandwidth up to at least 320 MHz and for reference to these embodiments). Therefore, in view of these teachings of Sun et al., it would have been an obvious design choice for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to select an 8-bit bitmap used to indicate preamble puncturing of 20 MHz subchannels or 40 MHz subchannels within wireless channels of different sizes for use within the system and method of Seok et al.
With respect to claim 9, Seok et al. discloses wherein the MU-RTS trigger frame includes a partial bandwidth field, wherein the partial bandwidth field includes a first subfield wherein the first subfield indicates a resolution of a bitmap corresponding to the second subfield, wherein the resolution is one of 20 MHz and 40 MHz (See paragraph 125 of Seok et al. for reference to a field indicating whether puncturing is applied to 20 MHz or 40 MHz subchannels). Although Seok et al. discloses using a bitmap to indicate preamble puncturing (See paragraph 129 of Seok et al.), Seok et al. does not specifically disclose the first subfield having a length of 1 bit and the second subfield having a length of 8 bits, wherein the second subfield indicates whether to puncture eight (8) channels each having a size corresponding to the resolution. The exact format of the bitmap indicating preamble puncturing is a design choice based on the size of the band and the number of frequency channels needed to be indicated within the band. For example, Sun et al., in the field of communications, discloses a bitmap including bits used to indicate subchannels of a wireless channel to be punctured including an embodiment wherein an 8-bit bitmap may be used to indicate puncturing patterns for wireless channels of any size (See paragraph 67 of Sun et al.). Therefore, in view of these teachings of Sun et al., it would have been an obvious design choice for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to select an 8-bit bitmap used to indicate preamble puncturing of 20 MHz subchannels or 40 MHz subchannels within wireless channels of different sizes wherein whether puncturing is applied to 20 MHz or 40 MHz subchannels may be indicated as taught by Seok et al.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok et al.
With respect to claim 5, Seok et al. discloses wherein the preamble puncturing information is configured as a field wherein the field indicates one of a plurality of predetermined preamble puncturing patterns (See paragraphs 125-126 of Seok et al. for reference to encoding information indicating one of multiple preamble puncturing modes, which correspond to different patterns). Although Seok et al. does not specifically disclose the field having a length of 5 bits. The exact format of the field indicating preamble puncturing patterns is a design choice based on the number of puncturing patterns needed to be indicated. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to select the bit size of a field indicating puncturing patterns according to the number of puncturing patterns needed to be indicated, i.e. in an embodiment of Seok et al. wherein up to 32 preamble puncturing modes exist, it would be obvious to use a 5 bit field to indicate the specific preamble puncturing mode since 5 bits may uniquely identify up to 32 different modes.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok et al. in view of Park (U.S. Publication US 2018/0092127 A1).
With respect to claim 10, Seok et al. does not specifically disclose wherein the preamble puncturing information is an inactive subchannel parameter of TXVECTOR. However, Park, in the field of communications, discloses setting a TXVECTOR parameter to a state to indicate preamble puncturing (See paragraph 119 of Park). Using a TXVECTOR to indicate preamble puncturing has the advantage of using an already defined field within the known PPDU structure to indicate additional information regarding preamble puncturing. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Park, to combine using a TXVECTOR to indicate preamble puncturing, as suggested by Park, within the system and method of Seok et al., with the motivation being to use an already defined field within the known PPDU structure to indicate additional information regarding preamble puncturing.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jason E Mattis whose telephone number is (571)272-3154. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am-4:30pm.
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/JASON E MATTIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461