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 .
Response to Amendment
This is in response to an amendment/response/communication filed 12/22/2025.
No claims have been added.
Claim(s) 10 and 12 has/have been cancelled.
Claims(s) 1-9 and 11 is/are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS(s)) submitted on 10/29/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 9, filed 12/22/2025, with respect to 35 U.S.C. 112(f) interpretation have been fully considered and are persuasive. The invoking of the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) interpretation has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-11, filed 12/22/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-9 and 11under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Ricoh JP 2017212714, Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379, Roy et al. US 20170064583 and Hiramatsu US 7099589.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 9 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16).
As to claim 1:
Ricoh discloses:
A communication system comprising a plurality of communication apparatuses that are capable of configuring a meshed network, and a control apparatus that controls the plurality of communication apparatuses,
wherein the plurality of communication apparatuses each comprises:
…; and
(“On the other hand, the multi-hop terminal 20 includes a STA state serving as a radio station (STA) in millimeter-wave wireless communication, a PCP state serving as a PCP, and a STA / PCP state in which the role is undefined. , And is initialized to the STA / PCP state, and the role of the multi-hop terminal 20 is determined as either STA or PCP in the multi-hop network formation process. The multi-hop terminal 20 can communicate with the control terminal 10 and the wireless LAN communication means 12 and 22.”; Ricoh; p.3, top of page)
(“In the millimeter wave band, radio wave propagation loss increases. Therefore, in millimeter wave wireless communication, in order to increase the antenna gain, a beam forming technique for transmitting and receiving radio waves while narrowing the beam direction of radio waves is used. Therefore, it is difficult for a control terminal for millimeter wave wireless communication to communicate simultaneously with a plurality of multi-hop terminals 20 around the control terminal.”; p.3, top of page)
(“The communication device 100 includes a general computer configuration. For example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a RAM (Read Only Memory) 102, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103, a storage device 104, a wireless LAN communication unit 105, A millimeter-wave wireless communication unit 106, a display input device 107, a bus 108, and the like are included.”; Ricoh; p.11, bottom of page)
(“However, a STA terminal in millimeter wave wireless communication can connect to only one PCP terminal at a time in each of the previous hop and the next hop. In order to connect to a plurality of PCP terminals, in a millimeter-wave wireless environment that employs a TDMA protocol for performing communication by time-sharing communication as a communication method, a time cost is required. It is assumed that the wave STA is connected only to a total of two PCPs, one previous hop and one next hop. The reason why the number of units is two is that the minimum number of connections is necessary to construct a multi-hop network.”; Ricoh; p.6, top of page)
(where
“control terminal 10” maps to “control apparatus”,
“PCPs” maps to “plurality of communication apparatuses”,
“A millimeter-wave wireless communication unit 106”/” a beam forming technique for transmitting and receiving radio waves while narrowing the beam direction of radio waves is used” maps to “at least one communication unit that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving directional communication media”
at least one first processor,
(where
“a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101” maps to “at least one first processor”,
the at least one first processor carrying out:
a specification process for specifying at least one connection destination candidate by carrying out scanning with use of the at least one communication unit; and
(“The control terminal 10 receives the BSSID and RSSI value of the PCP (one or more of connection destination candidates) transmitted from the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) by the terminal information receiving means 14, and selects a communication path. The PCP to which the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) is to be connected is selected by means 15, and this is transferred to the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) by Wi-Fi communication by the communication path distribution means 16. Transmit (step S35 in FIG. 8). In the selection, the PCP having the largest RSSI value is selected from among the PCTs having a sufficient number of STA connections.”; Ricoh; p.8, bottom of page)
(where
“selects a communication path”/”selection, the PCP having the largest RSSI value” maps to “a specification process for specifying at least one connection destination candidate by carrying out scanning with use of the at least one communication unit”
a connection establishment process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process,
(“On the other hand, if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) of this PCP is the control terminal. 10 to the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12), and the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) receives the information of the connection destination PCP by the communication path receiving means 26 (step S32 in FIG. 8). ), The multi-hop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) is switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP (step S33 in FIG. 8).”; Ricoh; p.9, top of page)
(where
“if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) …switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP” maps to “a connection establishment process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process”
the control apparatus including at least one second processor,
“a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101” maps to “the control apparatus including at least one second processor”
the at least one second processor carrying out:
a control process for controlling the plurality of communication apparatuses,
in the control process, the at least one second processor carrying out:
a related information acquisition process for acquiring, from at least one communication apparatus included in the meshed network, related information related to the at least one communication apparatus;
(where
“selects a communication path” maps to “controlling”
“RSSI” maps to “related information related to the at least one communication apparatus”
a determination process for determining, with reference to the related information, a communication apparatus which is to be connected to the new terminal: and
(where
(where
“if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) …switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP” maps to “a determination process for determining, with reference to the related information, a communication apparatus which is to be connected to the new terminal”
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
at least one transceiver that is configurable to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication media
a connection request acquisition process for acquiring a connection request from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network;
an instruction process for instructing the communication apparatus determined by the determination process to carry out scanning with respect to the new terminal
However, Abouelseoud et al. further teaches a request capability which includes:
a connection request acquisition process for acquiring a connection request from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network;
(“This frame is sent on the sub-6 GHz band from a new node to mesh STAs to announce its existence and to request mmW link establishment with neighboring nodes. Also this frame is used to announce the capability of the mmW RF and baseband and some information that makes it easier for the new node to beamform with the STA, such as mentioned previously in regards to lowering overhead, and/or expediting the beamforming process.”; Abouelseoud et al.; 0206)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Abouelseoud et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Abouelseoud et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved robustness (Abouelseoud et al.; 0140) are achieved.
However, Roy et al. further teaches a request capability which includes:
…media
(“FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users”; Roy et al.; 0071)
(where
“voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast” maps to “…media”
an instruction process for instructing the communication apparatus determined by the determination process to carry out scanning with respect to the new terminal
(“The new STA may send an Association Request frame to the PCP, for example, during the CBAP period. The sending of an Association Request frame may be triggered by the Mesh-Associate.request or MLME-ASSOCIATE.request primitives from the Mesh Layer or SME. The Association.request reception may trigger MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication or Mesh-Associate.indication primitives, such as at the PCP. The Mesh Layer may convey the association decision through Mesh-Associate.response or MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitives to the MLME/MAC. Association Response frame may be transmitted by the PCP. The association may be completed. The association result may be conveyed to the Mesh Layer by MLME-ASSOCIATE.confirm or Mesh-Associate.confirm primitives.”; Roy et al.; 0188)
(“FIG. 32 is an example of setting up directional reception for interference measurements. Setting up directional reception for interference measurements may begin with the Mesh Controller sending the MESH_CNTLR_CONFIG_SETUP message with parameters to the node containing the PCP sector controlling the PBSS from which measurements may be requested. The message may include the index of the BI in which the measurements may be requested. The Mesh Layer in the node may forward the request to the MAC of the sector in which the measurements may be requested, for example, at the start of the indicated BI. Depending on the parameters in the request, the PCP MAC in the sector may transmit one or more Radio Measurement Request frames to the associated STAs from which measurements may be requested. If one or more of the requested measurements are from the PCP itself, no Radio Measurement Request frame may be transmitted.”; Roy et al.; 0264)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Roy et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Roy et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with reduced latency (Roy et al.; 0326) are achieved.
However, Hiramatsu further teaches an optical transmitter-receiver capability which includes:
at least one transceiver that is configurable to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication …
(“As is apparent from the above description, the optical wireless hub 100 includes a wide variety of functions, such as searching and recognition of each terminal, transmission and reception of data and establishment of a link between each terminal management of links simultaneously generated, and temporary storage of data. With such an intelligent hub, when the optical transmitter-receiver of a terminal has a long range or a high speed, which will be achieved by conventional development, a plurality of terminals can have a multiple access capability without a load in each terminal. When the wavelengths used between each terminal is different from each other, full-duplex communication can be achieved in one-to-one directed communication among terminals connectable to the LAN.”; Hiramatsu; col. 12, lines 23-37)
(“Two terminals each including such an optical transmitter-receiver are placed a short distance from one another, facing each other. The terminals perform line-of-sight communication by intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD).”; Hiramatsu; col. 1, lines 21-25)
(where
“the optical transmitter-receiver of a terminal”/” an optical transmitter-receiver are placed a short distance from one another, facing each other. The terminals perform line-of-sight communication by intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD).” Maps to “at least one transceiver that is configurable to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication …”
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the optical transmitter-receiver capability of Hiramatsu into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the optical transmitter-receiver capability as taught by the processing/communications of Hiramatsu, the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved communication (Hiramatsu; col. 12, lines 43-44) are achieved.
As to claim 9:
Ricoh discloses:
A control apparatus comprising at least one second processor,
the at least one second processor carrying out a control means that controls
process for controlling a plurality of communication apparatuses that are capable of configuring a meshed network,
wherein the plurality of communication apparatuses each comprises:
… media; and
(“On the other hand, the multi-hop terminal 20 includes a STA state serving as a radio station (STA) in millimeter-wave wireless communication, a PCP state serving as a PCP, and a STA / PCP state in which the role is undefined. , And is initialized to the STA / PCP state, and the role of the multi-hop terminal 20 is determined as either STA or PCP in the multi-hop network formation process. The multi-hop terminal 20 can communicate with the control terminal 10 and the wireless LAN communication means 12 and 22.”; Ricoh; p.3, top of page)
(“In the millimeter wave band, radio wave propagation loss increases. Therefore, in millimeter wave wireless communication, in order to increase the antenna gain, a beam forming technique for transmitting and receiving radio waves while narrowing the beam direction of radio waves is used. Therefore, it is difficult for a control terminal for millimeter wave wireless communication to communicate simultaneously with a plurality of multi-hop terminals 20 around the control terminal.”; p.3, top of page)
(“The communication device 100 includes a general computer configuration. For example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a RAM (Read Only Memory) 102, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103, a storage device 104, a wireless LAN communication unit 105, A millimeter-wave wireless communication unit 106, a display input device 107, a bus 108, and the like are included.”; Ricoh; p.11, bottom of page)
(“However, a STA terminal in millimeter wave wireless communication can connect to only one PCP terminal at a time in each of the previous hop and the next hop. In order to connect to a plurality of PCP terminals, in a millimeter-wave wireless environment that employs a TDMA protocol for performing communication by time-sharing communication as a communication method, a time cost is required. It is assumed that the wave STA is connected only to a total of two PCPs, one previous hop and one next hop. The reason why the number of units is two is that the minimum number of connections is necessary to construct a multi-hop network.”; Ricoh; p.6, top of page)
(where
“control terminal 10” maps to “control apparatus”,
“PCPs” maps to “plurality of communication apparatuses”,
“A millimeter-wave wireless communication unit 106”/” a beam forming technique for transmitting and receiving radio waves while narrowing the beam direction of radio waves is used” maps to “at least one communication unit that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving directional communication media”
at least one first processor,
(where
“a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101” maps to “at least one first processor”,
the at least one first processor carrying out:
a specification process for specifying at least one connection destination candidate by carrying out scanning with use of the at least one communication unit; and
(“The control terminal 10 receives the BSSID and RSSI value of the PCP (one or more of connection destination candidates) transmitted from the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) by the terminal information receiving means 14, and selects a communication path. The PCP to which the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) is to be connected is selected by means 15, and this is transferred to the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) by Wi-Fi communication by the communication path distribution means 16. Transmit (step S35 in FIG. 8). In the selection, the PCP having the largest RSSI value is selected from among the PCTs having a sufficient number of STA connections.”; Ricoh; p.8, bottom of page)
(where
“selects a communication path”/”selection, the PCP having the largest RSSI value” maps to “a specification process for specifying at least one connection destination candidate by carrying out scanning with use of the at least one communication unit”
a connection establishment process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process,
(“On the other hand, if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) of this PCP is the control terminal. 10 to the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12), and the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) receives the information of the connection destination PCP by the communication path receiving means 26 (step S32 in FIG. 8). ), The multi-hop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) is switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP (step S33 in FIG. 8).”; Ricoh; p.9, top of page)
(where
“if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) …switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP” maps to “a connection establishment process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process”
the control apparatus including at least one second processor,
“a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101” maps to “the control apparatus including at least one second processor”
the at least one second processor carrying out:
a control process for controlling the plurality of communication apparatuses,
in the control process, the at least one second processor carrying out:
a related information acquisition process for acquiring, from at least one communication apparatus included in the meshed network, related information related to the at least one communication apparatus;
(where
“selects a communication path” maps to “controlling”
“RSSI” maps to “related information related to the at least one communication apparatus”
a determination process for determining, with reference to the related information, a communication apparatus which is to be connected to the new terminal: and
(where
(where
“if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) …switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP” maps to “a determination process for determining, with reference to the related information, a communication apparatus which is to be connected to the new terminal”
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
at least one transceiver that is configurable to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication media
a connection request acquisition process for acquiring a connection request from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network;
an instruction process for instructing the communication apparatus determined by the determination process to carry out scanning with respect to the new terminal
However, Abouelseoud et al. further teaches a request capability which includes:
a connection request acquisition process for acquiring a connection request from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network;
(“This frame is sent on the sub-6 GHz band from a new node to mesh STAs to announce its existence and to request mmW link establishment with neighboring nodes. Also this frame is used to announce the capability of the mmW RF and baseband and some information that makes it easier for the new node to beamform with the STA, such as mentioned previously in regards to lowering overhead, and/or expediting the beamforming process.”; Abouelseoud et al.; 0206)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Abouelseoud et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Abouelseoud et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved robustness (Abouelseoud et al.; 0140) are achieved.
However, Roy et al. further teaches a request capability which includes:
…media
(“FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users”; Roy et al.; 0071)
(where
“voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast” maps to “…media”
an instruction process for instructing the communication apparatus determined by the determination process to carry out scanning with respect to the new terminal
(“The new STA may send an Association Request frame to the PCP, for example, during the CBAP period. The sending of an Association Request frame may be triggered by the Mesh-Associate.request or MLME-ASSOCIATE.request primitives from the Mesh Layer or SME. The Association.request reception may trigger MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication or Mesh-Associate.indication primitives, such as at the PCP. The Mesh Layer may convey the association decision through Mesh-Associate.response or MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitives to the MLME/MAC. Association Response frame may be transmitted by the PCP. The association may be completed. The association result may be conveyed to the Mesh Layer by MLME-ASSOCIATE.confirm or Mesh-Associate.confirm primitives.”; Roy et al.; 0188)
(“FIG. 32 is an example of setting up directional reception for interference measurements. Setting up directional reception for interference measurements may begin with the Mesh Controller sending the MESH_CNTLR_CONFIG_SETUP message with parameters to the node containing the PCP sector controlling the PBSS from which measurements may be requested. The message may include the index of the BI in which the measurements may be requested. The Mesh Layer in the node may forward the request to the MAC of the sector in which the measurements may be requested, for example, at the start of the indicated BI. Depending on the parameters in the request, the PCP MAC in the sector may transmit one or more Radio Measurement Request frames to the associated STAs from which measurements may be requested. If one or more of the requested measurements are from the PCP itself, no Radio Measurement Request frame may be transmitted.”; Roy et al.; 0264)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Roy et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Roy et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with reduced latency (Roy et al.; 0326) are achieved.
However, Hiramatsu further teaches an optical transmitter-receiver capability which includes:
at least one transceiver that is configurable to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication …
(“As is apparent from the above description, the optical wireless hub 100 includes a wide variety of functions, such as searching and recognition of each terminal, transmission and reception of data and establishment of a link between each terminal management of links simultaneously generated, and temporary storage of data. With such an intelligent hub, when the optical transmitter-receiver of a terminal has a long range or a high speed, which will be achieved by conventional development, a plurality of terminals can have a multiple access capability without a load in each terminal. When the wavelengths used between each terminal is different from each other, full-duplex communication can be achieved in one-to-one directed communication among terminals connectable to the LAN.”; Hiramatsu; col. 12, lines 23-37)
(“Two terminals each including such an optical transmitter-receiver are placed a short distance from one another, facing each other. The terminals perform line-of-sight communication by intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD).”; Hiramatsu; col. 1, lines 21-25)
(where
“the optical transmitter-receiver of a terminal”/” an optical transmitter-receiver are placed a short distance from one another, facing each other. The terminals perform line-of-sight communication by intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD).” Maps to “at least one transceiver that is configurable to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication …”
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the optical transmitter-receiver capability of Hiramatsu into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the optical transmitter-receiver capability as taught by the processing/communications of Hiramatsu, the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved communication (Hiramatsu; col. 12, lines 43-44) are achieved.
As to claim 11:
Ricoh discloses:
A method for controlling a communication system,
the communication system including a plurality of communication apparatuses that are capable of configuring a meshed network, and a control apparatus that controls the plurality of communication apparatuses,
said method comprising:
(ii) establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate thus specified; and
(“On the other hand, if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) of this PCP is the control terminal. 10 to the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12), and the multihop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) receives the information of the connection destination PCP by the communication path receiving means 26 (step S32 in FIG. 8). ), The multi-hop terminal 20 (new terminal S / P12) is switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP (step S33 in FIG. 8).”; Ricoh; p.9, top of page)
(where
“if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) …switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP” maps to “a connection establishment process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process”
the control apparatus controlling the plurality of communication apparatuses includes the control apparatus (i) acquiring, from at least one communication apparatus included in the meshed network, related information related to the at least one communication apparatus, …
(where
“selects a communication path” maps to “controlling”
“RSSI” maps to “related information related to the at least one communication apparatus”
(iii) determining, with reference to the related information, a communication apparatus which is to be connected to the new terminal,
(where
“if there is a PCP that can be connected in step S35, the PCP to be connected is selected, and information on the connected PCP such as terminal identification information (BSSID) and communication reliability information (RSSI) …switched to the role of STA by the communication role switching means 27 and connected to the connection destination PCP” maps to “a determination process for determining, with reference to the related information, a communication apparatus which is to be connected to the new terminal”
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
specifying, by each of the plurality of apparatuses, at least one connection destination candidate by performing scanning with use of at least one transceiver that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication media
(ii) acquiring a connection request from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network, and
instructing the communication apparatus thus determined to carry out scanning with respect to the new terminal.
However, Abouelseoud et al. further teaches a request capability which includes:
(ii) acquiring a connection request from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network, and
(“This frame is sent on the sub-6 GHz band from a new node to mesh STAs to announce its existence and to request mmW link establishment with neighboring nodes. Also this frame is used to announce the capability of the mmW RF and baseband and some information that makes it easier for the new node to beamform with the STA, such as mentioned previously in regards to lowering overhead, and/or expediting the beamforming process.”; Abouelseoud et al.; 0206)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Abouelseoud et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Abouelseoud et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved robustness (Abouelseoud et al.; 0140) are achieved.
However, Roy et al. further teaches a request capability which includes:
…media
(“FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users”; Roy et al.; 0071)
(where
“voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast” maps to “…media”
instructing the communication apparatus thus determined to carry out scanning with respect to the new terminal.
(“The new STA may send an Association Request frame to the PCP, for example, during the CBAP period. The sending of an Association Request frame may be triggered by the Mesh-Associate.request or MLME-ASSOCIATE.request primitives from the Mesh Layer or SME. The Association.request reception may trigger MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication or Mesh-Associate.indication primitives, such as at the PCP. The Mesh Layer may convey the association decision through Mesh-Associate.response or MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitives to the MLME/MAC. Association Response frame may be transmitted by the PCP. The association may be completed. The association result may be conveyed to the Mesh Layer by MLME-ASSOCIATE.confirm or Mesh-Associate.confirm primitives.”; Roy et al.; 0188)
(“FIG. 32 is an example of setting up directional reception for interference measurements. Setting up directional reception for interference measurements may begin with the Mesh Controller sending the MESH_CNTLR_CONFIG_SETUP message with parameters to the node containing the PCP sector controlling the PBSS from which measurements may be requested. The message may include the index of the BI in which the measurements may be requested. The Mesh Layer in the node may forward the request to the MAC of the sector in which the measurements may be requested, for example, at the start of the indicated BI. Depending on the parameters in the request, the PCP MAC in the sector may transmit one or more Radio Measurement Request frames to the associated STAs from which measurements may be requested. If one or more of the requested measurements are from the PCP itself, no Radio Measurement Request frame may be transmitted.”; Roy et al.; 0264)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Roy et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Roy et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with reduced latency (Roy et al.; 0326) are achieved.
However, Hiramatsu further teaches an optical transmitter-receiver capability which includes:
specifying, by each of the plurality of apparatuses, at least one connection destination candidate by performing scanning with use of at least one transceiver that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving optical communication …
(“As is apparent from the above description, the optical wireless hub 100 includes a wide variety of functions, such as searching and recognition of each terminal, transmission and reception of data and establishment of a link between each terminal management of links simultaneously generated, and temporary storage of data. With such an intelligent hub, when the optical transmitter-receiver of a terminal has a long range or a high speed, which will be achieved by conventional development, a plurality of terminals can have a multiple access capability without a load in each terminal. When the wavelengths used between each terminal is different from each other, full-duplex communication can be achieved in one-to-one directed communication among terminals connectable to the LAN.”; Hiramatsu; col. 12, lines 23-37)
(“Two terminals each including such an optical transmitter-receiver are placed a short distance from one another, facing each other. The terminals perform line-of-sight communication by intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD).”; Hiramatsu; col. 1, lines 21-25)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the optical transmitter-receiver capability of Hiramatsu into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the optical transmitter-receiver capability as taught by the processing/communications of Hiramatsu, the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved communication (Hiramatsu; col. 12, lines 43-44) are achieved.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16) and Abouelseoud et al. US 20200204975 (hereinafter “Abouelseoud2”) (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025).
As to claim 2:
Ricoh discloses:
in the control process, the at least one second processor carries out:
…
an updating process for updating, in accordance with the request, at least one communication path included in the meshed network.
(“Further, the communication path selection unit 15 may be configured to select a larger number of the multi-hop terminals than to select based on only the communication reliability information.”; p.4, bottom of page)
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
a request acquisition process for acquiring a request from a communication apparatus which has received a scanning signal from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network; and
However, Abouelseoud2 further teaches a request capability which includes:
a request acquisition process for acquiring a request from a communication apparatus which has received a scanning signal from a new terminal which is to newly connect to the meshed network; and
(“The multi-band AP, when receiving and accepting a DA request from a new STA. determines (decides) on the type of scanning for the new node, such as either active scanning or passive scanning. When a DA request is sent to other STAs in the BSS of the multi-band AP BSS, the multi-band AP sends the request and indicates the type of scanning the new STA is going to perform. The other STAs receiving this request decide based on this for accepting or rejecting the request and allocating beamforming resources accordingly. Once the multi-band AP receives the responses from the other STAs that have received the DA requests, it sends the new STA a DA response with all allocation information and the type of scanning the new STA is performing.”; Abouelseoud et al.; 0199)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the request capability of Abouelseoud2 into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the request capability as taught by the processing/communications of Abouelseoud2, the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with reduced latency (Abouelseoud2; 0138) are achieved.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16) and Thubert et al. US 20080181133 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025).
As to claim 3:
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
a connection state of an access link; and
…
However, Thubert et al. further teaches a link state table capability which includes:
wherein the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
a connection state of an access link; and
…
(“As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless mesh access point "14" can establish multiple wireless connections with the mesh access points "12", "13", and "22"; however, each mesh access point 12 will connect only to one of the mesh controllers 14, for example according to a prescribed configuration or pre-existing assignment, or based on a dynamic selection protocol according to load balancing, etc. Hence, the mesh access point "14" is illustrated herein as connecting to the mesh controller "C1", enabling the mesh controller "C1" to perform routing protocol operations on behalf of the connected mesh access point "14", including updating link state tables, calculating optimized paths for reaching the connected mesh access point "14", and creating and supplying to the connected mesh access point "14" a forwarding table for forwarding packets to other mesh access points 12 in the mesh network 10 according to the respective optimized paths for those destinations.”; Thubert; 0024)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the link state table capability of Thubert et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the link state table capability as taught by the processing/communications of Thubert et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved mesh controller (Thubert et al.; Abstract) are achieved.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16) and Rengarajan et al. US 20180324607 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025).
As to claim 4:
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…; and
a load state of the at least one communication apparatus.
However, Rengarajan et al. further teaches a high loaded/low load capability which includes:
wherein the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
a connection state of an access link; and
…
(“In some embodiments, the Wi-Fi network manager 302 dynamically adapts the load balancing of the APs. Load balancing dynamically updates the association of clients based on the loads at different APs. For example, if an AP is highly loaded, the Wi-Fi network manager 302 can avoid overloading this AP by a client on the boundary of the AP's coverage area to connect to a neighboring AP with a low load, even if the channel quality of the client to the neighboring AP is not as good. This load balancing can result in performance improvement for this client, as well as the other clients connected to the original AP. After offloading a client from one AP to a less-loaded AP, the Wi-Fi network manager 302 then re-optimizes the channel allocations and transmit powers of the affected APs to account for this change in load.”; Rengarajan et al.; 0086)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the high loaded/low load capability of Rengarajan et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the high loaded/low load capability as taught by the processing/communications of Rengarajan et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved performance (Rengarajan et al.; 0052) are achieved.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16) and Son et al. US 20150131608 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025).
As to claim 5:
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein
the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…;
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved
However, Rengarajan et al. further teaches a state capability which includes:
wherein
the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…;
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved
(“According to FIG. 14, the STA receives the beacon message from each of AP-1, A-2, and A-3, and in this case, it is assumed that the LSB bit in the DILS information of the beacon message received from each of AP-1 and AP-3 is set to zero (0), and the LSB bit of the beacon message received from AP-2 is set to 1. This indicates the state that AP-2 is currently receiving connection requests (Authentication Request or Association Request) from many STAs.”; Son et al.; 0112)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the state capability of Son et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the state capability as taught by the processing/communications of Son et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) with improved reliability (Son et al.; 0006) are achieved.
Claim(s) 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16) and Niyato et al., “Radio Resource Management in MIMO-OFDM-Based Wireless Infrastructure Mesh Networks: Issues and Approaches”, November 2007, IEEE Communication Magazine (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025).
As to claim 5:
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein
the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…;
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved
However, Nivato et al. further teaches a connection state capability which includes:
wherein
the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…;
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved
(“Admission Control — The objective of an admission control scheme is to limit the number of flows/connections sharing the limited radio resources in a mesh router. The admission controller has to decide whether an incoming connection can be accepted or not based on the current state of the network and the QoS requirements of the connection.”; Niyato et al.; p.3, left col.)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the connection state capability of Niyato et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the connection state capability as taught by the processing/communications of Niyato et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) maximized utility (Niyato et al.; p.7) are achieved.
As to claim 6:
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein
the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…;
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved
However, Nivato et al. further teaches a connection state/QoS capability which includes:
wherein
the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
…;
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved
(“Admission Control — The objective of an admission control scheme is to limit the number of flows/connections sharing the limited radio resources in a mesh router. The admission controller has to decide whether an incoming connection can be accepted or not based on the current state of the network and the QoS requirements of the connection.”; Niyato et al.; p.3, left col.)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the connection state/QoS capability of Niyato et al. into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the connection state/QoS capability as taught by the processing/communications of Niyato et al., the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) maximized utility (Niyato et al.; p.7) are achieved.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ricoh JP 2017212714 (Foreign Patent Documents citation #20, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-15, citations are from English translation) in view of Abouelseoud et al. US 20190082379 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and in further view of Roy et al. US 20170064583 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025) and Hiramatsu US 7099589 (U.S. Patents citation #3, listed on IDS dated 2023-11-16) and Lee US 20220232459 (cited in Non-Final Rejection dated 9/23/2025).
As to claim 7:
Ricoh as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes information pertaining to an influence of an environment on connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved.
However, Lee further teaches an environment capability which includes:
wherein the related information related to the at least one communication apparatus includes information pertaining to an influence of an environment on connection in which the at least one communication apparatus is involved.
(“Certain embodiments disclosed herein may provide an electronic device configured such that, if the electronic device fails to connect to an access point in a plurality of access points discovered for roaming, a recovery condition is configured according to the cause of failure, and the corresponding access point is managed by using a block list, thereby controlling connection to access points according to a network environment change.”; Lee; 0018)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the state capability of Lee into Ricoh. By modifying the processing/communications of Ricoh to include the state capability as taught by the processing/communications of Lee, the benefits of improved efficiency (Ricoh p.5 top of page) reduced connection failure (Lee; 0009) are achieved.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 8 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20040037558 – teaches an optical switch mesh associated with a connection request and scanning (see Abstract and para. 0092).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL K PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-1037. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-10am, 1pm-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Ngo can be reached on 571-272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MICHAEL K. PHILLIPS
Examiner
Art Unit 2464
/MICHAEL K PHILLIPS/Examiner, Art Unit 2464