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 § 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 1-5, 7-12, 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AMINI et al. (US 20150271829 A1) in view of Homchaudhuri et al. (US 20220337338 A1) .
AMINI et al. disclose a wireless communication system comprising: regarding claim 1, a method of allocating radio links for stations capable of operating in different spectra (see paragraph [0006] “The disclosure is related to a multi-band wireless station, e.g., a wireless router, a wireless access point, that includes more than one wireless radio in the same frequency band. The multi-band wireless station (“wireless station”) operates at multiple frequency bands, e.g., 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. … The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations.”).
Regarding claim 8, A system for allocating links for stations operating in different spectra, the system comprising: an access point; and a plurality of stations coupled wirelessly to the access point; wherein the access point is configured to (see paragraph [0006] “The disclosure is related to a multi-band wireless station, e.g., a wireless router, a wireless access point, that includes more than one wireless radio in the same frequency band. The multi-band wireless station (“wireless station”) operates at multiple frequency bands, e.g., 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. … The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations.”; see paragraph [0023] “The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations. For example, a dual-band client station that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz can connect to the wireless station at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands. Further, if the client station is connecting to the 5 GHz band, it can either connect to the first sub-band or the second sub-band of the 5 GHz. In some embodiments, the wireless station decides the sub-band to which a particular client station has to be assigned to or associated with”).
Regarding claim 15, A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding instructions, which, when executed by a processor of an access point coupled to a wireless medium (See paragraph, [0103] “FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a computer system as may be used to implement features of some embodiments of the disclosed technology. The computing system 1100 may be used to implement any of the entities, components or services depicted in the examples of FIGS. 1-10 (and any other components described in this specification). The computing system 1100 may include one or more central processing units ("processors") 1105, memory 1110, input/output devices 1125 (e.g., keyboard and pointing devices, display devices), storage devices 1120 (e.g., disk drives), and network adapters 1130 (e.g., network interfaces) that are connected to an interconnect 1115”), configure the access point to allocate radio links for stations capable of operating in different spectra (see paragraph [0006] “The disclosure is related to a multi-band wireless station, e.g., a wireless router, a wireless access point, that includes more than one wireless radio in the same frequency band. The multi-band wireless station (“wireless station”) operates at multiple frequency bands, e.g., 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. … The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations.”; see paragraph [0023] “The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations. For example, a dual-band client station that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz can connect to the wireless station at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands. Further, if the client station is connecting to the 5 GHz band, it can either connect to the first sub-band or the second sub-band of the 5 GHz. In some embodiments, the wireless station decides the sub-band to which a particular client station has to be assigned to or associated with”).
AMINI et al. further discloses: regarding claims 1, 8, 15, forming a plurality of clusters of stations based on capabilities of each station, wherein capabilities of each station include an operating spectrum and concurrency in transmission and reception in the operating spectrum, (Teaches forming groups or assigning stations based on their radio capabilities, such as which frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz) or sub-bands a client station can operate in, see paragraph [0023] “The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations. For example, a dual-band client station that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz can connect to the wireless station at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands. Further, if the client station is connecting to the 5 GHz band, it can either connect to the first sub-band or the second sub-band of the 5 GHz. In some embodiments, the wireless station decides the sub-band to which a particular client station has to be assigned to or associated with”. Teaches that stations have different hardware capabilities (e.g., number of antennas, supported protocols), and these are used as assignment criteria; see paragraph [0038], “Different client stations have different capabilities, e.g., hardware configuration. … In some embodiments, the number of antennas the client stations have also have an effect on the data transfer rates between the client stations and the wireless station 105. … In some embodiments, the capabilities of a client station is determined as a function of the IEEE 802.11 protocols they can communicate using, the number of antennas they have, etc”. Teaches that the assignment (clustering) process uses the station’s capability as a criterion for sub-band assignment; see paragraph [0047], “…the load balancing module 315 determines the capability of the client station 305 as one of the assignment criteria to select a sub-band to which the client station 305 has to be assigned.” ).
determining a radio link recommendation for each of the plurality of clusters (see paragraph [0024] “The wireless station determines the sub-band to which the particular client station has to be assigned based on a number of assignment attributes. An assignment attribute can include one or more of (a) a load, e.g., available airtime, at a particular sub-band, (b) a link rate with a particular client station on a particular band, (c) a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a signal received from the particular client station at a particular sub-band, (d) distance of a particular client station from the wireless station, (e) hardware configuration of a particular client station, (f) an application of a client station that is requesting the airtime of the wireless station, (g) interference at a particular sub-band, etc”; see paragraph [0032], “The wireless station 105 assigns the client station to a particular sub-band based on assignment criteria, which is a function of a number of assignment attributes, including a load of the wireless station 105 in a particular sub-band”);
determining a load for each radio link based on each station accepting the radio link recommendation (see [0033] “It is often required to balance the load on the wireless station in order to minimize any adverse effect on data throughput due to an increasing number of client stations. Further, if all the client stations connect to only one particular sub-band, while the data throughput of the wireless station 105 decreases in the particular sub-band, the wireless station 05 is not utilized or under-utilized in the other sub-band, which makes the wireless station 105 inefficient”; see paragraph [0034], “In some embodiments, the load balancing is performed by assigning a client station to one of the multiple sub-bands of a frequency band based on assignment criteria. … The assignment attributes 310 include one or more of (a) available airtime on each of the sub-bands, … (h) interference in each of the sub-bands, etc.” );
determining whether the load for each radio link is balanced (see paragraph [0033], “It is often required to balance the load on the wireless station in order to minimize any adverse effect on data throughput due to an increasing number of client stations. … Some conventional wireless stations load balance the client stations between different frequency bands, e.g., between the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band, but not within the same frequency band.”; see paragraph [0071], “The software queues per sub-band are also monitored. If the software queues for each of the sub-bands are above a specified threshold, a check is made to see if any of the client stations can be moved to another sub-band. In case the move is possible, the selected client station will be disassociated and/or de-authenticated from the current sub-band/band. … The wireless station can check the state of all relevant queues and if the size of the queues exceeds a threshold, it can mean that the wireless station 105 is getting congested and therefore, the load balancing module 315 should perform appropriate load balancing actions, e.g., move one or more of the client stations to another band/sub-band, to avoid congestion.”);
and if the loads are balanced, sending the radio link recommendation to each station in the plurality of clusters (see paragraph [0032], “The wireless station 105 assigns the client station to a particular sub-band based on assignment criteria, which is a function of a number of assignment attributes, including a load of the wireless station 105 in a particular sub-band. … The client station 305 is then associated with the assigned sub-band. Any subsequent requests from the client station 305 to connect with the wireless station 105 is automatically assigned to the assigned sub-band unless the load balancing module 315 determines to reassign the client station 305 to another sub-band for various reasons, e.g., for balancing the load on the wireless station 105.”).
AMINI et al. does not teach the claimed features of “wherein forming the plurality of clusters includes grouping stations based on a number of radio links on which each station can concurrently operate” in claims 1, 8, 15.
Homchaudhuri et al. discloses a communication system comprising: wherein forming the plurality of clusters includes grouping stations based on a number of radio links on which each station can concurrently operate (Teaches multi-link operation (MLO), where a station can connect to a single AP over two different radio links or to two APs at the same time, and can communicate over two or more links concurrently, see paragraph [0034], “Techniques are disclosed for performance enhancements for mobile stations (STAs) that are configured for multi-link operations. MLO enables a STA to connect to a single AP over two different radio links or to connect to two different APs at the same time. … the STA may communicate over two or more links at the same time”. Teaches stations may operate in multi-link, multi-radio (MLMR) mode, multi-link, single-radio (MLSR) mode, or switched MLSR mode, and that in MLMR mode, the STA is connected to one or more APs using two radio links at the same time; see paragraph [0035] “When using MLO, a STA may operate in one of several modes, including a multi-link, multi-radio (MLMR) mode, a multi-link, single-radio (MLSR) mode, and a switched MLSR mode. In the MLMR mode, the STA may be connected to one or more APs using two radio links at the same time. That is, the STA may communicate over two or more links at the same time”).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of AMINI et al. by using the features, as taught by Homchaudhuri et al., in order to optimize network performance and resource allocation in advanced wireless systems.
AMINI et al. further discloses the followings: regarding claims 2, 9, 16, the collection of stations includes single-radio multilink, and multiple-radio multilink devices (see paragraph [0003] “Wireless access points may be equipped with one or multiple radios and each of the radios are assigned to distinct frequency bands. For example, some access points have two radios, one for 2.4 GHz band and another for 5 GHz band. A wireless local area network (WLAN) client station, such as a cell phone, laptop, and a tablet, communicate with the access point in one or more frequency bands. In some instances, a laptop client may be equipped with one or more WLAN radios which are designed to communicate in one of the multiple supported bands, for example, in either the 2.4 GHz band or the 5 GHz band”; see paragraph paragraph[0007] “The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations. For example, a dual-band client station that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz can connect to the wireless station at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands”).
AMINI et al. further discloses the followings: regarding claims 3, 10, 17, determining whether the loads on the radio links are balanced includes determining channel utilizations of the radio links (see paragraph [0008], “The wireless station determines the sub-band to which the particular client station has to be assigned based on a number of assignment attributes. An assignment attribute can include one or more of (a) a load, e.g., available airtime, at a particular sub-band, … (g) interference at a particular sub-band, etc.”; see paragraph [0052], “InterInterference can adversely impact the data throughput rate between the client stations and the wireless station 105. Further, the interference can be of different degrees on different channels in a frequency band. … Based on the measured interference on the operating channel, the available WLAN airtime and the link quality can be calculated, and based on the available airtime, the load balancing module 315 can determine the number of client stations and the type of client stations … that will be supported.”; see paragraph [0060], “Based on the channel utilization per known client station, the sub-band assignment may be modified.”).
AMINI et al. further discloses the followings: regarding claims 4, 11, 18 forming the plurality of clusters includes determining whether each station can operate on multiple spectra (see paragraph [0023] “The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations. For example, a dual-band client station that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz can connect to the wireless station at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands” ;see paragraph [0031] “The client stations can connect to any of the bands, that is, the 2.4 GHz band, a first sub-5 GHz band or the second sub-5 GHz band. In some embodiments, the client stations connect to a particular band based on their hardware configuration”; see paragraph [0038], “Different client stations have different capabilities, e.g., hardware configuration. … In some embodiments, the capabilities of a client station is determined as a function of the IEEE 802.11 protocols they can communicate using, the number of antennas they have, etc.”; see paragraph [0047], “…the load balancing module 315 determines the capability of the client station 305 as one of the assignment criteria to select a sub-band to which the client station 305 has to be assigned.”).
AMINI et al. further discloses the followings: regarding claims 5, 12, 19, forming the plurality of clusters includes determining whether each station can operate with different spectra on multiple radio links (see paragraph [0023] “The client stations can connect to the wireless station at any of the frequency bands based on the capability of the radios of the client stations. For example, a dual-band client station that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz can connect to the wireless station at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands” ;see paragraph [0031] “The client stations can connect to any of the bands, that is, the 2.4 GHz band, a first sub-5 GHz band or the second sub-5 GHz band. In some embodiments, the client stations connect to a particular band based on their hardware configuration”; see paragraph [0038], “Different client stations have different capabilities, e.g., hardware configuration. … In some embodiments, the capabilities of a client station is determined as a function of the IEEE 802.11 protocols they can communicate using, the number of antennas they have, etc.”; see paragraph [0047], “…the load balancing module 315 determines the capability of the client station 305 as one of the assignment criteria to select a sub-band to which the client station 305 has to be assigned.”).
AMINI et al. further discloses the followings: regarding claims 7, 14, determining a radio link recommendation includes determining an amount of interference on a channel in the operating spectrum of each station (see paragraph [0024], “The wireless station determines the sub-band to which the particular client station has to be assigned based on a number of assignment attributes. An assignment attribute can include one or more of … (g) interference at a particular sub-band, etc.”; see paragraph [0079], “At block 805, the channel selection module 710 of the wireless station 105 calculates an interference level on a given sub-band of a frequency band. … In some embodiments, the interference levels can be calculated based on the interference received from other WLAN devices/sub-band/bands.”).
Claims 6, 13, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AMINI et al. (US 20150271829 A1) in view of Homchaudhuri et al. (US 20220337338 A1) as applied to claims 1, 8, 15 above, and further in view of Chu et al. (US 20210377856 A1).
AMINI et al. (US 20150271829 A1) in view of Homchaudhuri et al. (US 20220337338 A1) disclose the claimed limitation above. However, AMINI et al. (US 20150271829 A1) in view of Homchaudhuri et al. (US 20220337338 A1) do not disclose the followings: regarding claims 6, 13, 20, forming the plurality of clusters includes determining whether each station can wake up on one or more radio links.
Chu et al. (US 20210377856 A1) discloses a communication system comprising: regarding claims 6, 13, 20, forming the plurality of clusters includes determining whether each station can wake up on one or more radio links (see Abstract, “…a method performed by a multi-link device (MLD) access point to establish a target wake time (TWT) with a MLD station, wherein a plurality of links are established between the MLD access point and the MLD station, including: transmitting, by the MLD access point, a TWT set up frame to the MLD station configured to indicate whether the TWT set up frame is applied to multiple links of the plurality of links; and negotiating, by the MLD access point, a TWT agreement with the MLD station via one of the multiple links with the MLD station, wherein the TWT agreement applies to all of the indicated multiple links.”; see paragraph [0069] “Various options for power save operation across the various links will now be described. In a first option, when a power save frame is transmitted (e.g., to switch between power save mode and active mode or switch between awake state and doze state) in any one link, the transmitted power save parameters should be applied to all the links for an enhanced single-radio NON-AP MLD. This may include an eMLSR or EMLMR NON-AP MLD. The baseline frame exchange plus a NON-AP MLD capability check is used for such a power save operation indication. The approach uses an implicit approach where the power save frame is applied to all the links”).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of AMINI et al. and Homchaudhuri et al., by using the features, as taught by Chu et al., in order to optimize network performance, resource allocation, and power efficiency in advanced wireless systems supporting multi-link devices.
Conclusion
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/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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