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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-13, 20-21, 25, 36-39, 41, 44-45, 47, 61, 63, and 71-73 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim et al. (LG Electronics (As provided in the IDS)) in view of Guo et al. (EP 4 152 799 A1 (As provided in the IDS)). Regarding claims 1, 25, 47, 71, Lim et al. discloses a first wireless communication device (Slide 8 relay device) , comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to (Slide 8 relay device contains processor and memory): receive, from a second wireless communication device, a first frame associated with a multi-hop channel sounding between the second wireless communication device and a third wireless communication device via at least the first wireless communication device (Slide 8 and Slide 13 teaches “channel sounding is applied between AP to relay and Relay to non-AP STA” Slide 7 teaches of “AP coordination sounding feedback procedures to get CSI among Aps and STAs “; and transmit, to the second wireless communication device in accordance with the multi-hop channel sounding, at least a second frame indicating: first channel information associated with a first wireless communication link between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device; and second channel information associated with a second wireless communication link between the first wireless communication device and the third wireless communication device (Slide 7 teaches of applying channel sounding technique causes transmitting feedback of channel state information. Slide 13 teaches when applying channel sounding to relaying there is CSI for each of relay links). Lim et al. does not disclose a first wireless communication device, wherein , the first frame including first identifying information corresponding to the first wireless communication device and second identifying information corresponding to the third wireless communication device. However Gou et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the first frame including first identifying information corresponding to the first wireless communication device and second identifying information corresponding to the third wireless communication device (Para 68 teaches of NDPA frame containing identifying information of the second AP and one or more STA). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the method of sending NDPA frame with identifying information of the AP and one or more STA of Gou et al. with the system of Lim et al. in order to provide a system to implement unified channel sounding in a scenario of multi-AP coordinated transmission, to support different types of multi-AP coordinated transmission, reduce inter-cell interference, and improve user service quality. Regarding claims 2, 37, 61, 72, Lim et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: receive, from the second wireless communication device, a third frame associated with a sharing of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) or a service period (SP) of the second wireless communication device with the first wireless communication device, wherein the multi-hop channel sounding is performed within the TXOP or the SP in accordance with the sharing of the TXOP or the SP (Slide 12 teaches of TXOP sharing being performed by the AP. “TXOP for the relay operation is shared by on TXS”). Regarding claims 3, 39, 73, Lim et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit a third frame to obtain a transmission opportunity (TXOP) (Slide 12 teaches of TXOP sharing being performed by the AP. “TXOP for the relay operation is shared by on TXS”).or a service period (SP) of the second wireless communication device in accordance with the first frame including the first identifying information and the second identifying information, wherein the multi-hop channel sounding is performed within the TXOP or the SP in accordance with obtainment of the TXOP or the SP (Para 68 teaches of NDPA frame containing identifying information of the second AP and one or more STA). Regarding claim 5, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: receive, in accordance with the multi-hop channel sounding, one or more sounding packets from the second wireless communication device, wherein the first channel information is associated with the one or more sounding packets (See Fig 9a and 9b and Para 117 teaches “The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS; and the AP2 and the AP3 send NDP frames simultaneously with the AP1. As shown in 9b of FIG. 9, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and the AP2 and the AP3 simultaneously send NDP frames at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame.”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claim 6, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: measure the first frame in accordance with the multi-hop channel sounding, wherein the first channel information is associated with the first frame. (Para 94 teaches “ The station performs channel measurement on the NDP frame according to the type of downlink multi-AP coordinated transmission indicated by the first indication information, to generate a beamforming report corresponding to the type of downlink multi-AP coordinated transmission indicated by the first indication information”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 7, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit, in accordance with the first frame including the second identifying information corresponding to the third wireless communication device, a third frame associated with the multi-hop channel sounding, the third frame including the second identifying information corresponding to the third wireless communication device (See Fig 9a and 9b and Para 117 teaches “The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS; and the AP2 and the AP3 send NDP frames simultaneously with the AP1. As shown in 9b of FIG. 9, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and the AP2 and the AP3 simultaneously send NDP frames at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame.”).; transmit, to the third wireless communication device, one or more sounding packets in accordance with the multi-hop channel sounding; and receive, from the third wireless communication device, a fourth frame indicating the second channel information, wherein the second channel information is associated with the one or more sounding packets. (See Fig 10 and Para 118 teaches “ As show in Fig10b of FIG. 10, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame; the AP2 sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame; and the AP3 sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS after the AP2 completes sending the NDP frame. Feedback phases of 10a and 10b of FIG. 10 are the same, including: The AP1 sends a BFRP trigger frame, to trigger the STA1 and the STA2 to simultaneously feed back beamforming reports; and after receiving the BFRP trigger frame, the STA1 and the STA2 simultaneously feed back beamforming reports generated by performing channel measurement according to the NDP frame”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claims 8, 36, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein, to transmit at least the second frame indicating the first channel information and the second channel information, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit the second frame indicating the first channel information; and transmit a third frame indicting the second channel information, wherein the third frame is a relayed version of a frame received from the third wireless communication device (See Fig 9a and 9b and Para 117 teaches “The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS; and the AP2 and the AP3 send NDP frames simultaneously with the AP1. As shown in 9b of FIG. 9, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and the AP2 and the AP3 simultaneously send NDP frames at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame.”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claim 9, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein, to transmit at least the second frame indicating the first channel information and the second channel information, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit the second frame indicating both the first channel information and the second channel information. (Para 72 teaches “The STA information field includes a feedback mode field. In other words, the first indication information is carried in the STA information field. The frame control field may be used to identify a type of a MAC frame, the RA field and the TA field are used to identify a receive end and a transmit end of the MAC frame, and the sounding dialog token field is used to index a sequence number of channel sounding.”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claim 10, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the second channel information is associated with a previous channel sounding between the first wireless communication device and the third wireless communication device, and wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: receive, from the second wireless communication device, a third frame indicating whether the multi-hop channel sounding is terminated in accordance with the second channel information (Para 107 teaches “It may be understood that when a quantity of APs participating in multi-AP coordinated transmission is greater than or equal to 3, feeding back X in the BFR cannot bring an additional gain. To be specific, when the quantity of APs participating in multi-AP coordinated transmission is greater than or equal to 3, if the first indication information is the third value, D, V, and U are fed back in the BFR.”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claim 11, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein, to receive the third frame, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: receive, via the third frame, an indication that the multi-hop channel sounding is terminated in accordance with the second channel information passing one or more conditions, wherein the one or more conditions are associated with a channel quality, an amount of time since measurement of the channel quality, a power management state of the third wireless communication device, a set of operating parameters associated with the third wireless communication device, or any combination thereof (Para 107 teaches “It may be understood that when a quantity of APs participating in multi-AP coordinated transmission is greater than or equal to 3, feeding back X in the BFR cannot bring an additional gain. To be specific, when the quantity of APs participating in multi-AP coordinated transmission is greater than or equal to 3, if the first indication information is the third value, D, V, and U are fed back in the BFR.”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claim 12, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein, to receive the third frame, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: receive, via the third frame, an indication of a continuation of the multi-hop channel sounding in accordance with the second channel information failing one or more conditions, wherein the one or more conditions are associated with a channel quality, an amount of time since measurement of the channel quality, a power management state of the third wireless communication device, a set of operating parameters associated with the third wireless communication device, or any combination thereof (Para 107 teaches “It may be understood that when a quantity of APs participating in multi-AP coordinated transmission is greater than or equal to 3, feeding back X in the BFR cannot bring an additional gain. To be specific, when the quantity of APs participating in multi-AP coordinated transmission is greater than or equal to 3, if the first indication information is the third value, D, V, and U are fed back in the BFR.”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claim 13, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit, to the third wireless communication device, a sounding announcement frame and one or more sounding packets in accordance with the continuation of the multi-hop channel sounding(See Fig 9a and 9b and Para 117 teaches “The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS; and the AP2 and the AP3 send NDP frames simultaneously with the AP1. As shown in 9b of FIG. 9, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame, and the AP2 and the AP3 simultaneously send NDP frames at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame.”).; receive, from the third wireless communication device, a fourth frame indicating third channel information associated with the second wireless communication link between the first wireless communication device and the third wireless communication device, wherein the third channel information is associated with one or more of the sounding announcement frame or the one or more sounding packets; and transmit, to the second wireless communication device, a fifth frame indicating the third channel information, wherein the fifth frame is a relayed version of the fourth frame. . (See Fig 10 and Para 118 teaches “ As show in Fig10b of FIG. 10, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame; the AP2 sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame; and the AP3 sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS after the AP2 completes sending the NDP frame. Feedback phases of 10a and 10b of FIG. 10 are the same, including: The AP1 sends a BFRP trigger frame, to trigger the STA1 and the STA2 to simultaneously feed back beamforming reports; and after receiving the BFRP trigger frame, the STA1 and the STA2 simultaneously feed back beamforming reports generated by performing channel measurement according to the NDP frame”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above. Regarding claims 20, 45, Lim et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit, via a relay path between the second wireless communication device and the third wireless communication device, one or more data frames in accordance with the multi-hop channel sounding (See slide 8 teaches of a relay device where the sounding frames are sent through the relay device to the STA) Regarding claims 21, 44, Lim et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit the one or more data frames via the relay path during a transmission opportunity (TXOP) or a service period (SP) within which the multi-hop channel sounding is performed (Slide 12 teaches of TXOP sharing being performed by the AP. “TXOP for the relay operation is shared by on TXS”. See slide 8 teaches of a relay device where the sounding frames are sent through the relay device to the STA). Regarding claim 38, Lim et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: establish a data path between the first wireless communication device and the third wireless communication device in accordance with the first channel information, the second channel information, and the third channel information, wherein establishing the data path is in association with selecting a multi-hop relay data path associated with the first wireless communication link and the second wireless communication link or a direct data path associated with the third wireless communication link (See slide 8 where the AP 1 establishes a data path though the relay device to STA1). Regarding claims 41, 63, Guo et al. discloses a first wireless communication device, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to, when executing the code, cause the first wireless communication device to: transmit, to the second wireless communication device, a trigger frame associated with the multi-hop channel sounding, wherein receiving at least the second frame indicating the first channel information is in accordance with the trigger frame. (See Fig 10 and Para 118 teaches “ As show in Fig10b of FIG. 10, the sounding phase includes: The AP1 sends an EHT NDPA frame; the AP2 sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS after receiving the EHT NDPA frame; and the AP3 sends an NDP frame at an interval of one SIFS after the AP2 completes sending the NDP frame. Feedback phases of 10a and 10b of FIG. 10 are the same, including: The AP1 sends a BFRP trigger frame, to trigger the STA1 and the STA2 to simultaneously feed back beamforming reports; and after receiving the BFRP trigger frame, the STA1 and the STA2 simultaneously feed back beamforming reports generated by performing channel measurement according to the NDP frame”). The motivation to combine is the same as indicated in claim 1 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 40 and 62 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJAY P CATTUNGAL whose telephone number is (571)270-7525. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00 PM.
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/AJAY CATTUNGAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467