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
Applicant's amendment filed on 05/26/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-2, 17 and 20 have been amended. No claims have been added or cancelled. Claims 1-20 are still pending in this application, with claims 1 and 20, being independent.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obta20ined, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (US 2024/0163799; hereinafter Huang) in view of Lu et al. (US 2023/0413331; hereinafter Lu).
Regarding claim 1, Huang shows an association management method (Figure 15 shows a method.) comprising:
after coordination association between a client and an AP in a Wi-Fi system is successfully completed (Figure 15; Par. 0145-0146; the STA staying in “no WUR” can transit to operate in “WUR Mode Suspend” after a two-way setup procedure initiated by the STA is completed. FIG. 16A illustrates a first example two-way setup procedure according to the present disclosure. The first example two-way setup procedure has the same functionality as the association procedure incorporating WUR negotiation as illustrated in FIG. 3.):
generating a request frame to manage association between the client and a member AP in the Wi-Fi system (Figure 15; Par. 0141, 0146; The STA generates and transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the preferred duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver.); and
sending the request frame (Figure 15; Par. 0146; The STA transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110.).
Huang shows all of the elements including the coordination association with the AP, as discussed above. Ramalho does not specifically show a plurality of member APs in a Wi-Fi multi-access point (MAP) system.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Lu. Specifically, Lu shows a plurality of member APs in a Wi-Fi multi-access point (MAP) system (Figure 3A; Par. 0072-0081; coordination association between STA and a plurality of APs of an 802.11 network.)
In view of the above, having the system of Huang, then given the well-established teaching of Lu, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Huang as taught by Lu, in order to provide motivation to provide an effective mechanism for collaboration of the R-TWT operation for latency sensitive traffic and the TID-to-Link mapping in a WLAN (Par. 0037 of Lu).
Regarding claim 2, modified Huang shows sending the request frame to one of the plurality of member APs in the Wi-Fi MAP system (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0146; The STA transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110.).
Regarding claim 3, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is configured to request association suspension with the member AP (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0141, 0146; The STA generates and transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22).).
Regarding claim 4, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is further configured to carry a timing indication to indicate when the association suspension is to be effective (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0141, 0146; The STA generates and transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the preferred duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver.).
Regarding claim 5, modified Huang shows receiving a response frame from one of the plurality of member APs, wherein the response frame is generated from the member AP in response to the request frame, and is configured to indicate whether the association suspension is accepted or rejected (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0146; the AP 110 transmits an Association Response frame or a Reassociation Response frame to the STA. The Association Response frame or the Reassociation Response frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Response” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the WUR Mode Response Status field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Accept” or “Denied” (as illustrated in FIG. 23).).
Regarding claim 6, modified Huang shows wherein the response frame is further configured to carry a timing indication to indicate when the association suspension is to be effective (Huang: Par. 0146; If the WUR Mode Response Status field is “Enter WUR Mode Accept”, then the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the time resolution of partial TSF, the duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver, WUR Beacon interval, WID and WUR operating channel, etc.).
Regarding claim 7, modified Huang shows receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) frame from one of the plurality of member APs, wherein the ACK frame is generated from the member AP in response to the request frame (Huang: Par. 0146; The AP 110 responds with an Ack frame upon the successful receipt of the Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame.).
Regarding claim 8, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is configured to request association resumption with the member AP (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0148; The STA transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22).).
Regarding claim 9, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is further configured to carry a timing indication to indicate when the association resumption is to be effective (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0148; The STA transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the preferred duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver.
Regarding claim 10, modified Huang shows receiving a response frame from one of the plurality of member APs, wherein the response frame is generated from the member AP in response to the request frame, and is configured to indicate whether the association resumption is accepted or rejected (Huang: Figure 15; Par. 0148; the AP 110 transmits an Association Response frame or a Reassociation Response frame to the STA. The Association Response frame or the Reassociation Response frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Response” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the WUR Mode Response Status field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Accept” or “Denied” (as illustrated in FIG. 23).).
Regarding claim 11, modified Huang shows wherein the response frame is further configured to carry a timing indication to indicate when the association resumption is to be effective (Huang: Par. 0148; If the WUR Mode Response Status field is “Enter WUR Mode Accept”, then the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the time resolution of partial TSF, the duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver, WUR Beacon interval, WID and WUR operating channel, etc.).
Regarding claim 12, modified Huang shows receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) frame from one of the plurality of member APs, wherein the ACK frame is generated from the member AP in response to the request frame (Huang: Par. 0148; The AP 110 responds with an Ack frame upon the successful receipt of the Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame.).
Regarding claim 13, modified Huang shows sending the request frame to the client (Huang: Figure 18B; Par. 0151; one-way setup procedure initiated by the AP 110. The AP 110 transmits a WUR Mode Setup frame to the STA. The WUR Mode Setup frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend” (as illustrated in FIG. 22).).
Regarding claim 14, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is configured to request association suspension with the client (Huang: Figure 18B; Par. 0151; one-way setup procedure initiated by the AP 110. The AP 110 transmits a WUR Mode Setup frame to the STA. The WUR Mode Setup frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend” (as illustrated in FIG. 22).).
Regarding claim 20, Huang shows a wireless communication device (Figure 1; STA) comprising:
a network interface circuit (Figures 24-25; STA includes a transceiver.); and
a control circuit (Figures 24-25; STA includes control circuitry.), arranged to generate a request frame and instruct the network interface circuit to send the request frame (Figure 15; Par. 0141, 0146; The STA generates and transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the preferred duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver.) after coordination association between a client and an AP in a Wi-Fi system is successfully completed (Figure 15; Par. 0145-0146; the STA staying in “no WUR” can transit to operate in “WUR Mode Suspend” after a two-way setup procedure initiated by the STA is completed. FIG. 16A illustrates a first example two-way setup procedure according to the present disclosure. The first example two-way setup procedure has the same functionality as the association procedure incorporating WUR negotiation as illustrated in FIG. 3.), wherein the request frame is configured to manage association between the client and a member AP in the Wi-Fi system (Figure 15; Par. 0141, 0146; The STA generates and transmits an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP 110. The Association Request frame or the Reassociation Request frame contains a WUR Mode element (as illustrated in FIG. 8) in which the Action Type field is set to “Enter WUR Mode Suspend Request” (as illustrated in FIG. 22) and the Wake-up Operating Parameters field contains the preferred duty cycle schedule of the STA's WUR receiver.).
Huang shows all of the elements including the coordination association with the AP, as discussed above. Ramalho does not specifically show a plurality of member APs in a Wi-Fi multi-access point (MAP) system.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Lu. Specifically, Lu shows a plurality of member APs in a Wi-Fi multi-access point (MAP) system (Figure 3A; Par. 0072-0081; coordination association between STA and a plurality of APs of an 802.11 network.)
In view of the above, having the system of Huang, then given the well-established teaching of Lu, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Huang as taught by Lu, in order to provide motivation to provide an effective mechanism for collaboration of the R-TWT operation for latency sensitive traffic and the TID-to-Link mapping in a WLAN (Par. 0037 of Lu).
Claim(s) 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Lu and Wang et al. (US 2020/0344695; hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 15, modified Huang shows all of the elements except wherein the request frame is a broadcast frame or an individual addressed frame.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Wang. Specifically, Wang shows wherein the request frame is a broadcast frame or an individual addressed frame (Par. 0166; the STA may receive a unicast/broadcast/multicast WUR frame with a WUR GID at step 405.).
In view of the above, having the system of Huang, then given the well-established teaching of Wang, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Huang as taught by Wang, in order to provide motivation that allow the WTRUs to efficiently rediscover the AP and/or reliably access the medium for WURs are needed (Par. 0002 of Wang).
Regarding claim 16, modified Huang shows all of the elements including the request frame, as discussed above. Modified Huang does not specifically show a timing indication to indicate when the association suspension is to be effective.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Wang. Specifically, Wang shows a timing indication to indicate when the association suspension is to be effective (Par. 0156; The WUR AP may request the WUR STA to enter WUR mode suspend to maintain existing WUR parameters, while re-negotiating other WUR parameters, (e.g., WUP data rates, wake up channels, bands, etc.) The WUR AP may indicate the parameters that need to be changed in the WUR mode suspend request, action frames, or WUR action frames. The WUR AP may assign one or more new GIDs to the STA, along with new duty cycles, sleep times, or the like.).
In view of the above, having the system of Huang, then given the well-established teaching of Wang, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Huang as taught by Wang, in order to provide motivation that allow the WTRUs to efficiently rediscover the AP and/or reliably access the medium for WURs are needed (Par. 0002 of Wang).
Claim(s) 1-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Lu and Kim et al. (US 2020/0029276; hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claim 17, modified Huang shows all of the elements including the request frame, as discussed above. Modified Huang does not specifically show to request association resumption with the client, and sending the request frame to the client comprises: sending the request frame to the client through another member AP in the Wi-Fi MAP system, wherein the client is associated with said another member AP.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Kim. Specifically, Kim shows to request association resumption with the client, and sending the request frame to the client comprises: sending the request frame to the client through another member AP in the Wi-Fi MAP system, wherein the client is associated with said another member AP (Par. 0143-0146; when the received WUR packet is transmitted from the AP associated with the WUR STA but is a packet directed to a different WUR STA or a WUR beacon frame periodically broadcast, the WUR STA does not need to wake up the WLAN transceiver. In this case, the WUR STA has confirmed that the WUR STA is still in the coverage of the AP and thus can maintain the WUR mode. When the received WUR packet is transmitted to/intended for the WUR STA, the WUR STA suspends the WUR keep-alive timer (1735), turns on the WLAN transceiver, and transmits/receives a WLAN frame (1740). The WUR STA monitors a WLAN channel through the WLAN transceiver for a certain period of time and attempts to detect a WLAN frame. The frame that the WUR STA attempts to detect may be, for example, a frame transmitted by the AP associated with the WUR STA or an intra-BSS frame, but is not limited thereto.).
In view of the above, having the system of Huang, then given the well-established teaching of Kim, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Huang as taught by Kim, in order to provide motivation for reducing the power consumption of a STA (Par. 0014 of Kim).
Regarding claim 18, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is a broadcast frame or an individual addressed frame (Kim: Par. 0142; A packet transmitted to/intended for the WUR STA is not necessarily limited to a unicast WUR packet (e.g., an SU WUR packet) as described above and may include a multicast/broadcast WUR packet (e.g., an MU WUR packet) to wake up a plurality of WUR STAs.).
Regarding claim 19, modified Huang shows wherein the request frame is further configured to carry a timing indication to indicate when the association resumption is to be effective (Kim: Par. 0163; A request/response procedure illustrated in FIG. 19 may be performed, for example, by adding the WUR keep-alive timer information to a response frame of an existing WLAN procedure, such as a probe request/response procedure or an association request/response procedure. Alternatively, the WUR keep-alive timer information may be provided through a response frame (e.g., a WUR mode response frame) newly defined to negotiate the WUR mode. For example, the WUR keep-alive timer information may be provided through an association response frame or a WUR mode response frame, but is not limited thereto.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20250142459 A1 MULTI-LINK SETUP LINK RECOMMENDATION
US 20230413331 A1 METHODS AND DEVICES FOR RESTRICTED TARGET WAKE TIME OPERATION FOR LATENCY SENSITIVE TRAFFIC IN WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS
US 20230319722 A1 MULTI-LINK SINGLE RADIO SUSPENSION AND OPERATING PARAMETERS
US 20220330369 A1 ULTRA-LOW LATENCY MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL DESIGN FOR 802.11
US 20200404589 A1 METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CHANNEL ACCESS AND RECOVERY WAKE-UP RADIOS
US 20200228932 A1 MESH COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK HAVING MESH PORTS
US 20190335454 A1 METHODS FOR MULTI-LINK SETUP BETWEEN A MULTI-LINK ACCESS POINT (AP) LOGICAL ENTITY AND A MULTI-LINK NON-AP LOGICAL ENTITY
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 REDENTOR M PASIA whose telephone number is (571)272-9745. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays-Fridays 5am-245pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Un Cho can be reached at (571)272-7919. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/REDENTOR PASIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
Prosecution Insights