DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 11-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 11 recites “the wireless station”. It is unclear as to which wireless station it is being referred to as two wireless stations have been introduced earlier in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 10-11 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kwon et al. (US 2021/0385692 A1, hereinafter “Kwon”).
As to claim 1:
Kwon discloses a medium access recovery method (Abstract; [0141]-[0147]) comprising:
starting a medium synchronization delay timer of a wireless station to time a medium synchronization delay period (“STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; [0145] “the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0146]) when the wireless station affiliated with a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) that belongs to a wireless link pair has lost medium synchronization (“if during a transmission of a STA (STA1) of a non-STR non-AP MLD, another STA (STA2) of the same MLD cannot detect its medium state when required (due to STA1's UL transmission interference), STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; Fig. 7; [0145]; [0141]; Abstract), wherein the medium synchronization delay timer times the medium synchronization delay period (“the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0145]-[0146]); and
using an adjusted energy detection (ED) threshold for clear channel assessment (CCA) during the medium synchronization delay period (“while the MediumSyncDelay timer is running the STA is only allowed to attempt to initiate up to number of transmit opportunities (TxOPs) assigned by the AP (at least 1) or trigger frame transmission and shall attempt to initiate that TxOP with the transmission of an RTS frame using regular EDCA backoff using baseline CCA but a TBD ED threshold value”; [0147]).
As to claim 10:
Kwon further discloses wherein the wireless link pair comprises a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) link pair (“A non-AP MLD (STA1 on link 1 610 or 710 and STA2 on link 2 640 or 740) is an NSTR MLD on link 1 610 or 710 and link 2 640 or 740”; [0141]; [0144]; [0111]).
As to claim 11:
Kwon discloses a wireless station (STA; Figs. 1 and 7; Abstract; [0141]-[0147]) comprising:
a transceiver (transceiver of STA; Figs. 1 and 7; Abstract; [0199]); and
a processor connected to the transceiver and configured to execute (processor and transceiver of STA implement the embodiment of; Figs. 1 and 7; Abstract; [0199]):
starting a medium synchronization delay timer of a wireless station to time a medium synchronization delay period (“STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; [0145] “the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0146]) when the wireless station affiliated with a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) that belongs to a wireless link pair has lost medium synchronization (“if during a transmission of a STA (STA1) of a non-STR non-AP MLD, another STA (STA2) of the same MLD cannot detect its medium state when required (due to STA1's UL transmission interference), STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; Fig. 7; [0145]; [0141]; Abstract), wherein the medium synchronization delay timer times the medium synchronization delay period (“the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0145]-[0146]); and
using an adjusted energy detection (ED) threshold for clear channel assessment (CCA) during the medium synchronization delay period (“while the MediumSyncDelay timer is running the STA is only allowed to attempt to initiate up to number of transmit opportunities (TxOPs) assigned by the AP (at least 1) or trigger frame transmission and shall attempt to initiate that TxOP with the transmission of an RTS frame using regular EDCA backoff using baseline CCA but a TBD ED threshold value”; [0147]).
As to claim 19:
Kwon further discloses wherein the wireless link pair comprises a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) link pair (“A non-AP MLD (STA1 on link 1 610 or 710 and STA2 on link 2 640 or 740) is an NSTR MLD on link 1 610 or 710 and link 2 640 or 740”; [0141]; [0144]; [0111]).
As to claim 20:
Kwon discloses a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a medium access recovery method (software running on a processor to implement the embodiments of the invention; see Figs. 1 and 7; Abstract; [0199]-[0201]; [0141]-[0147]), comprising:
starting a medium synchronization delay timer of a wireless station to time a medium synchronization delay period (“STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; [0145] “the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0146]) when the wireless station affiliated with a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) that belongs to a wireless link pair has lost medium synchronization (“if during a transmission of a STA (STA1) of a non-STR non-AP MLD, another STA (STA2) of the same MLD cannot detect its medium state when required (due to STA1's UL transmission interference), STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; Fig. 7; [0145]; [0141]; Abstract), wherein the medium synchronization delay timer times the medium synchronization delay period (“the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0145]-[0146]); and
using an adjusted energy detection (ED) threshold for clear channel assessment (CCA) during the medium synchronization delay period (“while the MediumSyncDelay timer is running the STA is only allowed to attempt to initiate up to number of transmit opportunities (TxOPs) assigned by the AP (at least 1) or trigger frame transmission and shall attempt to initiate that TxOP with the transmission of an RTS frame using regular EDCA backoff using baseline CCA but a TBD ED threshold value”; [0147]).
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 of this title, 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 2-4, 8-9, 12-14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US 2021/0385692 A1) in view of Ko et al. (US 2024/0129866 A1, hereinafter “Ko”).
As to claim 2:
Kwon discloses the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the adjusted ED threshold is equal to a medium synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ED threshold indicated by a parameter of dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold.
However, Ko discloses the adjusted ED threshold is equal to a medium synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ED threshold indicated by a parameter of dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold(“The ED threshold when the MediumSyncDelay is applied may be dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold”; [0300]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow the adjusted ED threshold to be equal to a medium synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ED threshold indicated by a parameter of dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]).
As to claim 3:
The combined system/method of Kwon and Ko discloses the invention set forth above. Ko further discloses using the adjusted ED threshold for transmission of one or more management frames (“management frame or a control frame may be transmitted”; see Figs. 25 and 27; [0136]; [0368]-[0371]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into the combined system/method as it would allow using the adjusted ED threshold for transmission of one or more management frames. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]).
As to claim 4:
Kwon discloses the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose resetting the medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) which has a duration/ID field carrying duration information; and not resetting medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid MPDU which has a Duration/ID field carrying no duration information.
However, Ko discloses resetting the medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) which has a duration/ID field carrying duration information (“duration information may be included in a frame. More specifically, the duration information may include a MAC header included in the frame. More specifically, the duration information may be included in a duration/ID field included in the MAC header. Accordingly, when the STA to which the MediumSyncDelay is applied has received a valid frame or MPDU for the MediumSyncDelay, the MediumSyncDelay timer may be reset to 0. In the present invention, descriptions of the frame, the MPDU, the MAC header, the duration/ID field, and the duration information may be interchangeably used”; [0315]-[0317]; [0372]; [0406]); and not resetting medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid MPDU which has a Duration/ID field carrying no duration information (“even though an STA applying MediumSyncDelay receives a frame or a PPDU transmitted by STA 2, a TXOP field is not received, and thus RXVECTOR parameter TXOP_DURATION does not exist. That is, the STA having received the frame or the PPDU transmitted by STA 2 may not reset the MediumSyncDelay timer on the basis of RXVECTOR parameter TXOP_DURATION”; [0378]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow resetting the medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) which has a duration/ID field carrying duration information; and not resetting medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid MPDU which has a Duration/ID field carrying no duration information. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]).
As to claim 8:
Kwon discloses the medium synchronization delay period (“STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; [0145] “the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0146]), but does not explicitly disclose disallowing OBSS PD SR during the medium synchronization delay period.
However Ko discloses disallowing OBSS PD SR during the medium synchronization delay period (“ the operation based on the classified BSS may include a channel access operation. The spatial reuse information may be a channel access operation. When an STA receives a PPDU or a frame and a preconfigured condition is satisfied, the spatial reuse operation may be performed. The preconfigured condition may include a condition in which the received PPDU or the received frame corresponds to an inter-BSS. In addition, the preconfigured condition may include a condition in which a signal strength of the received PPDU or the received frame may have a value smaller than a threshold. For example, the threshold may be variable. In addition, the threshold may be a threshold for an OBSS PD-based spatial reuse operation. In addition, the threshold may be a value equal to or greater than a CCA threshold”; [0183]; [0187]; [0011]-[0016] note: when less than threshold then OBSS PD spatial reuse is performed, when higher than a threshold then no OBSS PD spatial reuse is performed (i.e., disallowing)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow disallowing OBSS PD SR during the medium synchronization delay period. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]). Furthermore, restricting OBSS PD SR would reduce interference.
As to claim 9:
The combined system/method of Kwon and Ko discloses the invention set forth above. Ko further discloses wherein the adjusted ED threshold is not lower than a spatial reuse (SR) overlapping basic service set (OBSS) packet detection (PD) level (“ the operation based on the classified BSS may include a channel access operation. The spatial reuse information may be a channel access operation. When an STA receives a PPDU or a frame and a preconfigured condition is satisfied, the spatial reuse operation may be performed. The preconfigured condition may include a condition in which the received PPDU or the received frame corresponds to an inter-BSS. In addition, the preconfigured condition may include a condition in which a signal strength of the received PPDU or the received frame may have a value smaller than a threshold. For example, the threshold may be variable. In addition, the threshold may be a threshold for an OBSS PD-based spatial reuse operation. In addition, the threshold may be a value equal to or greater than a CCA threshold”; [0183]; [0187]; [0011]-[0016] note: when less than threshold then OBSS PD spatial reuse is performed, when higher than a threshold then no OBSS PD spatial reuse is performed (i.e., disallowing)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into the combined system/method as it would allow the adjusted ED threshold to not be lower than a spatial reuse (SR) overlapping basic service set (OBSS) packet detection (PD) level. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]). Furthermore, restricting OBSS PD SR would reduce interference.
As to claim 12:
Kwon discloses the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the adjusted ED threshold is equal to a medium synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ED threshold indicated by a parameter of dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold.
However, Ko discloses the adjusted ED threshold is equal to a medium synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ED threshold indicated by a parameter of dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold(“The ED threshold when the MediumSyncDelay is applied may be dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold”; [0300]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow the adjusted ED threshold to be equal to a medium synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ED threshold indicated by a parameter of dot11MSDOFDMEDthreshold. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]).
As to claim 13:
The combined system/method of Kwon and Ko discloses the invention set forth above. Ko further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to execute (processor 110; Fig. 3; [0064]-[0068]): using the adjusted ED threshold for transmission of one or more management frames (“management frame or a control frame may be transmitted”; see Figs. 25 and 27; [0136]; [0368]-[0371]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into the combined system/method as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: using the adjusted ED threshold for transmission of one or more management frames. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]).
As to claim 14:
Kwon discloses the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the processor is further configured to execute: resetting the medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) which has a duration/ID field carrying duration information; and not resetting medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid MPDU which has a Duration/ID field carrying no duration information.
However, Ko discloses wherein the processor is further configured to execute (processor 110; Fig. 3; [0064]-[0068]): resetting the medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) which has a duration/ID field carrying duration information (“duration information may be included in a frame. More specifically, the duration information may include a MAC header included in the frame. More specifically, the duration information may be included in a duration/ID field included in the MAC header. Accordingly, when the STA to which the MediumSyncDelay is applied has received a valid frame or MPDU for the MediumSyncDelay, the MediumSyncDelay timer may be reset to 0. In the present invention, descriptions of the frame, the MPDU, the MAC header, the duration/ID field, and the duration information may be interchangeably used”; [0315]-[0317]; [0372]; [0406]); and not resetting medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid MPDU which has a Duration/ID field carrying no duration information (“even though an STA applying MediumSyncDelay receives a frame or a PPDU transmitted by STA 2, a TXOP field is not received, and thus RXVECTOR parameter TXOP_DURATION does not exist. That is, the STA having received the frame or the PPDU transmitted by STA 2 may not reset the MediumSyncDelay timer on the basis of RXVECTOR parameter TXOP_DURATION”; [0378]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: resetting the medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) which has a duration/ID field carrying duration information; and not resetting medium synchronization delay timer to zero when the wireless station receives a PPDU with a valid MPDU which has a Duration/ID field carrying no duration information. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]).
As to claim 18:
Kwon discloses the medium synchronization delay period (“STA2 shall start a MediumSyncDelay timer”; [0145] “the MediumSyncDelay timer expires after a duration value that is either assigned by AP or specified in spec or if at least either of the following events happens: any received PPDU with a valid MPDU; or a received PPDU with a valid TxOP_duration, whichever happens first”; [0146]), but does not explicitly disclose disallowing OBSS PD SR during the medium synchronization delay period; wherein the adjusted ED threshold is not lower than a spatial reuse (SR) overlapping basic service set (OBSS) packet detection (PD) level.
However Ko discloses disallowing OBSS PD SR during the medium synchronization delay period; wherein the adjusted ED threshold is not lower than a spatial reuse (SR) overlapping basic service set (OBSS) packet detection (PD) level (“ the operation based on the classified BSS may include a channel access operation. The spatial reuse information may be a channel access operation. When an STA receives a PPDU or a frame and a preconfigured condition is satisfied, the spatial reuse operation may be performed. The preconfigured condition may include a condition in which the received PPDU or the received frame corresponds to an inter-BSS. In addition, the preconfigured condition may include a condition in which a signal strength of the received PPDU or the received frame may have a value smaller than a threshold. For example, the threshold may be variable. In addition, the threshold may be a threshold for an OBSS PD-based spatial reuse operation. In addition, the threshold may be a value equal to or greater than a CCA threshold”; [0183]; [0187]; [0011]-[0016] note: when less than threshold then OBSS PD spatial reuse is performed, when higher than a threshold then no OBSS PD spatial reuse is performed (i.e., disallowing)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ko into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: disallowing OBSS PD SR during the medium synchronization delay period; wherein the adjusted ED threshold is not lower than a spatial reuse (SR) overlapping basic service set (OBSS) packet detection (PD) level. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to provide and efficiently use multiple links, and a wireless communication terminal using the same, thereby increasing efficiency in such systems (Ko; [0008]; [0017]). Furthermore, restricting OBSS PD SR would reduce interference.
Claims 5-6 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US 2021/0385692 A1) in view of Yiqing et al. (Further Discussion about Blindness for non - STR MLD, IEEE 802.11 - 20/1365r1, hereinafter “Yiqing”) and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2016/0135224 A1, hereinafter “Lee”).
As to claim 5:
Kwon discloses the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period.
However, Yiqing discloses Kwon discloses disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission (“Solution 2 is to disallow backoff in within the MediumSyncDelay period”; see slides 3 and 6-7).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yiqing into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to avoid message/signaling collision (Yiqing; slide 3).
The combined system/method of Kwon and Yiqing does not explicitly disclose having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period.
However Lee discloses a contention-based wireless transmission having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period (“when it is detected in the 20 MHz secondary channel (secondary 20) at or above −72 dBm, with a probability of 90% or more within a CCA mid-time request time (CCAMidTime) (<25 us), the WLAN device determines that the corresponding secondary channel is in use”; [0101]; [0095]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Lee into the combined system/method of Kwon and Yiqing as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to lower a collision probability in a HEW environment and increase network throughput (Lee; [0031]).
As to claim 6:
The combined system/method of Kwon, Yiqing and Lee disclose the invention set forth above. Lee further discloses wherein the contention-based wireless transmission comprises IEEE 802.11 transmission of a non-high-throughput (non-HT), high 27throughput mixed format (HT_MF), high throughput greenfield (HTGF), very high throughput (VHT), high efficiency (HE), or extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) (see [0100]-[0101]; [0110]; [0006]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Lee into the combined system/method as it would allow the contention-based wireless transmission comprises IEEE 802.11 transmission of a non-high-throughput (non-HT), high 27throughput mixed format (HT_MF), high throughput greenfield (HTGF), very high throughput (VHT), high efficiency (HE), or extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU). Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to lower a collision probability in a HEW environment and increase network throughput (Lee; [0031]).
As to claim 15:
Kwon discloses the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period.
However, Yiqing discloses Kwon discloses disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission (“Solution 2 is to disallow backoff in within the MediumSyncDelay period”; see slides 3 and 6-7).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yiqing into Kwon’s system/method as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to avoid message/signaling collision (Yiqing; slide 3).
The combined system/method of Kwon and Yiqing does not explicitly disclose having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period.
However Lee discloses a contention-based wireless transmission having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period (“when it is detected in the 20 MHz secondary channel (secondary 20) at or above −72 dBm, with a probability of 90% or more within a CCA mid-time request time (CCAMidTime) (<25 us), the WLAN device determines that the corresponding secondary channel is in use”; [0101]; [0095]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Lee into the combined system/method of Kwon and Yiqing as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: disallowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station detects a contention-based wireless transmission having a high probability of being at or above a specified signal strength threshold at a specified bandwidth within a period. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to lower a collision probability in a HEW environment and increase network throughput (Lee; [0031]).
As to claim 16:
The combined system/method of Kwon, Yiqing and Lee disclose the invention set forth above. Lee further discloses wherein the contention-based wireless transmission comprises IEEE 802.11 transmission of a non-high-throughput (non-HT), high throughput mixed format (HT_MF), high throughput greenfield (HT_GF), very high throughput (VHT), high efficiency (HE), or extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) (see [0100]-[0101]; [0110]; [0006]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Lee into the combined system/method as it would allow the contention-based wireless transmission to comprise IEEE 802.11 transmission of a non-high-throughput (non-HT), high throughput mixed format (HT_MF), high throughput greenfield (HT_GF), very high throughput (VHT), high efficiency (HE), or extremely high throughput (EHT) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU). Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to lower a collision probability in a HEW environment and increase network throughput (Lee; [0031]).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US 2021/0385692 A1) in view of Yiqing in view of Lee (US 2016/0135224 A1) and further in view of Dibakar et al. (PDT MAC MLO: NSTR blindness additional rules, hereinafter “Dibakar”) .
As to claim 7:
The combined system/method of Kwon, Yiqing and Lee disclose the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose deferring a beginning of an extended interframe space (EIFS) and allowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station does not detect the implicit link detection result.
However, Dibakar discloses deferring a beginning of an extended interframe space (EIFS) and allowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station does not detect the implicit link detection result (“During the aCCAtime (see 36.3.19.6.3 CCA sensitivity for occupying the primary 20 MHz channel) immediately following the end of the transmission event that caused loss of medium synchronization and subsequent initiation of the MediumSyncDelay timer at the non-AP STA, if the received signal strength exceeds the CCA-ED threshold as given by dot11OFDMEDThreshold for the primary 20MHz channel and no start of a PPDU is detected, the non-AP STA should defer for EIFS beginning when the received signal strength falls below the CCA-ED threshold”; see pgs. 2 and 4-5).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dibakar into the combined system/method of Kwon, Yiqing and Lee as it would allow deferring a beginning of an extended interframe space (EIFS) and allowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station does not detect the implicit link detection result. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement would yield predictable results.
As to claim 17:
The combined system/method of Kwon, Yiqing and Lee disclose the invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose deferring a beginning of an extended interframe space (EIFS) and allowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station does not detect the implicit link detection result.
However, Dibakar discloses deferring a beginning of an extended interframe space (EIFS) and allowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station does not detect the implicit link detection result (“During the aCCAtime (see 36.3.19.6.3 CCA sensitivity for occupying the primary 20 MHz channel) immediately following the end of the transmission event that caused loss of medium synchronization and subsequent initiation of the MediumSyncDelay timer at the non-AP STA, if the received signal strength exceeds the CCA-ED threshold as given by dot11OFDMEDThreshold for the primary 20MHz channel and no start of a PPDU is detected, the non-AP STA should defer for EIFS beginning when the received signal strength falls below the CCA-ED threshold”; see pgs. 2 and 4-5).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dibakar into the combined system/method of Kwon, Yiqing and Lee as it would allow the processor to be further configured to execute: deferring a beginning of an extended interframe space (EIFS) and allowing backoff during the medium synchronization delay period when the wireless station does not detect the implicit link detection result. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement would yield predictable results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIELA VIDAL CARPIO whose telephone number is (571)272-1250. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM to 5:00PM.
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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at (571)272-3795. 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.
/MARIELA VIDAL CARPIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476