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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/18/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Page 8 of the Remarks, Applicants argued, Ryu fails to teach feature of claim 1 because “Ryu does not disclose or suggest that the STA 1404 generates, during the r-TWT SP 1502, a first frame indicating, to the AP 1402 in a WLAN, that the STA 1404 is ready to terminate the r-TWT SP 1502, as recited in claim 1”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicants are directed to figure 12 and paragraphs [0141]-[0159], wherein the reference shows a process for determining, calculating and setting values of a plurality of subfields of the MAC frame. It is a process of generating a MAC frame considered by the Examiner.
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 (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 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ryu et al (hereinafter “Ryu”), US Pub. 2025/0071813 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Ryu discloses restricted target wake time service period extension in a wireless system comprising a plurality of access points (fig. 1, AP 104s), wherein each AP connects with multiple wireless stations (fig. 1, STA 106s), each STA comprising: one or more processors (fig. 2, STA 210 comprises a processor 220) configured to: generate, during a service period of a target wake time (TWT) schedule (see fig. 3-4, 7-11: TWT SP), a first frame (see fig. 12: MAC frame) indicating, to an access point in a wireless local area network (WLAN), that the first device is ready to terminate the service period (p. [0200]-[0206], [0217]-[0220], fig. 12, 14-15, 20: end of service period-EOSP); and wirelessly transmit, via a transceiver (fig. 2, Tx/Rx unit 240), the generated first frame (fig. 12 MAC frame) to the access point (fig. 3-4, 7-8, 11-17).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Ryu discloses wherein: the first frame includes a quality of service (QoS) control field that includes a first field (fig. 12: the frame includes QoS control field), and in generating the first frame, the one or more processors (fig. 2, processors 220 and 290) are configured to set the first field to a value indicating that the first device is ready to terminate the service period (p. [0200]-[0206], [0217]-[0220], fig. 12, 20: EOSP subfield set 0 or 1).
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, Ryu discloses wherein the first frame is a QoS null frame, and the first field is a bit included in the QoS control field ([0085], [0094], [0157], [0220], [0250]-[0252]: a STA may transmit a frame (e.g., a PS-Poll frame or a QoS null frame) to the AP to retrieve a downlink buffered data from the AP during a TWT SP. In unannounced TWT, an AP may transmit downlink data to a TWT STA without receiving a frame (e.g., a PS-Poll frame, or a QoS null frame) from the TWT STA during a TWT SP).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18-19, Ryu discloses wherein: the first frame includes a second field indicating a buffer size of traffic corresponding a traffic identifier (TID) (fig. 12 , TID field), and in generating the first frame, the one or more processors (fig. 2, processors 220 and 290) are configured to set the second field to a value indicating that the first device is ready to terminate the service period (p. [0200]-[0206], [0217]-[0220], fig. 12, 20: EOSP subfield).
Regarding claims 5 and 12, Ryu discloses wherein: the first frame includes a third field indicating a total buffer size of traffic corresponding a plurality of TIDs (fig. 12, queue size (UL)/ AP PS buffer state (DL) field) , and in generating the first frame, the one or more processors (fig. 2, processors 220 and 290) are configured to set the third field to a value indicating that the first device is ready to terminate the service period (fig. 12, UL/DL end of service period (EOSP) field) .
Regarding claim 6, Ryu discloses wherein the one or more processors (fig. 2, processor 220) are further configured to: wirelessly receive, via the transceiver from the access point, a second frame (fig. 2, Tx/Rx unit 240 wirelessly receives signal frames from AP 260); and in response to the second frame, generate the first frame (see fig. 7-9, 11, 13-15: STA generates a frame in response to a trigger frame received from the AP).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Ryu discloses an AP comprising one or more processors (fig. 2, AP 260 comprises a processor 270) configured to: wirelessly receive, during a service period of a target wake time (TWT) schedule via a transceiver (fig. 2, AP 260 comprises a Tx/Rx 290) from a first device (fig. 2, STA 210) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) (fig. 1: a WLAN comprises an AP and multiple STAs; fig. 3: AP 311 receives a frame from STA 312 during a TWT SP interval), a first frame indicating that the first device is ready to terminate the service period (p. [0200]-[0206], [0217]-[0220], fig. 12, 14-15, 20: end of service period-EOSP); in response to the first frame, determine whether the access point has pending traffic for the first device for a remainder of the service period (p. [0173]: AP 1302 may have buffered data for one or more of the TIDs associated with the setup r-TWT. The buffered data may include data for a first TID (TID_1) and a second TID (TID_2) associated with the setup r-TWT); and in response to determining that the access point does not have pending traffic for the first device for the remainder of the service period, wirelessly transmit, via the transceiver, a second frame indicating that the service period has been terminated (fig. 16, p. [0231]-[0232]: AP 1402 may set the EOSP field of frame 1608 to 1 to indicate the absence of buffered BUs for TIDs associated with the r-TWT at AP 1402. STA 1404 may consider r-TWT SP 1602-1 terminated based on transmitting BA frame 1610 in response to frame 1608 that includes buffered data for a TID associated with the r-TWT (TID_1) and having an EOSP field set to 1).
Regarding claims 8 and 15, Ryu discloses wherein the one or more processors (fig. 2, AP 260 comprises a processor 270) are further configured to: in response to determining that the access point has pending traffic for the first device for the remainder of the service period, wirelessly transmit, via the transceiver to the first device, the pending traffic (fig. 16, p. [0231]-[0232]: a “More Data” field of frame 1608 may be set to indicate whether buffered BUs are present at AP 1402. STA 1404 may consider r-TWT SP 1602-1 terminated based on transmitting BA frame 1610 in response to frame 1608 that includes buffered data for a TID associated with the r-TWT (TID_1) and having an EOSP field set to 1. In an embodiment, STA 1404 may transition to the doze state based on receiving, from AP 1402, frame 1608 that includes buffered data for a TID associated with the r-TWT (TID_1) and having an EOSP field set to 1) and in response to transmitting the pending traffic, wirelessly transmit, via the transceiver, a third frame indicating that the service period has been terminated (p. [0232]: STA 1404 may consider r-TWT SP 1602-1 terminated based on transmitting BA frame 1610 in response to frame 1608 that includes buffered data for a TID associated with the r-TWT (TID_1) and having an EOSP field set to 1).
Regarding claims 13 and 20, Ryu discloses wherein the one or more processors (fig. 2, AP 260 comprises a processor 270) are further configured to: wirelessly send, via the transceiver of the access point, a fourth frame (fig. 16, frame 1608); and in response to the fourth frame, wirelessly receive, via the transceiver, the first frame (fig. 16, TWT frame 1406).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 THAI D HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3184. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 am-18:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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THAI HOANG D.
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/THAI DINH HOANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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