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 Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following reasons:
From the claim language, Examiner assumes that it is the processor that perform the functional steps.
However, Examiner recommends Applicants to further clarify the claim language by changing the phrase “to enable the apparatus to perform operations” to “to enable the processor to perform operations”.
Otherwise, if Applicants intends for some other hardware components of the apparatus to perform the steps, then please amend the claims to include those hardware components and clearly indicate that those hardware components perform the steps.
If Applicants intends for any unknown hardware components of the apparatus to perform the steps, then please clearly states so on record. However, Applicants are reminded that doing so will raise 112 issues since then the claim language would impose no limits as to a particular structure for performing the claimed invention; hence the claims may cover all devices for/ways for performing the claimed functions. As thus, there is a failure to provide a clear-cut indication of claim scope because the functional language is not sufficiently precise and definite, resulting in no boundaries on the claim limitation.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen, US 20200137836 in view of Tomeba, US 20230084674.
For claim 1. Chen teaches: A method for sending a physical layer protocol data unit, comprising: (Chen, fig 15, paragraph 126-128)
generating a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); (Chen, fig 15, paragraph 126, encoding for transmission a PPDU)
and sending the PPDU on one or more discrete resource units (RUs), (Chen, fig 15, paragraph 126, encoding for transmission a PPDU in accordance with an A-RU, where the A-RU including RUs that are non-contiguous (discrete); paragraph 127, transmit the PPDU on the A-RU)
Chen doesn’t teach: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs comprises a plurality of subcarriers that are discrete in frequency domain.
Tomeba from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs comprises a plurality of subcarriers that are discrete in frequency domain. (Tomeba, paragraph 52-53, communicate one frame using plurality of RUs, the plurality of RUs can include continuous subcarriers or can include non-continuous (discrete) subcarriers; non-continuous subcarriers are non-continuous (discrete) in frequency domain because subcarrier is a frequency resource as discussed in paragraph 50; paragraph 31, transmission frame of the PHY layer is referred to as PPDU))
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Tomeba into Chen, since Chen suggests a technique for communicating PPDU on multiple RUs, and Tomeba suggests the beneficial way of having such RUs include non-continuous subcarriers since it’s well-known in the art that RUs can include continuous subcarriers or include non-continuous subcarriers (Tomeba, paragraph 52-53) thus doing so would ease implementation and improve compatibility in the analogous art of communication.
For claim 2. Chen and Tomeba disclose all the limitations of claim 1, and Chen further teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs is an X-tone RU, a value of X is any one or a combination of 13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, and 996, and the X-tone RU comprises X subcarriers. (Chen, paragraph 102, a RU is a group of 13+13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2×996 subcarriers, an A-RU is two or more RUs where at least two of the RUs are non-contiguous, subcarrier and tone may be used interchangeable)
For claim 3. Chen and Tomeba disclose all the limitations of claim 2, and Chen further teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 26-tone RU, and the 26-tone RU consists of two 13-tone RUs; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 52-tone RU, and the 52-tone RU consists of two 26-tone RUs; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 52+26-tone RU, and the 52+26-tone RU consists of one 52-tone RU and one 26-tone RU; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 106-tone RU, and the 106-tone RU consists of two 52-tone RUs and two null subcarriers; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 242-tone RU, and the 242-tone RU consists of a plurality of 26-tone RUs. (Chen, Chen, paragraph 102, a RU is a group of 13+13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2×996 subcarriers, subcarrier and tone may be used interchangeable; an RU which is a group of 13+13 subcarriers is a 26 tone RU consists of two 13 tone RUs)
For claim 5. Chen teaches: A method for receiving a physical layer protocol data unit, comprising: (Chen, fig 16, paragraph 129-131)
receiving a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on one or more discrete resource units (RUs), (Chen, fig 16, paragraph 129-130, receive and decode PPDU in accordance with an A-RU, where the A-RU including RUs that are non-contiguous (discrete))
and parsing the PPDU. (Chen, fig 16, paragraph 129-130, receive and decode (parsing) PPDU in accordance with an A-RU, where the A-RU including RUs that are non-contiguous (discrete))
Chen doesn’t teach: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs comprises a plurality of subcarriers that are discrete in frequency domain;
Tomeba from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs comprises a plurality of subcarriers that are discrete in frequency domain; (Tomeba, paragraph 52-53, communicate one frame using plurality of RUs, the plurality of RUs can include continuous subcarriers or can include non-continuous (discrete) subcarriers; non-continuous subcarriers are non-continuous (discrete) in frequency domain because subcarrier is a frequency resource as discussed in paragraph 50; paragraph 31, transmission frame of the PHY layer is referred to as PPDU))
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Tomeba into Chen, since Chen suggests a technique for communicating PPDU on multiple RUs, and Tomeba suggests the beneficial way of having such RUs include non-continuous subcarriers since it’s well-known in the art that RUs can include continuous subcarriers or include non-continuous subcarriers (Tomeba, paragraph 52-53) thus doing so would ease implementation and improve compatibility in the analogous art of communication.
For claim 6. Chen and Tomeba disclose all the limitations of claim 5, and Chen further teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs is an X-tone RU, a value of X is any one or a combination of 13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, and 996, and the X-tone RU comprises X subcarriers. (Chen, paragraph 102, a RU is a group of 13+13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2×996 subcarriers, an A-RU is two or more RUs where at least two of the RUs are non-contiguous, subcarrier and tone may be used interchangeable)
For claim 7. Chen and Tomeba disclose all the limitations of claim 6, and Chen further teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 26-tone RU, and the 26-tone RU consists of two 13-tone RUs; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 52-tone RU, and the 52-tone RU consists of two 26-tone RUs; each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 52+26-tone RU, and the 52+26-tone RU consists of one 52-tone RU and one 26-tone RU; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 106-tone RU, and the 106-tone RU consists of two 52-tone RUs and two null subcarriers; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 242-tone RU, and the 242-tone RU consists of a plurality of 26-tone RUs. (Chen, Chen, paragraph 102, a RU is a group of 13+13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2×996 subcarriers, subcarrier and tone may be used interchangeable; an RU which is a group of 13+13 subcarriers is a 26 tone RU consists of two 13 tone RUs)
For claim 8. Chen teaches: A communication apparatus, comprising: a memory, configured to store computer instructions; and a processor, configured to execute the computer instructions stored in the memory, to enable the apparatus to perform operations comprising: (Chen, fig 6, paragraph 75-82, machine with processor executes instructions stored in memory to perform operations)
generating a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); (Chen, fig 15, paragraph 126, encoding for transmission a PPDU)
and sending the PPDU on one or more discrete resource units (RUs), (Chen, fig 15, paragraph 126, encoding for transmission a PPDU in accordance with an A-RU, where the A-RU including RUs that are non-contiguous (discrete); paragraph 127, transmit the PPDU on the A-RU)
Chen doesn’t teach: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs comprises a plurality of subcarriers that are discrete in frequency domain.
Tomeba from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs comprises a plurality of subcarriers that are discrete in frequency domain. (Tomeba, paragraph 52-53, communicate one frame using plurality of RUs, the plurality of RUs can include continuous subcarriers or can include non-continuous (discrete) subcarriers; non-continuous subcarriers are non-continuous (discrete) in frequency domain because subcarrier is a frequency resource as discussed in paragraph 50; paragraph 31, transmission frame of the PHY layer is referred to as PPDU))
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Tomeba into Chen, since Chen suggests a technique for communicating PPDU on multiple RUs, and Tomeba suggests the beneficial way of having such RUs include non-continuous subcarriers since it’s well-known in the art that RUs can include continuous subcarriers or include non-continuous subcarriers (Tomeba, paragraph 52-53) thus doing so would ease implementation and improve compatibility in the analogous art of communication.
For claim 9. Chen and Tomeba disclose all the limitations of claim 8, and Chen further teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs is an X-tone RU, a value of X is any one or a combination of 13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, and 996, and the X-tone RU comprises X subcarriers. (Chen, paragraph 102, a RU is a group of 13+13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2×996 subcarriers, an A-RU is two or more RUs where at least two of the RUs are non-contiguous, subcarrier and tone may be used interchangeable)
For claim 10. Chen and Tomeba disclose all the limitations of claim 9, and Chen further teaches: wherein each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 26-tone RU, and the 26-tone RU consists of two 13-tone RUs; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 52-tone RU, and the 52-tone RU consists of two 26-tone RUs; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 52+26-tone RU, and the 52+26-tone RU consists of one 52-tone RU and one 26-tone RU; or each of the one or more discrete RUs is a 106-tone RU, and the 106-tone RU consists of two 52-tone RUs and two null subcarriers; or each of theone or more discrete RUs is a 242-tone RU, and the 242-tone RU consists of a plurality of 26-tone RUs. (Chen, Chen, paragraph 102, a RU is a group of 13+13, 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 or 2×996 subcarriers, subcarrier and tone may be used interchangeable; an RU which is a group of 13+13 subcarriers is a 26 tone RU consists of two 13 tone RUs)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 11 are 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 KHOA B HUYNH whose telephone number is (571)270-7185. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 1:00 PM - 9:35 PM.
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/KHOA HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462