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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-112 filed on January 15, 2024 are pending, claims 12, 41, 58 and 75, are amended and claims 7-8, 13, 15-28, 31-39, 42, 48-56, 59-74, 76-84, 86, 89 and 91-112 have been canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 24, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner and an initialed and dated copy of the Applicant’s IDS form 1449 is attached to the instant Office Action.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 9-12, 14, 29-30, 40-41, 43-45, 47, 57, 75 and 85 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cariou et al. (US 2023/0319871 A1, hereinafter "Cariou") in view of Ryu et al. (TXOP Preemption Follow Up, published in 2023-07-06, hereinafter "Ryu").
Regarding claim 1, Cariou discloses a wireless station (STA), comprising:
a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that
stores code, the processing system configured to cause the wireless STA to:
transmit a preemption indication associated with a signature of the
wireless STA (Cariou, [0057-58] the STA can send the Preemption Request and preempt the TxOP (i.e. preemption indication); if the preemption request signal is defined as being signature signaling transmission, such as an STF field (Short Training Field), then the OBSS STA which are allowed to transmit and this transmission will be understood by the TxOP holder as a preemption); and
receive, in accordance with the preemption indication being associated
with the signature of the wireless STA (Cariou, [0024,29] when an STA receives a PPDU that indicates a preemption period is allowed for a BSS and carries a BSS color or MAC address that matches the preemption group, the STA knows that it
can preempt the transmission; a PR based on existing fields, or even a PR with a signature).
Cariou discloses preemption indication associated with signature and preemption bit in preamble equals to 1 but does not explicitly disclose a frame that includes channel access information, for the wireless STA, associated with a downlink transmission opportunity (TXOP) of a wireless access point (AP).
Ryu from the same field of endeavor discloses a frame that includes channel access information, for the wireless STA, associated with a downlink transmission opportunity (TXOP) of a wireless access point (AP) (Ryu, pg.6 A non-AP STA preempts the TXOP using a shorter IFS (e.g., SIFS) to transmit the low latency frame while an AP transmits multiple PPDUs using a longer IFS (e.g., PIFS); A DL PPDU can include an indication of whether preemption is allowed after the DL PPDU).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified preemption mechanism disclosed by Cariou and low latency frame transmission disclosed by Ryu with a motivation to make this modification in order to avoid collision from multiple non-AP STAs (Ryu, pg. 6).
Regarding claim 2, Cariou discloses transmit at least a portion of the preemption indication via a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) sent using a resource allocation associated with the wireless STA, wherein the signature of the wireless STA is comprised by the resource allocation (Cariou, [0025, 29] the PR could be a simple PHY signal that is recognized by the AP… a PR based on existing fields, or even a PR with a signature...orthogonal sequences could be used, allowing the AP to identify the OBSS that made the request and subsequently allocate time to the appropriate AP).
Regarding claim 4, Cariou discloses transmit an indication of a priority value associated with uplink data at the wireless STA via the preemption indication, wherein the channel access information is associated with the priority value (Cariou, [0029] the detection of a PR by an AP involves several options. In one mode, the AP may
completely stop its transmission, request a block acknowledgment, and initiate a contention period. During this period, the STA that requested preemption, along with other high-priority STAs).
Regarding claim 5, Cariou discloses wherein the channel access
information comprises an indication that the wireless STA is allowed to preempt the downlink TXOP (Cariou, [0019] creating turnaround and contention periods every millisecond or so. This allows urgent packets to be transmitted more quickly after they are queued).
Regarding claim 6, Cariou discloses the frame includes one or more STA info subfields, each respective STA info subfield of the one or more STA info subfields applicable to a respective wireless STA that transmitted a respective preemption indication associated with a respective signature (Cariou, [0057-58] then the STA can send the Preemption Request and preempt the TxOP; if the preemption request signal is defined as being signature signaling transmission, such as an STF field (Short Training Field)); and
the one or more STA info subfields comprise a first STA info subfield that corresponds to the wireless STA and includes the channel access information (Cariou, [0050] shorter xIFS (Tg) channel access will be used for the LL transmitter (TP) to send common PR. TP<Tg. xIFS in this context means any type of inter-frame space (IFS), for example, SIFS, PIFS, other IFS).
Regarding claim 9, Cariou discloses the frame includes a common info subfield, the common info subfield applicable to a set of wireless STAs that transmitted preemption indications associated with signatures; and the common info subfield includes the channel access information (Carious, [0029] the coordinating APs need to inform their STAs about the information (i.e. common info) to be included in the MAC frame. Various options for the preemption request signal have been considered, including a simple STF, a PR based on existing fields, or even a PR with a signature).
Regarding claim 10, Cariou discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless STA to:
receive a second frame that includes second channel access information, for the wireless STA, associated with the downlink TXOP of the wireless AP, wherein the channel access information included in the frame comprises an indication that the wireless STA is allowed to preempt the downlink TXOP, and wherein the second channel access information included in the second frame comprises one or more channel access parameters (Cariou, Fig. 2 [0049-0050] the time gap (T ) allowed for preemption is indicated in the PPDU prectding the time gap. [0050] For example, shorter xIFS (T g) channel access will be used for the LL transmitter (T p) to send common PR. T p<T g· xIFS in this context means any type of inter-frame space (IFS), for example, SIPS, PIPS, other IFS).
Regarding claim 11, Cariou discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless STA to:
receive, from the wireless AP, a request for preemption indications, wherein transmitting the preemption indication is in association with receiving the request (Cariou, Fig. 2 an RTS sent from AP prior preemption request…the LL packet transmission may be initiated by the AP).
Regarding claim 12, Cariou discloses wherein, to receive the request for the preemption indications, the processing system is configured to cause the wireless STA to: receive a trigger frame that includes the request for the preemption indications, wherein the trigger frame is a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll (NFRP) frame (Cariou, [0031, 52] Utilizing the null data packet (NDP) Feedback Report Poll (NFP) concept, the AP can obtain the necessary information about the requesting STA, such as its AID and BSS affiliation, to schedule resources accordingly. The AP can trigger the LL STAs to send LL packet. e.g., Sending NFRP to get the LL buffer status report, then triggering the LL data transmission).
Regarding claim 14, Cariou does not explicitly disclose wherein the request is indicated via a downlink physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) transmitted during the downlink TXOP that carries information addressed to a second wireless STA different from the wireless STA.
Ryu from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the request is indicated via a downlink physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) transmitted during the downlink TXOP that carries information addressed to a second wireless STA different from the wireless STA (Ryu, pg. 6 To avoid collision from multiple non-AP STAs, a Low Latency Indication frame (w/ unified frame format such as e.g., a simultaneous CTS frame in response to an MU-RTS Trigger frame, etc.) can be transmitted to request UL resource allocation for low latency frame transmission; The AP that receives a Low Latency Indication frame can allocate UL resource for transmission of the low latency frame).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified preemption mechanism disclosed by Cariou and low latency frame transmission disclosed by Ryu with a motivation to make this modification in order to avoid collision from multiple non-AP STAs (Ryu, pg. 6).
Regarding claim 29, Cariou discloses a wireless access point (AP), comprising:
a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that
stores code, the processing system configured to cause the wireless AP to:
receive a preemption indication associated with a signature of a wireless
station (STA) (Cariou, [0057-58] the STA can send the Preemption Request and preempt the TxOP (i.e. preemption indication); if the preemption request signal is defined as being signature signaling transmission, such as an STF field (Short Training Field), then the OBSS STA which are allowed to transmit and this transmission will be understood by the TxOP holder as a preemption); and
transmit, in accordance with the preemption indication being associated
with the signature of the wireless STA (Cariou, [0024,29] when an STA receives a PPDU that indicates a preemption period is allowed for a BSS and carries a BSS color or MAC address that matches the preemption group, the STA knows that it
can preempt the transmission; a PR based on existing fields, or even a PR with a signature).
Cariou discloses preemption indication associated with signature and preemption bit in preamble equals to 1 but does not explicitly disclose a frame that includes channel access information, for the wireless STA, associated with a downlink transmission opportunity (TXOP) of the wireless AP.
Ryu from the same field of endeavor discloses a frame that includes channel access information, for the wireless STA, associated with a downlink transmission opportunity (TXOP) of a wireless access point (AP) (Ryu, pg.6 A non-AP STA preempts the TXOP using a shorter IFS (e.g., SIFS) to transmit the low latency frame while an AP transmits multiple PPDUs using a longer IFS (e.g., PIFS); A DL PPDU can include an indication of whether preemption is allowed after the DL PPDU).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified preemption mechanism disclosed by Cariou and low latency frame transmission disclosed by Ryu with a motivation to make this modification in order to avoid collision from multiple non-AP STAs (Ryu, pg. 6).
Regarding claim 30, Cariou discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless AP to:
receive a plurality of preemption indications including the preemption indication,
wherein each respective preemption indication of the plurality of preemption indications is associated with a respective signature of a respective wireless STA such that the plurality of preemption indications is associated with a plurality of signatures of a plurality of wireless STAs including the wireless STA (Cariou, [0029] Various options for the preemption request signal have been considered, including a simple STF, a PR based on existing fields, or even a PR with a signature. However, no consensus has been reached yet. In some scenarios, orthogonal sequences could be used, allowing the AP to identify the OBSS that made the request and subsequently allocate time to the appropriate AP); and
transmit the frame that includes the channel access information in accordance with the plurality of preemption indications being associated with the plurality of signatures (Cariou, [0031, 74] if the AP is aware of the specific STA that requested preemption, it could continue with its transmission but allocate resources to that particular STA.).
Regarding claim 40, Cariou discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless AP to: transmit a request for preemption indications, wherein receiving the preemption indication is in association with transmitting the request (Cariou, Fig. 2 an RTS sent from AP prior preemption request…the LL packet transmission may be initiated by the AP).
Regarding claim 41, Cariou discloses wherein, to transmit the request for the preemption indications, the processing system is configured to cause the wireless AP to: transmit a trigger frame that includes the request for the preemption indications,
wherein the trigger frame is a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll (NFRP) frame (Cariou, [0031, 52] Utilizing the null data packet (NDP) Feedback Report Poll (NFP) concept, the AP can obtain the necessary information about the requesting STA, such as its AID and BSS affiliation, to schedule resources accordingly. The AP can trigger the LL STAs to send LL packet. e.g., Sending NFRP to get the LL buffer status report, then triggering the LL data transmission).
Regarding claim 43, Cariou does not explicitly disclose wherein the request is indicated via a downlink physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) transmitted during the downlink TXOP that carries information addressed to a second wireless STA different from the wireless STA.
Ryu from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the request is indicated via a downlink physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) transmitted during the downlink TXOP that carries information addressed to a second wireless STA different from the wireless STA (Ryu, pg. 6 To avoid collision from multiple non-AP STAs, a Low Latency Indication frame (w/ unified frame format such as e.g., a simultaneous CTS frame in response to an MU-RTS Trigger frame, etc.) can be transmitted to request UL resource allocation for low latency frame transmission; The AP that receives a Low Latency Indication frame can allocate UL resource for transmission of the low latency frame).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified preemption mechanism disclosed by Cariou and low latency frame transmission disclosed by Ryu with a motivation to make this modification in order to avoid collision from multiple non-AP STAs (Ryu, pg. 6).
Regarding claim 44, Cariou discloses wherein the preemption indication is received within a short inter-frame space (SIFS) after the downlink PPDU (Cariou, [0050] shorter xIFS (Tg) channel access will be used for the LL transmitter (Tp) to send common PR. Tp<Tg· xIFS in this context means any type of space (IFS) inter-frame, for example, SIPS, PIPS, other IFS also see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 45, Cariou discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless AP to: receive, from the wireless STA, feedback associated with the downlink PPDU, wherein receiving the preemption indication is further in association with receiving the feedback (Cariou, Fig. 2 CTS (i.e. feedback), DL PPDU with a PR).
Regarding claim 47, Cariou discloses wherein the preemption indication is received within a short inter-frame space (SIFS) after the feedback (Cariou, Fig. 2 PR sent within a SIFS after DL PPDU).
Regarding claims 57 and 85, these claims recite "a method for wireless communication by a wireless station (STA)" and "a method for wireless communication by a wireless access point (AP)" that disclose similar steps as recited by the method of claims 1 and 29, thus are rejected with the same rationale applied against claims 1 and 29 as presented above.
Regarding claim 75, Cariou discloses receiving information indicative of one or more enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameters, wherein transmitting the uplink data frame is in association with accessing a wireless channel in accordance with the one or more EDCA parameters (Cariou, [0063] possibility for the STA that sent the preemption signal to try and gain access to the medium (possibly with more aggressive EDCA parameters); or
receiving information indicative of a size of a time window within which one or more preempting wireless STAs are allowed to transmit one or more uplink data frames, wherein transmitting the uplink data frame is in association with accessing the wireless channel within the time window (not given patentable weight due to not selected option); or
receiving, via the channel access information, information indicative of an uplink multi-user (MU) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication scheme associated with one or more preempting wireless STAs including the wireless STA, wherein transmitting the uplink data frame is in accordance with the uplink MU OFDMA communication scheme (not given patentable weight due to not selected option); or
receiving, via the channel access information, information indicative of an order of one or more preempting wireless STAs including the wireless STA, wherein transmitting the uplink data frame is in association with accessing the wireless channel in accordance with the order of the one or more preempting wireless STAs (not given patentable weight due to not selected option).
Claims 3, 46, 58, 87-88 and 90 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cariou et al. (US 2023/0319871 A1, hereinafter "Cariou") in view of Ryu et al. (TXOP Preemption Follow Up, published in 2023-07-06, hereinafter "Ryu") as applied to claim above, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US11,558,857 B2, hereinafter "Zhou").
Regarding claim 3, Cariou discloses at least the portion of the preemption indication comprises a field of a preamble of the PPDU that carries the preemption indication (Cariou, [0127] performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication also see Fig. 2); but does not explicitly disclose the resource allocation comprises a tone pattern specific to the wireless STA.
Zhou from the same field of endeavor discloses the resource allocation comprises a tone pattern specific to the wireless STA (Zhou, Col. 20 line 20-28 A resource grid may comprise a first number of OFDM symbols in a subframe and a second number of resource blocks, starting from a common resource block indicated by higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), for a transmission numerology and a carrier. In a resource grid, a resource element 805 may comprise a resource unit that may be identified by a subcarrier index and a symbol index. A subframe may comprise a first number of OFDM symbols 807 that may depend on a numerology associated with a carrier).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to include the teachings of Zhou’s system for tone pattern information into Cariou’s preemption indication as modified by Ryu with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve wireless communications using uplink preemption and/or downlink preemption without adversely increasing signaling overhead and/or decreasing spectral efficiency (Zhou, Col. 1).
Regarding claim 46, Cariou does not explicitly disclose wherein the preemption indication is multiplexed with the feedback.
Zhou from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the preemption indication is multiplexed with the feedback (Zhou, Col. 37 line 27-31 The preemption indicator may comprise a bitmap, wherein each bit may be associated with at least one downlink radio resource and at least one uplink radio resource. The number of bits in the preemption indicator may correspond to the number of downlink radio resources configured for multiplexing downlink data).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to include the teachings of Zhou’s system for tone pattern information into Cariou’s preemption indication as modified by Ryu with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve wireless communications using uplink preemption and/or downlink preemption without adversely increasing signaling overhead and/or decreasing spectral efficiency (Zhou, Col. 1).
Regarding claims 58, 87-88 and 90, these claims recite "a method for wireless communication by a wireless station (STA)" and "a method for wireless communication by a wireless access point (AP)" that disclose similar steps as recited by the method of claims 1-5 and 29, thus are rejected with the same rationale applied against claims 1-5 and 29 as presented above.
Conclusion
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/LUNA WEISSBERGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415