Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/416,358

SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF IN-DEVICE COEXISTENCE AWARE WI-FI PREEMPTION ENHANCEMENT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 18, 2024
Examiner
BETTENDORF, SAMUEL ROBERGE
Art Unit
2414
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
100%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 100% — above average
100%
Career Allow Rate
11 granted / 11 resolved
+42.0% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
34
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
80.3%
+40.3% vs TC avg
§102
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
§112
9.0%
-31.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 11 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Priority Acknowledge made by the examiner of benefit of domestic priority from provisional 63/442,927. 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, 11, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US 20160366637 A1) or Barriac in view of Mentze (US 20190222519 A1). Claim 1 Barriac teaches, A device comprising: a receiver configured to receive packets in a wireless local area network (WLAN) and (See Barriac paragraph 0041, ...the STA A 215 belongs to the BSS A 211 and is within the first transmission range 212, the second transmission range 222, and the third transmission range 232. In addition to receiving packets belonging to the BSS A 211,...) one or more processors configured to: (See Barriac paragraph 0078, The wireless device 602 may include a processor 604 which controls operation of the wireless device 602.) dynamically allow or disallow the receiver to switch,… (See Barriac paragraph 0043, In certain configurations, upon receiving a packet, the STA A 215 may determine a color of the packet. If the color of the packet does not match the color of the BSS to which the STA A 215 belongs (i.e., the BSS A 211), the STA A 215 may drop the packet.) Shows the STA 215 allowing the receiver to drop the received packet due to the color failing to match the color of the BSS of the STA or BSS A 211 However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach, …while receiving one packet via the receiver, to receiving another packet. Nevertheless, Mentze, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, …while receiving one packet via the receiver, to receiving another packet. (See Mentze paragraph 0010, the present disclosure may examine the first 50 packets and then drop the next 450 packets to receive another set of packets that are associated with a different flow.) Shows the receiver receiving 50 packets, dropping 450 packets, and receiving another set of packets Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine a device with a receiver in wireless local area network or WLAN with a processor to allow the receiver to receive a packet and determine to accept or drop the packet as disclosed by Barriac with receiving packets and dropping subsequent packet to receive other packets as disclosed by Mentze to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the amount of time available to accepting packets). Claim 2 Barriac teaches, The device according to claim 1, wherein the one packet is transmitted from a transmitter in a first basic service set (BSS), and the another packet is transmitted from another transmitter in a BSS different from the first BSS. (See Barriac paragraph 0041, In addition to receiving packets belonging to the BSS A 211, the STA A 215 may also receive packets belonging to the BSSs B-E 221, 231, 241, 251 transmitted from the access points and stations of those BSSs.) The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. Claim 4 Barriac teaches, The device according to claim 3, wherein the second packet has a signal strength higher than a signal strength of the first packet, and the fourth packet has a signal strength higher than a signal strength of the third packet. (See Barriac paragraph 0073, ...the AP A 210 may determine the RSSI of signals received from the AP B 220 in the BSS B 211. The RSSI may be below a threshold, and therefore, the AP A 210 may determine that BSS B 221 is not one of the BSSs to which the STA A 215 needs to defer to. The AP A 210 may also determine the RSSI of signals received from the AP C 230 is above a threshold.) The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. Claim 11 Barriac teaches, A method comprising: receiving, by a receiver of a device, packets in a wireless local area network (WLAN); (See Barriac paragraph 0041, ...the STA A 215 belongs to the BSS A 211 and is within the first transmission range 212, the second transmission range 222, and the third transmission range 232. In addition to receiving packets belonging to the BSS A 211,...) and dynamically allowing or disallowing, by one or more processors of the device, the receiver to switch,… (See Barriac paragraph 0043, In certain configurations, upon receiving a packet, the STA A 215 may determine a color of the packet. If the color of the packet does not match the color of the BSS to which the STA A 215 belongs (i.e., the BSS A 211), the STA A 215 may drop the packet.) Shows the STA 215 allowing the receiver to drop the received packet due to the color failing to match the color of the BSS of the STA or BSS A 211 (See Barriac paragraph 0078, The wireless device 602 may include a processor 604 which controls operation of the wireless device 602.) Shows the processor of the device However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach, …while receiving one packet via the receiver, to receiving another packet. Nevertheless, Mentze, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, …while receiving one packet via the receiver, to receiving another packet. (See Mentze paragraph 0010, the present disclosure may examine the first 50 packets and then drop the next 450 packets to receive another set of packets that are associated with a different flow.) Shows the receiver receiving 50 packets, dropping 450 packets, and receiving another set of packets The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the independent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. Claim 12 Barriac teaches limitations of claim 12 as stated in claim 2. The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. Claim 14 Barriac teaches limitations of claim 14 as stated in claim 4. The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US 20160366637 A1) or Barriac in view of Mentze (US 20190222519 A1) in further view of Zou (CN 202331735 U). Claim 3 …responsive to receiving the first signal, disallow the receiver to switch, while receiving via the receiver a first packet from a first transmitter,... (See Barriac paragraph 0068, ...the STA A 215 may determine whether the packet belongs to the OBSS to be deferred to based on a color of the packet and whether to the color of the packet matches the color of the BSS C, 231, BSS D 241, or BSS E 251. If the color matches, then the STA A 215 may defer transmissions;...) Shows the STA A 215 deferring transmissions of packets based on a received packet matching a color of a BSS …responsive to receiving the second signal, allow the receiver to switch, while receiving via the receiver a third packet from the first transmitter,... (See Barriac paragraph 0042, ...upon receiving a packet, the STA A 215 may determine the BSSID of the received packet. If the BSSID of the packet does not match the BSSID of the BSS to which the STA A 215 belongs (e.g., the BSS A 211), the STA A 215 may drop the packet. In other words, the STA A 215 may ignore the packet and may not honor the network allocation vector (NAV) of the packet. Particularly, the STA A 215 may choose to transmit another packet on the frequency channel 206 during the NAV of the packet if the transmission is otherwise allowed.) Shows a STA receiving a packet, dropping the packet, and switching to transmitting another packet during the network allocation vector or NAV ...from a second transmitter; and… ...from the second transmitter. (See Barriac paragraph 0041, In addition to receiving packets belonging to the BSS A 211, the STA A 215 may also receive packets belonging to the BSSs B-E 221, 231, 241, 251 transmitted from the access points and stations of those BSSs.) Shows receiving different packets from different BSSs However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach, ...to receiving a second packet... ...to receiving a fourth packet... Nevertheless, Mentze, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, ...to receiving a second packet... ...to receiving a fourth packet... (See Mentze paragraph 0010, the present disclosure may examine the first 50 packets and then drop the next 450 packets to receive another set of packets that are associated with a different flow.) Shows the receiver receiving 50 packets, dropping 450 packets, and receiving another set of packets The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach, The device according to claim 1, further comprising: a controller configured to dynamically send a first signal or a second signal to the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:… Nevertheless, Zou, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, The device according to claim 1, further comprising: a controller configured to dynamically send a first signal or a second signal to the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:… (See Zou Claim 1, ...controller sends signal to the wireless receiving module is connected with the processor, and transmitting the signal to the processor to be processed by said processor,...) Shows inherit property of a controller sending a first or second signal to a processor Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine a device with a receiver in wireless local area network or WLAN with a processor to allow the receiver to receive a packet and determine to accept or drop the packet as disclosed by Barriac with a controller sending a signal to a processor as disclosed by Zou to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the accuracy of organizing the various signals transmitted to and from a processor). Claim 13 Barriac teaches limitations of claim 13 as stated in claim 3. However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 13 as stated in claim 3. Nevertheless, Mentze and Zou, in the same field of endeavor, teach limitations of claim 13 as stated in claim 3. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze, and Zou in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 3. Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US 20160366637 A1) or Barriac in view of Mentze (US 20190222519 A1) in further view of (JP 2006528470 A) or JP in further view of Sun et al. (US 20200382931 A1) or Sun. Claim 5 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 5. Nevertheless, JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, The device according to claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to: determine that the second packet is to be transmitted at a first time from the second transmitter; (See JP page 3 paragraph 3, ...the node in the communication system 100 determines the duration of transmission of the first transmitter (remote device), and based on the duration and the start time or end time, the start time of the second transmitter...) Shows determining the start time for transmission for a second transmitter Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine a device with a receiver in wireless local area network or WLAN with a processor to allow the receiver to receive a packet and determine to accept or drop the packet as disclosed by Barriac with determining the start time of the transmission of a packet as disclosed by JP to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to reduce the probability of a collision of packets in transmission window). Sun, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, and responsive to the determination, send, before the first time, the first signal to the one or more processors. (See Sun paragraph 0021, ...when serving as a data transmitting node, each low-power node may start to transmit signals before the start time of its receiving slot (such as at time points t1-Δt or t3-Δt) during the transmitting period TT whose length is longer than the length of the receiving slot (such as equal to Tr+2*Δt), thereby ensuring that data can be received by other data receiving nodes or data relay nodes.) Shows transmitting signals to data receiving nodes, containing processors, before the determined start time of receiving slot Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine a device with a receiver in wireless local area network or WLAN with a processor to allow the receiver to receive a packet and determine to accept or drop the packet as disclosed by Barriac with transmitting a signals to data receiving nodes, containing processors, before the start time of a receiving slot as disclosed by Sun to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the accuracy of transmitting packets without interference). Claim 15 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 15 as stated in claim 5. Nevertheless, JP and Sun, in the same field of endeavor, teach limitations of claim 15 as stated in claim 5. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze, JP, and Sun in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US 20160366637 A1) or Barriac in view of Mentze (US 20190222519 A1) in further view of Thota et al. (US 20230108231 A1) or Thota. Claim 6 Barriac teaches, The device according to claim 5, wherein at least two of the controller, the receiver, the first transmitter, or the second transmitter communicate with one another using at least… (See Barriac paragraph 0041, In addition to receiving packets belonging to the BSS A 211, the STA A 215 may also receive packets belonging to the BSSs B-E 221, 231, 241, 251 transmitted from the access points and stations of those BSSs.) Shows the multiple BSS with multiple access points and multiple transmitters However, Barriac fails to explicitly to teach, …one of Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART)... Nevertheless, Thota, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, …one of Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART)... (See Thota paragraph 0048, I/O circuits 648 can include circuits that enable communication with the device according to any suitable method, including any of various serial data communication standards/methods including but not limited to: serial digital interface (SDI), universal serial bus (USB), universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART), l.sup.2C, or l.sup.2S.) Shows device of FIG.6 contains a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter or UART Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine a device with a receiver in wireless local area network or WLAN with a processor to allow the receiver to receive a packet and determine to accept or drop the packet as disclosed by Barriac with circuitry containing a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter or UART as disclosed by Sun to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the accuracy of receiving and transmitting packets among transmitters and receivers). Claim 16 Barriac teaches limitations of claim 16 as stated in claim 6. However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 16 as stated in claim 6. Nevertheless, Thota, in the same field of endeavor, teach limitations of claim 16 as stated in claim 6. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze, and Thota in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 6. Claims 7- 9 and 17 - 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US 20160366637 A1) or Barriac in view of Mentze (US 20190222519 A1) in further view of (JP 2006528470 A) or JP. Claim 7 Barriac teaches, …responsive to receiving the first signal, the one or more processors may be configured to disallow, for the duration,… (See Barriac paragraph 0068, ...the STA A 215 may determine whether the packet belongs to the OBSS to be deferred to based on a color of the packet and whether to the color of the packet matches the color of the BSS C, 231, BSS D 241, or BSS E 251. If the color matches, then the STA A 215 may defer transmissions;...) Shows the STA A 215 deferring transmissions of packets based on a received packet matching a color of a BSS …the second transmitter. (See Barriac paragraph 0041, In addition to receiving packets belonging to the BSS A 211, the STA A 215 may also receive packets belonging to the BSSs B-E 221, 231, 241, 251 transmitted from the access points and stations of those BSSs.) Shows receiving different packets from different BSSs However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach, …the receiver to switch to receiving the second packet from… Nevertheless, Mentze, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, …the receiver to switch to receiving the second packet from… (See Mentze paragraph 0010, the present disclosure may examine the first 50 packets and then drop the next 450 packets to receive another set of packets that are associated with a different flow.) Shows the receiver receiving 50 packets, dropping 450 packets, and receiving another set of packets The motivation to combine Barriac and Mentze in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1. However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach, The device according to claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to determine a duration for which the second packet is to be transmitted from the second transmitter; and… Nevertheless, JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, The device according to claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to determine a duration for which the second packet is to be transmitted from the second transmitter; and… (See JP page 3 paragraph 3, ...the node in the communication system 100 determines the duration of transmission of the first transmitter (remote device), and based on the duration and the start time or end time, the start time of the second transmitter...) Shows determining the start time for transmission for a second transmitter The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and JP in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claim 8 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 8. Nevertheless, JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, The device according to claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to: determine a session having a start time and an end time; and responsive to determining the session, send the first signal at the start time to the one or more processors and send the second signal at the end time to the one or more processors. (See JP 2006528470 A page 4 paragraph 6, Since the durations of packets A and B are unique, the duration and start time or end time of packet A may be used to uniquely determine the duration and time position of packets B, C, and D.) Shows the duration of packet A with a start time and end time may be used to determine transmission start and end times for packets B, C, and D The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and JP in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claim 9 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 9. Nevertheless, JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, The device according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to: determine timing of traffic transmitted from the second transmitter; and determine the session according to the timing of the traffic transmitted from the second transmitter. (See JP 2006528470 A page 4 paragraph 6, ...the duration of the RTS / CTS transmission and the start time or end time are utilized to uniquely determine the duration and time position of the subsequent packet.) Shows the determination of timing transmitted relies on the start and end time of subsequent packets (See JP 2006528470 A page 5 paragraph 1, ...the duration and time position of the packet E and the end of the packet sequence are uniquely determined by the duration of the packet D and the start time or end time.) Shows the determining the session or duration of packet E relies on the determination of the timing of the start and end time of packet D The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and JP in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claim 17 Barriac teaches limitations of claim 17 as stated in claim 7. However, Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 17 as stated in claim 7. Nevertheless, Mentze and JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 17 as stated in claim 7. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and JP in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claim 18 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 18 as stated in claim 8. Nevertheless, Mentze and JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 18 as stated in claim 8. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and JP in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claim 19 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 19 as stated in claim 9. Nevertheless, Mentze and JP, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 19 as stated in claim 9. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and JP in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 5. Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US 20160366637 A1) or Barriac in view of Mentze (US 20190222519 A1) in further view of LV et al. (CN 115002792 B) or LV. Claim 10 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 10. Nevertheless, LV, in the same field of endeavor, teaches, The device according to claim 8, wherein a duration of the session is greater than or equal to one second. (See LV page 5 paragraph 1, ...the average value of the signal strength of the interference measurement signal measured by the target UE within at least one second duration is greater than a fifth preset threshold.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine a device with a receiver in wireless local area network or WLAN with a processor to allow the receiver to receive a packet and determine to accept or drop the packet as disclosed by Barriac with a duration session longer than or equal to one second as disclosed by LV to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to prevent higher state of contention in transmission window). Claim 20 Barriac fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 20 as stated in claim 10. Nevertheless, LV, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 19 as stated in claim 9. The motivation to combine Barriac, Mentze and LV in dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 10. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Mujtaba et al. (US 20150257106 A1) or Mujtaba teaches receiving a packet. If the packets fails to be for the receiver, the receiver drops the packets and sleeps. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL ROBERGE BETTENDORF whose telephone number is (571)272-4352. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m.. 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, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. 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. /SAMUEL ROBERGE BETTENDORF/Examiner, Art Unit 2414 /EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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Prosecution Timeline

Jan 18, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
100%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+0.0%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 11 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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