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 Amendment
The Amendment filed on 5/6/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 6-7 with respect to claims 1, 8 and 15 have been considered but are moot upon a further consideration and a new ground of rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xue (US PGPub 2019/0305875).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 Xue (US PGPub 2019/0305875).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Xue teaches a device (Xue, see figure 6 and paragraph 0085, a WLAN device implementing the optimized rate search process that determines an initial or starting MCS) comprising:
a wireless communication interface to transmit, using a wireless connection with a remote device, one or more data elements to the remote device (Xue, see paragraph 0061, the device 110 determines to establish a communication link with the device 150 to communicate with the device 150); and
one or more processors (Xue, see figure 6, a WLAN device) to:
evaluate one or more characteristics of the wireless condition to detect a condition of the wireless connection (Xue, see paragraph 0087, the first device may determine a signal strength measurement based on a result of the beamforming process. The first device may determine the signal strength measurement associated with the first transmission sector selected based on the SLS of the beamforming process);
determine a rate, for transmission of the one or more data elements, based at least on the condition (Xue, see paragraph 0088, the first device may determine an initial MCS based, at least in part, on the signal strength measurement determined from the beamforming process);
retrieve a signal from the remote device indicative of at least one criterion for use of the one or more data elements (Xue, see paragraph 0090, the first device may determine whether the one or more probing messages that were transmitted using the initial MCS met the PER threshold. For example, the feedback message received from the second device may indicate whether the one or more probing messages met the PER threshold, and the first device may process the received feedback message to determine whether the PER threshold was met);
update the rate based at least on the at least one criterion to determine an updated rate for transmission of the one or more data elements to the remote device (Xue, see paragraph 0091, the first device may select a second MCS and transmit one or more probing messages to the second device using the second MCS, where the second MCS is a next higher MCS after the initial MCS); and
cause the wireless communication interface to transmit, at the updated rate, the one or more data elements to the remote device (Xue, see paragraph 0092, the first device may determine whether to select … the second MCS for the transmissions from the first device to the second device).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Xue teaches wherein the at least one criterion comprises at least one of a packet error rate, a latency criterion, or a throughput criterion, and the one or more data elements correspond to video data (Xue, see paragraph 0090, the first device may determine whether the one or more probing messages that were transmitted using the initial MCS met the PER threshold)
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, Xue teaches wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the wireless connection or a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the wireless connection (Xue, see paragraph 0026, The signal strength measurement may be a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or a received signal strength indicator (RSSI)).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Xue teaches wherein:
the wireless communication interface comprises a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio (Xue, see paragraph 0021, A local area network (LAN) (sometimes also referred to as a wireless local area network, or WLAN) in a home, apartment, business, or other area may include multiple WLAN devices, such as one or more access points (APs) and one or more stations (STAs)); and
the one or more processors are to determine the rate, based at least on the condition, as a selection of a modulation coding scheme (MCS) for WLAN communication over the wireless connection (Xue, see paragraph 0088, the first device may determine an initial MCS based, at least in part, on the signal strength measurement determined from the beamforming process).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 19, Xue teaches wherein the one or more processors are to update the rate by selecting a higher MCS responsive to the at least one criterion indicating a throughput-sensitive use for the one or more data elements (Xue, see paragraph 0091, the first device may select a second MCS and transmit one or more probing messages to the second device using the second MCS, where the second MCS is a next higher MCS after the initial MCS).
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 20, Xue teaches wherein the one or more processors are to update the rate by selecting a lower MCS responsive to the at least one criterion indicating a latency-sensitive use for the one or more data elements (Xue, see paragraph 0091, the first device may select a second MCS and transmit one or more probing messages to the second device using the second MCS, where the second MCS is a next higher MCS after the initial MCS).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Xue teaches wherein the one or more processors are to retrieve the at least one criterion from a two bit data structure in a header of the signal from the remote device (Xue, see paragraph 0090, the first device may determine whether the one or more probing messages that were transmitted using the initial MCS met the PER threshold. For example, the feedback message received from the second device may indicate whether the one or more probing messages met the PER threshold, and the first device may process the received feedback message to determine whether the PER threshold was met).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CHONG G KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-0619. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri @ 9am - 5pm.
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/CHONG G KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
/CHRISTOPHER B ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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