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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/29/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 9-10, and 18-19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (US 2025/0063620 A1), claims priority to (CN 202210499825.7 A1) dated May 9th, 2022.
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses:
a method performed by an access point (AP) (fig.5 depicts an AP multi-link device) multi-link device (MLD) (fig.5 depicts the Multi-Link Device (MLD) from the AP side) the method comprising:
transmitting, by a first AP (fig.5 depicts a plurality of APs any of which may be considered a first AP, in this example, we’ll use AP # 1 as the first AP. As previously noted however, any of the AP’s may be considered a first AP) affiliated with the AP MLD (fig.5 as can be seen, each of the AP(s) 1-3 are affiliated with the AP MLD of fig.5), a first broadcast frame announcing a first target wake time (TWT) schedule (par.[0154] “An AP may set, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods”, and par.[0155] which recites, in part, “The AP may include information about one or more broadcast TWTs in a beacon frame. Each broadcast TWT is jointly represented by a broadcast TWT identifier and a MAC address of the AP. For ease of understanding, the broadcast TWT is briefly described with reference to FIG. 7.”, par.[0142 – 0145]), the first broadcast frame indicating that the first TWT schedule is aligned schedule (par.[0154] which recites, in part, “The broadcast TWT provides a “batch management” mechanism. An AP may set up, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods that periodically appear.”. The “Batch Management” being synonymous with an “aligned schedule”);
receiving, by the first AP (fig.5 please see discussion regarding AP in the AP-MLD above) from a first STA (fig.5 depicts a plurality of Stations (STA) which are configured on a separate device) affiliated with a non-AP MLD (fig.5 depicts the non-AP MLD which is a device distinct from the AP-MLD in which it is communicably coupled) on a first link between the first AP and the first STA (fig.5 depicts separate links between an AP and a STA, which is representative of the function of the MLD devices, however, a one or more STA may be coupled with a first AP), a first request to join the first TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “After receiving the beacon frame, if the STA intends to join the broadcast TWT, the STA may send a broadcast TWT setup request message to the AP………”);
establishing, by the first AP on the first link, the first TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “to join the broadcast TWT. During setup of the broadcast TWT, the STA needs to specify a broadcast TWT identifier to request to join a specific broadcast TWT. After joining the broadcast TWT, the STA may be woken up based on a service period indicated by a TWT parameter set, to communicate with the AP.”);
transmitting, by a second AP (fig.5 depicts a plurality of APs any of which may be considered a second AP) affiliated with the AP MLD (fig.5 depicts the plurality of APs being affiliated with the AP-MLD as discussed above with reference to the first AP), a second broadcast frame announcing a second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule (par.[0154] which recites, in part, “An AP may set up, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods that periodically appear.” par.[0155] which recites, in part, “The AP may include information about one or more broadcast TWTs in a beacon frame. Each broadcast TWT is jointly represented by a broadcast TWT identifier and a MAC address of the AP. For ease of understanding, the broadcast TWT is briefly described with reference to FIG. 7.”);
receiving, by the second AP (fig.5 which depicts a second AP) from a second STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD (fig.5 depicts a second station which is affiliated with the non AP-MLD) on a second link between the second AP and the second STA (fig.5 depicts links between an AP and a STA, each AP and STA comprising an individual link, par.[0144 – 0145]), a second request to join the second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule established on the first link (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “After receiving the beacon frame, if the STA intends to join the broadcast TWT, the STA may send a broadcast TWT setup request message to the AP………”); and
establishing, by the second AP on the second link, the second TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “to join the broadcast TWT. During setup of the broadcast TWT, the STA needs to specify a broadcast TWT identifier to request to join a specific broadcast TWT. After joining the broadcast TWT, the STA may be woken up based on a service period indicated by a TWT parameter set, to communicate with the AP.”).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Huang discloses:
Transmitting, by a third AP affiliated with the AP MLD to a third STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD on a third link between the third AP and the third STA, a third broadcast frame announcing a third TWT schedule (par.[0154] which recites, in part, “An AP may set up, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods that periodically appear.” par.[0155] which recites, in part, “The AP may include information about one or more broadcast TWTs in a beacon frame. Each broadcast TWT is jointly represented by a broadcast TWT identifier and a MAC address of the AP. For ease of understanding, the broadcast TWT is briefly described with reference to FIG. 7.”);
Receiving, by the third AP from the third STA on the third link a third request to join the third TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT scheduling established on the first link (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “After receiving the beacon frame, if the STA intends to join the broadcast TWT, the STA may send a broadcast TWT setup request message to the AP………”); and
Establishing, by the third AP on the third link, the third TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “to join the broadcast TWT. During setup of the broadcast TWT, the STA needs to specify a broadcast TWT identifier to request to join a specific broadcast TWT. After joining the broadcast TWT, the STA may be woken up based on a service period indicated by a TWT parameter set, to communicate with the AP.”)
Regarding claims 10 and 19, Huang discloses:
a method performed by an non-access point (AP) (fig.5 depicts an non-AP multi-link device) multi-link device (MLD) (fig.5 depicts the Multi-Link Device (MLD) from the non-AP side) the method comprising:
receiving, by a first STA (fig.5 depicts a plurality of STAs any of which may be considered a first STA, in this example, we’ll use STA # 1 as the first STA. As previously noted however, any of the STAs may be considered a first STA) affiliated with the non-AP MLD (fig.5 as can be seen, each of the AP(s) 1-3 are affiliated with the AP MLD of fig.5), a first broadcast frame announcing a first target wake time (TWT) schedule (par.[0154] “An AP may set, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods”, and par.[0155] which recites, in part, “The AP may include information about one or more broadcast TWTs in a beacon frame. Each broadcast TWT is jointly represented by a broadcast TWT identifier and a MAC address of the AP. For ease of understanding, the broadcast TWT is briefly described with reference to FIG. 7.”, par.[0142 – 0145]), the first broadcast frame indicating that the first TWT schedule is aligned schedule (par.[0154] which recites, in part, “The broadcast TWT provides a “batch management” mechanism. An AP may set up, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods that periodically appear.”. The “Batch Management” being synonymous with an “aligned schedule”);
transmitting, by the first STA (fig.5 please see discussion regarding AP in the AP-MLD above) from a first AP (fig.5 depicts a plurality of Stations (STA) which are configured on a separate device) affiliated with a AP MLD (fig.5 depicts the -AP MLD which is a device distinct from the AP-MLD in which it is communicably coupled) on a first link between the first AP and the first STA (fig.5 depicts separate links between an AP and a STA, which is representative of the function of the MLD devices, however, a one or more STA may be coupled with a first AP), a first request to join the first TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “After receiving the beacon frame, if the STA intends to join the broadcast TWT, the STA may send a broadcast TWT setup request message to the AP………”);
joining, by the first STA on the first link, the first TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “to join the broadcast TWT. During setup of the broadcast TWT, the STA needs to specify a broadcast TWT identifier to request to join a specific broadcast TWT. After joining the broadcast TWT, the STA may be woken up based on a service period indicated by a TWT parameter set, to communicate with the AP.”);
receiving, by a second STA (fig.5 depicts a plurality of STAs any of which may be considered a second STA) affiliated with the non-AP MLD (fig.5 depicts the plurality of APs being affiliated with the AP-MLD as discussed above with reference to the first AP), a second broadcast frame announcing a second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule (par.[0154] which recites, in part, “An AP may set up, with multiple STAs, a series of TWT service periods that periodically appear.” par.[0155] which recites, in part, “The AP may include information about one or more broadcast TWTs in a beacon frame. Each broadcast TWT is jointly represented by a broadcast TWT identifier and a MAC address of the AP. For ease of understanding, the broadcast TWT is briefly described with reference to FIG. 7.”);
transmitting, by the second STA (fig.5 which depicts a second AP) from a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD (fig.5 depicts a second station which is affiliated with the non AP-MLD) on a second link between the second AP and the second STA (fig.5 depicts links between an AP and a STA, each AP and STA comprising an individual link, par.[0144 – 0145]), a second request to join the second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule established on the first link (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “After receiving the beacon frame, if the STA intends to join the broadcast TWT, the STA may send a broadcast TWT setup request message to the AP………”); and
joining, by the second STA on the second link, the second TWT schedule (par.[0160] which recites, in part, “to join the broadcast TWT. During setup of the broadcast TWT, the STA needs to specify a broadcast TWT identifier to request to join a specific broadcast TWT. After joining the broadcast TWT, the STA may be woken up based on a service period indicated by a TWT parameter set, to communicate with the AP.”).
Claim(s) 1, 9-10, and 18-19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shafin et al., “MLO: Broadcast TWT for MLDs”, IEEE 802.11-21/0394r2, May 03, 2021.
Regarding claim 1, Shafin discloses:
a method performed by an access point (AP) (Slide 8 the AP-MLD) multi-link device (MLD) (Slide 8, the AP-MLD) the method comprising:
transmitting, by a first AP (Slide 8, depicts a first AP of a plurality of APs, which is configured to communicate wirelessly with a Non-AP MLD and its devices) affiliated with the AP MLD (Slide 8, depicts the AP of the AP MLD), a first broadcast frame announcing a first target wake time (TWT) schedule (Slide 8 depicts a broadcast frame TWT IE, wherein the broadcast frame includes a one or more SP associated with the TWT), the first broadcast frame indicating that the first TWT schedule is aligned schedule (Slide 6 which recites, in part, “When the AP MLD announces Broadcast TWT schedules, it shall indicate whether or not a particular Broadcast TWT schedule (corresponding to Broadcast TWT Parameter Set) is an Aligned schedule.");
receiving, by the first AP from a first STA affiliated with a non-AP MLD on a first link between the first AP and the first STA, a first request to join the first TWT schedule (Slide 6 – “Similarly, when non-AP MLD requests, suggests, or demands Broadcast TWT schedule for any link”);
establishing, by the first AP on the first link, the first TWT schedule (Slide 6 “The Aligned Schedule can be applied to any subset of links between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD”);
transmitting, by a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a second broadcast frame announcing a second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule (Slide 8, each AP of the AP-MLD can send a Broadcast TWT with a schedule which is aligned with first schedule, see TWT SP A which are aligned, also Slide 6 “When the AP MLD announces Broadcast TWT schedules, it shall indicate whether or not a particular Broadcast TWT schedule (corresponding to Broadcast TWT Parameter Set) is an Aligned schedule.”);
receiving, by the second AP from a second STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD on a second link between the second AP and the second STA, a second request to join the second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule established on the first link (Slide 6 – “Similarly, when non-AP MLD requests, suggests, or demands Broadcast TWT schedule for any link”); and
establishing, by the second AP on the second link, the second TWT schedule (Slide 6 “The Aligned Schedule can be applied to any subset of links between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD” and Slide 8, “The TWT scheduling AP MLD indicates Accept TWT in the TWT Setup Command field and sets up schedule corresponding to Broadcast TWT Parameter Set A across all three setup links between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD.”).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Huang discloses:
transmitting, by a third AP affiliated with the AP MLD to a third STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD on a third link between the third AP and the third STA, a third broadcast frame announcing a third TWT schedule (Slide 8 the third AP can send a Broadcast TWT IE, with a third TWT schedule, see Broadcast TWT SP F, along with TWT SP A);
Receiving, by the third AP from the third STA on the third link a third request to join the third TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT scheduling established on the first link (Slide 6 – “Similarly, when non-AP MLD requests, suggests, or demands Broadcast TWT schedule for any link”); and
Establishing, by the third AP on the third link, the third TWT schedule (Slide 6 and Slide 8 describe the application of the requested schedule between the AP-MLD and the non-AP MLD over a wireless link)
Regarding claims 10 and 19, Shafin discloses:
a method performed by an non-access point (AP) (Slide 8 – Non-AP MLD with a plurality of STA) multi-link device (MLD) (Slide 8 – depicts a non-AP MLD with a plurality of STAs) the method comprising:
receiving, by a first STA (Slide 8 depicts a Non-AP MLD which comprises a plurality of STA(s) with a different link) affiliated with the non-AP MLD (Slide 8 the non-AP MLD), a first broadcast frame announcing a first target wake time (TWT) schedule (Slide 8 depicts a each of the AP sending over respective links a broadcast TWT IE with a one or more TWT schedules), the first broadcast frame indicating that the first TWT schedule is aligned schedule (Slide 6 “When the AP MLD announces Broadcast TWT schedules, it shall indicate whether or not a particular Broadcast TWT schedule (corresponding to Broadcast TWT Parameter Set) is an Aligned schedule.”);
transmitting, by the first STA (Slide 8 depicts the non-AP MLD with a plurality of STAs) to a first AP (Slide 8 depicts plurality of AP) affiliated with a AP MLD (Slide 8 the AP MLD) on a first link between the first AP and the first STA (Slide 8 depicts an AP MLD and non-AP MLD with a link between the STA and AP of the MLD), a first request to join the first TWT schedule (Slide 6, which recites, in part, “Similarly, when non-AP MLD requests, suggests, or demands Broadcast TWT schedule for any link”);
joining, by the first STA on the first link, the first TWT schedule (Slide 10 describes the establishment of an aligned schedule on any subset of links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD);
receiving, by a second STA (Slide 8 each station receives the Broadcast TWT IE) affiliated with the non-AP MLD (Slide 8 depicts each station reception of Broadcast TWT), a second broadcast frame announcing a second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule (Slide 8 see the broadcast TWT IE which indicates the TWT SP);
transmitting, by the second STA (Slide 8 a second STA) to a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD (Slide 8 the links between each STA and each AP) on a second link between the second AP and the second STA (Slide 8 depicts the links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD), a second request to join the second TWT schedule that is aligned with the first TWT schedule established on the first link (Slide 6, which recites, in part, “Similarly, when non-AP MLD requests, suggests, or demands Broadcast TWT schedule for any link”); and
joining, by the second STA on the second link, the second TWT schedule (Slide 10 describes the establishment of an aligned schedule on any subset of links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 2-3, 6-7, 11-12, 15-16 and 20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang as applied to the independent claims, in view of Lin et al. (US 2025/0240821 A1).
Regarding claims 2, 11, and 20, the disclosure of Huang teaches sending a broadcast TWT to a STA, but may not disclose:
wherein the broadcast frame comprises a TWT element that includes an aligned subfield indicating whether the aligned schedule is available on more than one of links of the AP MLD
In an analogous art, the disclosure Lin teaches:
wherein the broadcast frame comprises a TWT element that includes an aligned subfield indicating whether the aligned schedule is available on more than one of links of the AP MLD (fig.10 the newly added field Aligned TWT bitmap).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Huang with the disclosure of Lin. The motivation/suggestion would have been to indicate that a one or more service periods of the TWT schedule are aligned.
Regarding claims 3 and 12, Lin discloses:
wherein when the aligned subfield is set to a first value, the aligned subfield indicates that there is a schedule on other link that is aligned within a predetermined interval with the first TWT schedule on the first link (par.[0159] which recites, in part, “The aligned TWT bitmap subfield indicates links between the transmit device and the receive device on which TWT SPs aligned with the first link are set up. For example, a link indication method is setting a bit corresponding to the link in the aligned TWT bitmap subfield to 1.”).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, Lin discloses:
wherein the aligned schedule is a broadcast TWT schedule that is available across multiple links and target wake times of broadcast TWT schedules on the multiple links are aligned (par.[0124] which recites, in part, “In the broadcast TWT, an AP may set up a common TWT agreement for a group of STAs, and the plurality of STAs operate in a same active time period, and sleep in other time periods”).
Regarding claims 7 and 16, Lin discloses:
wherein TWT parameters of aligned TWT schedules on the multiple links are same as each other (par.[0008] which recites, in part, “It should be understood that, that the first individual TWT SP is aligned with the second individual TWT SP means that times (namely, times at which data is sent and received) at which the devices wake in the two individual TWP SPs are aligned.”).
Claim(s) 4 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang and Lin as applied to independent claims 1, 10, and 19, in view of Seok et al. (US 2024/0098821 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, the disclosure of Huang and Lin teaches an aligned TWT subfield, but may not explicitly disclose:
wherein when the aligned subfield is set to a second value, the aligned subfield indicates that there is no schedule on other link that is aligned within a predetermined interval with the first TWT schedule on the first link.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Seok teaches:
wherein when the aligned subfield is set to a second value, the aligned subfield indicates that there is no schedule on other link that is aligned within a predetermined interval with the first TWT schedule on the first link (par.[0042] describes the Aligned TWT field being 1 for aligned TWT on different links, and 0 for otherwise not aligned).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the TWT alignment methods as discussed in Lin, with the TWT alignment methods as discussed in Seok. The motivation/suggestion would have been to provide a mechanism for establishing concurrent TWT agreements in a wireless communications network.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 14, 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Cariou et al. (US 2021/0329500 A1) “Method and Arrangements for Application Service Discovery”
Shafin et al. (US 2022/0303907 A1) “Restricted TWT Operations for Multi-Link Devices”
Sun et al. (US 2023/0308938 A1) “Multi-Link Steering and Control in WLAN”
Chu (US 2022/0303893 A1) “TWT Management and Management Frame Under Multi-Link Devices”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMAAL HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-5339. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thu: 7:30 am - 6:30 pm.
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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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