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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
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 1-8 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al. (US 2024/0137919 A1; hereinafter "PARK"), in view of KIM et al. (US 2021/0360628 A1; hereinafter “KIM”).
Regarding claim 1, PARK teaches a method (FIG. 10; [0175] method) for uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmission ([0138] uplink-MU) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) ([0137] WLAN system), the method comprising:
transmitting, by an access point (AP), a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame to a plurality of stations (STAs) ([0210] the transmitting AP transmits a PPDU including a trigger frame, [0109] the transmitting AP transmits in one MU PPDU for a first STA and a second STA);
wherein the trigger frame comprises a Common Info field and a plurality of User Info fields indicating a plurality of STAs ([0233] discloses that a Special User Info field may be present in the trigger frame generated by the EHT AP, [0234] discloses that the Special User Info field is located immediately after the Common Info field of the trigger frame; FIG. 19 shows that the User Info field includes an AID12 subfield identifying a station, thereby indicating STAs);
wherein each of the plurality of User Info fields comprises an AID12 subfield of 12 bits (FIG. 20 AID 12 bits), an RU Allocation subfield of 8 bits (FIG. 20 RU Allocation 8 bits), a UL FEC Coding Type subfield of 1 bit (FIG. 20 UL FEC Coding type 1 bit), an SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield of 6 bits (FIG. 20 SS Allocation/RA-RU Information 6 bits), a UL Target RSSI subfield of 7 bits (FIG. 20 UL Target Receiver Power 7 bits), a PS 160 subfield of 1 bit (FIG. 20 PS160 1 bit), and a variable Trigger Dependent User Info subfield (FIG. 20 Trigger Dependent User Info variable).
However, PARK does not teach an UL EHT-MCS subfield of 1 bit, an RU Adaptation Disabled subfield of 1 bit, wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is immediately after the UL EHT- MCS subfield, and before the SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield; and wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a first value to indicate a resource unit (RU) adaptation is enabled for the corresponding STA, or the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a second value to indicate the RU adaptation is disabled for the corresponding STA.
In an analogous art, KIM teaches wherein each of the plurality of User Info fields comprises an UL EHT-MCS (FIG. 16B UL EHT-MCS) subfield of 1 bit , an RU Adaptation Disabled (FIG. 16B UL DCM is a binary flag indicating whether dual carrier modulation is enabled or disabled) subfield of 1 bit ([0150] a length of each field may be different from those illustrated);
wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is immediately after the UL EHT- MCS subfield, and before the SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield (FIG. 16B discloses a UL DCM between UL-HE-MCS and SS Allocation/RA-RU Information); and
wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a first value to indicate a resource unit (RU) adaptation is enabled for the corresponding STA, or the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a second value to indicate the RU adaptation is disabled for the corresponding STA ([0156] discloses that the user information field includes an RU allocation subfield and a PS160 subfield defining the RU allocated to the STA, [0202] discloses that the STA identifies the RU based on bit values contained in the user information field, thereby evidencing that a value of the configuration subfield controls application of the RU allocation for the STA transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the UL DCM field as taught by KIM within the parameter of PARK. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support low latency and ultra-fast transmission with performance effectively by allocating a multi-RU to a user (KIM [0005]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically KIM teaches wherein an RU Adaptation Disabled subfield of a first User Info field of the trigger frame, to indicate whether the RU adaptation is enabled for a first STA indicated by the first User Info field if RU or MRU allocated to the first STA is larger than 242 tones ([0156] discloses that RU allocation information included in the user information field defines the RU allocated to the STA, [0202] discloses that the STA determines the allocated RU based on bit values contained in the user information field, thereby evidencing that the value of the UL-DCM configuration subfield indicates whether the RU allocation configuration is applied for the STA transmission),
wherein the RU or MRU is indicated in an RU Allocation subfield and a PS160 subfield of the first User Info field ([0156] discloses that the user information field includes an RU allocation subfield and a PS160 subfield, and that the RU allocated to the STA is identified based on the values of the RU allocation subfield together with the PS160 subfield), wherein the first User Info field is one of the plurality of User Info fields ([0151] discloses that a trigger frame allocates at least one RU to at least one STA through user information fields, thereby evidencing that the trigger frame includes user information fields corresponding to respective STAs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the UL DCM field as taught by KIM within the parameter of PARK. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support low latency and ultra-fast transmission with performance effectively by allocating a multi-RU to a user (KIM [0005]).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield of the first User Info field of the trigger frame indicates that the RU adaptation is disabled for the first STA if the RU or MRU allocated to the first STA is used for an MU-MIMO allocation, or a carrier sensing (CS) required subfield of the Common Info field of the trigger frame indicates that the plurality of STAs including the first STA are not required to use energy detection (ED) to sense medium and to consider a medium state and a network allocation vector (NAV) in determining whether or not to respond ([0191] The CCA/CS mechanism is triggered on a Wi-Fi device when it detects the preamble. In contrast, for decoded transmissions that exceed the CCA/CS threshold, the physical or virtual carrier sensing action sets the medium in use. The capture effect is also used when detecting multiple signals, so operation can be locked to the strongest signal without experiencing packet collisions, [0281] this specification proposes a configuration of a UL Spatial Reuse subfield composed of 16 bits of Common Info field and a method for setting B54 and B55 of the Common Info field).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches receiving, by the AP, an EHT TB PPDU from a second STA of the plurality of STAs if the RU adaptation is enabled for the second STA ([0138] the STA which has received a trigger frame for uplink-MU transmits the EHT TB PPDU, [0210] when the trigger frame is received, a TB PPDU is transmitted through uplink after SIFS to the AP, [0073] an uplink implies a link for communication from a non-AP STA to an SP STA, and an uplink PPDU is transmitted through the uplink); and
determining, by the AP, an adapted RU or MRU for the second STA based on results of signal detection ([0176] the receiving AP determines a type of an RX PPDU as the EHT PPDU, based on signal detection, [0177] the receiving AP detects and determines the type of PPDU, [0226] In the case of OFDMA transmission, each Spatial Reuse field is applied to the 242-tone RU and all Rus within the 242-tone RU),
wherein the adapted RU or MRU for the second STA includes one of a plurality of child RUs or MRUs associated with the RU or MRU allocated to the second STA ([0101] specific sizes of RUs are extended or increased, [0106] a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, a 242-RU, a 484-RU, a 996-RU are used, [0121] the number of STAs is determined based on the RU allocation information of the common field 820).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches obtaining, by the AP, an adapted modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and/or a count number of spatial streams (Nss) for the second STA from a U-SIG field in the EHT TB PPDU from the second STA ([0129] a third bit (i.e., B15-18) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) includes modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information, [0134] a second bit (e.g., B11-B13) in the user field of the second format includes information related to the number of spatial streams applied to a corresponding RU, [0176] A receiving AP determines a type of an RX PPDU based on bit information included in a symbol after the RL-SIG of FIG. 10, [0210] upon transmission of a trigger frame by the AP, a TB PPDU is received from the STA).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein each of the plurality of child RUs or MRUs associated with the RU or MRU allocated to the second STA has a size of at least X% of a size of the RU or MRU allocated to the second STA, wherein X is a value in a range of 50 to 100 ([0106] RUs having various sizes are used, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, a 242-RU, a 484-RU, a 996-RU, [0107] when the layout of the RUs is used for a single user, a 996-RU is used, [0104] when the layout of the RUs is used for a single user, a 484-RU is used. The specific number of RUs may be changed similarly to FIG. 5).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein a count number of the child RUs or MRUs associated with the RU or MRU allocated to the second STA is not greater than a predetermined value ([0108] a transmitting STA (e.g., an AP) allocates a first RU and a second RU, [0124] Three user STAs are allocated to the 106-RU through the MU-MIMO scheme. Five 26-RUs are allocated the user-specific field and includes eight user fields).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein the predetermined value is 5 ([0103] a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, a 242-RU, a 484-RU, [0122] five user STAs are allocated to five 26-RUs arranged to the right side).
Regarding claim 14, PARK teaches a method (FIG. 10; [0175] method) for uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmission ([0138] uplink-MU) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) ([0137] WLAN system), the method comprising:
receiving, by a station (STA), a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame from an access point (AP) ([0210] the transmitting AP transmits a PPDU including a trigger frame, [0109] the transmitting AP transmits in one MU PPDU for a first STA and a second STA),
wherein the trigger frame comprises a Common Info field and a plurality of User Info fields indicating a plurality of STAs ([0233] discloses that a Special User Info field may be present in the trigger frame generated by the EHT AP, [0234] discloses that the Special User Info field is located immediately after the Common Info field of the trigger frame; FIG. 19 shows that the User Info field includes an AID12 subfield identifying a station, thereby indicating STAs),
each of the plurality of User Info fields comprises an AID12 subfield of 12 bits (FIG. 20 AID 12 bits), an RU Allocation subfield of 8 bits (FIG. 20 RU Allocation 8 bits), a UL FEC Coding Type subfield of 1 bit (FIG. 20 UL FEC Coding type 1 bit), an SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield of 6 bits (FIG. 20 SS Allocation/RA-RU Information 6 bits), a UL Target RSSI subfield of 7 bits (FIG. 20 UL Target Receiver Power 7 bits), a PS160 subfield of 1 bit (FIG. 20 PS160 1 bit), and a variable Trigger Dependent User Info subfield (FIG. 20 Trigger Dependent User Info variable),
wherein the plurality of STAs include the STA ([0108] a transmitting STA (e.g., an AP) allocates a first RU to a first STA and a second RU to a second STA. Thereafter, the first STA and the second STA transmit to the AP); and
decoding, by the STA, the received trigger frame to determine whether the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA ([0066] decoding bit information of a sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) included in a PPDU, [0176] A receiving STA determines a type of an RX PPDU based on bit information included in a symbol after the RL-SIG of FIG. 10, [0281] this specification proposes the configuration of the Spatial Reuse subfield of the EHT Trigger frame and a method for setting/enabling B54 and B55 of the Common Info field).
However, PARK does not teach an UL EHT- MCS subfield of 1 bit, an RU Adaptation Disabled subfield of 1 bit, the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is immediately after the UL EHT-MCS subfield, and before the SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield, and the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a first value to indicate a resource unit (RU) adaptation is enabled for the corresponding STA, or the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a second value to indicate the RU adaptation is disabled for the corresponding STA.
In an analogous art, KIM teaches wherein each of the plurality of User Info fields comprises an UL EHT-MCS (FIG. 16B UL EHT-MCS) subfield of 1 bit , an RU Adaptation Disabled (FIG. 16B UL DCM is a binary flag indicating whether dual carrier modulation is enabled or disabled) subfield of 1 bit ([0150] a length of each field may be different from those illustrated);
wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is immediately after the UL EHT- MCS subfield, and before the SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield (FIG. 16B discloses a UL DCM between UL-HE-MCS and SS Allocation/RA-RU Information); and
wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a first value to indicate a resource unit (RU) adaptation is enabled for the corresponding STA, or the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a second value to indicate the RU adaptation is disabled for the corresponding STA ([0156] discloses that the user information field includes an RU allocation subfield and a PS160 subfield defining the RU allocated to the STA, [0202] discloses that the STA identifies the RU based on bit values contained in the user information field, thereby evidencing that a value of the configuration subfield controls application of the RU allocation for the STA transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the UL DCM field as taught by KIM within the parameter of PARK. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support low latency and ultra-fast transmission with performance effectively by allocating a multi-RU to a user (KIM [0005]).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically KIM teaches wherein if RU or MRU allocated to the STA is larger than 242 tones, an RU Adaptation Disabled subfield of a first User Info field of the trigger frame is set to indicates whether the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA indicated by the first User Info field ([0156] discloses that the RU allocated to the STA is defined based on RU allocation information included in the user information field, thereby evidencing that the value of the configuration subfield indicates how the RU allocation configuration is applied for the STA transmission),
wherein the decoding the received trigger frame ([0151] discloses that a STA receives a trigger frame generated by the AP and identifies RU allocation information contained in the trigger frame for uplink transmission) further comprises: decoding, by the STA, the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield to determine whether the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA ([0202] discloses that the STA identifies the RU allocated to the STA based on bit values included in the user information field, thereby evidencing that the STA decodes configuration subfields of the user information field to determine the RU allocation configuration applied for the STA transmission), wherein the first User Info field is one of the plurality of User Info fields ([0151] discloses that the trigger frame allocates RU resources to at least one STA through user information fields corresponding to respective STAs, thereby evidencing that the trigger frame includes a plurality of user information fields).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the UL DCM field as taught by KIM within the parameter of PARK. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support low latency and ultra-fast transmission with performance effectively by allocating a multi-RU to a user (KIM [0005]).
Regarding claim 16, PARK teaches wherein if the RU or MRU allocated to the STA is used for an MU-MIMO allocation, or a carrier sensing (CS) required subfield of the Common Info field of the trigger frame indicates that the plurality of STAs including the STA are not required to use ED to sense medium and to consider a medium state and a NAV in determining whether or not to respond ([0119] discloses that up to 8 STAs are allocated to the 106-RU based on a MU-MIMO scheme, thereby evidencing that an RU allocated to a STA may be used for MU-MIMO allocation, [0191] discloses carrier sensing (CCA/CS) mechanisms for determining whether the medium is in use, thereby evidencing conditions under which carrier sensing determines whether a STA responds to a transmission).
However, PARK does not teach the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield indicates that the RU adaptation is disabled for the STA, wherein the decoding the received trigger frame further comprises: decoding, by the STA, the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield to determine that the RU adaptation is disabled for the STA.
In an analogous art, KIM teaches the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield indicates that the RU adaptation is disabled for the STA ([0156] discloses that RU allocation information in the User Info field defines the RU allocated to the STA, thereby evidencing that the configuration subfield indicates whether the RU allocation configuration is applied for the STA transmission),
wherein the decoding the received trigger frame ([0151] discloses that a STA receives a trigger frame generated by the AP and identifies RU allocation information contained in the trigger frame for uplink transmission) further comprises: decoding, by the STA, the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield to determine that the RU adaptation is disabled for the STA ([0202] discloses that the STA identifiers the RU allocated to the STA based on bit values contained in the user information field, thereby evidencing that the STA decodes configuration subfields of the User Info field to determine the RU allocation configuration applied for the STA transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the UL DCM field as taught by KIM within the parameter of PARK. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support low latency and ultra-fast transmission with performance effectively by allocating a multi-RU to a user (KIM [0005]).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein if the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA, the method further comprises ([0281] a method):
preparing, by the STA, an EHT TB PPDU for each of a plurality of child RUs or MRUs associated with RU or MRU allocated to the STA ([0108] a transmitting STA (e.g., an AP) allocates a first RU to a first STA and a second RU to a second STA. Thereafter, the first STA transmits a first trigger-based PPDU based on the first RU, and the second STA transmits a second trigger-based PPDU based on the second RU);
adapting, by the STA, the allocated RU or MRU to one of the plurality of child RUs or MRUs according to results of energy detection (ED) based medium sensing performed by the STA ([0191] SR operation relies on dynamic Clear Channel Assessment/Carrier Sense (CCA/CS) to increase the number of transmit opportunities (TXOPs) in OBSS. The CCA/CS mechanism is triggered on a Wi-Fi device when it detects the preamble of another device transmission); and
transmitting, by the STA, the EHT TB PPDU corresponding to the adapted child RU or MRU to the AP ([0108] Thereafter, the first STA transmits a first trigger-based PPDU based on the first RU, and the second STA transmits a second trigger-based PPDU based on the second RU to the AP).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein an adapted modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and/or a count number of spatial streams (Nss) are comprised in a U-SIG field of the EHT TB PPDU corresponding to the adapted child RU or MRU ([0129] a user field includes modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information corresponding to a specific RU allocation, [0134] the user field includes spatial stream information applied to the RU, [0154] the U-SIG carries signaling related to the transmission configuration of the EHT-SIG, where the transmission configuration includes parameters used to configure the PPDU transmission).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of PARK and KIM, specifically PARK teaches wherein each of the plurality of child RUs or MRUs associated with the RU or MRU allocated to the STA has a size of at least X% of a size of the RU or MRU allocated to the STA, wherein X is a value in a range of 50 to 100 ([0106] RUs having various sizes are used, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU, a 242-RU, a 484-RU, a 996-RU, [0107] when the layout of the RUs is used for a single user, a 996-RU is used, [0104] when the layout of the RUs is used for a single user, a 484-RU is used. The specific number of RUs may be changed similarly to FIG. 5).
Regarding claim 20, PARK teaches an access point (AP) (FIG. 1 STA 110; [0055] serve as an AP) for uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) transmission ([0138] uplink-MU) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) ([0137] WLAN system), the AP comprising: a processor (FIG. 1 processor 111); a transceiver (FIG. 1 transceiver 113); and a memory (FIG. 1 memory 112) configured to store computer programs ([0656] the instructions stored in the computer readable medium);
wherein the processor is configured to invoke and execute the computer programs stored in the memory to cause the transceiver to ([0655] instructions designed to be executed by at least one processor):
transmit a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame to a plurality of stations (STAs) ([0210] the transmitting AP transmits a PPDU including a trigger frame, [0109] the transmitting AP transmits in one MU PPDU for a first STA and a second STA);
wherein the trigger frame comprises a Common Info field and a plurality of User Info fields indicating a plurality of STAs ([0233] discloses that a Special User Info field may be present in the trigger frame generated by the EHT AP, [0234] discloses that the Special User Info field is located immediately after the Common Info field of the trigger frame; FIG. 19 shows that the User Info field includes an AID12 subfield identifying a station, thereby indicating STAs);
wherein each of the plurality of User Info fields comprises an AID12 subfield of 12 bits (FIG. 20 AID 12 bits), an RU Allocation subfield of 8 bits (FIG. 20 RU Allocation 8 bits), a UL FEC Coding Type subfield of 1 bit (FIG. 20 UL FEC Coding type 1 bit), an SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield of 6 bits (FIG. 20 SS Allocation/RA-RU Information 6 bits), a UL Target RSSI subfield of 7 bits (FIG. 20 UL Target Receiver Power 7 bits), a PS 160 subfield of 1 bit (FIG. 20 PS160 1 bit), and a variable Trigger Dependent User Info subfield (FIG. 20 Trigger Dependent User Info variable).
However, PARK does not teach an UL EHT-MCS subfield of 1 bit, an RU Adaptation Disabled subfield of 1 bit, wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is immediately after the UL EHT- MCS subfield, and before the SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield; and wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a first value to indicate a resource unit (RU) adaptation is enabled for the corresponding STA, or the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a second value to indicate the RU adaptation is disabled for the corresponding STA.
In an analogous art, KIM teaches wherein each of the plurality of User Info fields comprises an UL EHT-MCS (FIG. 16B UL EHT-MCS) subfield of 1 bit , an RU Adaptation Disabled (FIG. 16B UL DCM is a binary flag indicating whether dual carrier modulation is enabled or disabled) subfield of 1 bit ([0150] a length of each field may be different from those illustrated);
wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is immediately after the UL EHT- MCS subfield, and before the SS Allocation/RA-RU Information subfield (FIG. 16B discloses a UL DCM between UL-HE-MCS and SS Allocation/RA-RU Information); and
wherein the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a first value to indicate a resource unit (RU) adaptation is enabled for the corresponding STA, or the RU Adaptation Disabled subfield is set to be a second value to indicate the RU adaptation is disabled for the corresponding STA ([0156] discloses that the user information field includes an RU allocation subfield and a PS160 subfield defining the RU allocated to the STA, [0202] discloses that the STA identifies the RU based on bit values contained in the user information field, thereby evidencing that a value of the configuration subfield controls application of the RU allocation for the STA transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the UL DCM field as taught by KIM within the parameter of PARK. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support low latency and ultra-fast transmission with performance effectively by allocating a multi-RU to a user (KIM [0005]).
Claims 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK, in view of KIM, and further in view of HEDAYAT (US 2018/0020460 A1).
Regarding claim 9, the combination PARK and KIM does not teach applying, by the AP, a MAC padding to the PPDU to satisfy a minimum trigger frame processing time required by any one of the plurality of STAs depending on whether the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA.
In an analogous art, HEDAYAT teaches applying, by the AP, a MAC padding to the PPDU to satisfy a minimum trigger frame processing time required by any one of the plurality of STAs depending on whether the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA ([0042] In one embodiment, padding is added to the HE A-Control field such that the HE A-Control field has the expected size, [0160] Each PSDU contains the payload that is destined to a STA plus the necessary MAC padding and PHY padding).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the padding as taught by HEDAYAT within the parameter of PARK and KIM. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve performance by users demanding high-capacity and high-rate services (HEDAYAT [0005]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of PARK, KIM and HEDAYAT, specifically HEDAYAT teaches determining, by the AP, the minimum trigger frame processing time required by the STA based on a first time period and/or a second time period indicated in an HE Capabilities element and/or an EHT Capabilities element carried in a Probe Request frame, an Association Request frame or a Reassociation Request frame transmitted from the STA to the AP ([0083] an AP does not set any subfields of the Common Info field of a Trigger frame to a value that is not supported by all the recipient STAs of the Trigger frame. And, an AP does not set any subfields of the User Info field of a Trigger frame to a value that is not supported by the recipient STAs of the User Info field, [0084] an AP sets UL PPDU Length and DL TX Power subfields of an UL MU Response Scheduling A-Control subfield to the same value of the corresponding subfield of any UL MU Response Scheduling A-Control that is carried in the same PPDU).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify an AP as taught by HEDAYAT within the parameter of PARK and KIM. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve performance by users demanding high-capacity and high-rate services (HEDAYAT [0005]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of PARK, KIM and HEDAYAT, specifically HEDAYAT teaches wherein the first time period is indicated in the HE Capabilities element, and the second time period is indicated in the EHT Capabilities element, or both the first time period and the second time period are indicated in the EHT Capabilities element ([0083] an AP does not set any subfields of the Common Info field of a Trigger frame to a value that is not supported by all the recipient STAs of the Trigger frame, [0040] One purpose of the trigger frame is to provide a reference to the STAs that are expected to participate in the UL MU simultaneous transmission in terms of time and frequency with regard to the AP, [0160] Each PSDU contains the payload that is destined to a STA plus the necessary MAC padding and PHY padding).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify an AP as taught by HEDAYAT within the parameter of PARK and KIM. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve performance by users demanding high-capacity and high-rate services (HEDAYAT [0005]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of PARK, KIM and HEDAYAT, specifically HEDAYAT teaches wherein the determining the minimum trigger frame processing time ([0040] One purpose of the trigger frame is to provide a reference to the STAs that are expected to participate in the UL MU simultaneous transmission in terms of time and frequency with regard to the AP) further comprises:
determining, by the AP, that the minimum trigger frame processing time required by the STA is equal to the first time period if the RU adaptation is disabled for the STA ([0083] an AP does not set any subfields of the Common Info field of a Trigger frame to a value that is not supported by all the recipient STAs of the Trigger frame); or equal to the second time period if the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA ([0155] the bandwidth assigned to the STAs may vary to roughly align the length/duration of various Physical Layer Service Data Unit (PSDU) sub-bands).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the STAs as taught by HEDAYAT within the parameter of PARK and KIM. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve performance by users demanding high-capacity and high-rate services (HEDAYAT [0005]).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of PARK, KIM and HEDAYAT, specifically HEDAYAT teaches wherein the determining the minimum trigger frame processing time ([0040]) further comprises:
determining, by the AP, that the minimum trigger frame processing time required by the STA is equal to the first time period if the RU adaptation is disabled for the STA ([0083] an AP does not set any subfields of the Common Info field of a Trigger frame to a value that is not supported by all the recipient STAs of the Trigger frame); or equal to a sum of the first and the second time periods if the RU adaptation is enabled for the STA ([0152] STA3 may set the NAV timer for a transmission duration of subsequently transmitted frames (for example, a duration of SIFS+CTS frame duration+SIFS+data frame duration+SIFS+ACK frame duration) by using duration information included in the RTS frame).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the STA as taught by HEDAYAT within the parameter of PARK and KIM. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve performance by users demanding high-capacity and high-rate services (HEDAYAT [0005]).
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2021/0227529 A1 (CHU et al.) discloses a method and an apparatus for multi-link data transmission.
US 2021/0377368 A1 (HAN et al.) discloses a method of communicating between a first device (e.g., an AP) and each of with a legacy device and a non-legacy device (e.g., STAs).
US 2023/0354098 A1 (KO et al.) discloses a method for transmitting a TB PPDU in a wireless communication system.
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).
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/T.I./ Examiner, Art Unit 2413
/UN C CHO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413