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 .
DETAILED OFFICE ACTION
This action is responsive to the communication received March 18th, 2026. Claim 7 has been canceled. Claims 1-3, 12-13 have been amended. Claims 1-6, 8-13 have been entered and are presented for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed March 18th, 2026, have been fully considered, but deemed moot in view of the 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.
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 non-obviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2023/0171052) in view of Lin et al. (US 2021/013735) in view of Sun et al. (US 2023/0337025).
Regarding claims 1-3 and 12-13, Kim et al. discloses a communication system (see Figures 1, 2 [a wireless communication system]) comprising: at least a first communication apparatus (see Figures 1, 2 [AP, STA]); and a second communication apparatus (see Figures 1, 2 [AP, STA]), wherein the first communication apparatus comprises: at least one memory that stores a set of instructions (paragraphs 0060, 0072 [the processing circuitry 213 may include or access memory that stores data and/or a series of instructions]); and at least one processing circuit (paragraphs 0060, 0072 [the processing circuitry 213 may include or access memory that stores data and/or a series of instructions]), wherein the first communication apparatus is caused, by the at least one processing circuit executing the instructions and/or the at least one processing circuit itself operating, to perform operations comprising: receiving, from the second communication apparatus, information indicating a bandwidth to be used by the second communication apparatus to communicate with the first communication apparatus (see Figure 17 and paragraphs 0081, 0143 [The first STA 320 may transmit, to the AP 310, “second performance information” indicating whether the wider (second) bandwidth is supportable. Referring to FIG. 3B, when the first STA 320 is unable to support the wider bandwidth and indicates such lack of capability with the second performance information]); transmitting, including at least the second communication apparatus with a predetermined bandwidth in a case where the bandwidth to be used by the second communication apparatus indicated by the received information is smaller than the predetermined bandwidth (paragraph 0143 [the AP may schedule the second PPDU by using the RUs within the supportable bandwidth of the STA, in operation S230]), an MU PPDU in which a subcarrier at the end of a frequency domain is not modulated with demodulation target data but a subcarrier different from the subcarrier at the end is modulated with demodulation target data, from among subcarriers that are to store data to be transmitted to the second communication apparatus (paragraph 0049, 0074 [the side lobes may cause aliasing in a down-sampling process, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU In addition, side lobes may occur due to a limited performance of the STA 111, for example, the quality of a sampling clock, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU; end subcarriers are not used; the side lobes and aliasing described above with reference to FIG. 1 occur by subcarriers located at the boundary of the band, the second PPDU may not be allocated to RUs including these subcarriers]), wherein the second communication apparatus (see Figures 1, 2 [AP, STA]) comprises: at least one memory that stores a set of instructions (paragraphs 0060, 0072 [the processing circuitry 213 may include or access memory that stores data and/or a series of instructions]); and at least one processing circuit (paragraphs 0060, 0072 [the processing circuitry 213 may include or access memory that stores data and/or a series of instructions]), wherein the second communication apparatus is caused, by the at least one processing circuit executing the instructions and/or the at least one processing circuit itself operating, to perform operations (paragraphs 0060, 0072 [the processing circuitry 213 may include or access memory that stores data and/or a series of instructions]) comprising: demodulating, in a case where the PPDU with the predetermined bandwidth larger than the bandwidth to be used is received, the PPDU, assuming that the data that is modulating a subcarrier configuring the frequency domain different from the subcarrier at the end, is demodulation target data (paragraph 0049-0050, 0074 [the STA obtaining a PPDU may also be interpreted as successfully extracting data from the PPDU by successfully demodulating and/or decoding the PPDU; the side lobes may cause aliasing in a down-sampling process, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU In addition, side lobes may occur due to a limited performance of the STA 111, for example, the quality of a sampling clock, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU; end subcarriers are not used; the side lobes and aliasing described above with reference to FIG. 1 occur by subcarriers located at the boundary of the band, the second PPDU may not be allocated to RUs including these subcarriers]), the frequency domain being one of a plurality of frequency domains to which data destined to the communication apparatus is assigned (paragraphs 0110, 0145 [ the STA may support a first bandwidth of up to 80 MHz and a second bandwidth greater than the first bandwidth may be 160 MHz or 320 MHz, the AP may schedule the second PPDU allocated to the STA so that, when the second PPDU allocated to the STA is included in a first PPDU conforming to a second bandwidth of 160 MHz]).
Kim et al. does not explicitly disclose transmitting a downlink Multi-User Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (MU PPDU) to a plurality of communication apparatuses.
However, Lin et al. discloses transmitting a downlink Multi-User Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (MU PPDU) to a plurality of communication apparatuses (see Figure 5 and paragraphs 0030-0034 [transmitting an MU-PPDU to multiple STAs]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize a MU-PPDU could be sent to multiple stations in order to send respective or common data for each UE.
The references as combined above do not explicitly disclose wherein a bandwidth of the MU PPDU is identified based on information stored in a BW field of a Universal Signal (U- SIG) field configuring a preamble of the MU PPDU.
However, Sun et al. discloses wherein a bandwidth of the MU PPDU is identified based on information stored in a BW field of a Universal Signal (U- SIG) field configuring a preamble of the MU PPDU (paragraph 0178 [a transmitting device may include the ranging NDPA frame 501 in an EHT MU PPDU and, in such implementations, may include the indication of the bandwidth 505 in the PHY header (e.g., the PHY preamble). For example, the transmitting device may set the PHY header to indicate 320 MHz. In such examples, the transmitting device may set a BW field in a U-SIG field to indicate 320 MHz.]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize MU-PPDU can include a BW Field in the U-SIG field to indicate which bandwidth to use.
Regarding claim 4, Kim et al. discloses all the features of claim 3.
Kim et al. further discloses wherein the number of subcarriers corresponding to the end is smaller than the number of subcarriers configuring a minimum unit of a Resource Unit (RU) in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (see Figure 18A and paragraph 0053 [subcarriers corresponding to the end are smaller than the subcarriers used for the RU; 802.11be]).
Regarding claim 5, Kim et al. discloses all the features of claim 3.
Kim et al. further discloses wherein the information indicating the bandwidth to be used is stored in a Supported Channel Width Set subfield of a HE Capabilities element and communicated between apparatuses (MPEP 2111.04 Claim scope is not limited by claim language that suggests or makes optional but does not require steps to be performed; Paragraphs 0085-0086 and Figures 5A-5B [Capabilities element format; Wider BW Support]).
Regarding claim 8, Kim et al. discloses all the features of claim 2.
Kim et al. further discloses wherein subcarriers in the frequency domain are subcarriers excluding a null subcarrier in the frequency domain (paragraph 0049-0050, 0074 [the STA obtaining a PPDU may also be interpreted as successfully extracting data from the PPDU by successfully demodulating and/or decoding the PPDU; the side lobes may cause aliasing in a down-sampling process, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU In addition, side lobes may occur due to a limited performance of the STA 111, for example, the quality of a sampling clock, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU; end subcarriers are not used; the side lobes and aliasing described above with reference to FIG. 1 occur by subcarriers located at the boundary of the band, the second PPDU may not be allocated to RUs including these subcarriers]), and wherein, in transmitting the downlink PPDU in a case where the bandwidth to be used by the other communication apparatus is smaller than the predetermined bandwidth, the communication apparatus transmits an PPDU in which the predetermined number of subcarriers configuring the end of the frequency domain are not modulated with decoding target data, from among subcarriers in the frequency domain that are to store data to be transmitted to the other communication apparatus (paragraph 0049-0050, 0074 [the STA obtaining a PPDU may also be interpreted as successfully extracting data from the PPDU by successfully demodulating and/or decoding the PPDU; the side lobes may cause aliasing in a down-sampling process, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU In addition, side lobes may occur due to a limited performance of the STA 111, for example, the quality of a sampling clock, thereby degrading the quality of the second PPDU; end subcarriers are not used; the side lobes and aliasing described above with reference to FIG. 1 occur by subcarriers located at the boundary of the band, the second PPDU may not be allocated to RUs including these subcarriers]).
Kim et al. does not explicitly disclose transmitting a downlink Multi-User Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (MU PPDU) to a plurality of communication apparatuses.
However, Lin et al. discloses transmitting a downlink Multi-User Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (MU PPDU) to a plurality of communication apparatuses (see Figure 5 and paragraphs 0030-0034 [transmitting an MU-PPDU to multiple STAs]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize a MU-PPDU could be sent to multiple stations in order to send respective or common data for each UE.
Regarding claims 9-11, Kim et al. discloses all the features of claims 1-3.
Kim et al. further discloses wherein the first and the second communication apparatuses are capable of performing wireless communication conforming to the IEEE 802.11be standard (paragraph 0087 [Capabilities element format’ are defined in IEEE P802.11be]).
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2023/0171052) in view of Lin et al. (US 2021/013735) in view of Sun et al. (US 2023/0337025) as applied to claims 3 above, and further in view of Chun et al. (US 2024/0372645)
Regarding claim 6, the references as combined above disclose all the recited subject matter in claims 3, but do not explicitly disclose wherein the information indicating the bandwidth to be used is stored in a Channel Width subfield of an OM Control subfield and communicated between apparatuses.
However, Chun et al. discloses wherein the information indicating the bandwidth to be used is stored in a Channel Width subfield of an OM Control subfield and communicated between apparatuses (paragraph 0237 [A channel width extension subfield of an EHT OM control subfield may indicate an operating channel width supported by a STA for transmission and reception together with a channel width subfield of an OM control subfield]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize a channel width subfield could be included in the capability message to indicate an operating channel width supported by a STA for transmission and reception.
Regarding claim 7, the references as combined above disclose all the recited subject matter in claims 3, but do not explicitly disclose wherein a bandwidth of the MU PPDU is identified based on information stored in a BW field of a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field configuring a preamble of the MU PPDU.
However, Chun et al. discloses wherein a bandwidth of the MU PPDU is identified based on information stored in a BW field of a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field configuring a preamble of the MU PPDU (see Figure 13 and paragraphs 0150-0151 [U-SIG in the MU PPDU Preamble; The U-SIG may include N-bit information and may include information for identifying the type of EHT PPDU]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize a U-SIG field could be in the MU PPDU for identifying the type of EHT PPDU.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE whose telephone number is (571)270-3937. The examiner can normally be reached 4pm-11:30pm.
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, Ayman Abaza can be reached at (571)270-0422. 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.
/CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights