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 ACTION
1. The following is a Final Office Action in response to applicant’s arguments filed on October 29, 2025
Claims 1, 4, 17, 19-21, 23 and 29 are amendedClaims 1- 30 are pending
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 10/29/2025 regarding 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection of claims 1-30 have been fully considered and is persuasive. Therefore, the rejection is withdrawn
Applicant’s arguments filed on 10/29/2025 regarding 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection of claims 19-21 have been fully considered and is persuasive. Therefore, the rejection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendment to claims 1, 17, 23 and 29 filed on 10/29/2025 regarding, “transmit, by a communications manager of the first wireless communication device and based at least in part on generating the packet number, the frame to the second wireless communication device, the frame including a portion that the first subset of bits that corresponds to the portion of the timing synchronization function value associated with the frame and the second subset of bits that corresponds to the counter value”; and “perform by an exclusive-OR (XOR) component of the first wireless communication device, an XOR function on the MIC field to generate an XORed MIC field in which bits of the MIC field are XORed with a set of bits that correspond to a portion of a timing synchronization function value associated with the frame; and transmit, by a communications manager of the first wireless communication device, the frame, including the XORed MIC field, to the second wireless communication device. “, necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Therefore, Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-30 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 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 of this title, 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.
1.) Claims 1, 2, 9-11, 15-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi
In regards to claim 1, Lee teaches a first wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0021, a device includes a memory configured to store instructions and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to join a data link group of a neighbor aware network (NAN).), the processing system configured to cause the first wireless communication device to:generate, by a packet number manager of the first wireless communication device, a packet number for a frame to be transmitted to a second wireless communication device(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0008, a device includes a packet number generator configured to set a packet number to a particular value in accordance with a packet number initialization scheme associated with a data link group of a neighbor aware network (NAN).), the packet number including a first subset of bits that corresponds to a portion of a timing synchronization function value associated with the frame(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0008 and 0015: [0008]-In a particular implementation, the packet number may be set to a particular value based on a timing synchronization function (TSF), in accordance with a first packet number initialization scheme.[0015]- In another particular aspect, a method includes receiving a frame at a first device from a second device of a data link group of a neighbor aware network (NAN). The frame may indicate a timing synchronization function (TSF) value.) and a second subset of bits that corresponds to a counter value(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0041, the device may receive the frame and set an initial value of a packet number counter to a particular value based on the TSF value. As another example, the device may set the value of the packet number counter to a particular value based on the TSF value at particular times during operation. The packet number counter may be a forty-eight-bit counter,); and Lee does not teach transmit, by a communications manager of the first wireless communication device and based at least in part on generating the packet number, the frame to the second wireless communication device, the frame including a portion that the first subset of bits that corresponds to the portion of the timing synchronization function value associated with the frame and the second subset of bits that corresponds to the counter value However, Asterjadhi teaches transmit, by a communications manager of the first wireless communication device and based at least in part on generating the packet number, the frame to the second wireless communication device, the frame including a portion that the first subset of bits that corresponds to the portion of the timing synchronization function value associated with the frame and the second subset of bits that corresponds to the counter value(US 20200015164, Asterjadhi, para. 0076, 0167, 0168: [0076]- the TD control field 320 may include one or more of a Counter subfield, Sequence Counter subfield, and/or a Sequence Number subfield that indicates a packet number. For example, the sequence counter subfield may include PN0 (of six packet number (PN) bytes, PN0 through PN5) (e.g., in cases where the WUR message 240-a is broadcast) or PN0|PN1[0:3] (e.g., in cases where the WUR message 240-a is individually addressed). Such may be used by a receiving STA 115 for IGTK packet number (IPN) construction at the STA 115. [0167]- The TSF component 1235 may identify a partial TSF[i.e. note: timing synchronization function] in the received WUR frame. In some examples, the TSF component 1235 may initialize a stored base packet number to a value equal to at least a portion of a local TSF timer. In some examples, the TSF component 1235 may identify a partial TSF in the received WUR frame.[0168]- the TSF component 1235 may receive an indication that an AP associated with the STA maintains separate counters for each transmitter-receiver couple. In some cases, the stored packet number is obtained from 6 bytes of the local TSF timer, the 6 bytes of the local TSF timer being 48 bits out of 64 bits of the local TSF timer.).
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 teaching of Lee with the teaching of Asterjadhi because a user would have been motivated to use a Frame Check Sequence in the packet frame, taught by Asterjadhi, in order to provide extra error detection for frames, taught by Lee(Asterjadhi, para. 0076)
In regards to claim 2, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the frame includes a header portion and the packet number is used to protect contents of the header portion(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0005, o enable a receiver to decrypt and verify the packet, the device may include a packet number (e.g., in the CCMP header, such as in the case of an IEEE 802.11 frame). The device may be configured to maintain a packet number counter associated with a data link group (e.g., a NAN data link (NDL)), and the packet number counter may be used to set a value of the packet number in the CCMP header.). In regards to claim 9, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein: the first wireless communication device is a non multi-link device (MLD) non-access point (AP) station (STA) or a non-AP STA that is affiliated with a non-AP MLD and the second wireless communication device is a non-MLD AP or an AP that is affiliated with an AP MLD, or the first wireless communication device is a non-MLD AP or an AP that is affiliated with an AP MLD and the second wireless communication device is a non-AP MLD non-AP STA or a non-AP STA that is affiliated with a non-AP MLD, and the non-AP STA synchronizes its timing synchronization function with a corresponding timing synchronization function at the associated AP, that is operating on that link, upon a transition of the non-AP STA to an awake state(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0058, the first device 104 may be part of another network, such as an access point (AP) based network or an independent basic service set (IBSS) network, and the first device 104 may be configured to advertise the other network to enable other devices of the wireless network 102 to join the other network via the first device 104. In some implementations, the devices of the data link group may be synchronized (via timing information in messages, such as NAN beacons or synchronization messages) to have periodic wake-up times.).
In regards to claim 10, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the portion of the timing synchronization function value corresponds to a time window of acceptable timing synchronization function values that is a specified time window or has a duration that is negotiated with the second wireless communication device(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0058, In some implementations, the devices of the data link group may be synchronized (via timing information in messages, such as NAN beacons or synchronization messages) to have periodic wake-up times. As one example, each device of the data link group may operate in an active operating mode during one or more paging windows to advertise a service and/or to receive traffic or other messages. If a device does not receive an indication of pending traffic, the device may transition to a low-power operating mode (e.g., a “sleep” mode) during other time periods (e.g., transmission windows) to conserve power.).
In regards to claim 11, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the frame is a first frame that has a first portion of the timing synchronization function value and a first counter value, and a second frame that is transmitted subsequent to the first frame has the first portion of the timing synchronization function value and a second counter value that is an incremented value from the first counter value(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0008, 0015 and 0044: [0008]-In a particular implementation, the packet number may be set to a particular value based on a timing synchronization function (TSF), in accordance with a first packet number initialization scheme.[0015]- In another particular aspect, a method includes receiving a frame at a first device from a second device of a data link group of a neighbor aware network (NAN). The frame may indicate a timing synchronization function (TSF) value.)[0044]- After setting the packet number counter, the device may update (e.g., increment by a particular amount) the packet number initialization value at the non-volatile memory.).
In regards to claim 15, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication device is a multi-link device (MLD) that operates on multiple links, and wherein separate timing synchronization functions are maintained at each link(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0007 and 0009: [0007]- In a particular aspect, a method of wireless communication includes, at a first device, performing one or more operations to join a data link group[i.e. multi-link] of a neighbor aware network (NAN).[0009]- determining, at a first device of a data link group of a neighbor aware network (NAN), whether an expiration condition associated with a first group key of the data link group is satisfied based on a subset of bits of a timing synchronization function (TSF) value of the data link group).
In regards to claim 16, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the first wireless communication device is a multi-link device (MLD) that operates on multiple links(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0007, In a particular aspect, a method of wireless communication includes, at a first device, performing one or more operations to join a data link group[i.e. multi-link] of a neighbor aware network (NAN).), and wherein a same timing synchronization function is used to generate timing synchronization function values for each link(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0064, The second device 106 may transmit the frame 160 to other devices of the wireless network 102, such as the first device 104, the third device 108, and the fifth device 112. The frame 160 may include a timing synchronization function (TSF) value 162.).
In regards to claim 17, Lee teaches a second wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the second wireless communication device to:receive, by a packet number manager of the second wireless communication device, a frame that includes a packet number including a first subset of bits that correspond to a first timing synchronization function value associated with the frame(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0008 and 0015: [0008]-In a particular implementation, the packet number may be set to a particular value based on a timing synchronization function (TSF), in accordance with a first packet number initialization scheme.[0015]- In another particular aspect, a method includes receiving a frame at a first device from a second device of a data link group of a neighbor aware network (NAN). The frame may indicate a timing synchronization function (TSF) value.) and a second subset of bits that correspond to a counter value(US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0041, the device may receive the frame and set an initial value of a packet number counter to a particular value based on the TSF value. As another example, the device may set the value of the packet number counter to a particular value based on the TSF value at particular times during operation. The packet number counter may be a forty-eight-bit counter,); and Lee does not teach determine, by a frame processing manager of the second wireless communication device and based at least in part on the frame including the first subset of bits that correspond to the first timing synchronization function value and the second subset of bits that correspond to the counter value, whether to process the frame based at least on part on whether a time value indicated by the first subset of bits corresponds to a local time maintained at the second wireless communication device However, Asterjadhi teaches determine, by a frame processing manager of the second wireless communication device and based at least in part on the frame including the first subset of bits that correspond to the first timing synchronization function value and the second subset of bits that correspond to the counter value(US 20200015164, Asterjadhi, para. 0076, 0167, 0168: [0076]- the TD control field 320 may include one or more of a Counter subfield, Sequence Counter subfield, and/or a Sequence Number subfield that indicates a packet number. For example, the sequence counter subfield may include PN0 (of six packet number (PN) bytes, PN0 through PN5) (e.g., in cases where the WUR message 240-a is broadcast) or PN0|PN1[0:3] (e.g., in cases where the WUR message 240-a is individually addressed). Such may be used by a receiving STA 115 for IGTK packet number (IPN) construction at the STA 115. [0167]- The TSF component 1235 may identify a partial TSF[i.e. note: timing synchronization function] in the received WUR frame. In some examples, the TSF component 1235 may initialize a stored base packet number to a value equal to at least a portion of a local TSF timer. In some examples, the TSF component 1235 may identify a partial TSF in the received WUR frame.[0168]- the TSF component 1235 may receive an indication that an AP associated with the STA maintains separate counters for each transmitter-receiver couple. In some cases, the stored packet number is obtained from 6 bytes of the local TSF timer, the 6 bytes of the local TSF timer being 48 bits out of 64 bits of the local TSF timer.), whether to process the frame based at least on part on whether a time value indicated by the first subset of bits corresponds to a local time maintained at the second wireless communication device(US 20200015164, Asterjadhi, para. 0082 and 0109: [0082]- In some cases, STA 115-a may add the clock drift offset to the local TSF timer to determine a packet number (PN) for a frame received from AP 105-a
[0109]- At 420, the STA 115-b may determine whether to discard the WUR frame or keep the WUR frame. For example, the STA 115-b may determine whether to discard the WUR frame or keep the WUR frame based on the generated packet number. [i.e. note: since the packet number is based on the local TSF timer, a determination on whether to discard or keep the frame{i.e. process the frame} is dependent on the local TSF timer information]
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 teaching of Lee with the teaching of Asterjadhi because a user would have been motivated to use a Frame Check Sequence in the packet frame, taught by Asterjadhi, in order to provide extra error detection for frames, taught by Lee(Asterjadhi, para. 0076)
In regards to claim 19, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the second wireless communication device of claim 17, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: compare the first timing synchronization function value to a second timing synchronization function value at the second wireless communication device and associated with a time at which the frame is received, wherein the second timing synchronization function value corresponds to the local time maintained at the second wireless communication device (US 20170171169, Lee, para. 0142, detecting the expiration condition includes comparing a value of the subset of bits of the TSF value to a threshold and determining that the value of the subset of bits of the TSF value exceeds the threshold. For example, the second device 106 may compare a subset of bits of the TSF value 162 to the threshold 150 and determine that the subset of bits of the TSF value).
2.) Claims 3-6, 8, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20200245137, Chitrakar
In regards to claim 3, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the frame is a control frame and the packet number is used to protect contents of the control frame However, Chitrakar teaches wherein the frame is a control frame and the packet number is used to protect contents of the control frame (US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0177, The Mac header 2710 of the WUR frame 2700 consists of a Frame control field 2712, a Receiver Address (RA) field 2714 and a Partial PN (P-PN) field 2716. The frame control field follows the same format as the Frame control field 812 in FIG. 8….In order to create a secure WUR frame, the AP computes a MIC over the entire WUR frame using a pre negotiated cryptographic function and with the PN associated with the secret Key used for the MIC computation as the cryptographic salt.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062)
In regards to claim 4, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein, to generate the packet number, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: generate the portion of the timing synchronization function value as a truncated version of the timing synchronization function value; and append the counter value to the portion of timing synchronization function value However, Chitrakar teaches wherein, to generate the packet number, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: generate the portion of the timing synchronization function value as a truncated version of the timing synchronization function value (US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0064, he P-TSF field may represent some selected bits of the Time Synchronization Function (TSF) maintained by the AP. If the WUR frame is a unicast frame, the AP uses its secret Key, for example the Temporal Key (TK) portion of the pairwise secret Key PTK or W-PTK, the Transmitter Address (TA) and the Receiver Address (RA), as well as the P-TSF field as input to the cryptographic algorithm to obtain a MIC. Usually, the output of a standard cryptographic function may be too long to directly use in WUR PPDUs and may need to be truncated to fit the limited size of the WUR frames.); and append the counter value to the portion of timing synchronization function value(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0127, The TSF 1700 is a 64-bits long counter with a time resolution of 1 microsecond and helps all the 802.11 devices in a BSS maintain time synchronization with the AP. An AP periodically broadcasts the current value of its TSF using the Timestamp field of the Beacon frames. Each STA that receives the Beacon frames from the AP that the STA is associated with, replaces its local TSF with the received timestamp after adjusting for the receiver processing delays.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062)
In regards to claim 5, the combination of Lee, Asterjadhi and Chitrakar teach the first wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the truncated version of the timing synchronization function value is truncated through removal of a quantity of least significant bits of the timing synchronization function value(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0150 and 0154: [0150]- a) The TSF 2122 is preprocessed as described earlier by creating a copy TSF* and masking the n least significant bits (LSB) of TSF* to zero, where n is the bit index of the LSB of the P-TSF. For example if TSF-1 is used as the P-TSF, n=8 and the 8 LSB of TSF i.e. bit-0 to bit-7 are masked to zero.[0154]- e) The generated MIC 2132 is then truncated to fit the FCS field 252 in FIG. 2.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062)
In regards to claim 6, the combination of Lee, Asterjadhi and Chitrakar teach the first wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: communicate with the second wireless communication device to negotiate a number of bits to be truncated from the timing synchronization function value(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0129, The choice of the bits of TSF to be used as P-TSF may depend on the WUR deployment scenario and may have been negotiated between the AP and a WUR STA during the initial WUR negotiation phase.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062)
In regards to claim 8, the combination of Lee and Asterjadh and Chitrakar teach the first wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the truncated version of the timing synchronization function value is truncated by an amount that is based at least in part on potential clock drift between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0159-0162: The bits corresponding to the P-TSF field are replaced with the P-TSF 2214 and the higher bits of the TSF* are adjusted for clock drift (TSF misalignment) as described earlier to form the preprocessed TSF* 2232. [0160] d) CCM Nonce block 2234 is constructed from the BSSID 2222 and the TSF* 2232. [0161] e) The AAD 2230, the Nonce block 2234 and the STA's Temporal Key (TK) 2224 are fed to the Cryptographic circuitry 2250, which in this case is the CCM encryption module to obtain a MIC. [0162] f) The generated MIC is truncated to the length of the FCS field 252 in FIG. 2 to form MIC′ 2252.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062) In regards to claim 18, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the second wireless communication device of claim 17. the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: generate a second timing synchronization function value as a truncated version of a time value of a timing synchronization function at the second wireless communication device However, Chitrakar teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: generate a second timing synchronization function value as a truncated version of a time value of a timing synchronization function at the second wireless communication device(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0064, he P-TSF field may represent some selected bits of the Time Synchronization Function (TSF) maintained by the AP. If the WUR frame is a unicast frame, the AP uses its secret Key, for example the Temporal Key (TK) portion of the pairwise secret Key PTK or W-PTK, the Transmitter Address (TA) and the Receiver Address (RA), as well as the P-TSF field as input to the cryptographic algorithm to obtain a MIC. Usually, the output of a standard cryptographic function may be too long to directly use in WUR PPDUs and may need to be truncated to fit the limited size of the WUR frames.), wherein the local time maintained at the second wireless communication device corresponds to the second timing synchronization function value, and wherein the frame is processed based at least in part on the second timing synchronization function value matching the first timing synchronization function value(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0076, the WUR STA may perform additional checks based on the P-TSF field, for example, the STA may check that the P-TSF value is greater than that of WUR frames received in the past and also that the difference between the P-TSF value in the received WUR frame and the locally maintained P-TSF is within a certain acceptable value from its local P-TSF value, for example less than the maximum expected clock drift. If the P-TSF check fails, the WUR STA discards the frame, otherwise the STA proceeds to take the expected action based on the content of the WUR frame, for example waking up its PCR if the WUR frame 800 is a unicast WUR frame.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062)
In regards to claim 20, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the second wireless communication device of claim 19. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: discard the frame responsive to a mismatch between the first timing synchronization function value and the second timing synchronization function value. However, Chitrakar teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: discard the frame responsive to a mismatch between the first timing synchronization function value and the second timing synchronization function value. (US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0075 and 0076: [0075]- MIC′=Truncate-L(SHA-256(TK′∥TA′∥RA′∥P-TSF))[0076]- As for third party WUR STAs, if any of the inputs to the cryptographic function, for example the secret Key or the RA is different, the MIC″ computation will not match the MIC field carried in the WUR frame and the WUR STA can safely discard such frames.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay attacks in the network taught by Lee (Chitrakar, para. 0062)
3.) Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20200245137, Chitrakar and further in view of US 20070297438, Meylan
In regards to claim 7, the combination of Lee, Asterjadhi and Chitrakar teach the first wireless communication device of claim 6. The combination of Lee, Asterjadhi and Chitrakar do not teach wherein the number of bits to be truncated are different for different traffic flows, the number of bits to be truncated are based at least in part on a listen interval of the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device, or any combinations thereof However, Meylan teaches wherein the number of bits to be truncated are different for different traffic flows, the number of bits to be truncated are based at least in part on a listen interval of the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device, or any combinations thereof (US 20070297438, Meylan, fig. 6, step 614 and 616, where upon negotiating a listen interval, data may be received based on the listening interval). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee, Asterjadhi and Chitrakar with the teaching of Meylan because a user would have been motivated to apply a maximum listen interval for an access point, taught by Meylan, in order to save power utilization in the system taught by the combination of Lee and Chitrakar(Meylan, para. 0010)
4.) Claims 12 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20130258928, Wong
In regards to claim 12, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 11. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein a subsequent counter value for a subsequent frame to the second frame is reset to zero responsive to a change of the portion of the timing synchronization function value However, Wong teaches wherein a subsequent counter value for a subsequent frame to the second frame is reset to zero responsive to a change of the portion of the timing synchronization function value(US 20130258928, Wong, para. 0072, When such a network coordinator (e.g., AP) first boots up, the TSF timer begins counting starting from zero (0). Such a TSF timer increases in incremental steps of a particular duration (e.g., steps of 1 .mu.s). The TSF timer wraps around in 585 millennia (that is, after 585,000 years) in considering and 8 byte TSF timer. Also, such a network coordinator (e.g., AP) reset its respective TSF timer back to zero after every restart. ). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Wong because a user would have been motivated to use network coordinator devices, taught by Wong, in order to efficiently provide recovery from power failure in the system taught by Lee(Wong, para. 0064) In regards to claim 21, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the second wireless communication device of claim 19. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: determine, responsive to a match between the timing synchronization function value and the second timing synchronization function value, that the frame is an initial frame received with the first timing synchronization function value or that the counter value exceeds a prior counter value of a prior frame with the first timing synchronization function value and process the frame However, Kwon teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: determine, responsive to a match between the timing synchronization function value and the second timing synchronization function value(US 20130258928, Wong, para. 0092, Such an AP may then employ such a bit to request old TSF from a STA that wakes. Based on this, such an AP may correct the new TSF value to match the old TSF value.), that the frame is an initial frame received with the first timing synchronization function value or that the counter value exceeds a prior counter value of a prior frame with the first timing synchronization function value(US 20130258928, Wong, para. 0076, A given device may receive a beacon from a network coordinator with a recovery indication therein. Based on this recovery indication, that device may send a recovery request action frame to the network coordinator.); and process the frame(US 20130258928, Wong, para. 0076, Based upon such an exchange, the network coordinator (e.g., AP) may update the TSF timer for the BSS, and then send a recovery response (e.g., such as an acknowledgment to the recovery request action frame) to indicate the respective success or failure of the update of the TSF timer.)
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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Wong because a user would have been motivated to use network coordinator devices, taught by Wong, in order to efficiently provide recovery from power failure in the system taught by Lee(Wong, para. 0064)
5.) Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20160315676, Mammoser
In regards to claim 13, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: communicate with the second wireless communication device to negotiate a tolerance between the timing synchronization function value and a corresponding timing synchronization function value at the second wireless communication device that allows for processing of the frame at the second wireless communication device However, Mammoser teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: communicate with the second wireless communication device to negotiate a tolerance between the timing synchronization function value and a corresponding timing synchronization function value at the second wireless communication device that allows for processing of the frame at the second wireless communication device (US 20160315676, Mammoser, para. 0005, beamforming during an RXSS requires the two negotiating stations to be synchronized in time such that the receiver station switches the antenna configuration right before the transmitter station starts sending a beamforming (BF) frame. Synchronization between the two peer stations is generally achieved using a timing synchronization function (TSF), where each station maintains a local TSF timer. Due to the TSF accuracy tolerance,). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Mammoser because a user would have been motivated to use automatic sector-level sweep switching, taught by Mammoser, in order to configure antennas for the purpose of optimizing the timing synchronization function between devices taught by Lee (Mammoser, para. 0014)
6.) Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20110252231, Mishra
In regards to claim 14, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 1. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: rekey an encryption key associated with communications between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device responsive to the packet number resetting to an initial value However, Mishra teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: rekey an encryption key associated with communications between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device responsive to the packet number resetting to an initial value(US 20110252231, Mishra, para. 0027 and 0028: [0027]- The PN may then be reset to zero in operation 306. Secure transmission can repeat for incremented values of PN and the new next SA for the Tx node in operations 308.about.314. As shown, secure packet 206d is initially sent with a reset minimum PN value 206a and a new SA2 value 210, and then a next secure packet 206b is sent with an incremented minimum+1 PN value 206b and the same new current SA2 value 210.
[0028] When the last SA (e.g., SA10 for a set of 10 SA's) has been reached, the rekey procedure 300 may then initiate participation in another key generation exchange (rekey) with the Rx node and obtain another set of SA's in operation 302.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Mishra because a user would have been motivated to apply rekeying, taught by Mishra, to generate security relationships, in the system taught by Lee, in order to enable secure communication between devices(Mishra, para. 0013)
7.) Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170171169, Lee in view of US 20200015164, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20220022127, Chu
In regards to claim 22, the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi teach the second wireless communication device of claim 19. The combination of Lee and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: discard the frame responsive to the frame the counter value being equal to or less than a previously received counter value with the first timing synchronization function value However, Chu teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: discard the frame responsive to the frame the counter value being equal to or less than a previously received counter value with the first timing synchronization function value (US 20220022127, Chu, para. 0018, In an embodiment, for each ACI, the second wireless device discards management frames with a packet number (PN) that is at least one of less than and equal to the replay counter of the MLD level QMF management frame.). 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 teaching of the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chu because a user would have been motivated to configure multi-link devices(MLD) in the system taught by the combination of Lee and Asterjadhi in order to transmit a management frame having policies for identifying the required policies indicating access categories for each link corresponding to the management frame that is to be received by a second device(Chu, para. 0022)
8.) Claims 23 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190082390, Azizi in view of US 20190208470, Asterjadhi
In regards to claim 23, Azizi teaches a first wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the first wireless communication device to:generate a message integrity check (MIC) manager of the first wireless communication device, a MIC field for a frame to be transmitted to a second wireless communication device(US 20190082390, Azizi, para. 0211 and 0219: [0211]- he STA 1010 may calculate the MIC 2595, append the MIC 2595 to the WUR frame 2500 as illustrated in FIG. 2S, and transmit the WUR frame 2500 with the MIC 2595 to the STA 1030 so that the STA 1030 can authenticate the WUR frame 2500 with the MIC 2595.[0219]- Once the STA 1010 identifies the extended message content 2660 or 2670 to the PCR 1082 of the STA 1030, the STA 1010 may generate the MIC 2595.); Azizi does not teach perform an exclusive-OR (XOR) component of the first wireless communication device, an XOR function on the MIC field to generate an XORed MIC field in which bits of the MIC field are XORed with a set of bits that correspond to a portion of a timing synchronization function value associated with the frame; and transmit, by a communications manager of the first wireless communication device, the frame, including the XORed MIC field, to the second wireless communication device However, Asterjadhi perform an exclusive-OR (XOR) component of the first wireless communication device, an XOR function on the MIC field to generate an XORed MIC field in which bits of the MIC field are XORed with a set of bits that correspond to a portion of a timing synchronization function value associated with the frame(US 20190208470, Asterjadhi, para. 0095, and 0159: [0095]- The absolute TSF timer may be used as an input parameter for the MIC computation,
[0159]- The first device may generate the FCS 340 by XORing the CRC/MIC 1540 with the BSSID information 1510. [ i.e. note: Since the MIC may be comprised of the TSF, XORing the MIC entails XORing bits of the TSF]); and transmit, by a communications manager of the first wireless communication device, the frame, including the XORed MIC field, to the second wireless communication device(US 20190208470, Asterjadhi, para. 0149 and 0155: [0149]- In some implementations, when the embedded BSSID field 1210 is not included in the WUR frame 1200b, the embedded BSSID may be a 16-bit field obtained by default from XORing the BSSID. [0155]- FIG. 14 illustrates an example WUR frame 1400a that may be initially generated with the BSSID information for determining the FCS 340, and an example WUR frame 1400b that is outputted for transmission.). 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 teaching of Azizi with the teaching of the FCS, taught by Asterjadhi, to compare the FCS of the frame with a calculated FCS value in order to determine if the target device, taught by Azizi, is the intended recipient for the transmitted frame(Asterjadhi, para. 0014) In regards to claim 29, Azizi teaches a second wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the second wireless communication device to:receive, by a message integrity check (MIC) manager of the second wireless communication device, a frame that includes a (MIC) field(US 20190082390, Azizi, para. 0211 and 0219: [0211]- he STA 1010 may calculate the MIC 2595, append the MIC 2595 to the WUR frame 2500 as illustrated in FIG. 2S, and transmit the WUR frame 2500 with the MIC 2595 to the STA 1030 so that the STA 1030 can authenticate the WUR frame 2500 with the MIC 2595.); Azizi does not teach perform an exclusive-OR (XOR) component of the second wireless communication device, an XOR function on the MIC field to generate an XORed MIC field in which bits of the MIC field are XORed with a set of bits that correspond to a portion of a timing synchronization function value associated with a receipt time of the frame; and process , by a frame processing manager of the second wireless communication device, the XORed MIC field to determine frame integrity of the frame However, Yang teaches perform an exclusive-OR (XOR) component of the second wireless communication device, an XOR function on the MIC field to generate an XORed MIC field in which bits of the MIC field are XORed with a set of bits that correspond to a portion of a timing synchronization function value associated with a receipt time of the frame(US 20190208470, Asterjadhi, para. 0095, and 0159: [0095]- The absolute TSF timer may be used as an input parameter for the MIC computation,
[0159]- The first device may generate the FCS 340 by XORing the CRC/MIC 1540 with the BSSID information 1510. [ i.e. note: Since the MIC may be comprised of the TSF, XORing the MIC entails XORing bits of the TSF]); and process, by a frame processing manager of the second wireless communication device, the XORed MIC field to determine frame integrity of the frame(US 20190208470, Asterjadhi, para. 0169, In some implementations, the first device may determine the CRC, or the MIC based, at least in part, on the MAC header of the WUR frame. The first device may generate the calculated FCS based, at least in part, on the CRC or the MIC and the stored BSSID information. For example, the first device may generate the calculated FCS by hashing or scrambling the CRC or the MIC with the stored BSSID information. The first device may generate the calculated FCS by XORing the CRC or the MIC with the stored BSSID information. In some implementations, the WUR frame may optionally include a payload or frame body field. When the WUR frame includes the payload or frame body field, the first device may determine the CRC, or the MIC based, at least in part, on the MAC header of the WUR frame and the payload or frame body field of the WUR frame.). 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 teaching of Azizi with the teaching of the FCS, taught by Asterjadhi, to compare the FCS of the frame with a calculated FCS value in order to determine if the target device, taught by Azizi, is the intended recipient for the transmitted frame(Asterjadhi, para. 0014)
9.) Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190082390, Azizi in view of US 20190208470, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20160277298, Yang
In regards to claim 26, the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 23. The combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: retransmit data included in the frame in a subsequent frame, wherein the subsequent frame includes an updated XORed MIC field based on a corresponding subsequent timing synchronization function value associated with the subsequent frame However, Yang teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless communication device to: retransmit data included in the frame in a subsequent frame, wherein the subsequent frame includes an updated XORed MIC field based on a corresponding subsequent timing synchronization function value associated with the subsequent frame(US 20160277298, Yang, para. 0027 and 0029: [0027]- a system may include a frame counter associated with a message sender. A frame counter may be designed to only increment and to increment whenever a message is sent.[0029]- A system or method may perform an exclusive-or (“XOR”) operation with the hash code and the MIC to get different MICs.). 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 teaching of Azizi with the teaching of Yang because a user would have been motivated to use resource restricted conditions, taught by Yang, to generate compressed packet information in order to use Bluetooth protocol in the system taught by Azizi(Yang, para. 0005)
10.) Claims 24, 25 and 30 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190082390, Azizi in view of US 20190208470, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20200245137, Chitrakar
In regards to claim 24, the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 23. The combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the MIC field is generated during encryption of the frame However, Chitrakar teaches wherein the MIC field is generated during encryption of the frame (US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0149, Even though a simple cryptographic hash function could be used to produce a MIC for authentication of WUR frames, the AP may also choose to reuse the IEEE 802.11 CCMP cryptographic encapsulation used to encrypt PCR transmission to generate the MIC field 1830.). 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 teaching of the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay and power exhausting attacks in the network taught by the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi (Chitrakar, para. 0009)
In regards to claim 25, the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 23. The combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the portion of the timing synchronization function value is a truncated version of the timing synchronization function value at the first wireless communication device However, Chitrakar teaches wherein the portion of the timing synchronization function value is a truncated version of the timing synchronization function value at the first wireless communication device(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0064, he P-TSF field may represent some selected bits of the Time Synchronization Function (TSF) maintained by the AP. If the WUR frame is a unicast frame, the AP uses its secret Key, for example the Temporal Key (TK) portion of the pairwise secret Key PTK or W-PTK, the Transmitter Address (TA) and the Receiver Address (RA), as well as the P-TSF field as input to the cryptographic algorithm to obtain a MIC. Usually, the output of a standard cryptographic function may be too long to directly use in WUR PPDUs and may need to be truncated to fit the limited size of the WUR frames.). 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 teaching of the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay and power exhausting attacks in the network taught by the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi (Chitrakar, para. 0009)
In regards to claim 30, Azizi and Asterjadhi teach the second wireless communication device of claim 29, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the second wireless communication device to: discard the frame responsive to a mismatch between the received frame MIC field and the XORed MIC field, or decoding the frame responsive to a match between the received frame MIC field and the XORed MIC field(US 20190082390, Azizi, para. 0211, On the other hand, if the MIC 2595 does not match the MIC 2595, the STA 1030 may discard the WUR frame 2500.); and the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi do not teach decrypt the frame(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0198, The Cryptographic circuitry 3040 may also be used for encryption and decryption of protected 802.11 frames during the PCR mode.); generate a received frame MIC field based on the decrypted frame(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0064, Usually, the output of a standard cryptographic function may be too long to directly use in WUR PPDUs and may need to be truncated to fit the limited size of the WUR frames. For example, if the AP uses SHA-256 to generate the MIC,) However, Chitrakar teaches decrypt the frame(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0198, The Cryptographic circuitry 3040 may also be used for encryption and decryption of protected 802.11 frames during the PCR mode.); generate a received frame MIC field based on the decrypted frame(US 20200245137, Chitrakar, para. 0064, Usually, the output of a standard cryptographic function may be too long to directly use in WUR PPDUs and may need to be truncated to fit the limited size of the WUR frames. For example, if the AP uses SHA-256 to generate the MIC,). 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 teaching of the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Chitrakar because a user would have been motivated to use a Message Integrity Code (MIC) in order to prevent replay and power exhausting attacks in the network taught by the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi (Chitrakar, para. 0009)
11.) Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190082390, Azizi in view of US 20190208470, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 20160277298, Yang and further in view of US 8588156, Nguyen
In regards to claim 27, the combination of Azizi, Asterjadhi and Yang teach the first wireless communication device of claim 26. The combination of Azizi, Asterjadhi and Yang do not teach wherein contents of the subsequent frame are not re-encrypted when the frame is retransmitted However, Nguyen teaches wherein contents of the subsequent frame are not re-encrypted when the frame is retransmitted (US 8588156, Nguyen, col. 8, lines 32-34, If it is determined that the data frame should be retransmitted, the flow continues at block 308 where the data frame is retransmitted to the destination WLAN device.). 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 teaching of the combination of Azizi, Asterjadhi and Yang with the teaching of Nguyen because a user would have been motivated to evaluate transmission data received at an access point, taught by Nguyen, to determine if data transmissions between two devices can occur directly in order to reduce transmission overhead and improve transmission efficiency in the network taught by the combination of Azizi, Asterjadhi and Yang(Nguyen, col. 2, lines 30-48)
12.) Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190082390, Azizi in view of US 20190208470, Asterjadhi and further in view of US 8588156, Nguyen
In regards to claim 28, the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi teach the first wireless communication device of claim 23. The combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi do not teach wherein the frame is a data frame or a management frame However, Nguyen teaches wherein the frame is a data frame or a management frame(US 8588156, Nguyen, col. 1, lines 25-30, it is determined at a first wireless network device of a wireless communication network operating in an infrastructure mode, that a data frame is scheduled to be transmitted from the first wireless network device to a second wireless device of the wireless communication network.). 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 teaching of the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi with the teaching of Nguyen because a user would have been motivated to evaluate transmission data received at an access point, taught by Nguyen, to determine if data transmissions between two devices can occur directly in order to reduce transmission overhead and improve transmission efficiency in the network taught by the combination of Azizi and Asterjadhi (Nguyen, col. 2, lines 30-48)
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY LANE whose telephone number is (571)270-7469. The examiner can normally be reached on 571 270 7469 from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Taghi Arani, can be reached on 571 272 3787. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/GREGORY A LANE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2438
/TAGHI T ARANI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2438
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