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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-8, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Segev (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0219422 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Segev teaches “[a]n apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to:” (see ¶ [0031]; NAN enabled device (i.e., apparatus) can also include a controller/microprocessor and a memory/storage; the memory/storage may also be used in connection with the execution of application programming or instructions by the controller/microprocessor; the controller/microprocessor may comprise a general purpose programmable processor or controller for executing application programming or instructions related to the NAN enabled device);
Segev further teaches “select, at a first wireless node based on a use case involving a network cluster, one or more parameters related to discovery or maintenance of the network cluster” (see ¶¶ [0026] and [0039] and FIG. 1; a NAN communication environment may communicate information between two or more devices is shown in FIG. 1; the NAN communication environment can be a Neighbor Awareness Network (NAN) which includes a NAN cluster; the NAN cluster is formed when NAN enabled devices (i.e., includes a first wireless node) communicate and share a common set of NAN parameters/attributes; therefore, each NAN enabled device (i.e., first wireless device) is configured with one or more NAN parameters; thus, one or more NAN parameters are selected for the first wireless node; members of a NAN cluster include NAN enabled devices (first wireless node) that share common parameters/attributes, including a NAN device discovery windows; therefore, at the first wireless node, the one or more parameters are related to discovery of the network cluster); and
Segev further teaches “participate in at least one of discovery of the network cluster or maintenance of the network cluster, in accordance with the selected parameters” (see ¶¶ [0026], [0039], and [0040]; the NAN cluster is formed when NAN enabled devices (i.e., includes a first wireless node) communicate and share a common set of NAN parameters/attributes including a NAN device discovery timeline; the NAN device discovery timeline include a series of discovery windows, which are the windows in a certain time and channel in which the NAN enabled devices can join the NAN cluster; NAN enabled device can also transmit NAN service discovery frames an indication that, that NAN enabled device wishes to participate in the NAN cluster; thus, a device participates in at least one of discovery of the network cluster or maintenance of the network cluster in accordance with the selected parameters).
Regarding claim 4, Segev teaches the apparatus of claim 1 and further teaches “the one or more parameters comprise a duration of intervals between adjacent discovery windows (DWs)” (see ¶ [0039]; the NAN device discovery timeline include a series of discovery windows which are the windows in a certain time and channel in which the NAN enabled devices can join the NAN cluster; the discovery windows span between discovery window beginning points and discovery window end points; and they repeat, therefore, they comprise duration of intervals; thus, the one or more parameters comprise a duration of intervals between adjacent discovery windows (DWs)); and
Segev further teaches “in order to participate, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to output, for transmission, one or more synchronization beacons in DWs separated by the intervals” (see ¶¶ [0039] and [0040]; the NAN device discovery timeline include a series of discovery windows which are the windows in a certain time and channel in which the NAN enabled devices can join the NAN cluster; synchronization beacons frames for example, are frames transmitted by at least one NAN enabled device for synchronizing with a common clock within a NAN cluster; these frames can enable connectivity between NAN enabled devices when received by other NAN enabled device looking to join the NAN cluster; NAN enabled device can also transmit NAN service discovery frames as an indication that, that NAN enabled device wishes to participate in the NAN cluster; thus, one or more synchronization beacons in DWs separated by the intervals are transmitted in DWs).
Regarding claim 5, Segev also teaches the apparatus of claim 4 and further teaches “wherein the intervals are on an order of minutes” (see ¶ [0039]; the time interval between discovery windows can be more or less than 512 milliseconds (i.e., on an order of minutes); more than 512 milliseconds comprise minutes also; thus, the intervals are on an order of minutes).
Regarding claim 6, Segev also teaches the apparatus of claim 4 and further teaches “wherein the one or more synchronization beacons are output for transmission in an early wakeup period of the DWs” (see ¶ [0040]; the NAN device discovery timeline include a series of discovery windows which are the windows in a certain time and channel in which the NAN enabled devices can join the NAN cluster; synchronization beacons frames for example, are frames transmitted by at least one NAN enabled device for synchronizing with a common clock within a NAN cluster; thus, the one or more synchronization beacons are output for transmission in an early wakeup period of the DWs).
Regarding claim 7, Segev also teaches the apparatus of claim 4 and further teaches “wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to: refrain from transmitting discovery beacons in the intervals between DWs” (see ¶ [0039]; during the time interval between discovery windows, NAN devices are able to sleep; therefore, during the intervals between DWs, the NAN devices may not transmit any beacons, thus, refrain from transmitting discovery beacons in the intervals between DWs).
Regarding claim 8, Segev also teaches the apparatus of claim 4 and further teaches “wherein: the one or more parameters further comprise synchronization beacon pattern parameters; and the one or more synchronization beacons are output for transmission in DWs in accordance with the synchronization beacon pattern parameters” (see ¶¶ [0039], [0040], and [0044]; synchronization beams are transmitted in accordance with the discovery window intervals; therefore, the interval at which the synchronization beacons are transmitted is synchronization beacon pattern; thus, parameters configuring synchronization beams also comprise synchronization beacon pattern parameters, and synchronization beacons are output for transmission in DWs in accordance with the synchronization beacon pattern parameters).
Regarding claim 9, Segev also teaches the apparatus of claim 8 and further teaches “wherein the synchronization beacon pattern parameters comprise at least one of a DW periodicity or interval between synchronization beacons, selected based on the use case” (see ¶¶ [0039], [0040], and [0044]; synchronization beams are transmitted in accordance with the discovery window intervals; therefore, parameters configuring synchronization beams indicate at least one of a DW periodicity or interval between synchronization beacons; additionally, under BRI, the limitation “use case,” as recited, can be interpreted as any use of the NAN network/device, which can be communication between the devices/network; thus,
Regarding claim 17, it is a method claim corresponding to claim 1 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claim 17 is rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 20, it is device claim corresponding to claim 1 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claim 20 is rejected under the same rationale.
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 nonobviousness.
Claims 2, 3, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Segev in view of Qi et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0157193).
Regarding claim 2, Segev teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose “the use case involves tracking a location of one or more wireless nodes in the network cluster” of claim 2. However, the foregoing limitations were well known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example, Qi teaches “the use case involves tracking a location of one or more wireless nodes in the network cluster” (see ¶ [0015]; user device(s) may communicate with other user device(s) in a NAN to exchange ranging and/or location information. thus, the use case involves tracking a location of one or more wireless nodes in the network cluster). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Qi to track a location of one or more wireless nodes in the network cluster. The suggestion to do so would have been to efficiency in the exchange of data between user devices and may increase network traffic (see ¶ [0003] of Qi).
Regarding claim 3, Segev teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose “share location information of at least a second wireless node via a wireless wide area network (WWAN)” of claim 3. However, the foregoing limitations were well known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example, Qi teaches “share location information of at least a second wireless node via a wireless wide area network (WWAN)” (see ¶¶ [0015] and [0020]; user device(s) may communicate with other user device(s) in a NAN to exchange ranging and/or location information; user devices may be configured to communicate with each other via the network and the network may be a wide area network (WAN); thus, location information of at least a second wireless node is shared via a wireless wide area network (WWAN)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Qi to share location information via WAN. The suggestion to do so would have been to efficiency in the exchange of data between user devices and may increase network traffic (see ¶ [0003] of Qi).
Regarding claim 18, it is a method claim corresponding to claim 2 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 2. Claim 18 is rejected under the same rationale.
Claims 10, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Segev in view of Abraham et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0223047).
Regarding claim 10, Segev teaches the apparatus of claim 8, and further teaches “output, for transmission, at least one synchronization beacon between DWs” (see ¶ [0040]; if a NAN enabled device wishes to join a NAN cluster, but misses the synchronization beacon frames, the NAN enabled device can still do so without having to wait for a new discovery window; instead, the device can use NAN discovery beacon frames sent by the NAN master to synchronize; therefore, the discovery beacons here are functioning as synchronization beacons because they are helping a device to synchronize; these frames can only be sent by a NAN master and are generally transmitted during the interval between discovery windows; thus, output, for transmission, at least one synchronization beacon between DWs).
Segev does not explicitly disclose “detect a wakeup signal from a second wireless node during an interval between DWs, while one or more processing blocks of the first wireless node are disabled; and . . . enabling the one or more processing blocks, after detecting the wakeup signal” of claim 10. However, the foregoing limitations were well known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example, Abraham teaches “detect a wakeup signal from a second wireless node during an interval between DWs, while one or more processing blocks of the first wireless node are disabled; and . . . after enabling the one or more processing blocks, after detecting the wakeup signal” (see ¶¶ [0042], [0058], [0060], and FIG. 2; one of the NAN devices may transmit a wakeup message to another NAN device (i.e., detect a wakeup signal from a second wireless node); the wakeup message (wakeup signal) is received (detected) between discovery windows; the “wake up” message indicates that the mobile device is to activate (or “wake up”) to receive one or more NAN communications (i.e., enabling the one or more processing blocks); therefore, the wakeup message (wakeup signal) is received (detected) while one or more processing blocks of the first wireless node are disabled; after NAN device is activated (i.e., after enabling the one or more processing blocks, after detecting the wakeup signal), a synchronization beacon is transmitted; thus, a wakeup signal from a second wireless node during an interval between DWs is detected, while one or more processing blocks of the first wireless node are disabled and enabling the one or more processing blocks, after detecting the wakeup signal).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Abraham to detect wakeup signal during interval between discovery windows and enabling processing blocks after detecting the wakeup signal. The suggestion to do so would have been to reduce power consumption caused by searching for synchronization beacons (see ¶ [0042] of Abraham).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Segev and Abraham teaches the apparatus of claim 10, and further teaches “wherein the detecting is performed when monitoring for the wakeup signal during intervals between DWs, according to a duty cycle” (see ¶ [0058] of Abraham; the wake up message (wakeup signal) may be received (detected) at a known time (i.e., a duty cycle) prior to the start of a discovery window; thus, the detecting is performed when monitoring for the wakeup signal during intervals between DWs, according to a duty cycle). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Abraham to detect wakeup signal according to a duty cycle. The suggestion to do so would have been to reduce power consumption caused by searching for synchronization beacons (see ¶ [0042] of Abraham).
Claims 12, 13, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Segev in view of Patil et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0109981).
Regarding claim 12, Segev teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose “output, for transmission, a first frame indicating a capability of the first wireless node to aggregate data from one or more other wireless nodes of the network cluster and share aggregated data via a wireless wide area network (WWAN)” of claim 12. However, the foregoing limitations were well known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example, Patil teaches “output, for transmission, a first frame indicating a capability of the first wireless node to aggregate data from one or more other wireless nodes of the network cluster and share aggregated data via a wireless wide area network (WWAN)” (see ¶¶ [0097] and [0098]; the TIM bits may be aggregate TIM bits (i.e., aggregate data) comprising information for multiple devices communicating on mesh networks (i.e., one or more other wireless nodes of the network cluster); the TIM bits are communicated in the NAN paging window (paging window on the NAN channel); the mesh network may be part of the NAN cluster; thus, aggregated data shared via a wireless wide area network (WWAN); a device of the network may indicate presence of buffered traffic via TIM bits (i.e., output a first frame indicating capability to aggregate); thus, a first frame indicating a capability of the first wireless node to aggregate data from one or more other wireless nodes of the network cluster and share aggregated data via a wireless wide area network (WWAN) is output). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Patil to indicate capability to aggregate and share data of one or more other devices of network cluster. The suggestion to do so would have been to reduce overhead for synchronizing devices in NAN (see ¶ [0045] of Patil).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Segev and Patil teaches the apparatus of claim 12, and further teaches “wherein the first wireless node is one of multiple wireless nodes allowed to aggregate data and share aggregated data via the WWAN” (see ¶¶ [0097] and [0098] of Patil; one the devices of the mesh network (i.e., the first wireless node of the multiple wireless nodes) is aggregating data (i.e., allowed to aggregate data and share aggregated data via the WWAN); thus, wherein the first wireless node is one of multiple wireless nodes allowed to aggregate data and share aggregated data via the WWAN). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Patil to have one of devices of the NAN cluster to aggregate and share data of one or more other devices of network cluster. The suggestion to do so would have been to reduce overhead for synchronizing devices in NAN (see ¶ [0045] of Patil).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Segev and Patil teaches the apparatus of claim 12, and further teaches “obtain a second frame indicating the first wireless node has been selected as an aggregator node; aggregate data obtained from at least one other wireless node with data of the first wireless node; and output the aggregated data for transmission via the WWAN” (see ¶¶ [0097] and [0098] of Patil; the TIM bits may be aggregate TIM bits (i.e., aggregate data) comprising information for multiple devices communicating on mesh networks (i.e., one or more other wireless nodes of the network cluster); thus, aggregate data obtained from at least one other wireless node with data of the first wireless node; the TIM bits are communicated in the NAN paging window (paging window on the NAN channel); the mesh network may be part of the NAN cluster; thus, output the aggregated data for transmission via the WWAN; a device of the network may indicate presence of buffered traffic via TIM bits in the NAN paging window; thus, obtain a second frame indicating the first wireless node has been selected as an aggregator node). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev to incorporate the teachings of Patil to select one of devices of the NAN cluster devices to aggregate and share data of one or more other devices of network cluster. The suggestion to do so would have been to reduce overhead for synchronizing devices in NAN (see ¶ [0045] of Patil).
Regarding claim 19, it is a method claim corresponding to claim 12 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 12. Claim 19 is rejected under the same rationale.
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Segev in view of Patil and further in view of Kasslin et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0036540).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Segev and Patil teaches the apparatus of claim 12, but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the first frame further indicates an aggregation rank” of claim 14. However, the foregoing limitations were well known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example, Kasslin teaches “wherein the first frame further indicates an aggregation rank” (see ¶ [0269]; master device of NAN transmits beacons (i.e., the first frame) that include (i.e., indicates) a master rank (i.e., aggregation rank); the present application at paragraph [0088] describes that the parameter referred to as aggregator rank may serve in a similar manner as a master rank used to select master and anchor master nodes in a network cluster formation; therefore, Kasslin’s master rank teaches the aggregation rank of the claim; thus, Kasslin teaches the first frame further indicates an aggregation rank). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev in view of Patil to incorporate the teachings of Kasslin to indicate aggregation rank. The suggestion to do so would have been to provide device with awareness of about local networking environment (see ¶ [0006] of Kasslin).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Segev, Patil, and Kasslin teaches the apparatus of claim 14 and further teaches “generate the aggregation rank as a function of at least one of: a signal quality metric for the WWAN measured by the first wireless node, a remaining battery life of the at least one wireless node, or a role performed by the first wireless node in the network cluster” (see ¶ [0269]; when a master device transmits beacons, it not only communicates its own master rank and its own TSF value, but it also transmits information about the anchor master's master rank (aggregation rank) and the hop count distance from the anchor master to the transmitting device; therefore, the master rank of master device will be lower than that of an anchor device; thus the master rank is based at least on a role performed by the first wireless node in the network cluster). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of Segev in view of Patil to incorporate the teachings of Kasslin to determine aggregation rank based on a role of the device. The suggestion to do so would have been to provide device with awareness of about local networking environment (see ¶ [0006] of Kasslin).
Conclusion
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/SRIHARSHA REDDY VANGAPATY/ Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475