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 .
Priority
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/425581, filed November 15, 2022 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/453670 filed March 21, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/06/2023 was in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The use of the terms Bluetooth, Wi-Fi which are a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 7, 13 and 15 objected to because of the following informalities:
U See Specification section above for usage of trade names and marks in patent applications.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1- rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The term “specified discovery process” in claims 1-20 is a relative term which renders the claims indefinite. The term “specified discovery process” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The “first” and “second” discovery process is indefinite as a result of using this term. For the purposes of examination, examiner is interpreting “specified discovery process” to be a publisher device iterating between a single channel publish phase and a multi-channel publish phase to discover one or more subscriber devices until the discover procedure is complete.
Appropriate correction is required.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 8 and 16 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Naming a "specified discovery process" (Unsynchronized Service Discovery (USD)) does not further limit the claim, nor does it add sufficient structure.. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Borges US 20230033043 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Borges discloses a method comprising:
identifying, by a first device, a shared context ([0023]”the enhanced discovery procedures of this disclosure can be used within a wireless local area network (WLAN)” and ([0040]”the publisher and subscriber devices are configured to perform the discovery procedure using their WLAN transceivers”) (Where the WLAN is the shared context for the devices to connect)) for a specified discovery process including at least one of a first discovery process for the first device ([0004]” some aspects of this disclosure are directed to a publisher device recursively iterating between a single channel publish phase and a multi-channel publish phase to discover one or more subscriber devices until the discover procedure is terminated”) or a second discovery process for a second device ([0004]” Additionally, some aspects of this disclosure are directed to a subscriber device performing the discovery procedure in a single channel subscribe phase to discover one or more publisher devices.”);
determining, by the first device, one or more parameters of the first discovery process for the first device based on the shared context ([0006]”determining, by a publisher device, a first time period (being the recited parameters) for a single channel publish phase and determining, by the publisher device, a second time period for a multi-channel publish phase.” Also see [0030-0031]); and
performing or resuming, by the first device, the first discovery process for the first device based on the one or more parameters ([0006]” transmitting (being the recited preforming), by the publisher device, one or more frames during at least one of the first time period of the single channel publish phase or the second time period of the multi-channel publish phase”).
Regarding claims 2 and 18, Borges discloses the methods of claims 1 and 17, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein the specified discovery process is the first discovery process for the first device ([0022]” some aspects of this disclosure include enhanced discovery procedures in Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) for a first electronic device (publisher device) (e.g., a NAN device) to find other devices (subscriber device)”and [0044] “before beginning the discovery procedure and/or before each of the single channel publish phase(s) 204, the publisher device 201 can determine the channel to be used for discovery during the single channel publish phase”).
Regarding claims 3 and 19, Borges discloses the method of claim 1, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein:
the specified discovery process is the second discovery process for the second device ([0055]”a subscriber device that is capable of tuning its transceiver (e.g., a WLAN transceiver such as a Wi-Fi™ radio) to the default publish channel”);
the method further comprises predicting, by the first device, a behavior of the second device based on the shared context ([0008]” The electronic device (the publisher device) includes a transceiver configured to communicate with a second electronic device (the subscriber device) and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor is configured to determine (predict) a time period for a single channel subscribe phase and determine a channel for the single channel subscribe phase.”),
wherein the shared context is used by the second device in a preconfigured manner to determine the second discovery process ([0009]” determine, by a subscriber device, a time period for a single channel subscribe phase and determining, by the subscriber device a channel for the single channel subscribe phase. The method further includes transmitting a service specific message to a publisher device in response to receiving one or more frames from the publisher device (preconfigured based on publisher device’s prediction) on the channel for the single channel subscribe phase and during the time period for the single channel subscribe phase”); and
the one or more parameters of the first discovery process are determined by the first device based on the predicted behavior of the second device ([0008]” The processor is further configured to send, using the transceiver, a service specific message to the second electronic device in response to receiving one or more frames (being the recited parameters) from the second electronic device on the channel for the single channel subscribe phase and during the time period for the single channel subscribe phase.”).
Regarding claims 4 and 20, Borges discloses the method of claim 1, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein the shared context reduces randomness of determining at least one of a dwell time or a channel frequency in the specified discovery process, such that a likelihood of the specified discovery process being successful is increased ([0034] “According to some aspects, the randomness in the time spent in each single channel phase and multi-channel phase can avoid a case (being the recited reduction in randomness) where the publisher device (e.g., device 120a) and the subscriber device (e.g., device 120b) are in lock-step (e.g., change concurrently) and thus will not find each other (this leads to an increase in the likelihood of the discovery process’s success). Device 120a iterates between the single channel publish phase and multi-channel publish phase on expiry of the respective time periods (e.g., dwell time periods)”).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Borges discloses the method of claim 1, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein the shared context comprises at least one of:
an SSID of a Wi-Fi access point in a vicinity of the first and second device ([0003]” NAN enables electronic devices to use their wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers (Where the recited SSID is the unique identifier for the WLAN) (e.g., Wi-Fi™ transceivers) to directly connect to each other.”);
a channel of the Wi-Fi access point in the vicinity of the first and second device ([0044]” Therefore, a subscriber device (not shown) that is capable of tuning its transceiver (e.g., a WLAN transceiver such as a Wi-Fi™ radio) to the default publish channel can do so, e.g., responsive to receiving the trigger for discovery, and rendezvous with the publisher device 201.”); and
a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) trigger transmitted by the first device before the specified discovery process ([0068]”The cellular networks can include, but are not limited to, 3G/4G/5G networks such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and the like. Bluetooth™ subsystem (not shown) can include one or more circuits (including a Bluetooth™ transceiver) to enable connection(s) and communication based on, for example, Bluetooth™ protocol, the Bluetooth™ Low Energy protocol, or the Bluetooth™ Low Energy Long Range protocol.”) and containing a guaranteed Single Channel Publish (SCP) interval of the first device (Fig.2 and [0035]” According to some aspects, device 120a can send one or more broadcast NAN SDF publish frames when in the single channel publish phase…a minimum time interval between two NAN SDF frames can be configured by the service”).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Borges discloses the method of claims 1 and 9, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein the shared context is provided by a common application executing on both the first device and the second device ([0003]”In some examples, NAN enables electronic devices to use their wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers (e.g., Wi-Fi™ transceivers) to directly connect to each other.”).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Borges discloses the method of claims 6 and 9, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein the shared context comprises at least one of:
one or more broadcast parameters of a local Wi-Fi network ([0003] “Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) or Wi-Fi Aware™ enables electronic devices to discover each other and directly connect to each other without any other connections between them” and [0035 ” device 120a can send one or more broadcast NAN SDF publish frames”]. Also, see [0068]” WLAN subsystem (not shown) can include one or more circuits (including a WLAN transceiver) to enable connection(s) and communication over WLAN networks such as, but not limited to, networks based on standards described in IEEE 802.11 (which describes protocols for implementing WLAN communication, including broadcast frequency bands and data rates) (such as, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ax, IEEE 802.11bc, IEEE 802.11bd, IEEE 802.11be, Wi-Fi™ Alliance Wi-Fi Aware™ specification, IEEE 802.11 Public Action Frame, etc.).”);
a seed for a random number generator ([0030]” the time period for the single channel publish phase is determined randomly or pseudo-randomly from a range of time periods. For example, the time period of the single channel publish phase can be N*100 TU (e.g., 1 TU=1024 μs), where N is a random integer within a range between a minimum value and a maximum value (where N is the seed to generator a random number)”); and
a cellular network time ([0003]” In some examples, the electronic devices (e.g., the NAN devices) are required to establish timing synchronization(being the recite cellular network time) between them during their discovery procedure”).
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Borges discloses the method of claim 1, as discussed herein. Borges also discloses wherein the specified discovery process comprises a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) Unsynchronized Service Discovery (USD) process. ([0002] “The described aspects generally relate to discovery procedures for Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN).” and [0040])“the publisher and subscriber devices are configured to perform the discovery procedure using their WLAN transceivers and without any association (being the recited “Unsynchronized Service Discovery”) between the publisher and subscriber devices (e.g., in unassociated state)”).
Regarding claim 9, Borges discloses all the limitations of claim 1 in device form rather than method form. Borges also discloses a device ([0008] ”Some aspects of this disclosure relate to an electronic device. The electronic device includes a transceiver configured to communicate with a second electronic device and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver.”). Therefore, the rejection of claim 1 applies equally as well to the limitations of claim 9.
Regarding claim 17, Borges discloses all the limitations of claim 1 in computer readable medium form rather than method form. Borges also discloses a computer readable medium ([0007] ”Some aspects of the disclosure relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a publisher device, cause the processor to perform operations including determining a first time period for a single channel publish phase and determining a second time period for a multi-channel publish phase”). Therefore, the rejection of claim 1 applies equally as well to the limitations of claim 17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wu (US 20160198507 A1) which suggests “provide a device discovery method and a user equipment, and a network side device, to solve the problem of how the UE discovers an adjacent UE.”
Yu (US 20170295602 A1) which suggests “D2D discovery, where a device may advertise its capabilities and/or search for other devices capable of D2D communications.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Iyonda L. Lewis whose telephone number is (571)272-4440. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Slater can be reached at (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/IYONDA L LEWIS/Examiner, Art Unit 2647
/Alison Slater/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2647