DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an amendment filed on 02/24/2026.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 02/24/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 are pending
Claims 1, 9-11 and 19-20 are amended
Claims 1-20 remain rejected.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yongho Seok et al. (US 20160242177 A1), hereinafter referenced as Seok, in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 20200014509 A1), hereinafter referenced as Asterjadhi, and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20220278771 A1), hereinafter referenced as Park, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 20190110261 A1), hereinafter referenced as Chen_JL.
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Seok teaches a method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device (Para. [0007]-Seok discloses a method and apparatus for a frame exchange including uplink single user transmission or uplink multiple user transmission in a HEW. Para. [0011]-Seok discloses an AP apparatus for exchanging frames in a wireless local area network may be provided. The AP apparatus may include a processor, a transceiver, a memory, etc), comprising:
transmitting the modulated PPDU over the wireless channel (Para. [0099]-Seok discloses to transmit the PPDU frame to a receiving STA. Para. [0111]-Seok discloses HE PPDU may support a 2×LTF mode and a 4×LTF mode. In the 2×LTF mode, an HE-LTF symbol except for a GI is equivalent to a symbol obtained by modulating every other tone in an OFDM symbol. Para. [0123]-Seok discloses HE PPDU (or HEW PPDU) modulation parameters, etc. for HE preamble. Para. [0118]-Seok discloses the HE-LTF elements are logical units).
Seok fails to teach generating a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) including a PHY preamble and a payload based on a distributed tone plan; … the modulated first portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the N tones and the modulated second portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the M tones.
However, Asterjadhi teaches generating a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) including a PHY preamble and a payload based on a distributed tone plan (Para. [0077-0079]-Asterjadhi discloses APs 102 and STAs 104 transmit and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as “Wi-Fi communications”) to and from one another in the form of physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) ... Each PPDU is a composite structure that includes a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PLCP service data unit (PSDU). Para. [0134]-Asterjadhi discloses AP 725 may distribute the tones for the distributed RU 710 across a channel bandwidth 715 for transmission to a STA 730. Para. [0089]-Asterjadhi discloses AP assigning RU 310-a and RU 310-c) via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones (for example, in uplink PPDUs triggered by a trigger frame));
the modulated first portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the N tones and the modulated second portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the M tones (Para. [0120-0121]-Asterjadhi discloses an AP may enable RU spreading based on the level of interference on the channel or in the tones of the RU. For example, the AP and one or more STAs may support the use of contiguous RUs and non-contiguous RUs. In this example, each STA may store a map for mapping RU assignments to contiguous sets of tones and a map for mapping RU assignments to non-contiguous sets of tones. In this example, the AP and the one or more STAs may initially use contiguous RUs for communication (for example, according to a standard). In this example, the one or more STAs may use the map for mapping RU assignments to contiguous sets of tones. [0121] The AP may subsequently enable the use of non-contiguous RUs (in other words, enable RU spreading) based on the level of interference. For example, a STA experiencing narrow band interference may transmit a request to the AP requesting RU spreading (for example, requesting assignment of non-contiguous RUs) and/or transmit a message to the AP indicating that the STA is experiencing interference. Para. [0089]-Asterjadhi discloses the STAs assigned RU 310-a and RU 310-c may transmit data concurrently to an AP (for example, the AP assigning RU 310-a and RU 310-c) via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones (for example, in uplink PPDUs triggered by a trigger frame) and/or receive data concurrently from the AP via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones. Fig. 13, Para. [0182]-Asterjadhi discloses transceiver 1320 may also include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission).
Seok and Asterjadhi are considered to be analogous because they are in the same field of wireless communications, dealing with resource unit (RU) spreading.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok to incorporate the teachings of Asterjadhi on PPDU modulation and transmission, with a motivation to transmit different portions of the PPDU in different number of tones, and ultimately guarantee improving performance felt by users demanding high-capacity, high-rate services while supporting simultaneous access of numerous stations in an environment in which a plurality of APs is densely deployed and coverage areas of APs overlap, (Seok, Para. [0006]).
Seok fails to explicitly teach modulating the PPDU, wherein a first portion of the PPDU is modulated on a number (N) of tones coinciding with N contiguous subcarrier indices spanning a wireless channel in accordance with one or more legacy tone plans, wherein a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices associated with the wireless channel in accordance with the distributed tone plan.
However, Park explicitly teaches modulating the PPDU, wherein a first portion of the PPDU is modulated on a number (N) of tones coinciding with N contiguous subcarrier indices spanning a wireless channel in accordance with one or more legacy tone plans (Para. [0207]-Park discloses a first modulation scheme may be applied to one half of contiguous tones ... transmitting STA may modulate specific control information to a first symbol based on the first modulation scheme and may allocate the modulated first symbol to one half of contiguous tones. Para. [0098]-Park discloses a resource unit (RU) used for a PPDU is described. An RU may include a plurality of subcarriers (or tones). Para. [0465]-Park discloses a PPDU based on the legacy STF/LTF and obtain information included in the L-SIG and EHT SIG fields. The information on various tone plans (namely, RUs). Para. [0201]-Park discloses a contiguous bandwidth of the PPDU),
a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices associated with the wireless channel in accordance with the distributed tone plan (Para. [0327]-Park discloses modulation scheme for HE-SIG-B and data fields. DCM (Dual Carrier Modulation) may be applied to an HE SU PPDU and an HE ER SU PPDU. In an HE MU PPDU or HE TB PPDU, DCM may be applied to an RU that includes data. Fig. 24, Para. [0029]-Park discloses an example of LDPC tone mapping having tone spacing set to 3 in a 106-tone RU in a situation where DCM is applied. Para. [0491]-Park discloses operation in which the LDPC tone mapping is performed on the Multi-RU, and the data tones are distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter. Para. [0485]-Park discloses the bitstream may be distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter to be mapped to data tones based on the LDPC tone mapping. Also, the bitstream may be modulated based on the constellation mapping before the LDPC tone mapping is performed. Para. [0234]-Park discloses control information related to an RU (or control information related to a tone plan) may include a size and location of the RU, information of a user STA allocated to a specific RU, a frequency bandwidth for a PPDU in which the RU is included, and/or control information on a modulation scheme applied to the specific RU. Fig. 4, Para. [0097]-Park discloses the HE-PPDU for multiple users (MUs) may include a legacy-short training field (L-STF), a legacy-long training field (L-LTF), a legacy-signal (L-SIG), a high efficiency-signal A (HE-SIG A), a high efficiency-signal-B (HE-SIG B), a high efficiency-short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency-long training field (HE-LTF), a data field (alternatively, an MAC payload)).
Seok and Park are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communications, dealing with method and an apparatus for receiving a PPDU.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok in view of Asterjadhi to incorporate the teachings of Park on PPDU modulation and transmission, with a motivation to modulate and transmit the first and second portion of the PPDU, and guarantee improving performance felt by users demanding high-capacity, high-rate services while supporting simultaneous access of numerous stations in an environment in which a plurality of APs is densely deployed and coverage areas of APs overlap, (Seok, Para. [0006]).
Seok fails to teach the first portion of the PPDU is duplicated on each sub-band of a plurality of sub-bands corresponding to the distributed tone plan.
However, Chen_JL teaches the first portion of the PPDU is duplicated on each sub-band of a plurality of sub-bands corresponding to the distributed tone plan (Para. [0036]-Chen_JL discloses power spectral density (PSD) of the waveform may generally define the power of the waveform signal distributed over frequencies of the waveform. Table 2.4, Para. [0063]-Chen_JL discloses examples of spectral flatness parameters, including averaging subcarrier indices, tested subcarrier indices, and maximum deviation. For 2×EHT 160 (e.g., Type 1 based) spectral flatness may assume the tone plan is a duplication of two Type 1-160 MHz (e.g., duplication of four Type 1-80). The populated tone indices may belong to [−506:−386, −382:−262, −250:−130, −126:−6, 6:126, 130:250, 262:382, 386:506]. Further, an outer most INNER subcarrier=floor(84*506/122)=348 and an inner most INNER subcarrier=(512−348)/2+2=84. The same may hold for a 1×EHT 320 (e.g., Type 1 based) spectral flatness. For 4×EHT 320 spectral flatness may assume the tone plan is duplication of two Type 2-160 (e.g., duplication of four Type 2-80)).
Chen_JL is considered to be analogous because it is in the same field of wireless communication, dealing with spectral mask and flatness for WLAN.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok in view of Asterjadhi and Park to incorporate the teachings of Chen_Jl on distributed tone plan, with a motivation to duplicate on each sub-band of a plurality of sub-bands, and guarantee improving performance felt by users demanding high-capacity, high-rate services while supporting simultaneous access of numerous stations in an environment in which a plurality of APs is densely deployed and coverage areas of APs overlap, (Seok, Para. [0006]).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL, teaches the method of claim 1 and the wireless communication device of claim 11 respectively.
Seok further teaches the first portion of the PPDU includes a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal field (L-SIG), and a universal signal field (U-SIG) of the PHY preamble (Para. [0095]-Seok discloses a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) header part (i.e., the STF, LTF, and SIG fields) of the general PPDU frame format. Para. [0088]-Seok discloses a PPDU frame may include a Short Training Field (STF) field, a Long Training Field (LTF) field, a SIGNAL (SIG) field, and a Data field. The most basic (e.g., a non-High Throughput (non-HT)) PPDU frame may include only a Legacy-STF (L-STF) field, a Legacy-LTF (L-LTF) field, a SIG field, and a Data field. Para. [0107]-Seok discloses L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, and RL-SIG may be called legacy preambles).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL teaches, the method of claim 2 and the wireless communication device of claim 12 respectively.
Seok further teaches the first portion of the PPDU further includes a non-legacy signal field of the PHY preamble (Fig. 12, Para. [0030]-Seok discloses a High Efficiency SIGnal B (HE-SIG-B) field and a High Efficiency SIGnal C (HE-SIG-C) field in the HE PPDU frame format. Para. [0342]-Seok discloses information about a subchannel allocated to each of a plurality of STAs may be included in an HE-SIG field. Table 1, Para. [0102]-Seok discloses HT SIGNAL field HE-SIG-A HE SIGNAL).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL teaches, the method of claim 1 and the wireless communication device of claim 11 respectively.
Seok further teaches the second portion of the PPDU includes the payload, a non-legacy short training field (STF) of the PHY preamble, and a non-legacy long training field (LTF) of the PHY preamble (Para. [0088]-Seok discloses additional (or other types of) STF, LTF, and SIG fields may be included between the SIG field and the Data field according to the type of PPDU frame format (e.g., an HT-mixed format PPDU, an HT-greenfield format PPDU, a Very High Throughput (VHT) PPDU, etc.)).
Claims 5, 6, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yongho Seok et al. (US 20160242177 A1), hereinafter referenced as Seok, in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 20200014509 A1), hereinafter referenced as Asterjadhi, and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20220278771 A1), hereinafter referenced as Park, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 20190110261 A1), hereinafter referenced as Chen_JL, and further in view of LEE et al. (US 20190268805 A1), hereinafter referenced as Lee.
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL teaches, the method of claim 4 and the wireless communication device of claim 14 respectively.
Seok fails to teach the generating of the PPDU comprises: selecting a sequence of LTF values associated with the distributed tone plan, the non-legacy LTF including the sequence of LTF values.
However, Lee explicitly teaches the generating of the PPDU comprises: selecting a sequence of LTF values associated with the distributed tone plan, the non-legacy LTF including the sequence of LTF values (Para. [0114]-Lee discloses HE LTF sequence is predetermined for each channel bandwidth and/or for each subband utilized.... an HE LTF sequence is predetermined or selected based on any one or more of the following: one or more other HE LTF sequences, one or more LTF sub-sequences, one or more phase rotation values, and/or one or more subband allocation. Para. [0338]-Lee discloses for the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, and 80+80 MHz HE PPDU transmission, in one aspect, LTF sequences are generated based on 26-length, 52-length, 106-length, and/or 108-length LTF sequences and reserved tone locations/values. Para. [0093-0094]-Lee discloses VHT PHY provides support for 20 MHz ... 160 MHz contiguous channel widths and support for 80+80 MHz non-contiguous channel width.... Each VHT-LTF sequence is defined over a set of tone indices).
Lee is considered to be analogous because it is in the same field of wireless communication system, dealing with long training field sequence construction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL to incorporate the teachings of Lee on LTF values, with a motivation to select LTF values associated with the distributed tone plan, and ensure the support of a variety of applications such as video, cloud access, and offloading, (Lee, Para. [0003]).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park, Chen_JL and Lee teaches, the method of claim 5 and the wireless communication device of claim 15 respectively.
Seok fails to teach the generating of the PPDU further comprises: selecting a sequence of STF values associated with the distributed tone plan, the non-legacy STF including the sequence of STF values.
However, Park explicitly teaches the generating of the PPDU further comprises: selecting a sequence of STF values associated with the distributed tone plan, the non-legacy STF including the sequence of STF values (Fig. 2, Para. [0068]-Park discloses generating the TX/RX signal or performing the data processing and computation in advance may include: 1) an operation of determining/obtaining/configuring/computing/decoding/encoding bit information of a sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) included in a PPDU; 2) an operation of determining/configuring/obtaining a time resource or frequency resource (e.g., a subcarrier resource) or the like used for the sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) included the PPDU; 3) an operation of determining/configuring/obtaining a specific sequence (e.g., a pilot sequence, an STF/LTF sequence, an extra sequence applied to SIG) or the like used for the sub-field (SIG, STF, LTF, Data) field included in the PPDU. Para. [0208]-Park discloses the EHT-STF may be set to various types. For example, among the STFs, a first type (i.e., 1x STF) may be generated based on a first type STF sequence in which non-zero coefficients are positioned at 16 subcarrier spacings ... For example, among the STFs, a second type (i.e., 2x STF) may be generated based on a second type STF sequence in which non-zero coefficients are positioned at 8 subcarrier spacings ... example of a sequence (i.e., EHT-STF sequence) for configuring an EHT-STF).
Seok and Park are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communications, dealing with method and an apparatus for receiving a PPDU.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok in view of Asterjadhi, Chen_JL and Lee to incorporate the teachings of Park on generating PPDU, with a motivation to select sequence of STF values associated with the distributed tone plan, and ultimately guarantee improved communication environment using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and downlink multi-user multiple input multiple output (DL MU MIMO) techniques, (Park, Para. [0002]).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yongho Seok et al. (US 20160242177 A1), hereinafter referenced as Seok, in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 20200014509 A1), hereinafter referenced as Asterjadhi, and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20220278771 A1), hereinafter referenced as Park, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 20190110261 A1), hereinafter referenced as Chen_JL, and further in view of LEE et al. (US 20190268805 A1), hereinafter referenced as Lee, and further in view of Cai et al. (US 20150063340 A1), hereinafter referenced as Cai.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park, Chen_JL and Lee teaches, the method of claim 6 and the wireless communication device of claim 16 respectively.
Seok fails to teach the sequence of STF values is equal to the sequence of LTF values.
However, Cai teaches the sequence of STF values is equal to the sequence of LTF values (Para. [0025]-Cai discloses unassociated STAs use the same synchronization sequences, such as short training field (STF) and long training field (LTF)).
Cai is considered to be analogous because it is in the same field of wireless communications, dealing with collision resolution.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok in view of Asterjadhi, Park, Chen_JL and Lee to incorporate the teachings of Cai on STF and LTF values, with a motivation for equal sequence, and guarantee efficient channel utilization, (Cai, Para. [0006]).
Claims 8-10 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yongho Seok et al. (US 20160242177 A1), hereinafter referenced as Seok, in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 20200014509 A1), hereinafter referenced as Asterjadhi, and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20220278771 A1), hereinafter referenced as Park, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 20190110261 A1), hereinafter referenced as Chen_JL, and further in view of Yang et al. (US 20170126529 A1), hereinafter referenced as Yang.
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL teaches the method of claim 1 and the wireless communication device of claim 11 respectively.
Seok fails to explicitly teach the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices coincide with a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel that have the same bandwidth and power spectral density (PSD) limit, each of the plurality of subchannels including one or more of the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices.
However, Yang explicitly teaches the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices coincide with a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel that have the same bandwidth and power spectral density (PSD) limit, each of the plurality of subchannels including one or more of the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices (Para. [0043]-Yang discloses each tone is transmitted at a particular frequency and at a particular transmit power. In an ideal situation, every tone would be transmitted at the same power level. In reality, the spectral flatness attribute defines the amount of acceptable or maximum deviance in the transmit power for each tone, determined with respect to the particular region of the bandwidth the tone is located. Para. [0046]-Yang discloses that aspects of the described spectral flatness, resolution bandwidth, and video bandwidth are not limited to a waveform having a β of 160 MHz. Instead, the described techniques are equally applicable to ... 80+80 MHz (or a non-contiguous 160 MHz waveform)).
Yang is considered to be analogous because it is in the same field of wireless communication systems, dealing with spectral mask, flatness, and analysis techniques for a wireless local area network.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL to incorporate the teachings of Yang on power spectral density (PSD) and transmit power, with a motivation for the same bandwidth and power spectral density (PSD) limit, and ensure providing various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on, (Yang, Para. [0005]).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park, Chen_JL and Yang, teaches the method of claim 8 and the wireless communication device of claim 18 respectively.
Seok fails to explicitly teach determining a transmit power associated with a transmission of the modulated second portion of the PPDU based on the PSD limit, the transmit power being evenly distributed across the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices.
However, Yang explicitly teaches determining a transmit power associated with a transmission of the modulated second portion of the PPDU based on the PSD limit, the transmit power being evenly distributed across the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices (Para. [0043]-Yang discloses each tone is transmitted at a particular frequency and at a particular transmit power. In an ideal situation, every tone would be transmitted at the same power level. In reality, the spectral flatness attribute defines the amount of acceptable or maximum deviance in the transmit power for each tone, determined with respect to the particular region of the bandwidth the tone is located. Para. [0043]-Yang discloses the spectral flatness attribute defines the flatness of the bandwidth of the waveform.... the waveform includes many sub-carriers or tones (e.g., 2024 tones) that collectively form the contiguous wideband waveform. Para. [0040]-Yang discloses WLAN 100 implements a contention-based protocol that allows a number of devices (e.g., STAs 115 and APs 105) to share the same wireless medium (e.g., a channel) without pre-coordination. To prevent several devices from transmitting over the channel at the same time. (See also Para. [0051]). Para. [0048]-Yang discloses spectral mask 200 can be a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, or 80+80 MHz mask PPDU of HE format. Para. [0087]-Yang discloses the transceiver 520 is used to encode, interleave, modulate, and multiplex packets and frames for WLAN transmissions over the antennas 525).
Yang is considered to be analogous because it is in the same field of wireless communication systems, dealing with spectral mask, flatness, and analysis techniques for a wireless local area network.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL to incorporate the teachings of Yang on power spectral density (PSD) and transmit power, with a motivation to evenly distributed across the M noncontiguous subcarrier indices, and ensure providing various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on, (Yang, Para. [0005]).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park, Chen_JL and Yang, teaches the method of claim 8 and the wireless communication device of claim 18 respectively.
Seok fails to explicitly teach determining a transmit power associated with a transmission of the modulated second portion of the PPDU based on the PSD limit, the transmit power being evenly distributed across the plurality of subchannels.
However, Yang explicitly teaches determining a transmit power associated with a transmission of the modulated second portion of the PPDU based on the PSD limit, the transmit power being evenly distributed across the plurality of subchannels (Para. [0043]-Yang discloses each tone is transmitted at a particular frequency and at a particular transmit power. In an ideal situation, every tone would be transmitted at the same power level. In reality, the spectral flatness attribute defines the amount of acceptable or maximum deviance in the transmit power for each tone, determined with respect to the particular region of the bandwidth the tone is located. Para. [0043]-Yang discloses the spectral flatness attribute defines the flatness of the bandwidth of the waveform.... the waveform includes many sub-carriers or tones (e.g., 2024 tones) that collectively form the contiguous wideband waveform. Para. [0040]-Yang discloses WLAN 100 implements a contention-based protocol that allows a number of devices (e.g., STAs 115 and APs 105) to share the same wireless medium (e.g., a channel) without pre-coordination. To prevent several devices from transmitting over the channel at the same time. (See also Para. [0051]). Para. [0048]-Yang discloses spectral mask 200 can be a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, or 80+80 MHz mask PPDU of HE format. Para. [0087]-Yang discloses the transceiver 520 is used to encode, interleave, modulate, and multiplex packets and frames for WLAN transmissions over the antennas 525).
Yang is considered to be analogous because it is in the same field of wireless communication systems, dealing with spectral mask, flatness, and analysis techniques for a wireless local area network.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok, in view of Asterjadhi, Park and Chen_JL to incorporate the teachings of Yang on power spectral density (PSD) and transmit power, with a motivation to evenly distributed across the plurality of subchannels, and ensure providing various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on, (Yang, Para. [0005]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks, filed on 02/24/2026, with respect to the 35 USC § 103 rejection of claims 1-20 have been fully considered. Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
In the remarks, on page 9, Lines [9-13], Applicant argues that, “modulating an HE-LTF symbol on every other tone or every fourth tone in an OFDM symbol, as described in Seok, does not teach or suggest "a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload [being] modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices," as recited in amended independent claim 1 for at least the reason that the HE-LTF symbol is not "the payload," as claimed.”
However, Park teaches a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices associated with the wireless channel in accordance with the distributed tone plan (Para. [0327]-Park discloses modulation scheme for HE-SIG-B and data fields. DCM (Dual Carrier Modulation) may be applied to an HE SU PPDU and an HE ER SU PPDU. In an HE MU PPDU or HE TB PPDU, DCM may be applied to an RU that includes data. Fig. 24, Para. [0029]-Park discloses an example of LDPC tone mapping having tone spacing set to 3 in a 106-tone RU in a situation where DCM is applied. Para. [0491]-Park discloses operation in which the LDPC tone mapping is performed on the Multi-RU, and the data tones are distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter. Para. [0485]-Park discloses the bitstream may be distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter to be mapped to data tones based on the LDPC tone mapping. Also, the bitstream may be modulated based on the constellation mapping before the LDPC tone mapping is performed. Para. [0234]-Park discloses control information related to an RU (or control information related to a tone plan) may include a size and location of the RU, information of a user STA allocated to a specific RU, a frequency bandwidth for a PPDU in which the RU is included, and/or control information on a modulation scheme applied to the specific RU. Fig. 4, Para. [0097]-Park discloses the HE-PPDU for multiple users (MUs) may include a legacy-short training field (L-STF), a legacy-long training field (L-LTF), a legacy-signal (L-SIG), a high efficiency-signal A (HE-SIG A), a high efficiency-signal-B (HE-SIG B), a high efficiency-short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency-long training field (HE-LTF), a data field (alternatively, an MAC payload)).
In the remarks, on page 13, Lines [24-25], Applicant argues that, “the Office Action has not shown any portion of Asterjadhi to teach or suggest transmission of different portions of a PPDU on "N tones," and "M tones," respectively, as claimed.”
However, Seok teaches transmitting the modulated PPDU over the wireless channel (Para. [0099]-Seok discloses to transmit the PPDU frame to a receiving STA. Para. [0123]-Seok discloses HE PPDU (or HEW PPDU) modulation parameters, etc. for HE preamble. Para. [0118]-Seok discloses the HE-LTF elements are logical units), while Asterjadhi teaches the modulated first portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the N tones and the modulated second portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the M tones (Para. [0120-0121]-Asterjadhi discloses an AP may enable RU spreading based on the level of interference on the channel or in the tones of the RU. For example, the AP and one or more STAs may support the use of contiguous RUs and non-contiguous RUs. In this example, each STA may store a map for mapping RU assignments to contiguous sets of tones and a map for mapping RU assignments to non-contiguous sets of tones. In this example, the AP and the one or more STAs may initially use contiguous RUs for communication (for example, according to a standard). In this example, the one or more STAs may use the map for mapping RU assignments to contiguous sets of tones. [0121] The AP may subsequently enable the use of non-contiguous RUs (in other words, enable RU spreading) based on the level of interference. For example, a STA experiencing narrow band interference may transmit a request to the AP requesting RU spreading (for example, requesting assignment of non-contiguous RUs) and/or transmit a message to the AP indicating that the STA is experiencing interference. Para. [0089]-Asterjadhi discloses the STAs assigned RU 310-a and RU 310-c may transmit data concurrently to an AP (for example, the AP assigning RU 310-a and RU 310-c) via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones (for example, in uplink PPDUs triggered by a trigger frame) and/or receive data concurrently from the AP via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones. Fig. 13, Para. [0182]-Asterjadhi discloses transceiver 1320 may also include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission).
In the remarks, on page 10, Lines [8-16], Applicant argues that, “the combination of Seok and Park ... does not teach or suggest modulating a single PPDU, where a first portion of the PPDU "is modulated on a number (N) of tones coinciding with N contiguous subcarrier indices" and a second portion of the same PPDU "is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices," as recited in amended independent claim 1.”
However, Asterjadhi teaches generating a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) including a PHY preamble and a payload based on a distributed tone plan (Para. [0077-0079]-Asterjadhi discloses APs 102 and STAs 104 transmit and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as “Wi-Fi communications”) to and from one another in the form of physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) ... Each PPDU is a composite structure that includes a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PLCP service data unit (PSDU). Para. [0134]-Asterjadhi discloses AP 725 may distribute the tones for the distributed RU 710 across a channel bandwidth 715 for transmission to a STA 730. Para. [0089]-Asterjadhi discloses AP assigning RU 310-a and RU 310-c) via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones (for example, in uplink PPDUs triggered by a trigger frame)), while Park teaches modulating the PPDU, wherein a first portion of the PPDU is modulated on a number (N) of tones coinciding with N contiguous subcarrier indices spanning a wireless channel in accordance with one or more legacy tone plans (Para. [0207]-Park discloses a first modulation scheme may be applied to one half of contiguous tones ... transmitting STA may modulate specific control information to a first symbol based on the first modulation scheme and may allocate the modulated first symbol to one half of contiguous tones. Para. [0098]-Park discloses a resource unit (RU) used for a PPDU is described. An RU may include a plurality of subcarriers (or tones). Para. [0465]-Park discloses a PPDU based on the legacy STF/LTF and obtain information included in the L-SIG and EHT SIG fields. The information on various tone plans (namely, RUs). Para. [0201]-Park discloses a contiguous bandwidth of the PPDU), wherein a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices associated with the wireless channel in accordance with the distributed tone plan (Para. [0327]-Park discloses modulation scheme for HE-SIG-B and data fields. DCM (Dual Carrier Modulation) may be applied to an HE SU PPDU and an HE ER SU PPDU. In an HE MU PPDU or HE TB PPDU, DCM may be applied to an RU that includes data. Fig. 24, Para. [0029]-Park discloses an example of LDPC tone mapping having tone spacing set to 3 in a 106-tone RU in a situation where DCM is applied. Para. [0491]-Park discloses operation in which the LDPC tone mapping is performed on the Multi-RU, and the data tones are distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter. Para. [0485]-Park discloses the bitstream may be distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter to be mapped to data tones based on the LDPC tone mapping. Also, the bitstream may be modulated based on the constellation mapping before the LDPC tone mapping is performed. Para. [0234]-Park discloses control information related to an RU (or control information related to a tone plan) may include a size and location of the RU, information of a user STA allocated to a specific RU, a frequency bandwidth for a PPDU in which the RU is included, and/or control information on a modulation scheme applied to the specific RU. Fig. 4, Para. [0097]-Park discloses the HE-PPDU for multiple users (MUs) may include a legacy-short training field (L-STF), a legacy-long training field (L-LTF), a legacy-signal (L-SIG), a high efficiency-signal A (HE-SIG A), a high efficiency-signal-B (HE-SIG B), a high efficiency-short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency-long training field (HE-LTF), a data field (alternatively, an MAC payload)).
In the remarks, on page 10, Lines [27-29], Applicant argues that, “the Office Action has not demonstrated that the combination of Seok, Hu, Park, and Chen teaches or suggests "transmitting the modulated PPDU over the wireless channel, wherein the modulated first portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the N tones and the modulated second portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the M tones,".”
However, Seok teaches transmitting the modulated PPDU over the wireless channel (Para. [0099]-Seok discloses to transmit the PPDU frame to a receiving STA. Para. [0123]-Seok discloses HE PPDU (or HEW PPDU) modulation parameters, etc. for HE preamble. Para. [0118]-Seok discloses the HE-LTF elements are logical units), while Asterjadhi teaches the modulated first portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the N tones and the modulated second portion of the PPDU is transmitted via the M tones (Para. [0120-0121]-Asterjadhi discloses an AP may enable RU spreading based on the level of interference on the channel or in the tones of the RU. For example, the AP and one or more STAs may support the use of contiguous RUs and non-contiguous RUs. In this example, each STA may store a map for mapping RU assignments to contiguous sets of tones and a map for mapping RU assignments to non-contiguous sets of tones. In this example, the AP and the one or more STAs may initially use contiguous RUs for communication (for example, according to a standard). In this example, the one or more STAs may use the map for mapping RU assignments to contiguous sets of tones. [0121] The AP may subsequently enable the use of non-contiguous RUs (in other words, enable RU spreading) based on the level of interference. For example, a STA experiencing narrow band interference may transmit a request to the AP requesting RU spreading (for example, requesting assignment of non-contiguous RUs) and/or transmit a message to the AP indicating that the STA is experiencing interference. Para. [0089]-Asterjadhi discloses the STAs assigned RU 310-a and RU 310-c may transmit data concurrently to an AP (for example, the AP assigning RU 310-a and RU 310-c) via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones (for example, in uplink PPDUs triggered by a trigger frame) and/or receive data concurrently from the AP via their respective non-contiguous sets of tones. Fig. 13, Para. [0182]-Asterjadhi discloses transceiver 1320 may also include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission).
In the remarks, on page 11, Lines [2-7], Applicant argues that, “the Office Action also has not demonstrated that the combination of Seok, Hu, Park, and Chen teaches or suggests "modulating the PPDU, wherein a first portion of the PPDU is modulated on a number (N) of tones coinciding with N contiguous subcarrier indices" and "wherein a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices".”
However, Park teaches modulating the PPDU, wherein a first portion of the PPDU is modulated on a number (N) of tones coinciding with N contiguous subcarrier indices spanning a wireless channel in accordance with one or more legacy tone plans (Para. [0207]-Park discloses a first modulation scheme may be applied to one half of contiguous tones ... transmitting STA may modulate specific control information to a first symbol based on the first modulation scheme and may allocate the modulated first symbol to one half of contiguous tones. Para. [0098]-Park discloses a resource unit (RU) used for a PPDU is described. An RU may include a plurality of subcarriers (or tones). Para. [0465]-Park discloses a PPDU based on the legacy STF/LTF and obtain information included in the L-SIG and EHT SIG fields. The information on various tone plans (namely, RUs). Para. [0201]-Park discloses a contiguous bandwidth of the PPDU), wherein a second portion of the PPDU that includes the payload is modulated on a number (M) of tones coinciding with M noncontiguous subcarrier indices associated with the wireless channel in accordance with the distributed tone plan (Para. [0327]-Park discloses modulation scheme for HE-SIG-B and data fields. DCM (Dual Carrier Modulation) may be applied to an HE SU PPDU and an HE ER SU PPDU. In an HE MU PPDU or HE TB PPDU, DCM may be applied to an RU that includes data. Fig. 24, Para. [0029]-Park discloses an example of LDPC tone mapping having tone spacing set to 3 in a 106-tone RU in a situation where DCM is applied. Para. [0491]-Park discloses operation in which the LDPC tone mapping is performed on the Multi-RU, and the data tones are distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter. Para. [0485]-Park discloses the bitstream may be distributed at tone intervals of the first parameter to be mapped to data tones based on the LDPC tone mapping. Also, the bitstream may be modulated based on the constellation mapping before the LDPC tone mapping is performed. Para. [0234]-Park discloses control information related to an RU (or control information related to a tone plan) may include a size and location of the RU, information of a user STA allocated to a specific RU, a frequency bandwidth for a PPDU in which the RU is included, and/or control information on a modulation scheme applied to the specific RU. Fig. 4, Para. [0097]-Park discloses the HE-PPDU for multiple users (MUs) may include a legacy-short training field (L-STF), a legacy-long training field (L-LTF), a legacy-signal (L-SIG), a high efficiency-signal A (HE-SIG A), a high efficiency-signal-B (HE-SIG B), a high efficiency-short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency-long training field (HE-LTF), a data field (alternatively, an MAC payload)).
In the remarks, on page 11, Lines [27-28], Applicant argues that, “the Office Action has not shown that a person having ordinary skill in the art would arrive at all of the features of independent claim 1 by any combination of Seok, Hu, Park, Chen, Asterjadhi, Lee, Cai, and Yang.”
However, Seok in view of Hu, Park and Chen_JL and Asterjadhi are considered to be analogous because they are in the same field of wireless communications, dealing with resource unit (RU) spreading. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Seok in view of Hu, Park and Chen_JL to incorporate the teachings of Asterjadhi on PPDU modulation and transmission, with a motivation to transmit different portions of the PPDU in different number of tones, and guarantee improving performance felt by users demanding high-capacity, high-rate services while supporting simultaneous access of numerous stations in an environment in which a plurality of APs is densely deployed and coverage areas of APs overlap, (Seok, Para. [0006]).
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.
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/OO/
Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/ANDREW W CHRISS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472