Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED OFFICE ACTION
This action is responsive to the communication received January 27th, 2026. Claims 1 and 14 have been amended. Claims 4-13, 17-20 have been canceled. Claims 1-3, 14-16 have been entered and are presented for examination.
Application 18/511,682 has US Provisional Application 63/384,238 11/18/2022.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed January 27th, 2026, have been fully considered, but deemed moot in view of the new grounds of rejection which has been necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. US 2019/0109684 in view Yang et al. (US 2023/0104295).
Regarding claims 1, 14, Chen et al. discloses a method, comprising: generating, by a processor of an apparatus (see Figure 2 [processor]), a distributed-tone resource unit (dRU) (paragraph 0154 [Various sized RUs separate the 26-tone RUs from each other and from the edges with 11 null tones interspaced]) with a respective position of each of one or more pilot tones shifted with a respective position of each of one or more other pilot tones kept unchanged (paragraph 0131 [RUs, null tones, data tones, and pilot tones in the first and fourth PHY 20 MHz SBs may not need to be adjusted or moved]); and performing, by the processor, a wireless communication in a 20MHz or 40MHz bandwidth with the dRU (paragraphs 0076, 0078, 0083 [Data frames can be used for transmitting data from an AP and/or a STA to other APs and/or STAs]).
Chen et al. does not explicitly disclose wherein the performing of the wireless communication in the 20MHz or 40MHz bandwidth with the dRU comprises performing the wireless communication in the 40MHz bandwidth with eighteen 26-tone dRUs (dRU26s), eight 52-tone dRUs (dRU52s), or four 106-tone dRUs (dRU106s), wherein pilot tone indices of the eighteen dRU26s comprise at least :for a first dRU26: -224;for a second dRU26: -125;for a third dRU26: -202;for a fourth dRU26: -103;for a fifth dRU26: -81;for a sixth dRU26: -114;for a seventh dRU26: -213;for an eighth dRU26: -92;for a ninth dRU26: -191;for a tenth dRU26: -169; for an eleventh dRU26: -70; for a twelfth dRU26: -147; for a thirteenth dRU26: -48; for a fourteenth dRU26: -180;for a fifteenth dRU26: -59;for a sixteenth dRU26: -158;for a seventeenth dRU26: -37; and for an eighteenth dRU26: -136,wherein pilot tone indices of the eight dRU52s comprise at least: for a firstdRU52: -224 -125;for a seconddRU52: -202 -103;for a thirddRU52: -213 -114;for a fourth dRU52: -191 -92;for a fifthdRU52: -169 -70;for a sixth dRU52: -147 -48;for a seventh dRU52: -158 -59; and for an eighth dRU52: -136 -37,wherein pilot tone indices of the four dRU106s comprise at least: for a firstdRU106: -224 -103;for a seconddRU106: -213 -92;for a thirddRU106: -169 -48; and for a fourthdRU106: -158 -37.
However, Yang et al. discloses wherein the performing of the wireless communication in the 20MHz or 40MHz bandwidth with the dRU comprises performing the wireless communication in the 40MHz bandwidth with eighteen 26-tone dRUs (dRU26s), eight 52-tone dRUs (dRU52s), or four 106-tone dRUs (dRU106s), wherein pilot tone indices of the eighteen dRU26s comprise at least :for a first dRU26: -224;for a second dRU26: -125;for a third dRU26: -202;for a fourth dRU26: -103;for a fifth dRU26: -81;for a sixth dRU26: -114;for a seventh dRU26: -213;for an eighth dRU26: -92;for a ninth dRU26: -191;for a tenth dRU26: -169; for an eleventh dRU26: -70; for a twelfth dRU26: -147; for a thirteenth dRU26: -48; for a fourteenth dRU26: -180;for a fifteenth dRU26: -59;for a sixteenth dRU26: -158;for a seventeenth dRU26: -37; and for an eighteenth dRU26: -136,wherein pilot tone indices of the eight dRU52s comprise at least: for a firstdRU52: -224 -125;for a seconddRU52: -202 -103;for a thirddRU52: -213 -114;for a fourth dRU52: -191 -92;for a fifthdRU52: -169 -70;for a sixth dRU52: -147 -48;for a seventh dRU52: -158 -59; and for an eighth dRU52: -136 -37,wherein pilot tone indices of the four dRU106s comprise at least: for a firstdRU106: -224 -103;for a seconddRU106: -213 -92;for a thirddRU106: -169 -48; and for a fourthdRU106: -158 -37 (see Table 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize the pilot tone indices of the dRU26, dRU52, and dRU106 in order to perform transmission using 40MHz.
Regarding claims 2, 15, Chen et al. further discloses wherein: the respective position of each of one or more pilot tones is shifted by n * 9 in an event that the wireless communication is performed in the 20MHz bandwidth (see Figure 4B and paragraph 0131 [The RUs, null tones, data tones, and pilot tones in the second PHY 20 MHz may be shifted to the right by A tones, where A is greater than or equal to 5 and less than or equal to 13 (i.e., subcarrier indices+A). The RUs, null tones, data tones, and pilot tones in the third PHY 20 MHz may be shifted to the left by A tones, where A is greater than or equal to 5 and less than or equal to 13 (i.e., subcarrier indices−A)]), the respective position of each of one or more pilot tones is shifted by n * 18 in an event that the wireless communication is performed in the 40MHz bandwidth (see Figure 4B, also the limitation is further limiting a non-selected alternative limitation (e.g., 40MHz)), and n is an integer and n > 1 (paragraph 0131 [where A is greater than or equal to 5 and less than or equal to 13 (i.e., subcarrier indices−A)]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 3, 16, Chen et al. is the closest prior art, but does not disclose wherein a ratio of a pilot tone spacing to a cyclic shift delay (CSD) periodicity is closer to x.5 when the respective position of each of one or more pilot tones is shifted compared to the ratio when the respective position of each of one or more pilot tones is not shifted, and wherein x is an integer.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE whose telephone number is (571)270-3937. The examiner can normally be reached 4pm-11:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at (571)270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE/Examiner, Art Unit 2465