DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
As required by M.P.E.P. 609(c), the Applicant's submissions of the Information Disclosure Statement is acknowledged by the examiner and the cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims now pending. As required by M.P.E.P. 609 C(2), a copy of the PTOL-1449 initialed and dated by the examiner is attached to the instant office action.
Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement has been received, entered into the record, and considered. See attached form PTO-1449.
Restriction Remarks
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn as of January 26, 2026, with traverse.
Claims 1-10 are examined.
This application contains 11-20 are drawn to an invention nonelected without traverse in the reply filed on January 26, 2026. A complete reply to the final rejection must include cancellation of nonelected claims or other appropriate action (37 CFR 1.144) See MPEP § 821.01.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancellation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be amended in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(b) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. Any amendment of inventorship must be accompanied by a request under 37 CFR 1.48(b) and by the fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancellation of claims to a non-elected invention with Applicant’s amendment and response to this non-final office action.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claims 1-10 are ejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cherian et al. (US Publication No. 2020/0076552 A1 and Cherian hereinafter).
Regarding Claim 1, Cherian teaches a method, comprising: sending, by a first station, to an access point (i.e., an access point (AP) may transmit, to a second AP and during a first portion of a transmission opportunity (TxOP), a request to participate in a multi-user (MU) transmission. The AP may receive, from the second AP and during the first portion of the TxOP, an indication of intent to participate in the MU transmission during the second portion of the TxOP, the indication of intent including a resource request of the second AP for participation in the MU transmission. The AP may transmit, during an initial period of the second portion of the TxOP, a trigger signal to the second AP indicating a set of one or more resources for the second AP during the MU transmission) (Abstract), a first frame indicating beamforming information (i.e., use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a STA 115. Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering or directional transmission) is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitter (for example, AP 105) to shape or steer an overall antenna beam in the direction of a target receiver (for example, a STA 115). Beamforming may be achieved by combining elements in an antenna array in such a way that transmitted signals at particular angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference) Para [0138]; and receiving, by the first station from the access point (i.e., a first AP 105-a may have multiple neighboring APs 105, including a second AP 105-b and a third AP 105-c. Further, a number of STAs 115 may be present, including a first STA 115-a that may be associated with the first AP 105-a via wireless link 120-a, a second STA 115-b that may be associated with the second AP 105-b via wireless link 120-b, and a third STA 115-c that may be associated with the third STA 115-c) Para [0145], a first trigger frame indicating (i.e., first AP 105-a may transmit a scheduling trigger such as a MAP-Sch-Trigger 310, which may be received by each of the second AP 105-b and the third AP 105-c. The MAP-Sch-Trigger 310 may be a MAP PPDU that the first AP 105-a transmits to initiate scheduling multi-AP communications.) Para [0150] an allocated time of a transmission opportunity (i.e., determine wireless resources (e.g., frequency resources, time resources, or combinations thereof) that will be used for multi-AP communications in a second portion of the TxOP 317. The first AP 105-a may then transmit a MAP-trigger 320 in the second portion of the TxOP 317, which may indicate to each of the other APs 105 that multi-AP coordinated transmission 325 may commence. In some cases, multi-AP coordinated transmission 325 may include transmissions from all participating BSSs simultaneously within the second portion of the TxOP 317) Para [0150]; a station allocation associated with the transmission opportunity, wherein the station allocation (i.e., he MU transmission scheme 2700 may be divided into a resource offer and request phase (e.g., a first portion of the TxOP) and a triggered transmission phase (e.g., a second portion of the TxOP). The resource offer and request phase may generally include a first stage 2705 (e.g., stage 1) and a second stage 2710 (e.g., stage 2) and the triggered transmission phase may include a third stage (e.g., stage 3) and a fourth stage 2725 (e.g., stage 4), with an optional stage 2720 (e.g., stage 3a)) Para [0323] is based on the beamforming information (i.e., stage 3 may include the master AP assigning channels to the neighboring AP(s). In the example where two neighboring AP(s) are assigned the same channel at the same time, they may perform a coordinated beamforming) Para [0331]; and a triggered transmission opportunity sharing mode associated with the transmission opportunity (i.e., coordinated communications manager 1125 may configure the coordinated communications with at least the second station in a multi-AP physical protocol data unit (MAP PPDU) format or in a high efficiency trigger-based physical protocol data unit (HE TB PPDU) format) Para [0229], wherein the triggered transmission opportunity sharing mode indicates the first station to send a second frame, Figure 5, whole figure, infra:
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to the access point or to a second station, Para [0201] during the allocated time of the transmission opportunity (i.e., the APs 105 may contend for access to a wireless channel during a contention/countdown window 805. In some cases, the first AP 105-a may be the first to contend for channel access and may win the medium. In some cases, similarly as discussed above, one or more of the other APs 105 may attempt to access the channel before the first AP 105-a wins contention, but may not win contention. Upon winning the contention-based channel access procedure, the first AP 105-a may transmit a scheduling trigger such as a MAP-Sch-Trigger 810, which may be received by the second AP 105-b and the third AP 105-b. The MAP-Sch-Trigger 810 may be a MAP PPDU that the first AP 105-a transmits to each neighboring AP 105 to initiate scheduling of multi-AP communications.) Para [0201].
Regarding Claim 2, Cherian teaches further comprising: performing, based on the first trigger frame, beamforming training with a second station to obtain a beamformed link; and after performing the beamforming training with the second station, receiving a second trigger frame (i.e., the first frame 2910 may include the neighboring AP(s) replying to the invitation or request to participate with a request for resources in the intent to participate first frame 2910. That is, the first frame 2910 generally carries or otherwise provides an indication of the request for resources by AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4 to the master AP. The second frame 2915 may be targeted to the wireless station(s) associated with the transmitting AP and generally primes the wireless station(s) for the MU transmission) Para [0342].
Regarding Claim 3, Cherian teaches wherein the beamforming information comprises an indication of whether the first station has a beamformed link to the second station, and wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first station to the second station and using the beamformed link, the second frame (i.e., coordinated beamforming to avoid interference, collision, and the like. In some aspects, the master AP may indicate or otherwise specify the structure of the MU transmission in stage 4, e.g., to ensure orthogonality. In some aspects, this may include the master AP indicating the time for the start of the stage 4 transmission, a guard interval duration, a number of training fields (e.g., an STF, LTFs, and the like)) Para [0331] and (i.e., the first frame 2910 may include the neighboring AP(s) replying to the invitation or request to participate with a request for resources in the intent to participate first frame 2910. That is, the first frame 2910 generally carries or otherwise provides an indication of the request for resources by AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4 to the master AP. The second frame 2915 may be targeted to the wireless station(s) associated with the transmitting AP and generally primes the wireless station(s) for the MU transmission) Para [0342].
Regarding Claim 4, Cherian teaches wherein the first trigger frame is a multi-user request- to-send (MU-RTS) triggered transmission opportunity (TXOP) sharing (TXS) trigger (MRTT) frame (i.e., during a first portion of a TxOP, a request to participate in a multi-user transmission during a second portion of the TxOP. The AP 105 may transmit, to the first AP 105 and during the first portion of the TxOP, an indication of intent to participate in the multi-user transmission during the second portion of the TxOP, the indication of intent including a resource request of the second AP 105 for participation in the multi-user transmission. The AP 105 may receive, during an initial period of the second portion of the TxOP, a trigger signal from the first AP 105 indicating a set of one or more resources for the second AP 105 during the multi-user transmission. The AP 105 may participate, in conjunction with the first AP 105 and during the second portion of the TxOP, in the multi-user transmission) Para [0144], and wherein: the station allocation comprises the first station, if the first station has a beamformed link to the second station; or the station allocation does not comprise the first station, if the first station has no beamforming training request with the second station (i.e., The second AP 105-b and the third AP 105-c may transmit one or more multi-AP scheduling 315 communications that may be received by one or more associated STAs, and that are also received by the first AP 105-a. The first AP 105-a, based on transmissions of the second AP 105-b and the third AP 105-c, may determine wireless resources (e.g., frequency resources, time resources) Para [0150].
Regarding Claim 5, Cherian teaches wherein the second frame comprises a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) frame (i.e. PPDU format) Para [0010]; and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, based on data frame contained in the PPDU frame (i.e. scheduling indicator in a SU PPDU format. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for configuring the scheduling indicator in a MAP PPDU format) Para [0018] and Para [0030], a Block Ack (BA) frame from the second station Para [0163].
Regarding Claim 6, Cherian teaches wherein the beamforming information comprises at least one of: an indication that the first station requests to perform beamforming training with the second station; or a request by the first station to perform beamforming training with the second station (i.e., coordinated beamforming to avoid interference, collision, and the like. In some aspects, the master AP may indicate or otherwise specify the structure of the MU transmission in stage 4, e.g., to ensure orthogonality. In some aspects, this may include the master AP indicating the time for the start of the stage 4 transmission, a guard interval duration, a number of training fields (e.g., an STF, LTFs, and the like)) Para [0331].
Regarding Claim 7, Cherian the method further comprising comprises: performing, during a first portion of the allocated time (i.e., contention-based channel access procedure, the first AP 105-a may initiate a multi-AP scheduling phase during a first portion of the TxOP 307. In the example of FIG. 3, the first AP 105-a may transmit a scheduling trigger such as a MAP-Sch-Trigger 310, which may be received by each of the second AP 105-b and the third AP 105-c.) Para [0150], beamforming training with the second station and to obtain a beamformed link with the second station (i.e., he first frame 2910 may include the neighboring AP(s) replying to the invitation or request to participate with a request for resources in the intent to participate first frame 2910. That is, the first frame 2910 generally carries or otherwise provides an indication of the request for resources by AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4 to the master AP. The second frame 2915 may be targeted to the wireless station(s) associated with the transmitting AP and generally primes the wireless station(s) for the MU transmission) Para [0342]; and sending, to the second station and during a second portion of the allocated time, the second frame via the beamformed link frame (i.e., coordinated beamforming to avoid interference, collision, and the like. In some aspects, the master AP may indicate or otherwise specify the structure of the MU transmission in stage 4, e.g., to ensure orthogonality. In some aspects, this may include the master AP indicating the time for the start of the stage 4 transmission, a guard interval duration, a number of training fields (e.g., an STF, LTFs, and the like)) Para [0331].
Regarding Claim 8, Cherian teaches further comprising: receiving, by the first station from the access point, a third trigger frame (i.e., The AP 105 may transmit, to the first AP 105 and during the first portion of the TxOP, an indication of intent to participate in the multi-user transmission during the second portion of the TxOP, the indication of intent including a resource request of the second AP 105 for participation in the multi-user transmission. The AP 105 may receive, during an initial period of the second portion of the TxOP, a trigger signal from the first AP 105 indicating a set of one or more resources for the second AP 105 during the multi-user transmission. The AP 105 may participate, in conjunction with the first AP 105 and during the second portion of the TxOP, in the multi-user transmission) Para [0145]; and sending, based on the third trigger frame, the first frame (i.e. multi access points … multi-access point scheduling in wireless local area networks) Para [0093] and Para [0130].
Regarding Claim 9, Cherian teaches wherein the first frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) data frame, and wherein the QoS data frame comprises at least one of: a QoS control field, wherein QoS control field comprises the beamforming information; or a high throughput (HT) control field, wherein the HT control field comprises the beamforming information (i.e., the first frame 2910 may include the neighboring AP(s) replying to the invitation or request to participate with a request for resources in the intent to participate first frame 2910. That is, the first frame 2910 generally carries or otherwise provides an indication of the request for resources by AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4 to the master AP. The second frame 2915 may be targeted to the wireless station(s) associated with the transmitting AP and generally primes the wireless station(s) for the MU transmission) Para [0342].
Regarding Claim 10, Cherian teaches wherein the first frame comprises a quality of service characteristic element, wherein the quality of service characteristic element comprises a control info field, and wherein the control info field comprises the beamforming information (i.e., the first frame 2910 may include the neighboring AP(s) replying to the invitation or request to participate with a request for resources in the intent to participate first frame 2910. That is, the first frame 2910 generally carries or otherwise provides an indication of the request for resources by AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4 to the master AP. The second frame 2915 may be targeted to the wireless station(s) associated with the transmitting AP and generally primes the wireless station(s) for the MU transmission) Para [0342].
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cherian et al., (US Patent Publication No. 20200076552 A1), “PROTOCOLS FOR MULTI-ACCESS POINT COORDINATED MULTI-USER TRANSMISSIONS” (March 5, 2020) discloses an access point (AP) may transmit, to a second AP and during a first portion of a transmission opportunity (TxOP), a request to participate in a multi-user (MU) transmission. The AP may receive, from the second AP and during the first portion of the TxOP, an indication of intent to participate in the MU transmission during the second portion of the TxOP, the indication of intent including a resource request of the second AP for participation in the MU transmission. The AP may transmit, during an initial period of the second portion of the TxOP, a trigger signal to the second AP indicating a set of one or more resources for the second AP during the MU transmission. The AP may participate, in conjunction with the second AP and during the second portion of the TxOP, in the MU transmission.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE D MIZRAHI whose telephone number is 571- 272-4079. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30-3:30 PM (7:30 - 4:30 p.m.).
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/DIANE D MIZRAHI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Diane.Mizrahi@USPTO.gov