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
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/29/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Freda et al., WO 2022 087208 A1 (hereinafter “Freda”) in view of Pandey et al., US 2016 0286436 A1 (hereinafter “Pandey”).
Regarding Claim 1, Freda teaches a method for categorizing data streams passing between a station and an access point serving the station to determine whether the station served by the access point can change access point serving it, the access point being included in a node forming part of a local area network comprising a plurality of nodes allowing an extension of wireless communication coverage in order to increase the range of the local area network by coordinating a plurality of access points incorporated in the nodes (Freda, Page 4, Paragraph 22, Fig. 1A, base station 114b, local area network, plurality of wireless transmit/receive units [WTRU] 102a-d), wherein the method comprises the steps, performed by the access point serving at least one station, of:
-identifying, from an identifier of the source and/or from the destination of the data, each data stream passing between the station and the access point (Freda, Page 17, Paragraph 78, traffic flow, control information; Page 20, Paragraphs 88-89. IAB node, candidate parent node, current serving node),
-measuring, for each data stream, the quantity of data passing between the station and the access point (Freda, Page 20, Paragraph 88, traffic load information, flow control metric[s]),
-calculating, for each data stream, a mean from the measurements for the stream (Freda, Page 20-25, Paragraphs 88-89, conditions based on flow control, traffic load information, measurements over a time period),
-categorizing each data stream as an interruptible data stream if the mean of the data streams is lower than a first predetermined threshold (Freda, Page 22-23, Paragraph 89, information received from parent nodes; Paragraph 89, WTRU may be configured with a condition on the buffer sized associated with given BH RLC channel, mobility action triggered when UL buffer size of the BH RLC channel above/below certain threshold),
-determining that the station served by the access point can be served by another access point if each stream passing between the station and the access point is categorized as an interruptible data stream (Freda, Pages 25-26, Paragraph 90, mobility action upon fulfillment of triggering condition[s]).
Freda fails to fully teach the limitations:
calculating, for each data stream, a mean from the measurements for the stream
However, Pandey further teaches the limitation:
calculating, for each data stream, a mean from the measurements for the stream (Pandey, Page 1, Paragraph 10-12, Fig. 1, access points 115a-d, network 110; Pages 2-3, Paragraphs 23, statistical techniques applied over a predetermined time period, predetermined thresholds)
Pandey and Freda are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of network topology of wireless local area networks. While Freda demonstrates calculation of stream measurements as a function of time, Pandey expands on this limitation of the applied algorithm in regards to the calculated mean. 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 Freda to incorporate the teachings of Pandey in further demonstrating calculating, for each data stream, a mean from the measurements for the stream. Doing so would optimize the categorization of data streams based on adaptive inputs.
Regarding Claim 2, Freda in view of Pandey teaches the method according to method according claim 1, the method further comprises the steps performed, if the mean of at least one data stream is higher than the first predetermined threshold, of:
-calculating, for each data stream the mean of which is higher than or equal to the first predetermined threshold, a standard deviation from the measurements for the stream (Freda, Page 25, Paragraph 92, Fig. 4, conditional handover),
-calculating, for each data stream the mean of which is higher than or equal to the first predetermined threshold, a score from the mean and from the standard deviation of the data stream (Pandey, Pages 2-3, Paragraphs 22-23, standard deviation for each AP, statistical techniques used to determine APs of interest),
-categorizing each data stream the mean of which is higher than the first predetermined threshold as a non-interruptible data stream if the score of the data stream is lower than a second predetermined threshold (Freda, Pages 25-26, Paragraph 90; Pandey, Pages 2-3, Paragraphs 22-23),
-determining that a station served by the access point must not be served by another access point if at least one stream passing between the station and the access point is categorized as a non-interruptible data stream (Freda, Pages 25-26, Paragraph 90, mobility action upon fulfillment of triggering condition[s]; Pandey, Page 3, Paragraph 24, Subset of APs managed and optimized) .
Regarding Claim 3, Freda teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
-categorizing each data stream the mean of which is higher than the first predetermined threshold as an interruptible data stream if the score of the data stream is higher than or equal to a second predetermined threshold (Freda, Page 22, Paragraph 89, information received from parent nodes),
-determining that a station served by the access point can be served by another access point if each stream passing between the station and the access point is categorized as an interruptible data stream (Freda, Page 23, Paragraph 89, WTRU may be configured with a condition on the buffer sized associated with given BH RLC channel, mobility action triggered when UL buffer size of the BH RLC channel above/below certain threshold; Pages 25-26, Paragraph 90, mobility action upon fulfillment of triggering condition[s]).
Regarding Claim 4, Freda in view of Pandey teaches the method according to claim 2. Freda does not teach the method according to claim 4. Pandey teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein each score is calculated using the following formula:
SC(t) = σ(t)/(K+mean(t)) where mean(t) is the mean, SC(t) is the score, σ(t) is the standard deviation and K a value strictly greater than 0 (Pandey, Pages 2-3, Paragraph 23, statistical techniques used to determine APs of interest, standard deviation).
Regarding Claim 5, Freda in view of Pandey teaches the method according to claim 1. Freda does not teach the method according to claim 5. Pandey teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein each mean is calculated for a first predetermined period of time (Pandey, Pages 2-3, Paragraph 23, mean number, predetermined period of time).
Regarding Claim 6, Freda in view of Pandey teaches the method according to claim 2. Freda does not teach the method according to claim 6. Pandey teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein each standard deviation and each score are calculated for the first predetermined period of time (Pandey, Pages 2-3, Paragraph 23, time period T, mean number of first-time associations, standard deviation for each AP)
Regarding Claim 7, Freda does not teach the method according to claim 6. Pandey teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein each mean, each standard deviation and each score are calculated with a predetermined periodicity (Pandey, Page 3, Paragraph 25, periodicity calculations).
Regarding Claim 8, Freda in view of Pandey teaches a device for categorizing data streams passing between a station and an access point serving the station to determine whether the station served by the access point can change access point serving it, the access point being included in a node forming part of a local area network comprising a plurality of nodes allowing an extension of wireless communication coverage in order to increase the range of the local area network by coordinating a plurality of access points incorporated in the nodes, (Freda, Page 5, Paragraph 26, Fig. 1B, wireless transmit/receive unit [WTRU]; Pandey, Page 1, Paragraph 10-12, Fig. 1, access points 115a-d, Page 4, Paragraph 36, Fig. 5, access point) wherein the device is included in the access point serving the station, and comprises:
-means for identifying, from an identifier of the source and/or from the destination of the data, each data stream passing between the station and the access point (Freda, Page 17, Paragraph 78, traffic flow, flow control information),
-means for measuring, for each data stream, the quantity of data passing between the station and the access point (Freda, Page 20, Paragraph 88, traffic load information, flow control metric[s]),
-means for calculating, for each data stream, a mean from the measurements for the stream,
-means for categorizing each data stream as an interruptible data stream if the mean of the data streams is lower than a first predetermined threshold (Freda, Page 20-25, Paragraphs 88-89, conditions based on flow control, traffic load information, measurements over a time period; Pandey, Pages 2-3, Paragraphs 22-29, determining APs of interest, statistical techniques applied over a predetermined time period, predetermined thresholds),
-means for determining that the station served by the access point can be served by another access point if each stream passing between the station and the access point is categorized as an interruptible data stream (Freda, Pages 22-23, Paragraph 89; Pages 25-26, Paragraph 90).
Regarding Claim 10, Freda in view of Pandey teaches a non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions for implementing, by an item of equipment, the method according to claim 1, when said program is executed by the processor of a node (Freda, Page 5, Paragraph 26, Fig. 1B, wireless transmit/receive unit [WTRU]; Page 6, Paragraph 31, memory; Pandey, Page 4, Paragraph 35, memory 508).
Conclusion
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/GABRIELLE N DAI/Examiner, Art Unit 2681
/AKWASI M SARPONG/SPE, Art Unit 2681 1/26/2026