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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEGISHI et al. (US 20140204833 A1, hereinafter, "NEGISHI") in view of HUANG et al. (US 10172180 B1, hereinafter, "HUANG"), CHOI et al. (US 20170367118 A1, hereinafter, "CHOI"), and FUJIWARA (US 20190199861 A1, hereinafter, "FUJIWARA").
Regarding claim 1, NEGISHI teaches a communication apparatus comprising
NEGISHI writes, “In case the relay device 2 is implemented by the relay device 2a that is the MFP, the specialized device 220 includes various devices related to image processing to cause the MFP to perform the functions of printing, scanning, copying, and facsimile transmission/reception, under control of the CPU 201” (paragraph 0038; figure 3). NEGISHI indicates a MFP communication apparatus.
at least one memory (paragraph 0036; figure 3, ROM: 202, RAM: 203, HD: 204, HDD: 205)
and at least one processor (paragraph 0038; figure 3, CPU: 201), which function as:
a communication control unit configured to enable both a first mode in which wireless communication is performed through the external access point outside the communication apparatus,
NEGISHI writes, “The relay device 2a communicates with the communication terminal 4a through a wireless network using a first communications protocol. The access point 6a communicates with the communication terminal 4a through a wireless network using a second communications protocol. The first communications protocol may be, for example, the ZigBee standards communications protocol, and is illustrated as Cp1 in FIG. 1. The second communications protocol may be, for example, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) standards communications protocol, and is illustrated as Cp2 in FIG. 1. In other words, in this example, the communication terminal 4b communicates with the relay device 2a using the first communications protocol, at least for the first time when the communication terminal 4b is brought into a new location, which differs from the second communications protocol used for communication with the access point 6a” (paragraph 0024). NEGISHI indicates a second communication protocol that allows communication between the terminal and the access point.
and a second mode in which wireless communication is performed without going through the external access point outside the communication apparatus;
NEGISHI writes, “The relay device 2a communicates with the communication terminal 4a through a wireless network using a first communications protocol. The access point 6a communicates with the communication terminal 4a through a wireless network using a second communications protocol. The first communications protocol may be, for example, the ZigBee standards communications protocol, and is illustrated as Cp1 in FIG. 1. The second communications protocol may be, for example, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) standards communications protocol, and is illustrated as Cp2 in FIG. 1. In other words, in this example, the communication terminal 4b communicates with the relay device 2a using the first communications protocol, at least for the first time when the communication terminal 4b is brought into a new location, which differs from the second communications protocol used for communication with the access point 6a” (paragraph 0024). NEGISHI indicates a first communication protocol that allows communication between the terminal and the communication apparatus that does not go through the access point.
NEGISHI fails to explicitly disclose information regarding, “a first reception unit configured to receive, in a case where a wireless setting mode is enabled, information about an external access point outside the communication apparatus, from a terminal apparatus through direct connection established with the terminal apparatus without going through the external access point;”, “a second reception unit configured to receive a first trigger frame including information about execution of carrier sensing, from the external access point connected based on the information about the external access point received by the first reception unit, the first trigger frame complying with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard;”, “a first transmission unit configured to transmit, in a case where the first trigger frame includes information indicating execution of carrier sensing, data after executing carrier sensing;”, and “and a control unit configured to perform, in a state where the communication apparatus operates as a master station determining a communication channel used in wireless communication of the second mode while the first mode and the second mode are enabled, control not to transmit information requesting execution of carrier sensing, to a slave station apparatus connected to the master station.”
However, in analogous art, HUANG teaches a first reception unit configured to receive, in a case where a wireless setting mode is enabled, information about an external access point outside the communication apparatus, from a terminal apparatus through direct connection established with the terminal apparatus without going through the external access point;
HUANG writes, “The wireless network device may determine that the wireless network device is enabled to operate as a bridge node” (column 4, lines 10-12). HUANG adds, “Network devices that send and/or receive data in the wireless network are referred to as stations in the wireless network. For example, the network devices 122 and 124 are stations in the wireless network. In some implementations, the stations 122, or 124, or both, are IoT network devices. Other stations can also be present in the wireless network, e.g., wireless mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and smartphones, or fixed devices such as desktops and workstations that are equipped with a wireless network interface” (column 7, lines 4-13, figure 1). HUANG continues, “In this manner, the bridge 112 connects the stations 122 and 124 to the external wireless network associated with AP 102, with the bridge 112 as an intermediate network node” (column 8, lines 18-21). HUANG notes, “As described above and in the rest of this disclosure, the larger wireless network in which various stations and the bridges are present is referred to as the external wireless network, and a base station in the external wireless network is referred to as an external access point (Ext-AP). For example, the wireless network in which AP 102 is the access point is the external wireless network in the system 100, and AP 102 is the Ext-AP” (column 8, lines 22-29). HUANG explains, “A network device in the system 100 is configured with one or more profiles, where a profile specifies the SSID of a wireless network to which the network device can connect. The profile also includes a password for the wireless network, if such a password is configured at the access point of the network. In some implementations, each network device in the system 100 is configured with two or more profiles. One of the profiles specifies the SSID and password of the external wireless network. One or more of the other profiles specifies the SSID and password associated with an internal wireless network of a bridge. For example, as shown, the network device 122 is configured with two profiles, Profile 1 and Profile 2. Profile 1 specifies SSID_XYZ and PWD_XYZ, which correspond to the SSID and password respectively of the external wireless network. Profile 2 specifies SSID_XYZ_IOT and PWD_XYZ_IOT, which correspond to the SSID and password respectively of an internal wireless network formed by a bridge (e.g., bridge 112 or 132)” (column 9, lines 59-67; column 10, lines 1-10). HUANG indicates the network device is enabled to operate as a bridge node. HUANG identifies the network devices as stations in the wireless network. HUANG states the bride connects the stations to the external wireless network associated with the AP that HUANG identifies as an external access point. HUANG informs the reader the network device is configured with one or more profiles, where the profile includes information about the wireless network such as passwords and SSID.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI to include aspects described by HUANG that “The present disclosure describes devices, systems and techniques for a wireless network bridge to find the best link to connect network devices to a wireless network." HUANG provides the motivation for modification stating, “The techniques described herein for updating the network connections can be used to find the best route from a bridge to the external AP. These techniques, which are referred to as 'auto link.' are utilized by bridge devices to find the best upstream nodes, link to each other automatically and construct an optimized network connecting bridge devices to the external AP. A bridge device can use the auto link techniques to configure and reconfigure network paths automatically during run time, either through periodic scans or upon detection of changes in existing network paths” (column 5, lines 27-36).
NEGISHI and HUANG fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “a second reception unit configured to receive a first trigger frame including information about execution of carrier sensing, from the external access point connected based on the information about the external access point received by the first reception unit, the first trigger frame complying with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard;”, “a first transmission unit configured to transmit, in a case where the first trigger frame includes information indicating execution of carrier sensing, data after executing carrier sensing;”, and “and a control unit configured to perform, in a state where the communication apparatus operates as a master station determining a communication channel used in wireless communication of the second mode while the first mode and the second mode are enabled, control not to transmit information requesting execution of carrier sensing, to a slave station apparatus connected to the master station.”
However, in analogous art, CHOI teaches a second reception unit configured to receive a first trigger frame including information about execution of carrier sensing, from the external access point connected based on the information about the external access point received by the first reception unit, the first trigger frame complying with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard;
CHOI writes, “A method of performing uplink transmission, which is performed by an STA (station) in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving a trigger frame from an AP (Access Point) including an indication field indicating whether a carrier sensing is required...” (claim 1). CHOI adds, “FIG. 1 is a diagram for an example of a structure of IEEE 802.11 system to which the present invention is applicable...” (paragraph 0020). CHOI indicates the station receives a trigger frame from the AP, which includes an indication field that indicates whether carrier sensing is required. CHOI also indicates that the present invention is an example of a structure of IEEE 802.11 system.
a first transmission unit configured to transmit, in a case where the first trigger frame includes information indicating execution of carrier sensing, data after executing carrier sensing;
CHOI writes, “A method of performing uplink transmission, which is performed by an STA (station) in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving a trigger frame from an AP (Access Point) including an indication field indicating whether a carrier sensing is required...” (claim 1). CHOI adds, “Specifically, STA C may determine that a medium is in an idle state when performing carrier sensing before transmitting data to STA B...” (paragraph 0105). CHOI indicates the station receives a trigger frame from the AP, which includes an indication field that indicates whether carrier sensing is required. CHOI explains that one station may determine a medium is an in idle state when performing carrier sensing before transmitting data.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI and HUANG to include aspects described by CHOI that “relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method of performing uplink transmission after a trigger frame is received in a wireless LAN system and an apparatus therefor.” CHOI provides the motivation for modification stating, “According to embodiments of the present invention, it is able to more efficiently perform uplink transmission in consideration of such a situation as a blackout and transmission of a trigger frame” (paragraph 0017).
NEGISHI, HUANG, and CHOI fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “and a control unit configured to perform, in a state where the communication apparatus operates as a master station determining a communication channel used in wireless communication of the second mode while the first mode and the second mode are enabled, control not to transmit information requesting execution of carrier sensing, to a slave station apparatus connected to the master station.”
However, in analogous art, FUJIWARA teaches and a control unit configured to perform, in a state where the communication apparatus operates as a master station determining a communication channel used in wireless communication of the second mode while the first mode and the second mode are enabled, control not to transmit information requesting execution of carrier sensing, to a slave station apparatus connected to the master station.
FUJIWARA writes, “The scanner 100 operates as a Group Owner (hereinafter referred to as a “G/O”) of the WFD system, and forms, when establishing the WFD connection with the terminal apparatus 10, the WFD network in which the scanner 100 operates as a master device and the terminal apparatus 10 operates as a slave device” (paragraph 0022). FUJIWARA adds, “...when executed, the terminal apparatus to perform operations comprising: a mode shifting operation of, when a particular operation is performed on the terminal apparatus in a state where an operation mode of the terminal apparatus is a first mode, shifting the operation mode from the first mode to a second mode; wherein the acquiring operation comprises: acquiring the target communication information in response to the target signal being transmitted from the target scanner and the target signal is received in a state where the terminal apparatus operates in the second mode...” (claim 3). FUJIWARA indicates the scanner operates as a master device and the terminal apparatus operates as a slave. FUJIWARA states the terminal apparatus performs operations in a first mode and can be shifted into a second mode. Thereby, indicating that a first mode and a second mode are enabled. Further, the second mode is an acquiring mode wherein information can be acquired, hence the first mode indicates a mode in which information cannot be acquired.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, and CHOI to include aspects described by FUJIWARA that “relates to a terminal apparatus, a scanner, and a storage medium storing a computer program.” FUJIWARA provides the motivation for modification stating, “In particular, as compared with the conventional first and second methods described above, the convenience of the user is enhanced” (paragraph 0073).
Regarding claim 2, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
Additionally, CHOI teaches wherein, in the state where the communication apparatus operates as the master station configured to determine the communication channel used in wireless communication of the second mode while the first mode and the second mode are enabled, the control unit performs control to transmit a second trigger frame including information indicating inexecution of carrier sensing, to the slave station apparatus connected to the master station, the second trigger frame complying with the IEEE802.11 standard.
CHOI writes, “A method of performing uplink transmission, which is performed by an STA (station) in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving a trigger frame from an AP (Access Point) including an indication field indicating whether a carrier sensing is required; and considering both a result of CCA (Clear Channel Assessment) and NAV(Network Allocation Vector) when the indication field indicates that the carrier sensing is required, and performing uplink transmission when a result of the considering both the result of CCA and the NAV is IDLE or the indication field indicates that the carrier sensing is not required” (claim 1).
Regarding claim 3, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
Additionally, NEGISHI teaches further comprising a printer which performs print processing on a sheet based on print data received from the slave station apparatus.
NEGISHI writes, “In case the relay device 2 is implemented by the relay device 2a that is the MFP, the specialized device 220 includes various devices related to image processing to cause the MFP to perform the functions of printing, scanning, copying, and facsimile transmission/reception, under control of the CPU 201” (paragraph 0038; figure 3).
Regarding claim 5, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 2,
Additionally, CHOI teaches wherein the second trigger frame includes the information indicating inexecution of the carrier sensing, and information about allocation of one or a plurality of resource units.
CHOI writes, “A method of performing uplink transmission, which is performed by an STA (station) in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving a trigger frame from an AP (Access Point) including an indication field indicating whether a carrier sensing is required; and considering both a result of CCA (Clear Channel Assessment) and NAV(Network Allocation Vector) when the indication field indicates that the carrier sensing is required, and performing uplink transmission when a result of the considering both the result of CCA and the NAV is IDLE or the indication field indicates that the carrier sensing is not required” (claim 1). CHOI adds, “An AP transmits a TIM beacon frame. The TIM beacon frame can include information necessary for STAs performing MU transmission to receive a trigger frame (e.g., resource allocation, start offset, trigger frame transmission timing, etc.)” (paragraph 0169).
Claims 12 and 13 are method and memory claims corresponding to the apparatus claim 1 that has already been rejected above. The applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LI et al. (US 20220123881 A1, hereinafter, "LI").
Regarding claim 4, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
Additionally, NEGISHI teaches further comprising a scanner which scans documents and acquires scan data,
NEGISHI writes, “In case the relay device 2 is implemented by the relay device 2a that is the MFP, the specialized device 220 includes various devices related to image processing to cause the MFP to perform the functions of printing, scanning, copying, and facsimile transmission/reception, under control of the CPU 201” (paragraph 0038; figure 3).
Additionally, CHOI teaches the first transmission unit transmits the scan data by using one or a plurality of resource units allocated to the communication apparatus by the first trigger frame.
CHOI writes, “A method of performing uplink transmission, which is performed by an STA (station) in a wireless communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving a trigger frame from an AP (Access Point) including an indication field indicating whether a carrier sensing is required...” (claim 1). CHOI adds, “Specifically, STA C may determine that a medium is in an idle state when performing carrier sensing before transmitting data to STA B...” (paragraph 0105).
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein, in a case where the carrier sensing is executed and it is determined that sensed energy is less than a threshold,”
However, in analogous art, LI teaches wherein, in a case where the carrier sensing is executed and it is determined that sensed energy is less than a threshold,
LI writes, “Physical carrier sensing is achieved by sensing energy on a channel and a signal of a WLAN radio frame. When received energy or strength of a received WLAN radio frame is less than a threshold, the physical carrier sensing is idle; otherwise, the physical carrier sensing is busy” (paragraph 0072).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by LI that “relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a cooperative communication method, apparatus, and system.” LI provides the motivation for modification stating, “First, each station in a conventional wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) network obtains the usage right of a channel through channel contention, such as enhanced distributed channel access (enhanced distributed channel access, EDCA), and then sends data of the station, without coordinating a station in an adjacent BSS for concurrent transmission. Such a method is relatively simple but inefficient. Concurrent transmission implemented through cooperation between two or more stations in adjacent BSSs can improve system efficiency” (paragraph 0062).
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA as applied to claim 1-2 above, and further in view of SOTEK et al. (US 6209022 B1, hereinafter, "SOTEK").
Regarding claim 6, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 2,
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein a maximum number of apparatuses to which resource units designated by the second trigger frame are allocated is equal to a maximum number of slave station apparatuses maintainable in wireless communication of the second mode in parallel.”
However, in analogous art, SOTEK teaches wherein a maximum number of apparatuses to which resource units designated by the second trigger frame are allocated is equal to a maximum number of slave station apparatuses maintainable in wireless communication of the second mode in parallel.
SOTEK writes, “...in order to carry out the first operating mode--the identification of the slave stations S by the master station--the first output circuits OC are provided as open-drain output circuits, there arises the favorable possibility of connecting all the slave stations S in parallel, as is necessary for the identification according to the invention” (column 6, lines 20-26). SOTEK adds, “...in a communications system there will always be a limited number of subscribers, so that individual addressing of all the slave stations S is possible even with a small number of bits” (column 5, line67; column 6, lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by SOTEK that “relates to a communications system which has at least one slave station controlled by a master station.” SOTEK provides the motivation for modification stating, “It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a communications system with a master unit and at least one slave unit controlled by the master unit, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type in which, on the one hand, it is possible to connect any desired number of slave stations whose addresses and whose number are not known beforehand to the master station controlling them, and in which, on the other hand, the maximum data rate is improved in comparison with that of the I.sup.2 C bus” (column 1, lines 46-55).
Regarding claim 7, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein the communication apparatus operating as the master station maintains wireless connection of the second mode with a predetermined number or less of slave station apparatuses in parallel.”
However, in analogous art, SOTEK teaches wherein the communication apparatus operating as the master station maintains wireless connection of the second mode with a predetermined number or less of slave station apparatuses in parallel.
SOTEK writes, “...in order to carry out the first operating mode--the identification of the slave stations S by the master station--the first output circuits OC are provided as open-drain output circuits, there arises the favorable possibility of connecting all the slave stations S in parallel, as is necessary for the identification according to the invention” (column 6, lines 20-26). SOTEK adds, “...in a communications system there will always be a limited number of subscribers, so that individual addressing of all the slave stations S is possible even with a small number of bits” (column 5, line67; column 6, lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by SOTEK that “relates to a communications system which has at least one slave station controlled by a master station.” SOTEK provides the motivation for modification stating, “It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a communications system with a master unit and at least one slave unit controlled by the master unit, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type in which, on the one hand, it is possible to connect any desired number of slave stations whose addresses and whose number are not known beforehand to the master station controlling them, and in which, on the other hand, the maximum data rate is improved in comparison with that of the I.sup.2 C bus” (column 1, lines 46-55).
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of PERDOMO (US 20150264627 A1, hereinafter, "PERDOMO").
Regarding claim 8, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein wireless communication of the first mode and wireless communication of the second mode are performed through a same communication channel.”
However, in analogous art, PERDOMO teaches wherein wireless communication of the first mode and wireless communication of the second mode are performed through a same communication channel.
PERDOMO writes, “... a communication port configured to receive first digital data and transmission targeting information in a first mode of operation, to transmit second digital data in a second mode of operation... a digital radio frequency communication system configured to wirelessly transmit messages comprising the first digital data addressed based on the targeting information in the first mode of operation... transmit the first digital data addressed based on the targeting information over a first data communication channel...receive the second digital data over a second data communication channel...wherein the first and second data communication channels may be the same or different...” (paragraph 0105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by PERDOMO that “related to systems and methods for communication between computing devices. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to automatic data communications through narrowband channels especially as an alternate to cellular infrastructure or communications in the 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical bands.” PERDOMO provides the motivation for modification stating, “Communications on the control channel and/or the data communication channel may comprise packetized digital data having a predetermined maximum length. The message and/or packetized digital data may comprise at least one error detection code or an error detection and correction code. The protocol may further comprise analyzing of a received packet for presence of errors at least in dependence on the at least one error detection code, sending a request for retransmission of the packetized digital data if the packetized digital data is not successfully received, and upon receipt of the request for retransmission, retransmitting the packetized digital data. The protocol may further comprise counting a number of transmissions of a packet of packetized digital data, and in dependence on the number, switching to a different data communication channel and/or changing at least one parameter of the radio frequency transceiver to improve data communication reliability. In case of a high reliability with a low number of errors, the protocol may adapt at least one parameter of the radio frequency transceiver to improve a data communication speed or efficiency” (paragraph 0078).
Regarding claim 9, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein wireless communication of the first mode and wireless communication of the second mode are performed through different communication channels.”
However, in analogous art, PERDOMO teaches wherein wireless communication of the first mode and wireless communication of the second mode are performed through different communication channels.
PERDOMO writes, “... a communication port configured to receive first digital data and transmission targeting information in a first mode of operation, to transmit second digital data in a second mode of operation... a digital radio frequency communication system configured to wirelessly transmit messages comprising the first digital data addressed based on the targeting information in the first mode of operation... transmit the first digital data addressed based on the targeting information over a first data communication channel...receive the second digital data over a second data communication channel...wherein the first and second data communication channels may be the same or different...” (paragraph 0105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by PERDOMO that “related to systems and methods for communication between computing devices. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to automatic data communications through narrowband channels especially as an alternate to cellular infrastructure or communications in the 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical bands.” PERDOMO provides the motivation for modification stating, “Communications on the control channel and/or the data communication channel may comprise packetized digital data having a predetermined maximum length. The message and/or packetized digital data may comprise at least one error detection code or an error detection and correction code. The protocol may further comprise analyzing of a received packet for presence of errors at least in dependence on the at least one error detection code, sending a request for retransmission of the packetized digital data if the packetized digital data is not successfully received, and upon receipt of the request for retransmission, retransmitting the packetized digital data. The protocol may further comprise counting a number of transmissions of a packet of packetized digital data, and in dependence on the number, switching to a different data communication channel and/or changing at least one parameter of the radio frequency transceiver to improve data communication reliability. In case of a high reliability with a low number of errors, the protocol may adapt at least one parameter of the radio frequency transceiver to improve a data communication speed or efficiency” (paragraph 0078).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KISHIDA et al. (US 20250193775 A1, hereinafter, "KISHIDA").
Regarding claim 10, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein the communication apparatus performs wireless communication using a frequency band selected from among 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz.”
However, in analogous art, KISHIDA teaches wherein the communication apparatus performs wireless communication using a frequency band selected from among 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz.
KISHIDA writes, ““Frequency band” indicates a frequency band used for the link. In the present example, the 6 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, and the 2.4 GHz band are allocated to STA1, STA2, and STA3, respectively” (paragraph 0167).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by KISHIDA that “relate to a base station and a wireless terminal apparatus.” KISHIDA provides the motivation for modification stating, “The base station of the embodiment can curb a delay of data transmitted on the uplink” (paragraph 0006).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of WANG et al. (US 20180302930 A1, hereinafter, "WANG").
Regarding claim 11, NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA teach the communication apparatus according to claim 1,
NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein the second reception unit receives the first trigger frame complying with an IEEE802.11ax standard, and wherein the first transmission unit transmits the second trigger frame complying with the IEEE802.11ax standard.”
However, in analogous art, WANG teaches wherein the second reception unit receives the first trigger frame complying with an IEEE802.11ax standard, and wherein the first transmission unit transmits the second trigger frame complying with the IEEE802.11ax standard.
WANG writes, “A Trigger Frame may be provided (e.g., in 802.11ax). The Trigger Frame may be sent by an AP. The Trigger Frame may synchronize and/or schedule upcoming concurrent UL MU transmissions. An UL MU Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) (e.g., MU-MIMO or OFDMA) may be sent as a response (e.g., an immediate response) to a Trigger Frame sent by an AP” (paragraph 0063).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method and invention of NEGISHI, HUANG, CHOI, and FUJIWARA to include aspects described by WANG include “Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are disclosed for concurrent link setup and downlink data retrieval, e.g., for high efficiency WLAN.” WANG provides the motivation for modification stating, “MU features, such as uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and UL and DL MU-MIMO, may be implemented in 802.11ax. OFDMA may exploit channel selectivity, for example, to improve or maximize frequency selective multiplexing gain in dense network conditions. A mechanism may be designed and defined for feedback, for example, to enable fast link adaptation, frequency selective scheduling and resource unit based feedback” (paragraph 0061).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A REYES whose telephone number is (703)756-4558. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 - 5:00 EDT.
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/Christopher A. Reyes/Examiner, Art Unit 2475 12/1/2025
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475