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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-11, filed 05/02/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 20 under 35 U.S.C. section 112 (a) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-11, filed 05/02/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3, 7, 8, 12-15, 17, 18, and 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. section 102(a)(1) and /or (a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20230319884-A1 to Ko.
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 (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 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7, 8, 12-16, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-12604341-B2 to Chu et al., from hereon Chu in view of US-20230319884-A1 to Ko et al., from hereon Ko.
Regarding claim 1 Chu teaches... a device comprising: a controller configured to select a plurality of backoff channels of a plurality of subchannels of a Basic Service Set (BSS) operating channel (Col 6, Lns. 14-30 ); and a wireless transceiver configured to announce to a second device the backoff channels of the subchannels of the BSS operating channel for use in communicating between the device and the second device (Fig. 2, Col. 8, Lns. 7-20, and Col. 8, Lns. 34-45 discloses… a STA/AP can announce one or more backoff procedure capabilities. One capability that can be announced is that a backoff procedure (sometimes referred to herein simply as “backoff”) is performed in one backoff 20 MHz channel. Another capability that can be announced is that backoff is simultaneously performed in multiple backoff 20 MHz channels where each backoff channel is in one of the subchannels of the BSS operating channel. Another capability that can be announced is that only one of the multiple backoff channels where each backoff channel is in one subchannel of the BSS operating channel, can be used for backoff at any time ), wherein the subchannels include a primary subchannel and at least one non-primary subchannel.
Ko teaches… and a wireless transceiver configured to announce to a second device the backoff channels of the subchannels of the BSS operating channel for use in communicating between the device and the second device (P. ), wherein the subchannels include a primary subchannel and at least one non-primary subchannel (P.240 discloses… There may be two or more channels that are not the 20 MHz-primary channel and in which the station may perform a backoff procedure. For example, in the case that the station operates in an 80 MHz channel, the station may perform channel access based on the backoff procedure performed in three 20 MHz subchannels. The number of subchannels that are not the 20 MHz-primary channel and in which the station is capable of performing a backoff procedure may be determined based on the capability of the station. According to another detailed embodiment, the number of subchannels that are not the 20 MHz-primary channel and in which the station is capable of performing a backoff procedure may a predetermined number. In this instance, the predetermined number may be 1 or 2 ).
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 combination of Chu by incorporating the teachings of Ko because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration so that the plurality of station may concurrently receive the transmission from the access point and perform spatial reuse operation (Ko, abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 2 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the controller is further configured to decide whether the device and the second device have medium synchronization information (Col. 11, Lns. 47-58 discloses… 41) In an embodiment, the multi-link communications system 100 is configured to manage medium synchronization under secondary channel access. With secondary channel access being used, for some scenarios, both AP and the associated STAs may lose medium synchronization in a subchannel. In this case, a 80 MHz TXOP period in a 80 MHz subchannel (subchannel 1) as an example does not cover another 80 MHz subchannel (subchannel 2) from the beginning until the end of the TXOP period, both the TXOP holder and the TXOP responder(s) lose the medium synchronization in the subchannel 2 since both sides transmits PPDUs that are longer than the predefined threshold of losing medium synchronization).
Regarding claim 3 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Ko teaches…wherein the backoff channels comprise a plurality of 20 Megahertz (MHz) backoff channels (P.240).
Regarding claim 4 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 3, Ko teaches…wherein the subchannels comprise a plurality of 80MHz subchannels or 160MHz subchannels (P.267 ), and wherein the BSS operating channel comprises a 160MHz BSS operating channel or a 320MHz BSS operating channel (P. 267).
Regarding claim 7 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to perform backoff through one of the backoff channels when the primary subchannel is busy because of a neighbor BSS's transmission opportunity (TXOP) (Col. 12, Lns. 54-65).
Regarding claim 8 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to announce in a management frame whether backoff on a non-primary subchannel is allowed in a BSS (Col. 15 and 16, Lns. 59-5).
Regarding claim 12 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to announce using a management frame, wherein the management frame is one of a Beacon Frame (Col 16, Lns. 10-15), a Probe Response Frame, and an Association Response Frame.
Regarding claim 13 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to send a message to the second device to park in a non-primary subchannel that includes a backoff channel (Col. 9, Lns 5-20).
Regarding claim 14 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a wireless access point (AP), and wherein the second device comprises a non-AP station (STA) device (Col. 7, Lns. 30-45).
Regarding claim 15 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the device is compatible with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocol (Col. 46-60).
Regarding claim 16 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, Chu teaches…wherein the device is a component of a multi-link device (MILD) (Col. 5, Lns. 33-44).
Regarding claim 17 Chu teaches…a wireless access point (AP) comprising: a controller configured to select a plurality of 20 Megahertz (MHz) backoff channels of a plurality of subchannels of a Basic Service Set (BSS) operating channel(Col 6, Lns. 14-30 ); and a wireless transceiver configured to announce to a non-AP station (STA) device the backoff channels of the subchannels of the BSS operating channel for use in communicating between the wireless AP and the non-AP STA device(Fig. 2, Col. 8, Lns. 7-20, and Col. 8, Lns. 34-45 discloses… a STA/AP can announce one or more backoff procedure capabilities. One capability that can be announced is that a backoff procedure (sometimes referred to herein simply as “backoff”) is performed in one backoff 20 MHz channel. Another capability that can be announced is that backoff is simultaneously performed in multiple backoff 20 MHz channels where each backoff channel is in one of the subchannels of the BSS operating channel. Another capability that can be announced is that only one of the multiple backoff channels where each backoff channel is in one subchannel of the BSS operating channel, can be used for backoff at any time ), but does not teach…wherein the subchannels include a primary subchannel and at least one non-primary subchannel.
Ko teaches… wherein the subchannels include a primary subchannel and at least one non-primary subchannel (P.240 discloses… There may be two or more channels that are not the 20 MHz-primary channel and in which the station may perform a backoff procedure. For example, in the case that the station operates in an 80 MHz channel, the station may perform channel access based on the backoff procedure performed in three 20 MHz subchannels. The number of subchannels that are not the 20 MHz-primary channel and in which the station is capable of performing a backoff procedure may be determined based on the capability of the station. According to another detailed embodiment, the number of subchannels that are not the 20 MHz-primary channel and in which the station is capable of performing a backoff procedure may a predetermined number. In this instance, the predetermined number may be 1 or 2 ).
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 combination of Chu by incorporating the teachings of Ko because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration so that the plurality of station may concurrently receive the transmission from the access point and perform spatial reuse operation (Ko, abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 18 Chu and Ko teach the wireless AP of claim 17, Chu teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to perform backoff through one of the backoff channels when the primary subchannel is busy because of a neighbor BSS's transmission opportunity (TXOP) (Col. 12, Lns. 54-65).
Claim(s) 9-11 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-12604341-B2 to Chu et al., from hereon Chu and US-20230319884-A1 to Ko et al., from hereon Ko in view of US-20140301294-A1 to Kwon et al., from hereon Kwon.
Regarding claim 9 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, but do not teach…wherein the controller is further configured to allocate different priorities to the subchannels of the BSS operating channel.
Kwon teaches… wherein the controller is further configured to allocate different priorities to the subchannels of the BSS operating channel(P. 7 and P. 36, discloses… the configuration to allocate different priorities the subchannels a subchannel having a top priority among subchannels excluding a subchannel used for the FST. Two STAs may exclude, from the list, a subchannel including interference caused by an overlapping BSS (OBSS). Alternatively, the link setter 230 may include, in the list, a subchannel including interference caused by the OBSS and in this instance, may assign a relatively low priority to the subchannel).
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 combination of Chu and Ko by incorporating the teachings of Kwon because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration that includes setting priorities for subchannels and follow set priorities for operation (Kwon, P. 7). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 10 Chu, Ko, and Kwon teach the device of claim 9, Kwon teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to announce the different priorities of the subchannels of the BSS operating channel(P. 36… a subchannel having a top priority among subchannels excluding a subchannel used for the FST. Two STAs may exclude, from the list, a subchannel including interference caused by an overlapping BSS (OBSS). Alternatively, the link setter 230 may include, in the list, a subchannel including interference caused by the OBSS and in this instance, may assign a relatively low priority to the subchannel).
Regarding claim 11 Chu, Ko, and Kwon teach the device of claim 9, Ko teaches…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to start a transmit opportunity for data unit exchanges with the second device after a backoff counter reaches zero(P. 237 discloses the setting and counting down of the timer… a backoff counter may be reduced by a predetermined number and the backoff procedure may be started. In this instance, the predetermined number may be determined based on the time spent in decoding the preamble of the PPDU. Furthermore, P. 241 discloses… station may separately set and manage a backoff counter used for the 20 MHz-primary channel and a backoff counter used for a subchannel that is not the 20 MHz-primary channel. Specifically, the station may change a backoff counter for each channel according to a channel access result for each channel. That is, in the case that the station successfully performs transmission in a channel, the station may obtain a new backoff counter for the corresponding channel within CW min for the backoff counter for the corresponding channel.)..
Regarding claim 19. Chu and Ko teach the wireless AP of claim 18, but do not teach…wherein the controller is further configured to allocate different priorities to the subchannels of the BSS operating channel.
Kwon teaches… wherein the controller is further configured to allocate different priorities to the subchannels of the BSS operating channel(P. 7 and P. 36, discloses… the configuration to allocate different priorities the subchannels a subchannel having a top priority among subchannels excluding a subchannel used for the FST. Two STAs may exclude, from the list, a subchannel including interference caused by an overlapping BSS (OBSS). Alternatively, the link setter 230 may include, in the list, a subchannel including interference caused by the OBSS and in this instance, may assign a relatively low priority to the subchannel).
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 combination of Chu and Ko by incorporating the teachings of Kwon because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration that includes setting priorities for subchannels and follow set priorities for operation (Kwon, P. 7). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-12604341-B2 to Chu et al., from hereon Chu and US-20230319884-A1 to Ko et al., from hereon Ko in view of US-20190239226-A1 to Chu et al, from hereon Chu-226.
Regarding claim 5 Chu and Ko teach the device of claim 1, but do not teach…wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to transmit a data unit to the second device in a backoff channel of the non-primary subchannel.
Chu-226 teaches… wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to transmit a data unit to the second device in a backoff channel of the non-primary subchannel(P. 76 discloses…the configuration and transmission on a non-primary subchannel … and to perform CCA/backoff operations 708-2, 708-3, 708-4 corresponding, respectively, to the non-primary channels 704-2, 704-3 and 704-4, in an embodiment).
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 combination of Chu and Ko by incorporating the teachings of Chu-226 because the method and device allow for various modes of support for various channels up to a maximum bandwidth for each device and sends information corresponding that gets received or discarded if the second device cannot support such capacity via primary or non-primary channels (Chu-226, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 21 is allowed and Claim 6 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: claim 6 is objected as it the main reason for allowance of claim 21 and objection of claim 6 is the inclusion of “wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to announce a backoff channel of a subchannel covered by a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) as a dummy primary channel for resource unit (RU) coding to the second device when a bandwidth (BW) of a PPDU transmitted between the device and the second device is wider than a BW of a subchannel of the BSS operating channel” and “wherein the subchannels include a primary subchannel and at least one non-primary subchannel; wherein the wireless transceiver is further configured to announce a backoff channel of a subchannel covered by a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) as a dummy primary channel for resource unit (RU) coding to the second device when a bandwidth (BW) of a PPDU transmitted between the device and the second device is wider than a BW of a subchannel of the BSS operating channel” as the prior art of record in stand-alone form nor in combination read into the amended claims as supported by the specification . Furthermore, the prior art of record such as US-20240365383-A1 to Chu, US-20170338935-A1 to Ahn, US-11751191-B2 to Chu, and US-12500659-B1 to Rofougaran disclose the configuration and announcement of operation of backoff channels transmitted between access point whether in aggregate or non-aggregate operation but are silent on the concept of a primary channel.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO form PTO – 982: US-20240365383-A1 to Chu, US-20170338935-A1 to Ahn, US-11751191-B2 to Chu, and US-12500659-B1 to Rofougaran.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOUIS SAMARA whose telephone number is (408)918-7582. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6-3 PT.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2476
/AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights