DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy MEXICO 2022/016137 has been filed on 12/14/2022. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. However, examiner notes that the certified copies lack a certified English translation.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Drawings
3. New corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in this application because Fig 2. - Elements (201), (202), and (203) are in Spanish which do not match the elements that mentioned in the Specification. Similarly, Fig. 3 – “Otras STAs” is in Spanish which do not match with the element(s) mentioned in the Specification.
Applicant is advised to employ the services of a competent patent draftsperson outside the Office, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office no longer prepares new drawings. The corrected drawings are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The requirement for corrected drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
4. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Equations 2-3 and Tables 1-2 are in Spanish which do match the description mentioned in the Specification.
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required:
The abbreviations SIFS and DIFS are not clearly define in the specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
5. Claims 1-7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 “at the 802.11. medium access control layer” should read “at an 802.11. medium access control layer (MAC)” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 1 “multiple packet reception capability” should read “multiple packet reception (MPR) capability”
Claim 1 “initiating a DIFS period” should read “initiating a distributed interframe space (DIFS) period”
Claim 1 “when the communication channel is free” should read “when a communication channel is free” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 1 “since the last ACK packet transmitted” should read “since a last acknowledgment (ACK) packet transmitted” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 1 “after a SIFS period” should read “after a short interframe space (SIFS) period”
Claim 1 “transmitted a CTS packet” should read “transmitted a clear to send (CTS) packet”
Claim 1 “having received RTS packets” should read “having received a plurality of request to send (RTS) packets” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 1 “via an STA during the contention period” should read “via a station (STA) during the contention period”
Claim 2 “wherein the transmission period starts” should read “wherein a transmission period starts” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 2 “transmitting node of DATA packets” should read “transmitting node of a plurality of DATA packets” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 3 “wherein the STAs that successfully receive an RTS” should read “wherein the STA that successfully receive an RTS”
Claim 3 “an estimate of the time that the channel will be allocated for transmission of DATA packets by means of the mechanism known as a network allocation vector” should read “an estimate of a time that the communication channel will be allocated for transmission of the plurality of DATA packets by means of a mechanism known as a network allocation vector (NAV)” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 4 “wherein the CTS and ACK packets, their formats are varied by increasing the number of receiver address fields” should read “wherein a format of the CTS and the ACK packets are varied by increasing a number of receiver address (RA) fields” to address the antecedent basis
Claim 5 “after successfully receiving some RTS packets” should read “after successfully receiving a plurality of RTS packets”
Claim 6 “wherein the CTS packets have a second function, which is as NACK for STAs that already sent DATA packets” should read “wherein the CTS packet have a second function, which is considered as a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the STA that already sent the DATA packet”
Claim 7 has similar objections as claim 1, therefore the same objections are applied.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
6. Regarding claim 1:
The broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) of “a DIFS period” recited in Claim 1 as “a distributed interframe space period” according to Bhargava et al. (US-20130201857-A1, hereinafter BHARGAVA) in the specification (BHARGAVA [0089] Random access networks, such as 802.11, use different inter-frame spacings (IFSs) to facilitate MAC protocol design… An even longer distributed IFS (DIFS) duration separates previously transmitted frames from subsequent data frames).
The BRI of “a SIFS period” recited in Claim 1 as “a short interframe space period” according to BHARGAVA in the specification (BHARGAVA [0089] Random access networks, such as 802.11, use different inter-frame spacings (IFSs) to facilitate MAC protocol design… For example, a short IFS (SIFS) duration separates RTS, CTS, DATA, and ACK frames).
Claim 7 contains similar terms to claim 1. Therefore, for the purpose of examination, the claim 7 will be interpreted similarly to claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
7a. Claims 1, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “it initiates a contention period” is indefinite. It unclear whether “it” refers to “the transmitting node”, “the communication channel” or “the last ACK packet” recited in Claim 1. For the purpose of examination, “it” is being interpreted as referring to “the transmitting node”.
Claim 5 recites “when transmits the CTS packet” is infinite. It is unclear whether “the CTS packet” refers to “to transmit a CTS packet after successfully” in claim 5 or “a CTS packet by the transmitting node” in claim 1. For the purpose of examination, “to transmit a CTS packet after successfully” in claim 5 will be interpreted as “to transmit the CTS packet after successfully” in claim 5 so that “when transmits the CTS packet” is no longer ambiguous.
Claim 7 is indefinite because it lacks the antecedent basis similarly to claim 1. Therefore, for the purpose of examination, the claim will be interpreted similarly to claim 1.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
7b. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 3 recites “wherein the STAs that successfully receive an RTS or CTS packet may have an estimate of the time… vector” is optional and does not limit the claim. Therefore, claim 3 will be interpreted as “wherein the STAs that successfully receive an RTS or CTS packet.”.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
8. Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by V. Sandoval-Curmina et al., "Multi-round transmission protocol with multipacket reception for multirate IEEE802.11 WLANs," MILCOM 2015 - 2015 IEEE Military Communications Conference, Tampa, FL, USA, 2015, pp. 79-84 (hereinafter CURMINA).
Regarding claim 1, CURMINA discloses:
A method for performing a protocol at the 802.11. medium access control layer for leveraging multiple packet reception capability ([Page 79 – Abstract] - this paper, it is proposed a multi-round transmission (MRT) method for exploiting the MPR capability in the uplink channel over 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs). The proposed method schedules the access to the channel through multiple rounds during the transmission period. Analytical performance is provided and verified with simulations; [Page 79 – I. Introduction, Col 1 - Para 1] Since its standardization in 1999, the 802.11 protocol uses carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) in the medium access control (MAC) layer and it is one of the most used random access protocols in wireless local area networks (WLANs)) based on multiple transmission and contention rounds ([Page 79 – Abstract] MRT; Page 81 - Fig 1 – Operating example of the multi-round transmission protocol for IEEE 802.11 WLAN, contention round 1,…contention round NC… transmission round 1,… transmission round NT), wherein said method is implemented in a wireless communication system (WLAN is a type of wireless communication system), the method characterized in that it
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comprises the steps of:
a) initiating a DIFS period (Fig. 1 – DIFs before contention round 1) by a transmitting node ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 4] After the AP receives the data packets of the last transmission round, it sends an ACK packet to indicate to all stations that the transmission period has finished and a new renew interval is beginning; (DIFs is initiated and the contention round 1 starts after the AP sends an ACK packet to end the last transmission round, see Fig. 1)), so that when the communication channel is free (Fig. 1 – idle slot before contention round 1) since the last ACK packet transmitted (Fig. 1 – ACK before contention round 1), it initiates a contention period (Fig. 1 – Contention period; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 4] After the AP receives the data packets of the last transmission round, it sends an ACK packet to indicate to all stations that the transmission period has finished and a new renew interval is beginning; (contention period is initiated and the contention round 1 starts after the AP sends an ACK packet, see Fig. 1));
b) stopping the contention period initiated by the transmitting node, after a SIFS (Fig. 1 – SIFs after CTS in contention period) period of having transmitted a CTS packet (Fig. 1 – CTS in contention period) by the transmitting node in response to having received RTS packets (Fig. 1 – RTS 1- RTS N; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2] the AP decides to continue the contention rounds, then it keeps silent. Therefore, other stations will continue to count down after sensing the channel idle for a DIFS time and transmit their RTS packets when their backoff timers reach zero… Otherwise, if the AP decides to stop the contentions rounds, then it sends a CTS packet after a SIFS time. When the CTS packet is received, all stations know that the contention period is finished and only the stations selected by the CTS packet begin the transmission period sending their data packets after a SIFS time); and
c) sending an RTS packet, via an STA during the contention period (Fig. 1 – RTS 1- RTS N; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2] the AP decides to continue the contention rounds, then it keeps silent. Therefore, other stations will continue to count down after sensing the channel idle for a DIFS time and transmit their RTS packets when their backoff timers reach zero… Otherwise, if the AP decides to stop the contentions rounds, then it sends a CTS packet after a SIFS time), where the STA has a DATA packet to transmit ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 1] Each station with data packet to transmit contends for the channel through transmitting RTS packet when its backoff timer reaches zero);
Regarding claim 2, CURMINA further discloses the method according to claim 1.
wherein the transmission period (Fig. 1 – Transmission Period) starts with the first transmission of the transmitting node of DATA packets (Fig. 1 – DATA 1) and ends after a DIFS period that the transmitting node transmitted an ACK packet (Fig. 1 – DIFS after ACK in transmission period; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2-4] When the CTS packet is received, all stations know that the contention period is finished and only the stations selected by the CTS packet begin the transmission period sending their data packets after a SIFS time; After the AP receives the data packets of the last transmission round, it sends an ACK packet to indicate to all stations that the transmission period has finished and a new renew interval is beginning).
Regarding claim 3, CURMINA further discloses the method according to claim 2.
wherein the STAs that successfully receive an RTS or CTS packet ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2-4] When the CTS packet is received, all stations know that the contention period is finished and only the stations selected by the CTS packet begin the transmission period sending their data packets after a SIFS time) may have an estimate of the time that the channel will be allocated for transmission of DATA packets by means of the mechanism known as a network allocation vector.
Regarding claim 4, CURMINA further discloses method according to claim 1.
wherein the CTS and ACK packets, their formats are varied by increasing the number of receiver address fields from one up to a value M equal to the MPR capacity of the transmitting node ([Page 79 – I. Introduction, Col 2 - Para 2] The only modification made in the CSMA/CA with RTS/CTS was to increase the number of Receiver Address (RA) fields in CTS and ACK packets to a number equal to the MPR capability of channel; [Page 80 – II. Network Model, Col 1 - Para 5] The CTS and ACK packets are modified to support the MPR capability… Only the PHY layer of the AP provides an MPR capability equal to M. Therefore, the new collision condition in the AP occurs when M+1 or more stations transmit packets simultaneously. In this situation, the AP cannot receive the packets successfully).
Regarding claim 5, CURMINA further discloses the method according to claim 1.
wherein the transmitting node decides whether or not to transmit a CTS packet after successfully receiving some RTS packets, wherein the transmitting node uses a rule to determine when transmits the CTS packet and ends the contention period ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2] The AP determines whether to stop the contention period after observing the outcome of the contention round based on the optimal stopping strategy… To obtain multi-round transmission during the transmission period, the threshold of the optimal stopping strategy θ must be set near to a multiple of the MPR capability. Otherwise, if the AP decides to stop the contentions rounds, then it sends a CTS packet after a SIFS time. When the CTS packet is received, all stations know that the contention period is finished and only the stations selected by the CTS packet begin the transmission period sending their data packets after a SIFS time).
Regarding claim 6, CURMINA further discloses the method according to claim 1.
wherein the CTS packets have a second function, which is as NACK for STAs that already sent DATA packets ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 1 Para 2] only a CTS packet is transmitted between transmission rounds and it performs two functions: indicate what stations will transmit in the next transmission round, the traditional function of CTS packet, and inform which stations sent successfully in the last transmission round, this new function is a negative acknowledgment (NACK) mechanism) in a transmission round and wait for the transmitting node to confirm it ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 1 Para 3] The NACK mechanism is devoted to report only to those stations that sent data packets in the last transmission round if their packets were not successfully received. Therefore, if the AP does not successfully receive some data packets then it returns to request transmission of the failed data packets through the CTS packet together with the transmission of a new group of stations. Finally, the transmission period is terminated by sending an ACK packet to indicate that the last round was the last transmission of data packets. This strategy permits to reduce the control overhead during the transmission period. Operating example of our proposed protocol is illustrated in Figure 1; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 3] To continue the transmission period through multiple transmission rounds, the AP sends a CTS packet instead of an ACK packet after receiving the data packets. This CTS packet carries the addresses of the following stations will send their data packets in the next transmission round. When the CTS packet is received by stations which sent data packets during the last transmission round, then the CTS packet is considered as a NACK packet. In other words, if a station receives a CTS packet without its address after sending a data packet in the last transmission round, then it assumes that its data packet was received successfully. Otherwise, if a station finds its address in the CTS packet after sending a data packet in the last transmission round, then it transmits its data packet again because the last transmission was failed. Figure 1 shows how multiple transmission rounds are generated during the transmission period).
Regarding claim 7, CURMINA discloses:
A wireless communication system, comprising transmitter and receiver nodes of a wireless network ([Page 79 – I. Introduction, Col 1 Para 1] Since its standardization in 1999, the 802.11 protocol uses carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) in the medium access control (MAC) layer and it is one of the most used random access protocols in wireless local area networks (WLANs). Actually, wireless receivers are capable of employing sophisticated signal processing techniques, such as complex modulation schemes, spread spectrum and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology [1]. These techniques can separate multiple packets transmitted (hence, wireless network has a transmitter and receiver in order to transmit and receive packets) simultaneously in the channel; this concept is known as multiple packet reception (MPR) [1]), wherein said wireless communication system is configured to perform a method for implementing a protocol at the 802.11 medium access control layer for leveraging multiple packet reception capability ([Page 79 – Abstract] - this paper, it is proposed a multi-round transmission (MRT) method for exploiting the MPR capability in the uplink channel over 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs). The proposed method schedules the access to the channel through multiple rounds during the transmission period. Analytical performance is provided and verified with simulations; [Page 79 – I. Introduction, Col 1 - Para 1] Since its standardization in 1999, the 802.11 protocol uses carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) in the medium access control (MAC) layer and it is one of the most used random access protocols in wireless local area networks (WLANs)) based on multiple transmission and contention rounds ([Page 79 – Abstract] MRT; Page 81 - Fig 1 – Operating example of the multi-round transmission protocol for IEEE 802.11
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WLAN, contention round 1,…contention round NC… transmission round 1,… transmission round NT), wherein said comprising the steps of:
a) initiating a DIFS period (Fig. 1 – DIFs before contention round 1) by a transmitting node ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 4] After the AP receives the data packets of the last transmission round, it sends an ACK packet to indicate to all stations that the transmission period has finished and a new renew interval is beginning; (DIFs is initiated and the contention round 1 starts after the AP sends an ACK packet to end the last transmission round, see Fig. 1)), so that when the communication channel is free (Fig. 1 – idle slot before contention round 1) since the last ACK packet transmitted (Fig. 1 – ACK before contention round 1), it initiates a contention period (Fig. 1 – Contention period; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 4] After the AP receives the data packets of the last transmission round, it sends an ACK packet to indicate to all stations that the transmission period has finished and a new renew interval is beginning; (contention period is initiated and the contention round 1 starts after the AP sends an ACK packet, see Fig. 1));
b) stopping the contention period initiated by the transmitting node, after a SIFS (Fig. 1 – SIFs after CTS in contention period) period of having transmitted a CTS packet (Fig. 1 – CTS in contention period) by the transmitting node in response to having received RTS packets (Fig. 1 – RTS 1- RTS N; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2] the AP decides to continue the contention rounds, then it keeps silent. Therefore, other stations will continue to count down after sensing the channel idle for a DIFS time and transmit their RTS packets when their backoff timers reach zero… Otherwise, if the AP decides to stop the contentions rounds, then it sends a CTS packet after a SIFS time. When the CTS packet is received, all stations know that the contention period is finished and only the stations selected by the CTS packet begin the transmission period sending their data packets after a SIFS time); and
c) sending an RTS packet, via an STA during the contention period (Fig. 1 – RTS 1- RTS N; [Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 2] the AP decides to continue the contention rounds, then it keeps silent. Therefore, other stations will continue to count down after sensing the channel idle for a DIFS time and transmit their RTS packets when their backoff timers reach zero… Otherwise, if the AP decides to stop the contentions rounds, then it sends a CTS packet after a SIFS time), where the STA has a DATA packet to transmit ([Page 81 – III. Proposed Protocol, Col 2 Para 1] Each station with data packet to transmit contends for the channel through transmitting RTS packet when its backoff timer reaches zero);
Conclusion
9a. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. PTO-892 form.
LIM et al. (US20150131574A1) teaches wherein the access point receives a packet from at least one of the at least two wireless devices within multi-packet reception (MPR) capability after determining whether packet reception is beyond the multi-packet reception (MPR) capability, when receiving a request to send (RTS) from one of the at least two wireless devices.
Huang et al. (US20090086706A1) teaches a cross-layer multi packet reception media access control and resource allocation technique is provided for wireless networks having receivers with multiple antennas
SUN et al. (US20230007708A1, hereinafter, SUN) teaches a transmission of DATA packets by means of the mechanism known as a network allocation vector ([0003] The next-generation Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) supports multi-access point transmission between at least one access point (AP) and at least one wireless station (STA). For example, a specific AP or a trigger entity may send a data packet to trigger another access point to perform multi-access point transmission. In a process of multi-access point transmission, other listening stations that can receive the data packet each need to set a network allocation vector (NAV) according to information included in the data packet, and cannot send data when the NAV is not zero, thereby avoiding collision with a communication node participating in the multi-access point transmission).
9b. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THERESA NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2386. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9AM - 5PM EST.
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/THERESA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2418
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418