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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. Applicants’ specification discloses STA 200 may determine whether to indicate the Multi-AP Measurement Report based on, for example, a fluctuation of reception power (e.g., referred to as “RxPow”) of at least one of the OBSS-STA and OBSS-AP. For example, STA 200 may indicate the Multi-AP Measurement Report when the fluctuation of the RxPow is greater than or equal to a threshold value, and need not indicate the Multi-AP Measurement Report when the fluctuation of the RxPow is less than the threshold value (see paragraph [0134] of Pub. No.: US 2024/0334250). The specification does not describe or disclose a fluctuation of the received quality as recited in claim 5. Plus, the claimed features of “wherein the transmission circuitry transmits the information on the received quality to the first access point when a fluctuation of the received quality is greater than or equal to a threshold value” were not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
Claims 1, 2, 6, 7, and 9 – 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (Patent No.: US 9,713,049; hereinafter Huang).
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses a terminal, comprising: control circuitry, which, in operation (see Fig. 2, col. 4 lines 35 – 40, UE 200 includes processing circuitry 206), measures received quality based on a signal from at least one of a certain access point different from a first access point of a connection destination and referred to as a second access point (see abstract, col. 2 lines 20 – 24, col. 5 lines 42 – 45, the UE 102 may be configured to determine an RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) of a serving cell and an RSRQ of a target cell (ex: second access point)…), and/or a terminal connected to the second access point; and transmission circuitry, which, in operation (see Fig. 2, UE 200 includes antennas 201), transmits information on the received quality to the first access point (see col. 7 lines 59 – 62, A measurement report may be transmitted to the eNB 104 at operation 520, col. 9 lines 60 – 66,…the measurement report may include RSRQ values for the serving cell and the target cell).
Regarding claim 2, Huang discloses wherein the information on the received quality is used by the first access point and the second access point for setting coordinated communication for the terminal (see Fig. 4, serving cell and target cell, col. 9 lines 50 – 67, col. 10 lines 1 – 12, At operation 810, the eNB 104 may transmit, to a target cell eNB 104 configured to operate in the target cell, a message that indicates the RSRQ measurement type for the UE 102…if the measured RSRQ of the target cell is higher than the measured RSRQ for the serving cell by a specified margin, a handoff to the target cell may be determined).
Regarding claim 6, Huang discloses wherein the transmission circuitry transmits information on the second access point to the first access point when the second access point is detected (see col. 7 lines 59 – 62, A measurement report may be transmitted to the eNB 104 (ex: first access point) at operation 520, col. 9 lines 60 – 66,…the measurement report may include RSRQ values for the serving cell and the target cell (ex: second access point)).
Regarding claim 7, Huang discloses further comprising reception circuitry, which, in operation, receives information on a third access point from the first access point, wherein the transmission circuitry transmits, to the first access point, the information on the received quality of an access point different from the third access point among a plurality of the second access points (see col. 5 lines 59 – 67, a UE may report measurements for multiple target cells, col. 9 lines 60 – 67, …the measurement report may include RSRQ values for the serving cell and the target cell, and may also include other information).
Regarding claim 9, Huang discloses an access point that is a first access point, the access point comprising: reception circuitry, which, in operation (see Fig. 3, eNB 300 includes antennas 301), receives, from a first terminal connected to the first access point, information on received quality based on a signal from at least one of a second access point (see col. 7 lines 59 – 62, A measurement report may be transmitted to the eNB 104 at operation 520, col. 9 lines 60 – 66,…the measurement report may include RSRQ values for the serving cell and the target cell (ex: second access point)) and/or a second terminal connected to the second access point; and control circuitry, which, in operation (see Fig. 3, col. 4 lines 35 – 40, eNB 300 includes processing circuitry 306), sets communication for the first terminal based on the information (see Fig. 8, col. 9 lines 60 – 67, col. 10 lines 1 – 12, steps 820 and 825 are the setup for communication for the UE based on RSRQ values).
Regarding claim 10, Huang discloses a communication method, comprising: measuring, by a first terminal, received quality based on a signal from at least one of a certain access point different from a first access point of a connection destination and referred to as a second access point (see abstract, col. 2 lines 20 – 24, col. 5 lines 42 – 45, the UE 102 may be configured to determine an RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) of a serving cell and an RSRQ of a target cell (ex: second access point)…), and/or a second terminal connected to the second access point; and transmitting, by the first terminal, information on the received quality to the first access point (see col. 7 lines 59 – 62, A measurement report may be transmitted to the eNB 104 at operation 520, col. 9 lines 60 – 66,…the measurement report may include RSRQ values for the serving cell and the target cell).
Regarding claim 11, Huang discloses a communication method, comprising: receiving, by a first access point, from a first terminal connected to the first access point, information on received quality based on a signal from at least one of a second access point (see col. 7 lines 59 – 62, A measurement report may be transmitted to the eNB 104 at operation 520, col. 9 lines 60 – 66,…the measurement report may include RSRQ values for the serving cell and the target cell (ex: second access point)) and/or a second terminal connected to the second access point, and setting, by the first access point, communication for the first terminal based on the information (see Fig. 8, col. 9 lines 60 – 67, col. 10 lines 1 – 12, steps 820 and 825 are the setup for communication for the UE based on RSRQ values).
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (Patent No.: US 9,713,049; hereinafter Huang) in view of Chu et al. (Pub. No.: US 2015/0146654; hereinafter Chu).
Huang does not disclose the claimed features as recited in claim 3.
Regarding claim 3, Chu discloses further comprising reception circuitry, which, in operation, receives information on communication duration of the signal, from the first access point (see para. 0036, 0044, the AP generates and transmits a trigger signal, such as a polling communication frame 404, to a plurality of client stations …the AP sets a value of a duration field of the communication frame 404 to a value…).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Huang, and have the features, as taught by Chu, to use WLAN standards to provide for an improved signal user peak data throughput, as discussed by Chu (para. 0003).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (Patent No.: US 9,713,049; hereinafter Huang) in view of Luo et al. (Patent No.: US 10,440,743; hereinafter Luo).
Huang does not disclose the claimed features as recited in claim 4.
Regarding claim 4, Luo discloses wherein the transmission circuitry transmits information for identifying the terminal connected to the second access point, to the first access point (see col. 25 lines 18 – 36, claim 15, first AP communications apparatus 500 communicates with another device and performs the method: receiving concurrent group information of a concurrent group, where the concurrent group information includes:… an identifier of a concurrent station STA associated with each second AP).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Huang, and have the features, as taught by Luo, where interference between the concurrent links can be reduced, and the system throughput is further improved, as discussed by Luo (col. 8 lines 43 - 45).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (Patent No.: US 9,713,049; hereinafter Huang) in view of Xu et al. (Pub. No.: US 2015/0350977; hereinafter Xu).
Huang does not disclose the claimed features as recited in claim 5.
Regarding claim 5, Xu discloses wherein the transmission circuitry transmits the information on the received quality to the first access point when a fluctuation of the received quality is greater than or equal to a threshold value (see para. 0009, an indicator for indicating the variation degree of the signal qualities of the mobile terminal with respect to the source cell and the target cell, and trigger the mobile terminal to report the measurement result when a value of the indicator exceeds a predetermined threshold value).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Huang, and have the features, as taught by Xu, in order to improve a probability of success of switching a mobile terminal from a source cell to a target cell and meanwhile also to reduce a probability of ping-pong switching of the mobile terminal, thereby providing a user with seamless and stable network coverage, as discussed by Xu (para. 0004).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (Patent No.: US 9,713,049; hereinafter Huang) in view of Sethi et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0204287; hereinafter Sethi).
Huang does not disclose the claimed features as recited in claim 8.
Regarding claim 8, Sethi discloses wherein the information on the second access point includes information used for wired communication between the first access point and the second access point (see para. 0023, AP1 coordinates with the other access points (including AP2 and AP3), e.g., via the wired communication network (not shown), para. 0108, … AP1 provides (e.g., over the wired communication network 264) respective data units to the other APs that are to be transmitted by the other APs to the client station 108. Additionally, AP1 provides (e.g., over the wired communication network 264) timing information to the other APs that indicates to the other APs when the other APs are to transmit the data units to the client station 108).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Huang, and have the features, as taught by Sethi, in order to simultaneously beamform noise makes decoding the transmission even harder for the eavesdropper, without degrading the reception of the data at the receiver, as discussed by Sethi (para. 0018).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Anh Ngoc M Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 270-5139. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Bin Yao can be reached on ((571) 272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANH NGOC M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473