DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. In particular, this Application is the national stage application of an international application that claims foreign priority to a Korean application filed on 26 Mar 2021. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 19 Sept 2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
The Reply alleges “Guo describes handling of exception services in two different methods, one using AC and another using TID in paragraph 0224.” Reply, 8. And “[s]ince Applicant’s independent claims is [sic] not related to access class, and Guo discriminates AC from TID, the disclosure of Guo related to TID should be compared with the features of Applicant’s independent claims.” Ibid. The Reply appears to allege access class and traffic identifiers have no relationship in WLAN. TIDs, which defines the priority of traffic, are then mapped to access classes. See RFC 8325 (pg. 28, section 6.2.2, figure 2 [mapping UP to AC] and pg. 30, section 6.2.4, last paragraph) for background only.
In Guo, a STA will not end its TXOP before the restricted service period if its TID is “higher than or equal to” the threshold service identifier. Guo, ¶215. The threshold service identifier may be “TID = 0 or 1.” Ibid. As a result, the Examiner disputes the Reply’s finding that Guo only maintains a TXOP when the TIDs “are identical.” Reply, 8. Specifically, if the TID of the data frame in Guo is “higher than” the TID in the TWT element, the STA still maintains its TXOP.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 2, 6-11, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Guo (US 20230345537).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Guo teaches a station (STA) performing frame exchange in a WLAN system, the STA comprising: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver (Guo, figure 11 and ¶237 – processing unit and transceiver unit in STA), wherein the at least one processor is configured for performing the method comprising:
receive, through the transceiver, restricted target wake time (r-TWT)-related information from an access point (AP) (Guo, ¶216 – STA receives beacon frame from AP, where the beacon frame carries a TWT element; Guo, ¶¶123, 208 – restricted TWT service period used to serve low latency services); and
perform, through the transceiver, the frame exchange before a start time of the r-TWT service period (SP) (Guo, ¶201 – STA obtains a TXOP before the arrival of the restricted service period; Guo, ¶205 – TXOP used to transmit a data frame for a service),
wherein the r-TWT-related information is included in a TWT element including a TWT parameter set field format (Guo, figure 9A and ¶221 – TWT element includes a TWT parameter information field, whose format is shown in figure 9A),
wherein the TWT parameter set field format includes a TWT information field (Guo, figure 9A – TWT element includes a TWT parameter information field) and the TWT information field includes a traffic identifier (TID) subfield for traffic related to the r-TWT (Guo, figure 9A - one of the subfields of the TWT parameter information field is Broadcast TWT information, which includes an exception TID), and
based on a priority between a first TID value of traffic related to the r-TWT corresponding to a value of the TID subfield and a second TID value of traffic related to the frame exchange, a transmission opportunity (TXOP) related to the frame exchange is maintained or stopped. Guo, ¶224 (when the threshold AC or TID [which defines the priority] of the data frame that is being transmitted during the TXOP that precedes the restricted SP is higher or equal to the value indicated in the exception TID field, then the STA does not end its TXOP before the restricted service period arrives).
Regarding claim 2, Guo also teaches a value of the TID subfield is mapped to a TID value of traffic related to the r-TWT one-to-one, or one value of the TID subfield is mapped to at least one TID value of traffic related to the r-TWT. Guo, ¶224 (when the access class of the data frame that is being transmitted during the TXOP that precedes the restricted SP is higher or equal to the value indicated in the exception TID field, then the STA does not end its TXOP before the restricted service period arrives).
Regarding claim 6, Guo also teaches a maximum duration of the TXOP is after the start time of the r-TWT SP. Guo, ¶¶230, 232, 233 (STA continues its transmission of the TXOP after the start time of the restricted service period until either the TXOP is completed or at most one PPDU is transmitted).
Regarding claim 7, Guo also teaches based on the first TID value having a higher priority than the second TID value, the TXOP is maintained (Guo, ¶224 – access class [or TID] of TXOP is greater than value in TID field, the TXOP does not end when the restricted service period arrives), at least one of the start time or an end time of the r-TWT SP is postponed or extended. Guo, ¶234 (when the STA continues to transmit during its TXOP after the restricted service period starts, the AP may extend the duration of SP using the extra restricted service period subfield).
Regarding claim 8, Guo also teaches based on the first TID value having a lower priority than the second TID value, the TXOP is stopped. Guo, ¶192 (non-low-latency services have a lower access category or priority than the TID found in the TWT element); Guo, ¶¶4, 131, 202 (the general rule is non-low-latency services are not communicated during a restricted SP, which means its overlapping TXOP is stopped [¶¶203-207 provide exceptions to the general rule]).
Regarding claim 9, Guo also teaches the r-TWT-related information is broadcast from the AP. Guo, ¶¶119-120 (beacon frame is broadcasted).
Regarding claim 10, Guo also teaches the STA is the STA which supports a r-TWT operation. Guo, ¶131 (STA supports R-TWT-SP).
Regarding claim 13, Guo teaches an access point (AP) performing frame exchange in a WLAN system, the AP comprising: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
transmit, through the transceiver, restricted target wake time (r-TWT)-related information to a first station (STA) and a second STA (Guo, ¶216 – STAs receive beacon frame from AP, where the beacon frame carries a TWT element; Guo, ¶¶123, 208 – restricted TWT service period used to serve low latency services; Guo, figure 2 -two STAs 202); and
perform, through the transceiver, frame exchange with the second STA before a start time of the r-TWT service period (SP) (Guo, ¶201 – STA obtains a TXOP before the arrival of the restricted service period; Guo, ¶205 – TXOP used to transmit a data frame for a service),
wherein the r-TWT-related information is included in a TWT element including a TWT parameter set field format (Guo, figure 9A and ¶221 – TWT element includes a TWT parameter information field, whose format is shown in figure 9A),
wherein the TWT parameter set field format includes a TWT information field (Guo, figure 9A – TWT element includes a TWT parameter information field) and the TWT information field includes a TID subfield for traffic related to the r-TWT (Guo, figure 9A - one of the subfields of the TWT parameter information field is Broadcast TWT information, which includes an exception TID), and
based on a priority between a first TID value of traffic related to the r-TWT corresponding to a value of the TID subfield and a second TID value of traffic related to the frame exchange, a transmission opportunity (TXOP) related to the frame exchange is maintained or stopped. Guo, ¶224 (when the threshold AC or TID [which defines the priority] of the data frame that is being transmitted during the TXOP that precedes the restricted SP is higher or equal to the value indicated in the exception TID field, then the STA does not end its TXOP before the restricted service period arrives).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo (of record) in view of Kim (US 20240008119).
Regarding claim 3, Guo teaches the method of claim 1 and a TID field related to r-TWT (Guo, figure 9A), but does not explicitly teach “a value of the TID subfield is mapped to some values in a scope of 8 to 15 of a TID value of traffic . . ., or the value of the TID subfield is mapped to a whole scope of 0 to 15 of the TID value of traffic. . .” However, Kim teaches a TID with a value range of 0 to 15. Kim, ¶127. Within this range, user priority based on traffic category can be maintained by assigning TID values in the range of 8 to 15 to hybrid channel access. Ibid. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the value ranges, taught by Kim, for the TID subfield related to TWT SPs, taught by Guo, in order to support quality of service for low latency data. Ibid.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo (of record) in view of Park (US 20180192372).
Regarding claim 4, Guo teaches the method of claim 1 and a TID subfield in a TWT parameter information field (Guo, figure 9A), but does not explicitly teach “the TID subfield has a 3-bit size at a position of B0 to B2 in the TWT information field.” However, teaches a 3-bit field at the beginning of a TWT information frame. Park, ¶¶226-227 and figure 17 (field 1710). The 3-bit field contains an identifier at positions B0 to B2. Ibid. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to place the TID subfield, taught by Guo, in the first 3 bits of an TWT information field, as taught Park, in order to change the TID for the next service period. Id. at ¶¶227-228.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure includes figure 13A of Ho and figure 6 of Hu.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN S LAMONT whose telephone number is (571)270-7514 and email address is benjamin.lamont@uspto.gov (see MPEP 502.03, which allows for written authorization via the USPTO electronic filing system or mail, but not via email). The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am to 3pm EST.
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/Benjamin Lamont/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461