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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/06/2024, 10/22/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2021-0076222 filed on 06/11/2021.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 02/11/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-11 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments/amendments with respect to the objection to claims 4-5, and 10-11 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the objection to specification has been withdrawn.
Applicant's argument(s) filed on 02/11/2026 with respect to the rejection of claims under rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Argument: In Applicant's claimed invention, the NSS information in the first subfield: a) represents the maximum number of spatial streams applicable when the STA is allocated to a specific transmission bandwidth, and b) remains applicable even when the STA operates at a different bandwidth, or is allocated to only a portion of the bandwidth (e.g., RUs or MRUs). Applicant's claimed NSS is defined from the perspective of: a) "what resources are allocated for this transmission," not b) "what bandwidth the STA generally operates on or supports." This concept is neither disclosed nor suggested in Kwon
Examiner’s Response: Applicant asserts “Applicant's claimed NSS is defined from the perspective of: a) "what resources are allocated for this transmission," not b) "what bandwidth the STA generally operates on or supports." This concept is neither disclosed nor suggested in Kwon”. However, The Examiner respectfully disagrees as Kwon [0104] teaches “wherein the maximum number of spatial streams is determined based on a first transmission bandwidth to which the receiving STA is allocated, independently of an operating bandwidth of the receiving STA” ([0104] eMLMR Rx/Tx NSS information may be indicated as a bandwidth that is the minimum bandwidth of eMLMR links...actual operating bandwidth of an eMLMR operation may be limited to the minimum bandwidth of the eMLMR links. As an example, if a non-AP MLD includes three STAs, STA1, STA2, and STA3, that operate on Link1, Link2, and Link3, and support bandwidths of 40 MHz, 160 MHz, and 320 MHz, respectively, then because the minimum bandwidth supported is 40 MHz, a Supported EHT-MCS and NSS Set subfield for eMLMR Rx/Tx NSS information includes an EHT-MCS Map for a bandwidth of at most 80 MHz only).
Applicant is reminded that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See in re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR international Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
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.
Claims 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US 20220104261 A1), hereinafter Kwon in view of Cariou (US 20210203435 A1), hereinafter Cariou.
Regarding to claim 1,
Kwon teaches a method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising ([0043] multi-link communications system, a wireless device, e.g., an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) of a wireless local area network (WLAN) may exchange data with at least one associated non-AP MLD (e.g., a station (STA) MLD)):
... wherein the capability information of the receiving STA includes an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) Capabilities element,
wherein the EHT Capabilities element includes a Supported EHT-MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) And NSS (Number of Spatial Stream) Set field (fig. 5A and [0061]... When the first time duration is considered (e.g., when the non-AP MLD is in an awake state on more than one link) in generating the initial frame, padding may be added at the end of the initial frame. ...[0077] non-AP MLD may announce a frame exchange restriction in an enhanced multi-link operation for frame exchange sequences following an initial frame exchange sequence via Supported EHT-MCS and NSS Set fields.... [0081] FIG. 5A depicts an example of subfields included in a Supported EHT-MCS and NSS Set field),
wherein the Supported EHT-MCS And NSS Set field includes first to third subfields, wherein the first subfield includes information on a maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit and receive in each MCS, wherein the maximum number of spatial streams is determined based on a first transmission bandwidth to which the receiving STA is allocated, independently of an operating bandwidth, wherein, based on the receiving STA operating in 5GHz and 6GHz bands, the first transmission bandwidth is 20MHz, 40MHz or 80MHz, and (fig. 1, [0046] AP1 106-1 may operate in a 320 MHz BSS operating channel at 6 GHz band and AP2 106-2 may operate in a 160 MHz BSS operating channel at 5 GHz band ... [0049] BSS operating channel established by an AP (e.g., AP1 106-1 or AP2 106-2) that features multiple 20 MHz channels used to transmit frame... and [0104] eMLMR Rx/Tx NSS information may be indicated as a bandwidth that is the minimum bandwidth of eMLMR links...actual operating bandwidth of an eMLMR operation may be limited to the minimum bandwidth of the eMLMR links. As an example, if a non-AP MLD includes three STAs, STA1, STA2, and STA3, that operate on Link1, Link2, and Link3, and support bandwidths of 40 MHz, 160 MHz, and 320 MHz, respectively, then because the minimum bandwidth supported is 40 MHz, a Supported EHT-MCS and NSS Set subfield for eMLMR Rx/Tx NSS information includes an EHT-MCS Map for a bandwidth of at most 80 MHz only).
wherein, based on the receiving STA operating in a 2.4GHz band, the first transmission bandwidth is 20MHz or 40MHz ([0048] STA1 110-1 may operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band).
Kwon does not explicitly teach generating, by a receiving station (STA), capability information of the receiving STA; and transmitting, by the receiving STA, the capability information of the receiving STA to a transmitting STA.
Cariou teaches generating, by a receiving station (STA), capability information of the receiving STA; and transmitting, by the receiving STA, the capability information of the receiving STA to a transmitting STA ([0004] ... generating a frame comprising capability information of a ... Station (STA) for transmission of sounding feedback; and transmitting the frame to an AP STA).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Cariou to the teaching of Kwon. The motivation for such an addition would be to control a rate at which the non-AP STA must use for transmission ... based on the capability information ([0006] Cariou).
Regarding to claim 2,
Kwon and Cariou teach the method of claim 1,
Kwon further teaches wherein the second subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit and receive in each MCS when the receiving STA is allocated to a second transmission bandwidth, independently of the operating bandwidth, wherein when the receiving STA operating in the 5GHz or 6GHz band, the second transmission bandwidth is 160 MHz ([0079] includes an EHT-MCS Map for STAs that have a bandwidth of 160 MHz, and the fourth field 408 is zero or three octets and includes an EHT-MCS Map for STAs that have a bandwidth of 320 MHz, and fig. 5A-C, [0019] the EHT-MCS NSS support includes a 3-octet EHT-MCS Map for bandwidths of no less than 80 MHz, bandwidths of no less than 160 MHz when at least one link supports a 160 MHz bandwidth, and bandwidths of no less than 320 MHz when at least one link supports a 320 MHz bandwidth. ...[0052] A frame exchange restriction may include a number of spatial streams (NSS) ... a non-AP MLD indicates a maximum NSS that the non-AP MLD is capable of transmitting/receiving at a time, then each STA of the non-AP MLD that is operating using a link that is included in a specified set of links will support the indicated maximum NSS and [0085-0086] FIG. 5C is a table, 500, that represents encoding information for subfields included in a Supported EHT-MCS and NSS field.... as a first column (shown by “Max NSS that supports specified MCS Set subfield”) and a second column (shown by “The max NSS that supports the specified MCS Set”)).
Regarding to claim 3,
Kwon and Cariou teaches the method of claim 2,
Kwon further teaches wherein the third subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit and receive in each MCS when the receiving STA is allocated to a third transmission bandwidth, independently of the operating bandwidth, wherein when the receiving STA operating in the 5GHz or 6GHz band, the third transmission bandwidth is 320MHz ([0079] includes an EHT-MCS Map for STAs that have a bandwidth of 160 MHz, and the fourth field 408 is zero or three octets and includes an EHT-MCS Map for STAs that have a bandwidth of 320 MHz, and fig. 5A-C, [0019] the EHT-MCS NSS support includes a 3-octet EHT-MCS Map for bandwidths of no less than 80 MHz, bandwidths of no less than 160 MHz when at least one link supports a 160 MHz bandwidth, and bandwidths of no less than 320 MHz when at least one link supports a 320 MHz bandwidth. ...[0052] A frame exchange restriction may include a number of spatial streams (NSS) ... a non-AP MLD indicates a maximum NSS that the non-AP MLD is capable of transmitting/receiving at a time, then each STA of the non-AP MLD that is operating using a link that is included in a specified set of links will support the indicated maximum NSS and [0085-0086] FIG. 5C is a table, 500, that represents encoding information for subfields included in a Supported EHT-MCS and NSS field.... as a first column (shown by “Max NSS that supports specified MCS Set subfield”) and a second column (shown by “The max NSS that supports the specified MCS Set”)).
Regarding to claim 4,
Kwon and Cariou teach the method of claim 3,
Kwon further teaches wherein when the receiving STA is a non-AP STA operating only at 20 MHz, wherein the first to third subfields are composed of 4 octets ([0092] Supported EHT-MCS and NSS Set field, a 20 MHz-only STA may have a different EHT-MCS Map than other STAs. In such an embodiment, 4 octets are used for the 20 MHz-only STA and 3 octets are used for STAs with other bandwidths that are greater than 20 MHz),
wherein each of the first to third subfields includes fourth to eleventh subfields, wherein the fourth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive when the MCS is 0 to 7, wherein the fifth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 0 to 7, wherein the sixth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive transmit when the MCS is 8 to 9, wherein the seventh subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 8 to 9, wherein the eighth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive when the MCS is 10 to 11, wherein the ninth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 10 to 11, wherein the tenth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive when the MCS is 12 to 13, wherein the eleventh subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 12 to 13 (Fig . 5a).
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Regarding to claim 5,
Kwon and Cariou teach the method of claim 3,
Kwon further teaches wherein when the receiving STA is not a non-AP STA operating only at 20 MHz, wherein the first to third subfields are composed of 3 octets, wherein each of the first to third subfields includes twelfth to seventeenth subfields, wherein the twelfth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive when the MCS is 0 to 9, wherein the thirteenth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 0 to 9, wherein the fourteenth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive when the MCS is 10 to 11, wherein the fifteenth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 10 to 11, wherein the sixteenth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can receive when the MCS is 12 to 13, wherein the seventeenth subfield includes information on the maximum number of spatial streams that the receiving STA can transmit when the MCS is 12 to 13 (fig. 5b, and [0092] Supported EHT-MCS and NSS Set field, a 20 MHz-only STA may have a different EHT-MCS Map than other STAs. In such an embodiment, 4 octets are used for the 20 MHz-only STA and 3 octets are used for STAs with other bandwidths that are greater than 20 MHz).
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Claims [6] (receiving station, apparatus), and claims [7-11] (wireless local area network (WLAN) system, method) are rejected under the same reasoning as claims [1-5] (wireless local area network (WLAN) system, method), where Kwon teaches both apparatus and method for WLAN and receiving station ([0043]).
Claim 7 differs from claim 1 only by the additional recitation of the following limitation: “receiving, by a transmitting station (STA), capability information of a receiving STA from the receiving STA; and decoding, by the transmitting STA, the capability information of the receiving STA, which Kwon furthers teaches (fig. 5C and FIG. 4B and [0085] FIG. 5C is a table, 500, that represents encoding information for subfields included in a Supported EHT-MCS and NSS field).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 VAN T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6178. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (EST). 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, Ayman A Abaza can be reached at (571) 270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VAN TA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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