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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application, PCT/KR2022/007345 filed 5-24-22, under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
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. KR10-2021-0066856 filed 5-25-21 & KR10-2022-0061886 filed 5-20-22.
Information Disclosure Statement
These information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11-15-23 & 5-20-25. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, these information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 11-15-23. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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(s) 1-6, 9-12, 14 & 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 10 as being unpatentable over Zhou (US 2024/0057044 A1) in view of Xia (US 2021/0410163 A1).
Regarding Claim 9. A method of an access point (AP), comprising:
(AP) performing communication with a first station (STA) within a transmission opportunity (TXOP){Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Fig.13 wherein “an AP shares part or all of time domain resources of a TXOP acquired by the AP to STA1 and STA2”};
(AP) configuring a shared communication period within the TXOP {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Fig.13 wherein “an AP shares part or all of time domain resources of a TXOP acquired by the AP to STA1 and STA2”}; and
(AP) transmitting a first frame for allocating the shared communication period to a second STA, wherein shared communication between the second STA and a third STA is performed in the shared communication period {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20 wherein AP transmits MU-RTS to multiple STAs (e.g. STA1 & STA2) & ¶112 wherein “An AP transmits first information (the claimed MU-RTS), the first information being used for sharing part or all of time domain resources of a TXOP acquired by the AP to a plurality of STAs, wherein the first information is used to indicate at least one of: address information of the plurality of the STAs, time duration information of time domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs, start time domain positions of time domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs, and time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs”}, and
wherein in the shared communication, the second STA transmits a data frame {Zhou (US 2024/0057044 A1): ¶0156 wherein “the first STA can transmit a non-Trigger Based Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (non-TB PPDU) to the AP on shared time domain resources”}, and
Zhou does not explicitly disclose the second STA retransmits the data frame when a reception response frame for the data frame is not received within a preset time.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Xia (US 2021/0410163 A1) disclose the second STA retransmits the data frame when a reception response frame for the data frame is not received within a preset time {Xia: Fig.16 & ¶0181-¶0182, e.g. ¶0182 wherein “If the non-AP STA doesn't receive any feedback from the associated AP within the timeout period after sending an authentication frame or the association frame (the claimed data frame) that contains the shareability information, then block 196 is reached with a management frame timeout, and in this embodiment execution returns to block 192 as the STA should retransmit the management frame to the associated AP to indicate its shareability.” See also Figs.18, 48 & ¶0347, 51 & ¶0361, 54 & ¶0375, 58 & ¶0394}. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to Xia’s teaching to Zhou’s system with the motivation being to “improve channel utilization efficiency and decreases OBSS interference and channel access contention delay, thus improving flexibility and Real-Time Application (RTA) performance.”{Xia: ¶0103}
Regarding Claim 10. With the same reasons as set forth in the method according to claim 9, wherein the first frame includes a first field indicating that the shared communication period is allocated and a second field indicating a length of the shared communication period {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. s320-Fig.19 & ¶0200 wherein “At S320, The AP transmits first information to a first STA of the plurality of the STAs, and the first information is used to indicate at least one of: address information of the first STA, time duration information of time domain resources corresponding to the first STA, a start time domain position of time domain resources corresponding to the first STA, and time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the first STA”}.
Regarding Claim 11. With the same reasons as set forth in the method according to claim 9, further comprising (AP) receiving, from the second STA, a second frame that is a response to the first frame, wherein the first frame is a multi-user-request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame, and the second frame is a clear-to-send (CTS) frame {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Figs.13-16 wherein AP receives CTS from STAs in response to its MU-RTS}.
Regarding Claim 12. With the same reasons as set forth in the method according to claim 9, further comprising:
(AP) obtaining, from the second STA (Zhou: STA1), a third frame including information indicating termination of the shared communication period {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Figs.13-16 wherein the AP receives “release shared resources of the TXOP” from STA1; see also Fig.11 & ¶0157-¶0160, ¶0163 wherein “When the AP receives the TXOP sharing release frame (Fig.11) transmitted by the first STA, it can be known that the first STA releases the time domain resources shared to the first STA”(¶0159)}; and
after termination of the shared communication period, (AP) performing communication with the first STA (Zhou: STA3) in the TXOP {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.13-16 wherein AP communicates with STA2 in the time duration resources corresponding to STA2, e.g. ¶0174 wherein “the AP transmits data/PPDU to STA3 (the claimed first STA) using the remaining time domain resources shared to the STA1 (the claimed second STA)”}.
Regarding Claim 14. With the same reasons a set forth in the method according to claim 12, wherein the third frame is a quality of service (QOS) Null frame transmitted to the AP or a last data frame transmitted by the second STA in the shared communication period {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.6-7, 11-16 & 19-20 & ¶0157-¶0163 wherein “the first STA (the claimed second STA) may set a TXOP sharing termination subfield in the frame control field of the first PPDU to 1, to indicate the AP that the first STA (the claimed second STA) has released the shared time domain resources”; In other words, by setting the control filed of the first PPDU to 1 has inherently indicated that it is the last data frame since it is releasing the sharing time domain resources, emphasis added}
Regarding Claim 17.
-Claim 17 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claim 9 and as following:
A first station (STA) {Zhou (US 2024/0057044 A1): Communication Device 120-Fig.1 & 1000-Fig.27, ¶0078} comprising:
a processor {Zhou: processor 1010-Fig.27};
a memory {Zhou: memory 1020-Fig.27} electronically communicating with the processor; and
one or more instructions stored in the memory {Zhou: a computer program (not shown) stored on the memory, ¶0436-¶0437-Fig.27}, wherein the one or more instructions cause the first STA to:
(STA) receive, from an access point (AP), a first frame for allocating a shared communication period {Zhou: Figs. 3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Fig.13 wherein STAs received MU-RTS from AP, s210-Fig.7 & ¶0112};
(STA) identify the shared communication period based on one or more fields included in the first frame {Zhou: Figs. 3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Fig.13 wherein STAs received MU-RTS from AP & ¶112 wherein “An AP transmits first information (the claimed MU-RTS), the first information being used for sharing part or all of time domain resources of a TXOP acquired by the AP to a plurality of STAs, wherein the first information is used to indicate at least one of: address information of the plurality of the STAs, time duration information of time domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs, start time domain positions of time domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs, and time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs”; also time duration in Figs.8-10, and ¶0113-¶0127, ¶0135, ¶0140, ¶0144-¶0146 & ¶0149-¶0152, e.g. ¶0151 wherein “the first STA determines the start time domain position of the time domain resources corresponding to the first STA according to the order of the first STA in the User Info list and the time duration information of the time domain resources corresponding to all STAs”}; and
(STA) perform data transmission/reception operation without a channel contention procedure in the shared communication period {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Figs.13-16 & 19-20 wherein STAs receive MU-RTS from AP during a time duration corresponding to the STAs},
wherein, in the data transmission/reception operation, the one or more instructions cause the first STA to:
transmit a data frame {Zhou: STA1 transmits PPDU to AP, ¶0107}; and
when a reception response frame for the data frame is not received within a preset time, retransmit the data frame,
wherein the shared communication period is configured within a transmission opportunity (TXOP) configured by the AP {Zhou (US 2024/0057044): Figs.3-4, 6-7, 11-16 & 19-20, e.g. Fig.13 wherein “an AP shares part or all of time domain resources of a TXOP acquired by the AP to STA1 and STA2”}.
Zhou does not explicitly disclose when a reception response frame for the data frame is not received within a preset time, retransmit the data frame.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Xia (US 2021/0410163 A1) disclose when a reception response frame for the data frame is not received within a preset time, retransmit the data frame {Xia: Fig.16 & ¶0181-¶0182, e.g. ¶0182 wherein “If the non-AP STA doesn't receive any feedback from the associated AP within the timeout period after sending an authentication frame or the association frame (the claimed data frame) that contains the shareability information, then block 196 is reached with a management frame timeout, and in this embodiment execution returns to block 192 as the STA should retransmit the management frame to the associated AP to indicate its shareability.” See also Figs.18, 48 & ¶0347, 51 & ¶0361, 54 & ¶0375, 58 & ¶0394}. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to Xia’s teaching to Zhou’s system with the motivation being to “improve channel utilization efficiency and decreases OBSS interference and channel access contention delay, thus improving flexibility and Real-Time Application (RTA) performance.”{Xia: ¶0103}
Regarding Claim 18. The first STA according to claim 17, wherein the one or more instructions cause the first STA to transmit, to the AP, a second frame that is a response to the first frame, wherein the first frame is a multi-user-request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame {Zhou: MU-RTS in Figs.3-4, 6, 13-16 & 20}, the second frame is a clear-to-send (CTS) frame {Zhou: CTS in Figs.3-4, 6, 13-16 & 20}, and the MU-RTS frame includes a first field indicating that the shared communication period is allocated and a second field indicating a length of the shared communication period {Zhou: MU-RTS in Figs.3-4, 6, 13-16 & 20 & ¶112 wherein “An AP transmits first information (the claimed MU-RTS), the first information being used for sharing part or all of time domain resources of a TXOP acquired by the AP to a plurality of STAs, wherein the first information is used to indicate at least one of: address information of the plurality of the STAs, time duration information of time domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs, start time domain positions of time domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs, and time-frequency domain resources corresponding to the plurality of the STAs”; also time duration in Figs.8-10, and ¶0113-¶0127, ¶0135, ¶0140, ¶0144-¶0146 & ¶0149-¶0152.
-Claim 18 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 9, 11 and 17.
Regarding Claim 19. The first STA according to claim 17, wherein the one or more instructions cause the first STA to:
when the first STA needs to terminate shared communication in the shared communication period before the shared communication period allocated by the AP ends, (STA) transmit a third frame including information indicating termination of the shared communication period, wherein the third frame is a quality of service (QOS) Null frame transmitted to the AP or a last data frame transmitted by the first STA in the shared communication period.
-Claim 19 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 17 and 14.
Regarding Claim 1.
-Claim 1 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 9 & 17.
A method of a first station (STA), comprising:
(STA) receiving, from an access point (AP), a first frame for allocating a shared communication period;
(STA) identifying the shared communication period based on one or more fields included in the first frame; and
(STA) performing data transmission/reception without a channel contention procedure in the shared communication period,
wherein the performing of the data transmission/reception comprises:
transmitting a data frame; and
when a reception response frame for the data frame is not received within a preset time, retransmitting the data frame,
wherein the shared communication period is configured within a transmission opportunity (TXOP) configured by the AP.
Regarding Claim 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first frame includes a first field indicating that the shared communication period is allocated and a second field indicating a length of the shared communication period.
-Claim 2 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 9-10 & 17-18.
Regarding Claim 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising
(STA) transmitting, to the AP, a second frame that is a response to the first frame, wherein the first frame is a multi-user-request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame, and the second frame is a clear-to-send (CTS) frame.
-Claim 3 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 1, 9, 11 & 17-18.
Regarding Claim 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising,
when the first STA needs to terminate shared communication in the shared communication period before the shared communication period allocated by the AP ends, (STA) transmitting a third frame including information indicating termination of the shared communication period.
-Claim 4 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 1, 9, 12, 17 & 19.
Regarding Claim 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the information indicating termination of the shared communication period is at least one of an RDG/More PPDU subfield set to 0 or a more data field set to 0 included in a medium access control (MAC) header of the third frame.
-Claim 5 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 1, 4, 9 & 12-13.
Regarding Claim 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the third frame is a quality of service (QOS) Null frame transmitted to the AP or a last data frame transmitted by the first STA in the shared communication period.
-Claim 6 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 1, 4, 9, 12, 14, 17 & 19.
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (US 2024/0057044 A1) in view Xia (US 2021/0410163 A1), as applied to claim 12 as above, and further in view of Choi (US 2015/0063233 A1).
Regarding Claim 13. With the same reasons a set forth in the method according to claim 12, Zhou does not explicitly disclose wherein the information indicating termination of the shared communication period is at least one of an RDG/More PPDU subfield set to 0 or a more data field set to 0 included in a medium access control (MAC) header of the third frame.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Choi (US 2015/0063233 A1) disclose wherein the information indicating termination of the shared communication period is at least one of an RDG/More PPDU subfield set to 0 or a more data field set to 0 included in a medium access control (MAC) header of the third frame {Choi: Figs.7-8 wherein the control filed including RDG/more PPDU subfield (B31-Fig.8) and Table 1 on page 8 or ¶0138 wherein RDD/More PPDU subfield is for “When RDG/more PPDU subfield PPDU corresponds to 0, if reverse direction (RD) initiator transmits, it indicates there is no reverse direction grant (RDG). If reverse direction (RD) responder transmits, it indicates PPDU delivering MAC frame is last transmission. When RDG/more PPDU subfield corresponds to 1, if reverse direction (RD) initiator transmits, it indicates there exists reverse direction grant (RDG). If reverse direction (RD) responder transmits, there exist following different PPDU after PPDU delivering MAC frame.”} Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to Choi’s teaching to Zhou’s system with the motivation being for “setting an enhanced service period in a wireless communication system, preferably, a wireless LAN system”{Choi: ¶0013}
Regarding Claim 14. With the same reasons a set forth in the method according to claim 13, wherein the third frame is a quality of service (QOS) Null frame transmitted to the AP or a last data frame transmitted by the second STA in the shared communication period {Choi: Figs.7-8 wherein the control filed including RDG/more PPDU subfield (B31-Fig.8) and Table 1 on page 8 or ¶0138 wherein RDD/More PPDU subfield is for “When RDG/more PPDU subfield PPDU corresponds to 0, if reverse direction (RD) initiator transmits, it indicates there is no reverse direction grant (RDG). If reverse direction (RD) responder transmits, it indicates PPDU delivering MAC frame is last transmission. When RDG/more PPDU subfield corresponds to 1, if reverse direction (RD) initiator transmits, it indicates there exists reverse direction grant (RDG). If reverse direction (RD) responder transmits, there exist following different PPDU after PPDU delivering MAC frame.”}.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 2-10-26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6, 9-12, 14 & 17-19 under 102 rejections 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 Xia (US 2021/0410163 A1).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Xia (US 2021/0352722 A1) discloses a wireless station and protocols for a wireless local area network (WLAN) to support real-time application (RTA) packets in setting up an unsolicited retry policy for RTA packets within a TXOP in which the station retransmits RTA packets in time and frequency domains without waiting for feedback. Setting up block acknowledgement (BA) agreements to receive feedback for adapting future packet transmissions. Dropping an RTA packet if a retry count for that packet exceeds the unsolicited retry limit, or a lifetime of that packet has expired. Supporting multi-link devices (MLDs) including access point multi-link devices (AP-MLDs) for performing simultaneous transmit/receive (STR), and non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLDs) which are not configured for simultaneous transmit/receive (non-STR) {Figs.20-37}.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUONGCHAU BA NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3148. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30 AM -5:30 PM.
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/PHUONGCHAU BA NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464