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 .
2. The following is a non-final Office action in response to Applicant submission received on 12/18/2023.
3. Claims 6-7, 20-23, 25-27 have been canceled by an Applicant preliminary amendment.
4. Claims 1-5, 8-19, 24, 28-29 are currently pending and have been examined.
Foreign Priority
5. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Oath/Declaration
6. The applicant's oath/declaration filed on 12/18/2023 has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Drawings
7. The applicant’s drawings submitted on 12/18/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Information Disclosure Statement
8. The information disclosure statement submitted by Applicant is in compliance with the provision of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits.
Claim Interpretation
9. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
10. The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
11. This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “communication unit”; “processing unit” in claim 29.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
12. 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.
(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.
13. Claim(s) 1-5, 8-19, 24, 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mark RISON (IEEE P802.11 Wireless LANs, dated 02/03/2021).
Regarding claim 1, RISON discloses a communication method in a wireless network comprising an access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, having multiple affiliated APs, each affiliated AP managing parameters of a Basic Service Set, BSS, and sending beacon frames to announce updates of any of their BSS parameters, the method comprising at the AP MLD:
sending, by a reporting affiliated AP, a beacon frame that includes a field counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by plural of the affiliated APs over time (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: “change sequence field for the AP” in the beacon and Probe response frames defined in paragraph “35.3.8 BSS parameter critical update procedure”, i.e., “The Change Sequence field for the AP shall be carried in the TBD field” and “An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP”)).
Regarding claim 2, RISON discloses the method of Claim 1, wherein each affiliated AP locally maintains a BSS Parameters Change counter counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by said affiliated AP (RISON, page 34, lines 57-60: An AP within an AP MLD shall provide in the Critical Update Flag subfield of the Capability Information field (9.4.1.4 (Capability Information field)) of the Beacon and Probe Response frames it transmits an indication of an update to the value carried in the Change Sequence subfield of the MLD Parameters field in the Reduced Neighbor Report element for any AP in the same AP MLD).
Regarding claim 3, RISON discloses the method of Claim 2, wherein the affiliated AP records a current value of the BSS Parameters Change counter in association with one of its BSS parameters, each time an update occurs to the BSS parameter (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: BSS parameter critical update procedure: An AP within an AP MU) shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP).
Regarding claim 4, RISON discloses the method of Claim 1, wherein the AP MLD locally maintains a MLD BSS Parameters Change counter counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by all the affiliated APs (RISON, page 34, Section 35.3.8: wherein the “change sequence field for the AP” is regarded as the “MLD BSS parameter update counter” by all the APs).
Regarding claim 5, RISON discloses the method of Claim 4, wherein the counting field in the beacon frame is set to a current value of the MLD BSS Parameters Change counter (RISON, page 34, Section 35.3.8: An AP within an AP MLD shall provide in the Critical Update flag subfield of the Capability Information field (Capability Information field) of the Beacon and Probe Response frames it transmits an indication of an update to the value carried in the Change Sequence subfield of the MLD Parameters field).
Regarding claim 8, RISON discloses the method of Claim 1, wherein the AP MLD locally maintains a MLD BSS Parameters Change counter per each affiliated AP, each counter for an affiliated AP counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by all the other affiliated APs (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: BSS parameter critical update procedure: An AP within an AP MLD shall include in the Beacon and Probe Response frames it transmits a Change Sequence field for each of all APs in the same AP MLD. The Change Sequence field for each of other APs of the MLD shall be carried. An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value of the Change Sequence field for another AP in the same AP MLD when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for that AP).
Regarding claim 9, RISON discloses the method of Claim 8, wherein the counting field in the beacon frame is set to a current value of the MLD BSS Parameters Change counter for the reporting affiliated AP (RISON, page 26, section 35.3.4.1: each AP of the other AP MLD shall be reported in the Reduced Neighbor Report element that is included in the Beacon frames and broadcast Probe Response frames transmitted by the reporting AP if at least one AP of the other AP MLD is in the same multiple BSSTD set ss an AP affiliated with the AP MLD of the reporting AP).
Regarding claim 10, RISON discloses the method of Claim 1, further comprises receiving, from a non-AP MLD, a Probe Request frame including a requested MLD BSS Parameters Change count field and determining, based on the received requested MLD BSS Parameters Change Count field, which affiliated APs have updated BSS parameters (RISON, page 36, section 35.3.10.2: A non-AP MLD may perform basic operations (such as receiving a traffic indication, time synchronization, receiving BSS parameter updates) by monitoring Beacon frames on one or more links).
Regarding claim 11, RISON discloses the method of Claim 10, wherein determining which affiliated APs have updated BSS parameters includes comparing the received requested MLD BSS Parameters Change Count field with a recorded value of a MLD BSS Parameters Change counter locally maintained per each affiliated AP and counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by the affiliated APs (RISON, page 34, lines 57-60: An AP within an AP MLD shall provide in the Critical Update Flag subfield of the Capability Information field (9.4.1.4 (Capability Information field)) of the Beacon and Probe Response frames it transmits an indication of an update to the value carried in the Change Sequence subfield of the MLD Parameters field in the Reduced Neighbor Report element for any AP in the same AP MLD. Moreover, section 35.3.8 further discloses wherein the “change sequence field for the AP” is regarded as the “MLD BSS parameter update counter” by all the APs).
Regarding claim 12, RISON discloses the method of Claim 11, further comprising retrieving, from the Probe Request frame, requested BSS Parameters Change Count fields associated with the determined affiliated APs respectively, and determining, for each determined affiliated AP, which BSS parameters have changed based on the associated requested BSS Parameters Change Count field (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: BSS parameter critical update procedure: An AP within an AP MU) shall increase the value (modulo: TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP. An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo: TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for another AP in the same AP MU) when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for that AP. An AP within an AP MU) that is transmitted BSSlD shall increase the value (modulo THD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for a nontransmitted BSSID in the same multiple BSSlD set when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the nontrasnmitted BSSID).
Regarding claim 13, RISON discloses the method of Claim 10, further comprising preparing and sending a Probe Response frame including updated BSS parameters of the determined affiliated APs (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8 BSS parameter critical update procedure: An AP within an AP MLJ) shall include in the Beacon and Probe Response frames it transmits a Change Sequence field for each of all APs in the same AP MLD).
Regarding claim 14, RISON discloses a communication method in a wireless network comprising an access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, having multiple affiliated APs, each affiliated AP managing parameters of a Basic Service Set, BSS, and sending beacon frames to announce updates of any of their BSS parameters, the method comprising at a non-AP MLD:
receiving, by a reporting affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD, a beacon frame from a reporting affiliated AP that includes a field counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by plural of the affiliated APs over time (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: “change sequence field for the AP” in the beacon and Probe response frames defined in paragraph “35.3.8 BSS parameter critical update procedure”, i.e., “The Change Sequence field for the AP shall be carried in the TBD field” and “An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP”)), and
determining, from the counting field, whether one of the affiliated APs changed its BSS parameters (RISON, page 36: Each AP of an AP MLD provides a critical updates indication when there is an update (i.e., change) to the BSS parameters for another AP of the AP MLD (Please see also cited section 35.3.8 of page 34 (BSS parameter critical update procedure))).
Regarding claim 15, RISON discloses the method of Claim 14, wherein the determining step determines whether one of the affiliated APs other than the reporting affiliated AP changed its BSS parameters since the last beacon frame received from the reporting affiliated AP (RISON, page 36, section 35.3.10.2 Basic BSS operation: A non-AP MLD may perform basic operations (such as receiving a traffic indication, time synchronization, receiving BSS parameter updates) by monitoring Beacon frames on one or more links).
Regarding claim 16, RISON discloses the method of Claim 14, wherein some or all the affiliated non-AP stations of the non-AP MLD other than the reporting affiliated non-AP station are in a doze state (RISON, page 28: the corresponding non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD is in the same associated state as the non-AP MLD and is associated with the corresponding AP affiliated, with the AP MLD, without providing the corresponding non-AP STA to the corresponding AP mapping to the doze state. See also section 35.3.10).
Regarding claim 17, RISON discloses the method of Claim 14, wherein the reporting affiliated non-AP station locally maintains a MLD BSS Parameters Change counter set to the counting field of the beacon frame last received by the reporting affiliated non-AP station, and the determining step comprises comparing the counting field of the received beacon frame with a current value of the MLD BSS Parameters Change counter (RISON, page 34, lines 57-60: An AP within an AP MLD shall provide in the Critical Update Flag subfield of the Capability Information field (9.4.1.4 (Capability Information field)) of the Beacon and Probe Response frames it transmits an indication of an update to the value carried in the Change Sequence subfield of the MLD Parameters field in the Reduced Neighbor Report element for any AP in the same AP MLD. Moreover, section 35.3.8 further discloses wherein the “change sequence field for the AP” is regarded as the “MLD BSS parameter update counter” by all the APs).
Regarding claim 18, RISON discloses the method of Claim 14, further comprising, at the non- AP MLD, responsive to determining that one of the affiliated APs changed its BSS parameters, sending to the AP MLD a Probe Request frame including a field set to the current value of the MLD BSS Parameters Change counter (RISON, page 13: transmitting an Association Request frame to the AP or PCP or the MLME shall transmit an Association Request frame with Basic variant Multi-Link element in the Association Request frame that indicates the AP MLD to an AP affiliated with the MLD).
Regarding claim 19, RISON discloses the method of Claim 18, further comprising, at the non- AP MLD, receiving a Probe Response frame including updated BSS parameters, updating local records of BSS parameters based on the received updated BSS parameters and updating the MLD BSS Parameters Change counter with the counting field of the beacon frame (RISON, page 34: An AP within an AP MU) shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP. An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for another AP in the same AP MU) when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for that AP. An AP within an AP MU) that is transmitted BSSlD shall increase the value (modulo THD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for a nontransmitted BSSID in the same multiple BSSlD set when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the nontrasnmitted BSSID).
Regarding claim 24, RISON discloses a beacon frame in a wireless network comprising an access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, having multiple affiliated APs, each affiliated AP managing parameters of a Basic Service Set, BSS, and sending beacon frames to announce updates of any of their BSS parameters, the beacon frame including a field counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by plural of the affiliated APs over time (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: “change sequence field for the AP” in the beacon and Probe response frames defined in paragraph “35.3.8 BSS parameter critical update procedure”, i.e., “The Change Sequence field for the AP shall be carried in the TBD field” and “An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP”)).
Regarding claim 28, RISON discloses a wireless communication device acting as an access point, AP, multi-link device, MLD, in a wireless network, the wireless communication device including multiple affiliated Aps, each affiliated AP managing parameters of a Basic Service Set, BSS, and sending beacon frames to announce updates of any of their BSS parameters, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to send, by a reporting affiliated AP, a beacon frame that includes a field counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by plural of the affiliated Aps over time (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: “change sequence field for the AP” in the beacon and Probe response frames defined in paragraph “35.3.8 BSS parameter critical update procedure”, i.e., “The Change Sequence field for the AP shall be carried in the TBD field” and “An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP”)).
Regarding claim 29, RISON discloses a communication device acting as anon-access point, non-AP, multi-link device, MLD, in a wireless network comprising an AP MLD having multiple affiliated Aps, each affiliated AP managing parameters of a Basic Service Set, BSS, and sending beacon frames to announce updates of any of their BSS parameters, the wireless communication device comprising:
a communication unit configured to receive, by a reporting affiliated non-AP station of the non-AP MLD, a beacon frame from a reporting affiliated AP that includes a field counting the number of BSS parameter updates announced by plural of the affiliated Aps over time (RISON, page 34, section 35.3.8: “change sequence field for the AP” in the beacon and Probe response frames defined in paragraph “35.3.8 BSS parameter critical update procedure”, i.e., “The Change Sequence field for the AP shall be carried in the TBD field” and “An AP within an AP MLD shall increase the value (modulo TBD maximum value) of the Change Sequence field for the AP when a critical update occurs to any of the elements for the AP”)); and
a processing unit configured to determine, from the counting field, whether one of the affiliated Aps changed its BSS parameters (RISON, page 36: Each AP of an AP MLD provides a critical updates indication when there is an update (i.e., change) to the BSS parameters for another AP of the AP MLD (Please see also cited section 35.3.8 of page 34 (BSS parameter critical update procedure))).
Conclusion
14. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
a) Lee et al. (US 20150173014 A1) discloses the STA may use an operating mode notification element included in a beacon frame, a probe response or an association response when the STA first enters the BSS and verifies the operation mode of the AP.
b) Seok et al. (US 20120106531 A1) discloses the STA can obtain the information of the group to which the STA itself belongs by using a probe response frame or a beacon frame in a scanning process. For another example, by considering a channel correlation of STAs in a BSS, the AP can group STAs having a low channel correlation and report the grouping result (i.e., an identifier of each group and an identifier of STAs belonging to a group) to each STA.
15. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN F VOLTAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-3953. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-6:45 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FARUK HAMZA can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEAN F VOLTAIRE/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466