DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to 4/13/2026.
Claims 40-59 are pending.
Claims 40-59 are rejected.
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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 4/13/2026 has been entered. Claims 40-59 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to claim 40, Applicant argues Hedayat fails to disclose “comprising a group address of a groupcast stream and a first identification, the first identification indicating at least one link among a plurality of links available to the first device” (see Pg. 12). The examiner respectfully disagrees. Hedayat, in the cited paragraph [0061], discloses the request frame including the group address for which a block ack agreement is requested and also discloses that if the group address element is present, the TID field within the Block Ack Parameter Set field is reserved. That is, the originator (e.g., 501 of Fig. 5) sends the request frame indicating the traffic identifier (TID) for which the BA is being set up. Therefore, the rejection of claim 40 (and claims 44, 51, and 52 reciting similar features to claim 40) is maintained.
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 40-59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hedayat US 20180323990 A1, hereinafter Hedayat.
Regarding Claim 40, Hedayat discloses a method, comprising:
transmitting, at a first device, to a second device a request comprising a group address of a groupcast stream and a first identification, the first identification indicating at least one link among a plurality of links available to the first device (Fig. 5, [0059-0061] discloses ADDBA Request frame 502 used to set up or to modify BA operation for a group-cast with retry (GCR) group address. See Table 3 for a ADDBA Request frame Action field format of the 802.11 Specification);
receiving from the second device a response comprising the group address contained in the request and a second identification indicating at least one link available to the second device (Fig. 5, [0062] discloses that the response frame is sent in response to a request frame. See Table 4 for a ADDBA Response frame Action defined in of the 802.11 Specification);
determining whether the first identification matches the second identification (see at least Fig. 5); and
in accordance with a determination that the first identification matches the second identification, transmitting to the second device the groupcast stream on the at least one link indicated by the first identification (see at least Fig. 5 disclosing blocks of data frames in step 504. In the case of GCR service, the data frames are received by several multicast STAs that are associated with the GCR service. See also [0128-0131] regarding ACK responses to multicast).
Regarding Claim 41, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 40 and further discloses wherein the request comprises a first request and the response comprises a first response, the method further comprising:
in accordance with a determination that the first identification fails to match the second identification, transmitting to the second device a second request comprising the group address and the second identification contained in the first response;
receiving from the second device a second response comprising the group address and the second identification; and
transmitting to the second device the groupcast stream on at least one link indicated by the second identification (see at least Fig. 5 disclosing exchanges of ADDBA Request and Response frames and the respective acknowledgment frames, which may be repeated by the participants to achieve an agreement).
Regarding Claim 42, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 40 and further discloses further comprising:
receiving a first block acknowledgement, BA, frame from the second device, the first BA frame indicating a failure of a receipt of a first frame in the groupcast stream; and
transmitting at least a first retransmission frame of the first frame to the second device on the at least one link indicated by the first identification (see at least Fig. 5, [0058] disclosing BlockAck frame for acknowledging transmission of data).
Regarding Claim 43, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 40 and further discloses wherein the first device is an access point, AP, configured to operate in an infrastructure basic service set, BSS, or the first device is a mesh station configured to operate in a mesh BSS (see at least Fig. 1 and [0023-0024]).
Regarding Claim 44, Hedayat discloses a method, comprising:
receiving, at a second device, from a first device a request comprising a group address of a groupcast stream and a first identification, the first identification indicating at least one link among a plurality of links available to the first device (Fig. 5, [0059-0061] discloses ADDBA Request frame 502 used to set up or to modify BA operation for a group-cast with retry (GCR) group address. See Table 3 for a ADDBA Request frame Action field format of the 802.11 Specification);
determining whether the groupcast stream is mapped to the first identification contained in the request (see at least Fig. 5);
in accordance with a determination that the groupcast stream is mapped to the first identification, transmitting to the first device a response comprising the group address and the first identification contained in the request (Fig. 5, [0062] discloses that the response frame is sent in response to a request frame. See Table 4 for a ADDBA Response frame Action defined in of the 802.11 Specification); and
receiving from the first device the groupcast stream on the at least one link indicated by the first identification (see at least Fig. 5 disclosing blocks of data frames in step 504. In the case of GCR service, the data frames are received by several multicast STAs that are associated with the GCR service. See also [0128-0131] regarding ACK responses to multicast).
Regarding Claim 45, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 44 and further discloses wherein the request comprises a third request and the response comprises a third response, the method further comprising:
in accordance with a determination that the groupcast stream is mapped to a third identification different from the first identification contained in the third request, transmitting to the first device a fourth response comprising the group address and the third identification, the third identification indicating at least one link available to the second device;
receiving from the first device a fourth request comprising the group address and the third identification contained in the fourth response;
transmitting to the first device a fifth response comprising the group address and the third identification contained in the fourth response; and
receiving from the first device the groupcast stream on at least one link indicated by the third identification (see at least Fig. 5 disclosing exchanges of ADDBA Request and Response frames and the respective acknowledgment frames, which may be repeated by the participants to achieve an agreement).
Regarding Claim 46, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 44 and further discloses wherein receiving from a first device a request comprising a group address of a groupcast stream and a first identification comprises:
receiving from the first device a groupcast with retries delete block acknowledgement, GCR DEL BA, frame comprising the group address of the groupcast stream and the first identification;
transmitting to the first device an acknowledgement to the GCR DEL BA frame; and
receiving from the first device a groupcast with retries add block acknowledgement, GCR ADD BA, request comprising the group address and the first identification (Fig. 5, [0064] discloses that the DELBA frame (according to the 802. 11 Specification) is sent by either the originator of the traffic or the recipient to terminate the block ack participation. After tearing down BA agreement, GCR originator may establish BA agreement between the GCR service participants via ADDBA Request/Response as shown in Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 47, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 44 and further discloses wherein receiving from a first device a request comprising a group address of a groupcast stream and a first identification comprises:
transmitting to the first device a GCR DEL BA frame comprising the group address of the groupcast stream and the first identification; and
receiving from the first device a GCR ADD BA request comprising the group address and the first identification (Fig. 5, [0064] discloses that the DELBA frame (according to the 802. 11 Specification) is sent by either the originator of the traffic or the recipient to terminate the block ack participation. After tearing down BA agreement, GCR originator may establish BA agreement between the GCR service participants via ADDBA Request/Response as shown in Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 48, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 47 and further discloses wherein the GCR DEL BA frame comprises a reason code indicating that the GCR DEL BA frame is configured for remapping a link of the groupcast stream (see [0064] The Reason Code field is defined in Section 8.4.1.7 (Reason Code field) of the 802.11 Specification.).
Regarding Claim 49, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 44 and further discloses further comprising:
in accordance with a determination of a failure of receipt of a first frame in the groupcast stream, transmitting to the first device a block acknowledgement, BA, frame indicating the failure of the receipt of the first frame in the groupcast stream; and
receiving from the first device a first retransmission frame of the first frame on the at least one link indicated by the first identification (see at least Fig. 5, [0058] disclosing BlockAck frame for acknowledging transmission of data).
Regarding Claim 50, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 44 and further discloses wherein the second device is a non-access point (non-AP) station in an infrastructure basic service set, BSS, or a mesh station in a mesh BSS (see at least Fig. 1 and [0023-0024]).
Claim 51 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 40. Claim 51 recites similar features as in claim 40 from the perspective of an apparatus (see Fig. 2).
Claims 52-58 are rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claims 44-50, respectively. Claims 52-58 recites similar features as in claims 44-50, respectively, from the perspective of an apparatus (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 59, Hedayat discloses the method of claim 44 and further discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 44 (see Fig. 2).
Conclusion
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 YEWON KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-6524. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, GARY MUI can be reached at (571)270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Y.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/GARY MUI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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