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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Han et al., Pub. No.: US2024/0040642 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Han discloses A first wireless access point (AP) (Fig. 8 item 1000; an access point 1000 (AP1)), comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (Fig. 8, par. 0087; the device 1000 may include a processor 1010, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or specialized processors such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) or other such processor unit, memory 1020, non-transitory mass storage 1030.), the processing system configured to cause the first wireless AP to: communicate with a second AP according to a coordinated AP scheme in accordance with one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (Fig. 4, par. 0047; sending 150, by the STA to the associated AP, a message about a change in multi-AP coordination parameters. Such a message can include a request for initializing multi-AP coordination.); receive a frame comprising a plurality of fields, the plurality of fields including a field comprising one of a first value or a second value, the first value of the field being indicative of a change in the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme, and the second value of the field being indicative of the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme remaining the same (par. 0060-0062; After the AP receives and evaluates the request from STA 210, the AP will further decide whether to initiate multi-AP coordination 220, and if the multi-AP coordination is selected, the first step is to perform AP-to-AP negotiation 230, for which the participating APs follow received indication and perform the coordinated transmission 250.); decode one or more additional fields of the plurality of fields of the frame in accordance with the field comprising the first value (par. 0077; AP1 then collects and compares (i.e., decoding process) the Coordination Scores, then notifies the highest score owner to become the leader AP 740, by AP1 sending a message to the neighboring APs with information to update their candidate lists.); and communicate with the second AP according to one or more updated parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (par. 0084; AP-to-AP negotiation aims to enhance mutual understandings of neighboring APs, optimize the load balancing process, and intelligently utilize all available resources.).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 1 and 11. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the frame, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the field comprising a coordinated AP critical update flag field (par. 0080; each multi-AP coordination session among APs is used to review and update the Candidate AP list if needed due to any parameter changes observed.).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 2 and 12. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the field, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the coordinated AP critical update flag field via a capabilities information and status indication field of the frame (par. 0082; AP informs each other of the requests and calculates respective Coordination Scores, the AP wins the most times of Coordination Score is elected as the leader AP.).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 2 and 12. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the field, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive, in accordance with the coordinated AP scheme, the coordinated AP critical update flag field associated with a first communication link of the first AP and a second communication link of the second AP, the first communication link having one or more first subchannels that at least partially overlap one or more second subchannels of the second communication link (par. 0067; Multi-antenna APs can use null steering and beamforming techniques to further enhance spatial multiplexing capability. Compared to Co-OFDMA, Co-BF requires the overlapping APs to organize their scheduling decisions and acquire accurate CSI from non-associated STAs for effective placement of radiation nulls.).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 2 and 11. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the field, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the coordinated AP critical update flag field, the coordinated AP critical update flag field being common across one or more communication links associated with the second AP, the one or more communication links associated with the coordinated AP scheme, with one or more other coordinated AP schemes, or both (par. 0062).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 1 and 15. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the frame, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the plurality of fields comprising a coordinated AP parameters change count field, a value of the coordinated AP parameters change count field being greater than a previous value of the coordinated AP parameters change count field in accordance with the change in the one or more parameters (par. 0066).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 6 and 15. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the plurality of fields, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the coordinated AP parameters change count field via an operations element of the frame or via a reduced neighbor report element of the frame (par. 0057).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 6 and 11. Han also discloses wherein, to receive the plurality of fields, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the coordinated AP parameters change count field associated with a first communication link that overlaps at least partially with a second communication link associated with the second AP in accordance with the coordinated AP scheme (par. 0067).
Regarding claim 9, Han discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Han also discloses wherein the plurality of fields comprise a set of fields each associated with a respective AP identifier of a corresponding one of a set of APs including the first AP, the plurality of fields comprising a first field associated with a first AP identifier of the first AP, wherein, to receive the frame, the processing system is configured to cause the first wireless AP to: receive the first field comprising one of the first value or the second value, the first value of the first field being indicative of the change in the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme, and the second value of the first field being indicative of the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme remaining the same (par. 0060-0062; After the AP receives and evaluates the request from STA 210, the AP will further decide whether to initiate multi-AP coordination 220, and if the multi-AP coordination is selected, the first step is to perform AP-to-AP negotiation 230, for which the participating APs follow received indication and perform the coordinated transmission 250.); and decode the one or more additional fields of the plurality of fields of the frame in accordance with the first field comprising the first value ((par. 0077; AP1 then collects and compares (i.e., decoding process) the Coordination Scores, then notifies the highest score owner to become the leader AP 740, by AP1 sending a message to the neighboring APs with information to update their candidate lists. ).
Regarding claims 10 and 19, Han discloses all the limitations in claims 1 and 11. Han also discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the first wireless AP to: transmit a second frame comprising a request for the one or more updated parameters (par. 0012; the message about a change in multi-AP coordination parameters includes a request for initializing multi-AP coordination. In some embodiments, the message includes updates to parameters for an ongoing multi-AP coordination.).
Regarding claim 11, Han discloses A first wireless access point (AP) (Fig. 8 item 1000; an access point 1000 (AP1)), comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (Fig. 8, par. 0087; the device 1000 may include a processor 1010, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or specialized processors such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) or other such processor unit, memory 1020, non-transitory mass storage 1030.), the processing system configured to cause the first wireless AP to: communicate with a second AP according to a coordinated AP scheme in accordance with one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (Fig. 4, par. 0047; sending 150, by the STA to the associated AP, a message about a change in multi-AP coordination parameters. Such a message can include a request for initializing multi-AP coordination.); generate a frame comprising a plurality of fields, the plurality of fields including a field comprising one of a first value or a second value, the first value of the field being indicative of a change in the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme, and a second value of the field being indicative of the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme remaining the same (par. 0060-0062; After the AP receives and evaluates the request from STA 210, the AP will further decide whether to initiate multi-AP coordination 220, and if the multi-AP coordination is selected, the first step is to perform AP-to-AP negotiation 230, for which the participating APs follow received indication and perform the coordinated transmission 250.); transmit the frame, the field comprising the first value in accordance with a change in the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (par. 0077; AP1 then collects and compares (i.e., decoding process) the Coordination Scores, then notifies the highest score owner to become the leader AP 740, by AP1 sending (i.e., transmitting) a message to the neighboring APs with information to update their candidate lists.); and communicate with the second AP according to one or more updated parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (par. 0084; AP-to-AP negotiation aims to enhance mutual understandings of neighboring APs, optimize the load balancing process, and intelligently utilize all available resources.).
Regarding claim 20, Han discloses A method for wireless communications by a first wireless access point (AP) (Fig. 7, par. 0077; method steps for establishing a multi-AP coordination session), comprising: communicating with a second AP according to a coordinated AP scheme in accordance with one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (Fig. 4, par. 0047; sending 150, by the STA to the associated AP, a message about a change in multi-AP coordination parameters. Such a message can include a request for initializing multi-AP coordination.); receiving a frame comprising a plurality of fields, the plurality of fields including a field comprising one of a first value or a second value, the first value of the field being indicative of a change in the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme, and the second value of the field being indicative of the one or more parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme remaining the same (par. 0060-0062; After the AP receives and evaluates the request from STA 210, the AP will further decide whether to initiate multi-AP coordination 220, and if the multi-AP coordination is selected, the first step is to perform AP-to-AP negotiation 230, for which the participating APs follow received indication and perform the coordinated transmission 250.); decoding one or more additional fields of the plurality of fields of the frame in accordance with the field comprising the first value (par. 0077; AP1 then collects and compares (i.e., decoding process) the Coordination Scores, then notifies the highest score owner to become the leader AP 740, by AP1 sending a message to the neighboring APs with information to update their candidate lists.); and communicating with the second AP according to one or more updated parameters associated with the coordinated AP scheme (par. 0084; AP-to-AP negotiation aims to enhance mutual understandings of neighboring APs, optimize the load balancing process, and intelligently utilize all available resources.).
Conclusion
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/AYODEJI O AYOTUNDE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649