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 .
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. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) were submitted on 1/22/25 and 1/31/25. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok [PGPUB 2009/0073945] in view of Viger et al. (“Viger”) [PGPUB 2021/0204324].
Regarding claim 1, the Seok reference discloses an apparatus, comprising: at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions [ie. PDA/laptop (“memory” and “processor”) as a station; Seok; figure 3; paragraphs 0005 and 0021] to cause the apparatus to:
send a first radio frame, comprising initiator address information, responder address information, and a first basic service set identifier (BSSID), in a multiple BSSID set [ie. plural BSSID (“multiple BSSID set”); Seok; fig 3 and 7; para 0063-0064],
receive, from a responder, a second radio frame, wherein the second radio frame is a response frame based on the first radio frame [Seok; fig 7 and 8; para 0064-0066].
The Seok reference discloses plurality of BSSIDs but does not specifically disclose the multiple BSSID set comprises a second BSSID of a first basic service set (BSS) in which an initiator is located.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Viger reference discloses multiple BSSID set comprises a second BSSID of a first basic service set (BSS) in which an initiator is located [ie. BSSID set contains another specific BSSID (“second BSSID”) of a BSS and a node (“initiator”) belongs within (“located”) a BSS; Viger; fig 1 and 9a-9c; para 0067-0068, 0293-0295, 0341-0342, and 0361]. The Seok and Viger references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage wireless local area networks. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of a second BSSID, taught by Viger, into the system, taught by Seok. The motivation for doing so would have been to organize nodes into groups [Viger; para 0045-0046].
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the initiator is a first station (STA) and the responder is a second STA; the initiator is a first multi-link device (MLD) in which the first STA is located and the responder is the second STA; the initiator is the first STA and the responder is a second MLD in which the second STA is located; or the initiator is the first MLD in which the first STA is located and the responder is the second MLD in which the second STA is located [Seok; fig 4 and 11; para 0055-0057] [Viger; fig 1; para 0138].
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the first STA is located in the first BSS, wherein the second BSSID is different from a third BSSID of the of a second BSS, and wherein the second STA is located in the second BSS [ie. plurality of BSSIDs; Seok; para 0063] [ie. several BSSs; Viger; fig 10; para 0345-0346 and 0351-0354].
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the first BSSID: corresponds to the first BSS, wherein the first STA is located in the first BSS; or corresponds to a second BSS, wherein the second STA is located in the second BSS [Seok; para 0052-0053 and 0063-0064] [Viger; para 0148-0150 and 0192].
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the second radio frame comprises the initiator address information, the responder address information, and a third BSSID included in the multiple BSSID set [ie. response frame with BSSID (first and third BSSID are the same); Seok; para 0063-0066].
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the third BSSID: is a transmitted BSSID in the multiple BSSID set; corresponds to the first BSS wherein the first STA is located in the first BSS; or corresponds to a second BSS, wherein the second STA is located in the second BSS [ie. response frame with BSSID (first and third BSSID are the same); Seok; para 0063-0066].
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the first BSSID is the same as the third BSSID [ie. response frame with BSSID (first and third BSSID are the same); Seok; para 0063-0066].
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Seok-Viger further discloses the first radio frame is a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) discovery request frame and the second radio frame is a TDLS discovery response frame; the first radio frame is a TDLS setup request frame and the second radio frame is a TDLS setup response frame; the first radio frame is a TDLS setup confirm frame the second radio frame is a first acknowledgment frame; or the first radio frame is a TDLS data frame and the second radio frame is a second acknowledgment frame [Seok; fig 11; para 0062-0065 and 0076] [Viger; para 0286].
Regarding claim 9, the Seok reference discloses an apparatus, comprising: at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to execute the instructions [ie. PDA/laptop (“memory” and “processor”) as a station; Seok; figure 3; paragraphs 0005 and 0021] to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from an initiator, first radio frame comprising initiator address information, responder address information, and a first basic service set identifier (BSSID), in a multiple BSSID set [ie. plural BSSID (“multiple BSSID set”); Seok; fig 3 and 7; para 0063-0064],
send a second radio frame, wherein the second radio frame is a response frame based on the first radio frame [Seok; fig 7 and 8; para 0064-0066].
The Seok reference discloses plurality of BSSIDs but does not specifically disclose the multiple BSSID set comprises a second BSSID of a first basic service set (BSS) in which a responder is located.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Viger reference discloses multiple BSSID set comprises a second BSSID of a first basic service set (BSS) in which a responder is located [ie. BSSID set contains another specific BSSID (“second BSSID”) of a BSS and a node (“responder”) belongs within (“located”) a BSS; Viger; fig 1 and 9a-9c; para 0067-0068, 0293-0295, 0341-0342, and 0361]. The Seok and Viger references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage wireless local area networks. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of a second BSSID, taught by Viger, into the system, taught by Seok. The motivation for doing so would have been to organize nodes into groups [Viger; para 0045-0046].
Regarding claims 10-16, the apparatus of claims 10-16 perform the similar steps as the apparatus of claims 2-8. The combination of Seok-Viger teaches the apparatus of claims 2-8, as referenced above. Therefore, claims 10-16 are rejected using the same art and rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 2-8, by the teachings of Seok-Viger.
Regarding claims 17-20, the method of claims 17-20 perform the similar steps as the apparatus of claims 1-4. The combination of Seok-Viger teaches the apparatus of claims 1-4, as referenced above. Therefore, claims 17-20 are rejected using the same art and rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 1-4, by the teachings of Seok-Viger.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Li et al. [PGPUB 2020/0217875] describes multiple BSSIDs for probe requests and responses.
Chitrakar et al. [PGPUB 2020/0092069] describes setup of TDLS with stations.
Chu et al. [PGPUB 2019/0150063] describes an AP device assigning multiple BSSIDs from a set of BSSIDs to multiple virtual APs.
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/JASON D CARDONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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