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 .
This Office Action is in response to remarks filed on 2/16/2026.
Claims 1-8, 10, 11, & 13-17 & 19 are pending and presented for examination.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1 & 13 have been amended.
Rejections to claims 1-8, 10, 11, & 13-17 & 19 under 35 USC 103 made in the previous record Non-final Rejection dated 11/25/2025 have been withdrawn. However, after further consideration, new grounds of rejections to claims 1-8, 10, 11, & 13-17 & 19 under 35 USC 103 have been introduced.
Rejections to claims 1 & 13 under 35 USC 112(b) have been introduced based on amendments to these claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see “Remarks”, filed 2/16/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-8, 10, 11, & 13-17 & 19 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, these rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejections under 35 USC 103 are made in view of new references Kneckt et al. (US 20150264710)(herein after “Kneckt”).
Regarding claim 1, applicant submits that amendments to this claim make this claim patentable. Examiner respectfully disagrees noting that, per 35 U.S.C. 103, a patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained 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 (see §MPEP 2141).
Applicant argues that amendments to claim 1 traverse the rejection of this claim under 35 USC 103. Examiner agrees and withdraws rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC 103 made in the prior record Non-final rejection dated 11/25/2025. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejections under 35 USC 103 are made in view of new reference Kneckt. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Based on the above discussion, examiner withdraws rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC 103 made in the prior record Non-final rejection dated 11/25/2025, but introduces a new ground of rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC 103 in view of new reference Kneckt.
Regarding claim 13, applicant submits that this claim is patentable based on similar amendments and arguments as made above for claim 1. Examiner respectfully disagrees and for the same reasons as discussed above withdraws rejection of claim 13 under 35 USC 103 made in the prior record Non-final rejection dated 11/25/2025, but introduces a new ground of rejection of claim 13 under 35 USC 103 in view of new reference Kneckt.
Regarding claims 2-8, 10, 11, & 14-17 & 19, applicant submits that these claims are patentable based on amendments and arguments made above for claims 1 & 13 and due to their dependency on claims 1 or 13. Examiner respectfully disagrees and for the same reasons as discussed above withdraws rejections of these claims under 35 USC 103 made in the prior record Non-final rejection dated 11/25/2025, but introduces a new grounds of rejections of these claims under 35 USC 103 in view of new reference Kneckt.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 & 13 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 & 13 recite the limitation “wherein the access to the secondary channel is based on receiving, at the wireless STA device, a MAC control frame comprising an indication that the wireless STA device is required to send the clear to send transmission on the secondary channel only or the resource unit is to be allocated on the secondary channel only which signals in response that the wireless STA device is to consider the transmission channel bandwidth of the inter-BSS PPDU when identifying a bandwidth of the secondary channel for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame on the secondary channel”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of this review, examiner is interpreting this limitation in claims 1 & 13 as “wherein the access to the secondary channel is based on receiving, at the wireless STA device, a MAC control frame comprising an indication that: the wireless STA device is required to send a clear to send transmission on the secondary channel only, or a resource unit is to be allocated on the secondary channel only; which signals
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-8, 10, 11, 13-17 & 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yunbo Li et al. (US2023/0232452)(herein after “Yunbo Li”) in view of Jiang et al. (US 10244536)(herein after “Jiang”) and further in view of Sugaya et al. (US 20210314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) and Kim et al. (US 9451637)(herein after “Kim”) and Kneckt et al. (US 20150264710)(herein after “Kneckt”).
Regarding Claim 1, Yunbo Li discloses: A method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless station (STA) device, an inter-basic service set (BSS) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) ([0126] discloses receiving an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) frame which represents an inter-BSS PPDU.), which identifies a transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU ([0126] discloses recording a bandwidth of an OBSS frame.) and transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration ([0136] discloses decoding of the time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be TXOP duration, in an OBSS.);
accessing, by the wireless STA device, a secondary channel, wherein the secondary channel excludes the transmission channel bandwidth identified by the inter-BSS PPDU and a primary 20MHz channel for the wireless STA device from a basic service set (BSS) operating bandwidth associated with the wireless STA device ([0132] discloses switching to a secondary channel where any subchannel of a first channel associated with a first OBSS frame may not be used by the secondary channel.);
transmitting and receiving, by the wireless STA device, one or more frames on the secondary channel during the TXOP duration without using the primary 20MHz channel for the wireless STA device ([0135-0136] discloses transmitting and receiving on a secondary channel, without using the primary channel, during a NAV timer based on the time length of the duration field, assumed to be the TXOP duration, from a first OBSS); and
switching, by the wireless STA device, back to the primary 20MHz channel before the TXOP duration ends ([0135-0136] discloses switching back to the primary channel before the NAV timer is 0.);
Yunbo Li fails to disclose where an indication bit in a PHY or MAC header portion of the inter-BSS PPDU signals that the wireless STA device is allowed to use the secondary channel and not the primary channel for transmission and reception.
However, Jiang teaches where an indication bit in a PHY or MAC header portion of the inter-BSS PPDU signals that the wireless STA device is allowed to use the secondary channel and not the primary channel for transmission and reception (Col 7, lines 29-42 disclose an AP granting permission to client stations to access one or more secondary channels and not also use the primary channel. Fig 10 & Col 19, lines 66-67 & col 20, lines 1-28 disclose a secondary channel allocation field 1000 (i.e. header) that indicates the secondary channels that may be used by client stations. Col 20, lines 53-63 disclose the secondary channel allocation field 1000 is included MAC portion of a beacon frame, or grant frame or control frame, that is then included in a PHY data unit. Note that any one bit in the MAC secondary channel allocation field 1000 could be used to indicate that the client device is allowed to use a secondary channel and not also use the primary channel.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add to the method comprising: receiving, by a wireless station (STA) device, an inter-basic service set (BSS) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), as disclosed by Yunbo Li, an indication bit in a PHY or MAC header portion of the inter-BSS PPDU signals that the wireless STA device is allowed to use the secondary channel and not the primary channel for transmission and reception, as taught by Jiang. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for receiving and processing a MAC field from a PHY data unit in an OBSS frame from a wireless AP, that indicates the client station is allowed to transmit on a secondary channel without transmitting on the primary channel of the OBSS.
Yunbo Li fails to disclose but Sugaya further teaches wherein the access to the secondary channel is based on receiving, at the wireless STA device, an indication which signals in response that the wireless STA device is required to consider the transmission channel bandwidth of the inter-BSS PPDU when identifying a bandwidth of the secondary channel (Fig 6, [0085]-[0087] & [0096-0097] discloses an STA receiving a channel notification signal, with a frame configuration and bitmap format shown in Fig 6, that includes information regarding the frequency bands (i.e. bandwidths) of primary and secondary channels (i.e. transmission channel bandwidth information) of an OBSS and setting a frequency band of a secondary channel on the basis of the information in the notification signal (i.e. considers the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS when setting a frequency band of a secondary channel).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a method comprising: receiving, by a wireless station (STA) device, an inter-basic service set (BSS) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), as disclosed by Yunbo Li, wherein the access to the secondary channel is based on receiving, at the wireless STA device, an indication that the wireless STA device is required to consider the transmission channel bandwidth of the inter-BSS PPDU when identifying a bandwidth of the secondary channel, as further taught by Sugaya. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for an STA to receive an indication that signals that the STA is required to consider the transmission bandwidth of an OBSS when selecting a secondary channel for transmission to more optimally utilize spectrum in scenarios where the transmission bandwidth of the STA includes secondary channels that do not overlap with the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS.
Yunbo Li fails to disclose wherein the indication is part of a MAC control frame.
However, Kim further teaches wherein the indication is part of a MAC control frame (Col 50, lines 20-37 disclose an indication bit that is part of a MAC control frame.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a method comprising an STA receiving an indication bit, as disclosed by Yunbo Li in view of Sugaya, wherein the indication is part of a MAC control frame, as further taught by Kim. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for an STA to receive an indication using a defined MAC control frame to enable interoperability in communication between APs and STAs from different manufacturers.
Yunbo Li fails to disclose but Kneckt further teaches wherein the indication in the MAC control frame comprises that the STA device is required to send the clear to send transmission on the secondary channel only or a resource unit is to be allocated on the secondary channel only for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame on the secondary channel ([0043] discloses an Applied Channels field that indicates the channels for which an RTS-CTS command applies, which can indicate that an RTS-CTS mechanism shall be applied only to a secondary channel when the value of the Applied Channels field is 3. Fig 5, [0021], [0037] & [0039] discloses that a frame comprising the command to use RTS-CTS may be a control frame that includes MAC address information (i.e. a MAC control frame). [0037] discloses that a terminal device receiving the frame may force the use of the RTS-CTS mechanism as a response to the command (i.e. for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame using only the secondary channel as indicated in by the Applied Channels field being a 3 in the frame.).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a method comprising an STA receiving an indication in a MAC control frame, as disclosed by Yunbo Li in view of Sugaya and Kim, wherein the indication in the MAC control frame comprises that the STA device is required to send the clear to send transmission on the secondary channel only or a resource unit is to be allocated on the secondary channel only for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame on the secondary channel, as further taught by Kneckt. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for an STA to receive a MAC control frame with an Applied Channels field that indicates that the STA is required to provide CTS only on a secondary channel in order to avoid causing collisions on a primary channel while being able to avoid collisions on the secondary channel to more optimally utilize spectrum in scenarios where the transmission bandwidth of the STA includes secondary channels that do not overlap with the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS.
Regarding Claim 2, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses where the wireless STA device comprises a wireless access point STA device ([0103] discloses a communication device being a wireless AP device or a wireless station (STA) device.).
Regarding Claim 3, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses where the wireless STA device comprises a wireless non-access point STA device (Fig. 1 & [0107] discloses a station (for example, the STA 1, the STA 2 and the STA 2 in FIG. 1) being an apparatus having a wireless communication function and the station may be referred to as a non-access point station (non-access point station, non-AP STA).).
Regarding Claim 4, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 3.
Yunbo Li discloses where the wireless non-access point STA device comprises a basic network allocation vector (NAV) timer ([0114] discloses a communication device receiving an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) frame on the primary channel and setting a network allocation vector (NAV).).
Regarding Claim 5, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 4.
Yunbo Li discloses further comprising: receiving, by the wireless non-access point STA device, a second inter-BSS PPDU on the secondary channel ([0167] discloses a communication device receiving a second OBSS frame on a second channel.) which identifies a second transmission channel bandwidth for the second inter-BSS PPDU ([0167] discloses determining a second transmission channel bandwidth from a second OBSS frame.) and a second transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration, and updating, by the wireless non-access point STA device, the basic NAV timer based on the second transmission channel bandwidth and the second TXOP duration that are identified in the second inter-BSS PPDU ([0168-0169] discloses determining the duration field (assumed to be the TXOP duration) then setting a NAV timer that may be a Basic NAV.).
Regarding Claim 6, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses where the inter-BSS PPDU is selected from a group consisting of a high-efficiency (HE) PPDU, an extremely high-throughput (EHT) PPDU, an ultra high reliability (UHR) PPDU, a trigger frame, a request-to-send (RTS) frame in a non-high-throughput (HT) PPDU, a clear-to-send (CTS) frame in a non-HT PPDU, an acknowledgement (ACK) frame in a non-HT PPDU, and a block acknowledgement (BA) frame in a non-HT PPDU (Fig. 1 & [0105] discloses that APs and STAs may use the 802.11 protocols, including the EHT protocol, and thus an OBSS frame, assumed to be the inter-BSS PPDU, referenced in this disclosure may consist of an EHT PPDU.).
Regarding Claim 7, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses where accessing the secondary channel comprises: decoding, by the wireless STA device, at least a portion of the inter-BSS PPDU to extract the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU and the transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration ([0126] discloses recording a bandwidth of an OBSS frame. [0136] discloses decoding of the time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be TXOP duration, in an OBSS.);
identifying, by the wireless STA device, the secondary channel by using at least the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU to select the secondary channel from a group of secondary channels that are adjacent to the transmission channel bandwidth (Fig 3a & [0158] discloses a scenario where the primary 20 MHz channel is channel 1 in Fig 3a, the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS is 80 MHz covering channels 1-4 in Fig 3a, and a secondary channel, using the transmission bandwidth of the OBBS, is selected on channels 5-8 in Fig 3a which are adjacent to the 80 MHz transmission bandwidth.); and
switching, by the wireless STA device, to the secondary channel for exchanging one or more frames during the TXOP duration ([0158] discloses a scenario where the communication device switches to a secondary channel for transmission based on the TXOP of the primary channel.).
Regarding Claim 8, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses where accessing the secondary channel comprises: decoding, by the wireless STA device, at least a portion of the inter-BSS PPDU to extract the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU and the transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration ([0126] discloses recording a bandwidth of an OBSS frame. [0136] discloses decoding of the time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be TXOP duration, in an OBSS.);
identifying, by the wireless STA device, the secondary channel by using at least the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU to select the secondary channel from a group of secondary channels that are separated from the transmission channel bandwidth by a frequency gap equal to the transmission channel bandwidth (Fig 3a & [0158] discloses a scenario where the primary 20 MHz channel is channel 1 in Fig 3a, the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS is 80 MHz covering channels 1-4 in Fig 3a, and a secondary channel, using the transmission bandwidth of the OBBS, is selected on channels 13-16 in Fig 3a which is separated from the 80 MHz transmission bandwidth by a frequency gap of 160 MHz. Although this represents a frequency gap of twice the transmission bandwidth, this example scenario could have assumed the communication device obtains a TXOP through contention on channel 13 and the NAV on channel 9 is 0. In such an example, a 40 MHz secondary channel could be selected on channels 9-10 which is separated from the 80 MHz transmission bandwidth by a frequency gap of 80 MHz which is equal to the transmission channel bandwidth.); and
switching, by the wireless STA device, to the secondary channel for exchanging one or more frames during the TXOP duration ([0158] discloses a scenario where the communication device switches to a secondary channel for transmission based on the TXOP of the primary channel.).
Regarding Claim 10, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses further comprising accessing the secondary channel in response to receiving, at the wireless STA device, a trigger frame comprising a secondary channel indication subfield that identifies which secondary channel the trigger frame is transmitted on ([0125] discloses that an application of the invention includes the scenario where an AP sends a trigger frame that the STA device would decode to understand the channel the trigger frame is transmitted on. It is well known to anyone in the art of 802.11 technology that trigger frames in 802.11 include a subfield that identifies transmission channel/bandwidth.).
Regarding Claim 11, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 1.
Yunbo Li discloses further comprising receiving, at the wireless STA device, another inter-BSS PPDU with the TXOP duration larger than a predetermined value, wherein the secondary channel is accessed based on the TXOP duration ([0024] discloses a communication device receiving a second OBSS with a time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be the TXOP duration, that is greater than a current time length of a first NAV from a first OBSS, which represents a predetermined value, wherein a fourth channel, assumed to be another secondary channel, is accessed.).
Regarding Claim 13, Yunbo Li discloses a wireless station (STA) device for transmitting and receiving one or more frames in accordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11 protocol, comprising: a transceiver arranged to exchange one or more frames with one or more wireless devices (Fig. 1 & [0105] discloses an AP that can be associated with a plurality of STAs where uplink/downlink communication, which represents transmitting and receiving of frames, associated with the 802.11 protocol is performed. [0076] discloses a communication device, assumed to be an STA, which includes a transceiver.);
a processor ([0076] discloses a communication device including a processor.); and
a memory storing instructions ([0282] discloses a software module including software instructions that can be stored in memory such as RAM, flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, a register, a hard disk a compact disc or any other form of storage medium.) that, when executed by the processor, cause the wireless STA device to:
receive an inter-BSS PPDU ([0126] discloses receiving an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) frame which represents an inter-BSS PPDU.) which identifies a transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU ([0126] discloses recording a bandwidth of an OBSS frame.) and transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration ([0136] discloses decoding of the time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be TXOP duration, in an OBSS.);
access a secondary channel wherein the secondary channel excludes the transmission channel bandwidth identified by the inter-BSS PPDU and a primary 20MHz channel for the wireless STA device from a basic service set (BSS) operating bandwidth associated with the wireless STA device ([0132] discloses switching to a secondary channel where any subchannel of a first channel associated with a first OBSS frame may not be used by the secondary channel.);
transmit and receive one or more frames on the secondary channel during the TXOP duration without using the primary 20MHz channel for the wireless STA device; and switch back to the primary 20MHz channel before the TXOP duration ends ([0135-0136] discloses transmitting and receiving on a secondary channel, without using the primary channel, during a NAV timer based on the time length of the duration field, assumed to be the TXOP duration, from a first OBSS and then switching back to the primary channel before the NAV timer is 0.);
Yunbo Li fails to disclose where an indication bit in a PHY or MAC header portion of the inter-BSS PPDU signals that the wireless STA device is allowed to use the secondary channel and not the primary channel for transmission and reception.
However, Jiang teaches where an indication bit in a PHY or MAC header portion of the inter-BSS PPDU signals that the wireless STA device is allowed to use the secondary channel and not the primary channel for transmission and reception (Col 7, lines 29-42 disclose an AP granting permission to client stations to access one or more secondary channels and not also use the primary channel. Fig 10 & Col 19, lines 66-67 & col 20, lines 1-28 disclose a secondary channel allocation field 1000 (i.e. header) that indicates the secondary channels that may be used by client stations. Col 20, lines 53-63 disclose the secondary channel allocation field 1000 is included MAC portion of a beacon frame, or grant frame or control frame, that is then included in a PHY data unit. Note that any one bit in the MAC secondary channel allocation field 1000 could be used to indicate that the client device is allowed to use a secondary channel and not also use the primary channel.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add to the wireless STA device, as disclosed by Yunbo Li, an indication bit in a PHY or MAC header portion of the inter-BSS PPDU signals that the wireless STA device is allowed to use the secondary channel and not the primary channel for transmission and reception, as taught by Jiang. The motivation to do so would be to have a client station capable of receiving and processing a MAC field from a PHY data unit in an OBSS frame from a wireless AP, that indicates the client station is allowed to transmit on a secondary channel without transmitting on the primary channel of the OBSS.
Yunbo Li fails to disclose but Sugaya further teaches wherein the access to the secondary channel is based on receiving, at the wireless STA device, an indication which signals in response that the wireless STA device is required to consider the transmission channel bandwidth of the inter-BSS PPDU when identifying a bandwidth of the secondary channel (Fig 6, [0085]-[0087] & [0096-0097] discloses an STA receiving a channel notification signal, with a frame configuration and bitmap format shown in Fig 6, that includes information regarding the frequency bands (i.e. bandwidths) of primary and secondary channels (i.e. transmission channel bandwidth information) of an OBSS and setting a frequency band of a secondary channel on the basis of the information in the notification signal (i.e. considers the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS when setting a frequency band of a secondary channel).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a wireless STA device comprising: receiving, by the wireless station (STA) device, an inter-basic service set (BSS) Physical layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), as disclosed by Yunbo Li, wherein the access to the secondary channel is based on receiving, at the wireless STA device, an indication that the wireless STA device is required to consider the transmission channel bandwidth of the inter-BSS PPDU when identifying a bandwidth of the secondary channel, as further taught by Sugaya. The motivation to do so would be to have a wireless STA device that can receive an indication that signals that the STA is required to consider the transmission bandwidth of an OBSS when selecting a secondary channel for transmission to more optimally utilize spectrum in scenarios where the transmission bandwidth of the STA includes secondary channels that do not overlap with the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS.
Yunbo Li fails to disclose wherein the indication is part of a MAC control frame.
However, Kim further teaches wherein the indication is part of a MAC control frame (Col 50, lines 20-37 disclose an indication bit that is part of a MAC control frame.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an STA receiving an indication, as disclosed by Yunbo Li in view of Sugaya, wherein the indication is part of a MAC control frame, as further taught by Kim. The motivation to do so would be to have an STA cable of receiving an indication using a defined MAC control frame to enable interoperability in communication between APs and STAs from different manufacturers.
Yunbo Li fails to disclose but Kneckt further teaches wherein the indication in the MAC control frame comprises that the STA device is required to send the clear to send transmission on the secondary channel only or a resource unit is to be allocated on the secondary channel only for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame on the secondary channel ([0043] discloses an Applied Channels field that indicates the channels for which an RTS-CTS command applies, which can indicate that an RTS-CTS mechanism shall be applied only to a secondary channel when the value of the Applied Channels field is 3. Fig 5, [0021], [0037] & [0039] discloses that a frame comprising the command to use RTS-CTS may be a control frame that includes MAC address information (i.e. a MAC control frame). [0037] discloses that a terminal device receiving the frame may force the use of the RTS-CTS mechanism as a response to the command (i.e. for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame using only the secondary channel as indicated in by the Applied Channels field being a 3 in the frame.).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an STA receiving an indication in a MAC control frame, as disclosed by Yunbo Li in view of Sugaya and Kim, wherein the indication in the MAC control frame comprises that the STA device is required to send the clear to send transmission on the secondary channel only or a resource unit is to be allocated on the secondary channel only for transmission of a response to the MAC control frame on the secondary channel, as further taught by Kneckt. The motivation to do so would be to have an STA that can receive a MAC control frame with an Applied Channels field that indicates that the STA is required to provide CTS only on a secondary channel in order to avoid causing collisions on a primary channel while being able to avoid collisions on the secondary channel to more optimally utilize spectrum in scenarios where the transmission bandwidth of the STA includes secondary channels that do not overlap with the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS.
Regarding claim 14, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the wireless STA device of claim 13.
Yunbo Li discloses further comprising a basic network allocation vector (NAV) timer ([0114] discloses a communication device receiving an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) frame on the primary channel and setting a network allocation vector (NAV).).
Regarding Claim 15, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the wireless STA device of claim 14.
Yunbo Li discloses where the instructions stored in memory, when executed by the processor, cause the wireless STA device to: receive a second inter-BSS PPDU on the secondary channel ([0167] discloses a communication device receiving a second OBSS frame on a second channel.) which identifies a second transmission channel bandwidth for the second inter-BSS PPDU ([0167] discloses determining a second transmission channel bandwidth from a second OBSS frame.) and a second transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration, and update the basic NAV timer based on the second transmission channel bandwidth and the second TXOP duration that are identified in the second inter-BSS PPDU ([0168-0169] discloses determining the duration field (assumed to be the TXOP duration) then setting a NAV timer that may be a Basic NAV.).
Regarding Claim 16, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the wireless STA device of claim 13.
Yunbo Li discloses where the instructions stored in memory, when executed by the processor, cause the wireless STA device to access the secondary channel by: decoding at least a portion of the inter-BSS PPDU to extract the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU and the transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration ([0126] discloses recording a bandwidth of an OBSS frame. [0136] discloses decoding of the time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be TXOP duration, in an OBSS.);
identifying the secondary channel by using at least the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU to select the secondary channel from a group of secondary channels that are adjacent to the transmission channel bandwidth (Fig 3a & [0158] discloses a scenario where the primary 20 MHz channel is channel 1 in Fig 3a, the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS is 80 MHz covering channels 1-4 in Fig 3a, and a secondary channel, using the transmission bandwidth of the OBBS, is selected on channels 5-8 in Fig 3a which are adjacent to the 80 MHz transmission bandwidth.);
and switching to the secondary channel for exchanging one or more frames during the TXOP duration (Page 13, col 2 [158] discloses a scenario where the communication device switches to a secondary channel for transmission based on the TXOP of the primary channel.).
Regarding Claim 17, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the wireless STA device of claim 13.
Yunbo Li discloses where the instructions stored in memory, when executed by the processor, cause the wireless STA device to access the secondary channel by: decoding at least a portion of the inter-BSS PPDU to extract the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU and the transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration ([0126] discloses recording a bandwidth of an OBSS frame. [0136] discloses decoding of the time length indicated by the duration field, assumed to be TXOP duration, in an OBSS.);
identifying the secondary channel by using at least the transmission channel bandwidth for the inter-BSS PPDU to select the secondary channel from a group of secondary channels that are separated from the transmission channel bandwidth by a frequency gap equal to the transmission channel bandwidth (Fig 3a & [0158] discloses a scenario where the primary 20 MHz channel is channel 1 in Fig 3a, the transmission bandwidth of the OBSS is 80 MHz covering channels 1-4 in Fig 3a, and a secondary channel, using the transmission bandwidth of the OBBS, is selected on channels 13-16 in Fig 3a which is separated from the 80 MHz transmission bandwidth by a frequency gap of 160 MHz. Although this represents a frequency gap of twice the transmission bandwidth, this example scenario could have assumed the communication device obtains a TXOP through contention on channel 13 and the NAV on channel 9 is 0. In such an example, a 40 MHz secondary channel could be selected on channels 9-10 which is separated from the 80 MHz transmission bandwidth by a frequency gap of 80 MHz which is equal to the transmission channel bandwidth.); and
switching to the secondary channel for exchanging one or more frames during the TXOP duration ([0158] discloses a scenario where the communication device switches to a secondary channel for transmission based on the TXOP of the primary channel.).
Regarding Claim 19, Yunbo Li in view of Jiang and Sugaya and Kim and Kneckt discloses the method of claim 13.
Yunbo Li discloses where the instructions stored in memory, when executed by the processor, cause the wireless STA device to access the secondary channel in response to receiving a trigger frame comprising a secondary channel indication subfield that identifies which secondary channel the trigger frame is transmitted on ([0125] discloses that an application of the invention includes the scenario where an AP sends a trigger frame that the STA device would decode to understand the channel the trigger frame is transmitted on. It is well known to anyone in the art of 802.11 technology that trigger frames in 802.11 include a subfield that identifies transmission channel/bandwidth.).
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Marin et al. (US 20120008599) discloses Reservation Response and Multi-user Transmissions.
Inventor et al. (CN 105072690) discloses Data Transmission Method and Device Based on Unlicensed Spectrums.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejections presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/JAMES P SEYMOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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