DETAILED ACTION
Claim(s) 1-20 are presented for examination.
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
As required by M.P.E.P.201.14(c), acknowledgement is made to applicant’s claim for priority based on application(s) 63/452,304 submitted on March 15th, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on March 11th, 2024; August 29th, 2024; and April 9th, 2025 follow the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-13 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over RYU et al. (US 2021/0307099 A1) hereinafter “Ryu” in view of Patil et al. (US 2021/0014911 A1) hereinafter “Patil”.
Regarding Claims 1 and 11,
Ryu discloses a first access point (AP) device [see fig(s). 25 & 29, pg. 24, ¶332 lines 1-2, an apparatus or a master-AP (M-AP)], comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate over a link with a corresponding station (STA) [see fig(s). 25 & 29, pg. 25, ¶334 lines 1-10, a transmitting/receiving unit]; and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver [see fig(s). 25 & 29, pg. 25, ¶334 lines 1-10, a processor], the processor configured to [see fig(s). 25 & 29, pg. 25, ¶334 lines 1-10, the processor implemented to]:
determine that the first AP and other APs of a plurality of APs want to perform joint transmission (JTX) with stations (STAs) associated with the first AP and the other Aps [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP transmits a joint transmission null data packet announcement (JTX NDPA) frame to S-APs, and further notifies the S-APs that joint transmission needs to be performed in a STA “1” and the S-APs need to request an AP1 associated with a STA “1” in order to transmit a trigger frame that requests (solicits) the NDP of the STA]; and
initiate a JTX procedure including forming a logical AP multi-link device (MLD) with the other APs to perform JTX [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP selects an S-AP that will participate in M-AP joint transmission by requesting the S-APs to feed channel state information back after receiving the NDP from the STA 1].
Although Ryu discloses initiating a JTX procedure including forming a logical AP multi-link device (MLD) to perform JTX, Ryu does not explicitly teach forming “a virtual AP MLD”.
However Patil discloses determining that the first AP and other APs of a plurality of APs want to perform joint transmission (JTX) with stations (STAs) associated with the first AP and the other Aps [see fig. 13A: Step “1302”, pg. 20, ¶175 lines 10-28, the first AP of the AP MLD generates a frame including an advertising information element, a first portion, and a second portion. The advertising information element carries discovery information for the first AP of the AP MLD, the first portion carries discovery information for each secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the AP MLD, and the second portion carries common attributes of the one or more secondary APs of the AP MLD]; and
initiating a JTX procedure including forming a logical AP multi-link device (MLD) or a virtual AP MLD with the other APs to perform JTX [see fig. 13A: Step “1304”, pg. 20, ¶175 lines 10-28, the AP MLD transmits the frame (i.e. a beacon frame, a probe response frame, an association response frame, or a reassociation response frame) on the first communication link].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide forming “a virtual AP MLD” as taught by Patil in the system of Ryu to deliver relatively fast switching between links and more efficient communications over the links [see Patil, pg. 12, ¶110 lines 1-10].
Regarding Claims 2 and 12,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 11.
Ryu further discloses wherein to initiate the JTX procedure [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP selects an S-AP that will participate in M-AP joint transmission], the processor is configured to:
divide the logical AP MLD into (i) a shared component group configured to perform functionalities that are common to APs that form the logical AP MLD [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶266 lines 13-17, an associated AP is defined as a separate AP (e.g., is named a primary AP, a master AP or the like) therefor, and such separate AP information is previously shared between the APs and the UE] and (ii) a non-shared component group configured to perform functionalities that are specific to each AP that forms the logical AP MLD [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶273 lines 1-2, the M-AP selects an S-AP and shares channel state information/data].
Regarding Claims 3 and 13,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 12.
Ryu further discloses wherein:
the processor is configured determine to initiate a channel sounding procedure for JTX [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP transmits a joint transmission null data packet announcement (JTX NDPA) frame to S-APs, and further notifies the S-APs that joint transmission needs to be performed in a STA “1” and the S-APs need to request an AP1 associated with a STA “1” in order to transmit a trigger frame that requests (solicits) the NDP of the STA]; and
the transceiver is configured to transmit a trigger frame to the non-shared component group for initiating the channel sounding procedure [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶280 lines 1-6, a joint transmission (JT) trigger frame (similar to beamforming report poll (BFRP)) trigger) transmitted by the M-AP includes scheduling for joint transmission and other control information].
Regarding Claims 5 and 15,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 11.
Ryu further discloses wherein to initiate the JTX procedure [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, to select an S-AP that will participate in M-AP joint transmission], the processor is configured, via the transceiver, to transmit a message [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP transmits a joint transmission null data packet announcement (JTX NDPA) frame], to the other Aps [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, to S-Aps], associated with operation parameters of the other Aps [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, that participate in M-AP joint transmission by requesting the S-APs to feed channel state information back after receiving the NDP from the STA “1”].
Regarding Claims 6 and 16,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 15.
Ryu further discloses wherein the operation parameters of the first AP and the other APs are the same [see pg. 20, ¶209 lines 1-4; ¶210 lines 1-10, In the case of Level 3, an AP1 and an AP2 transmit and receive data frames to/from a non-AP STA using levels classified based on resource utilization and transmission timing as follows:], the operation parameters comprising frequency resources including one or more of band [see pg. 20, ¶209 lines 1-4; ¶210 lines 1-10, Level 3-1: the same frequency resource], channel [see pg. 20, ¶209 lines 1-4; ¶210 lines 1-10, (e.g., the same frequency band, but a different RU or the same frequency band and the same RU)], and bandwidth [see pg. 20, ¶209 lines 1-4; ¶210 lines 1-10, and simultaneous transmission and reception].
Regarding Claims 7 and 17,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 11.
Ryu further discloses wherein the processor is configured, via the transceiver, to transmit a message [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP transmits a joint transmission null data packet announcement (JTX NDPA) frame], to the plurality of Aps [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, to S-Aps], associated with forming a group of APs from the plurality of APs to form the logical AP MLD or the virtual AP MLD and that can participate in JTX [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, that participate in M-AP joint transmission by requesting the S-APs to feed channel state information back after receiving the NDP from the STA “1”].
Regarding Claims 8 and 18,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 17.
Ryu further discloses wherein:
the processor is configured to receive a message from one or more APs of the plurality of APs requesting to join the group [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP notifies the S-APs that joint transmission needs to be performed in a STA “1” and the S-APs need to request an AP1 associated with a STA “1” in order to transmit a trigger frame that requests (solicits) the NDP of the STA]; and
the transceiver is configured to transmit a response to the one or more APs of the plurality of APs either approving or denying the request to join the group [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶269 lines 1-10, the M-AP selects an S-AP that will participate in M-AP joint transmission by requesting the S-APs to feed channel state information back after receiving the NDP from the STA “1”].
Regarding Claims 9 and 19,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 11.
Ryu further discloses wherein the processor is further configured, via the transceiver, to:
share data of the STAs associated with the first AP and the other APs with the other APs [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶279 lines 1-3, a data frame (similar to an NDP) transmitted by the M-AP includes data for joint transmission shared between the S-Aps]; and
after sharing the data of the STAs [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶281 lines 1-4, joint transmission (similar to an RD protocol) by the S-APs (and the M-AP) is joint transmission through which a data frame], transmit a message to the other APs to start JTX [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶281 lines 1-4, is transmitted to a non-AP STA(s) by multiple Aps].
Regarding Claims 10 and 20,
The combined system of Ryu and Patil discloses the AP device of Claim 11.
Ryu further discloses wherein the processor is configured to receive, via the transceiver, from an AP of the plurality of Aps [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶270 lines 1-4, the S-AP1 transmits], a management frame indicating a capability of the AP of the plurality of APs to form a logical AP MLD or a virtual AP MLD for JTX [see fig. 25, pgs. 22-23, ¶270 lines 1-4, a trigger frame that requests the NDP of the STA (in this case, this procedure is omitted if the STA can directly receive the JTX NDPA frame from the M-AP)].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 14 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
United States Patent Application Publication: Chitrakar et al. (US 2023/0232315 A1);
see fig. 45, pg. 16, ¶164 lines 1-10.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUSHIL P SAMPAT whose telephone number is (469) 295-9141. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri (8 AM - 5 PM).
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/RUSHIL P. SAMPAT/Primary Examiner- TC 2400, Art Unit 2469