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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 03/15/2024.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Claims 1, 11 and 20 are independent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 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.
6. 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 of this title, 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.
7. 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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
8. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuichi MORIOKA et al. (US 2021/0044410 A1), hereinafter MORIOKA, in view of Hang Liu et al. (US 2011/0116435 A1), hereinafter Liu.
For claim 1, MORIOKA teaches a data transmission method, the method comprising:
sending a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S504 and paragraphs 98-100 teach the AP sequentially transmits a plurality of multicast frames (Step S504).);
receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S507 and paragraph 102 teach the AP performs the processing of receiving an ACK/NACK signal from each terminal that is the multicast frame transmission destination (Step S507).); and
based on determining, based on the acknowledgment field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment frame from any terminal device in the plurality of terminal devices, that the any terminal device does not receive a target frame in the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508).), resending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S509 and paragraph 104 teach When a next transmission timing arrives, the AP performs the retransmission processing of a predetermined number of MPDUs in order of priority (Step S509).).
Liu further teaches sending a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices (Liu, Fig. 6 step 605 and paragraph 43 teach a plurality of data units/packets/frames are multicast to intended receivers.);
receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices (Liu, Fig. 6 step 630 and paragraph 43 teach The station transmitting/multicasting the data begins receiving M-BlockAcks at 630.), wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device comprises an acknowledgment field that indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame (Liu, Fig. 5A and paragraph 39 teach M-BlockAck signal/frame/message, which contains a BA control field and a BA information field…The BA control field and the BA information field indicate the traffic identifier (TID), the block ACK starting frame sequence number, and the block ACK bitmap for blocks/units of data/packets/frames which the M-BlockAck frame acknowledges.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in MORIOKA with Liu to have method of sending a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices; receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device comprises an acknowledgment field that indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame; and
based on determining, based on the acknowledgment field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment frame from any terminal device in the plurality of terminal devices, that the any terminal device does not receive a target frame in the first multicast frame, resending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices in order to have an efficient method for reliable multicast data transmission, acknowledgement and retransmission. [Liu: background].
For claim 2, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the first multicast frame comprises a plurality of frames (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S504 and paragraphs 98-100 teach the AP sequentially transmits a plurality of multicast frames (Step S504).), and the method further comprises: obtaining the plurality of frames (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S501 and paragraph 98 teach transmission data (for example, video data) to be sent to a plurality of terminals by multicasting is generated in an upper layer (Yes in Step S501),); and aggregating the plurality of frames to obtain at least one aggregated frame, wherein the at least one aggregated frame forms the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S502 and paragraph 98 teach the AP creates a multicast frame for transmitting the transmission data (Step S502). The multicast frame is, for example, an A-MPDU in which a plurality of MPDUs is joined.); wherein the sending the first multicast frame to the plurality of terminal devices comprises: sequentially sending the at least one aggregated frame to the plurality of terminal devices (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S504 and paragraphs 98-100 teach the AP sequentially transmits a plurality of multicast frames (Step S504).).
For claim 3, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising: based on the multicast block acknowledgment frame from the any terminal device being not received, sending a multicast block acknowledgment request frame to the any terminal device, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment request frame comprises an acknowledgment request field, and the acknowledgment request field is for requesting a status of receiving the at least one frame by the any terminal device (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S506 and paragraph 101 teach when the AP finishes the multicast transmission of all the MPDUs (Yes in Step S505), the AP transmits the trigger frame including each parameter set in Step S503 by multicasting (Step S506).); wherein the receiving the multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices comprises: receiving the multicast block acknowledgment frame from the any terminal device based on the acknowledgment request field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment request frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S507 and paragraph 102 teach after that, the AP performs the processing of receiving an ACK/NACK signal from each terminal that is the multicast frame transmission destination (Step S507).).
For claim 4, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 3, wherein the first multicast frame is located in a target priority queue, each frame of the at least one frame has a frame sequence number, and the frame sequence number of each frame of the at least one frame is within a frame sequence number range of a send window corresponding to the target priority queue; and wherein a value of the acknowledgment request field is a current start frame sequence number of the send window corresponding to the target priority queue, and the acknowledgment request field is for requesting a status of receiving, by the any terminal device, a frame with each frame sequence number in the send window corresponding to the target priority queue. (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 5, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 3, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment request frame further comprises multicast location information, and the any terminal device is configured to determine the first multicast frame from a plurality of received multicast frames based on the multicast location information (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 6, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 5, wherein the multicast location information comprises a media access control (MAC) address field of a transmit channel, a MAC address field of a receive channel, and a traffic identifier (TID) field (MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 71-85 teach receiver address, transmitter address and random trigger body. See also Liu, Figs. 5A, 5B and paragraphs 39-40.); and wherein the MAC address field of the transmit channel indicates a MAC address of a channel that is in an access device and that is for generating the multicast block acknowledgment request frame, the MAC address field of the receive channel indicates a MAC address of a channel that is in the any terminal device and that is for processing the multicast block acknowledgment request frame, and the TID field indicates the target priority queue (MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 71-85 teach in a Receiver Address field 303, the address (MAC address) of a terminal that is the destination of the trigger frame 300 is described. A terminal that is specified as the destination of the trigger frame can also be called a terminal requested to transmit ACK/NACK. A broadcast address may be described in the Receiver Address field 303. Further, in a Transmitter Address field 304, the address (MAC address) of the AP, which is the transmission source of the trigger frame 300, is described. A Random NACK Trigger Body field 305 corresponds to the frame body of the trigger frame 300. In the Random NACK Trigger Body field 305, information for giving instructions regarding ACK/NACK signal transmission (Random NACK Transmission) to a terminal specified as a destination by the Receiver Address field 303 is described. Moreover, in the end of the trigger frame 300, a frame check sequence (FCS) 306 for detecting and correcting errors in data contents described in the trigger frame 300 is added. See also Liu, Figs. 5A, 5B and paragraphs 39-40.).
For claim 7, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 3, wherein a transmit channel of the first multicast frame is different from a transmit channel of the multicast block acknowledgment request frame, and the transmit channel of the first multicast frame is different from a receive channel of the multicast block acknowledgment frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 71-85 teach in a Receiver Address field 303, the address (MAC address) of a terminal that is the destination of the trigger frame 300 is described. A terminal that is specified as the destination of the trigger frame can also be called a terminal requested to transmit ACK/NACK. A broadcast address may be described in the Receiver Address field 303. Further, in a Transmitter Address field 304, the address (MAC address) of the AP, which is the transmission source of the trigger frame 300, is described. A Random NACK Trigger Body field 305 corresponds to the frame body of the trigger frame 300. In the Random NACK Trigger Body field 305, information for giving instructions regarding ACK/NACK signal transmission (Random NACK Transmission) to a terminal specified as a destination by the Receiver Address field 303 is described. Moreover, in the end of the trigger frame 300, a frame check sequence (FCS) 306 for detecting and correcting errors in data contents described in the trigger frame 300 is added. See also Liu, Figs. 5A, 5B and paragraphs 39-40.).
For claim 8, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the resending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices comprises: repeatedly performing a retransmission process until a retransmission end condition is satisfied; wherein the retransmission process comprises: sending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices; receiving the multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices; and
determining, based on the multicast block acknowledgment frames, whether each terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices receives the target frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 steps S507-509 and paragraphs 102-104 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.); and
wherein the retransmission end condition comprises at least one of the following: a quantity of times of repeated sending is greater than a quantity-of-times threshold and at least one terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices still does not receive the target frame, each terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices receives the target frame, or a duration of the retransmission process is greater than a duration threshold (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 and paragraph 104 teach when a next transmission timing arrives, the AP performs the retransmission processing of a predetermined number of MPDUs in order of priority (Step S509). The details of the retransmission processing are similar to the ones in Step S502 to 506 described above. Liu, Fig. 6 step 665 and paragraph 43 teach at 665 a test is performed to determine if the status of all the data/packets for which status was requested has been checked and updated. If the status of all the data/packets for which status was requested has not been checked and updated then processing returns to 650. If the status of all the data/packets for which status was requested has been checked and updated the processing returns to 605. If a multicast packet (multicast data) was received by all the intended receivers that responded with M-BlockAcks or if the transmission lifetime (usefulness) of the packet/data has been exceeded (has expired) then processing continues at 665. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in MORIOKA with Liu to have method of repeatedly performing a retransmission process until a retransmission end condition is satisfied; wherein the retransmission process comprises: sending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices; receiving the multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices; and determining, based on the multicast block acknowledgment frames, whether each terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices receives the target frame; and wherein the retransmission end condition comprises at least one of the following: a quantity of times of repeated sending is greater than a quantity-of-times threshold and at least one terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices still does not receive the target frame, each terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices receives the target frame, or a duration of the retransmission process is greater than a duration thresholdin order to have an efficient method for reliable multicast data transmission, acknowledgement and retransmission. [Liu: background]).
For claim 9, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 8, wherein the first multicast frame is located in a target priority queue, the at least one frame each has a frame sequence number, the frame sequence number of the at least one frame is within a frame sequence number range of a send window corresponding to the target priority queue, and the sending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices comprises: aggregating the target frame and at least one current to-be-transmitted frame to obtain a second multicast frame, wherein a frame sequence number of the at least one to-be-transmitted frame is within the frame sequence number range of the send window corresponding to the target priority queue (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 steps S507-509 and paragraphs 102-104 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.); and sending the second multicast frame to the plurality of terminal devices (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 and paragraph 104 teach when a next transmission timing arrives, the AP performs the retransmission processing of a predetermined number of MPDUs in order of priority (Step S509). The details of the retransmission processing are similar to the ones in Step S502 to 506 described above. Liu, Fig. 6 and paragraph 43 teach at 665 a test is performed to determine if the status of all the data/packets for which status was requested has been checked and updated. If the status of all the data/packets for which status was requested has not been checked and updated then processing returns to 650. If the status of all the data/packets for which status was requested has been checked and updated the processing returns to 605. If a multicast packet (multicast data) was received by all the intended receivers that responded with M-BlockAcks or if the transmission lifetime (usefulness) of the packet/data has been exceeded (has expired) then processing continues at 665.).
For claim 10, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the first multicast frame is located in a target priority queue, the at least one frame each has a frame sequence number, the frame sequence number of the at least one frame is within a frame sequence number range of a send window corresponding to the target priority queue, a minimum frame sequence number of the at least one frame is a start frame sequence number of the send window corresponding to the target priority queue (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 steps S507-509 and paragraphs 102-104 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.), and the method further comprises:
updating the frame sequence number range based on a frame with the minimum frame sequence number in the at least one frame being a non-target frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 steps S507-509 and paragraphs 102-104 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 11, MORIOKA teaches a data transmission method, the method comprising:
receiving a first multicast frame from an access device (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S504 and paragraphs 98-100 teach the AP sequentially transmits a plurality of multicast frames (Step S504).), wherein the first multicast frame is located in a target priority queue, the first multicast frame has a frame sequence number, and the frame sequence number is within a frame sequence number range of a receive window corresponding to the target priority queue (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.); and
sending a multicast block acknowledgment frame to the access device, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame indicates whether at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame is received (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S507 and paragraph 102 teach the AP performs the processing of receiving an ACK/NACK signal from each terminal that is the multicast frame transmission destination (Step S507).), wherein the access device is configured to resend the target frame based on the acknowledgment field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment frame indicating that a target frame in the first multicast frame is not received (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508).).
Liu further teaches sending a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices (Liu, Fig. 6 step 605 and paragraph 43 teach a plurality of data units/packets/frames are multicast to intended receivers.);
receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices (Liu, Fig. 6 step 630 and paragraph 43 teach The station transmitting/multicasting the data begins receiving M-BlockAcks at 630.), wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device comprises an acknowledgment field that indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame (Liu, Fig. 5A and paragraph 39 teach M-BlockAck signal/frame/message, which contains a BA control field and a BA information field…The BA control field and the BA information field indicate the traffic identifier (TID), the block ACK starting frame sequence number, and the block ACK bitmap for blocks/units of data/packets/frames which the M-BlockAck frame acknowledges.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in MORIOKA with Liu to have method of receiving a first multicast frame from an access device, wherein the first multicast frame is located in a target priority queue, the first multicast frame has a frame sequence number, and the frame sequence number is within a frame sequence number range of a receive window corresponding to the target priority queue; and sending a multicast block acknowledgment frame to the access device, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame comprises an acknowledgment field that indicates whether at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame is received, wherein the access device is configured to resend the target frame based on the acknowledgment field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment frame indicating that a target frame in the first multicast frame is not receivedin order to have an efficient method for reliable multicast data transmission, acknowledgement and retransmission. [Liu: background].
For claim 12, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 11, wherein the at least one frame forms at least one aggregated frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S502 and paragraph 98 teach the AP creates a multicast frame for transmitting the transmission data (Step S502).
For claim 13, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 11,
wherein the first multicast frame is located in the target priority queue, the at least one frame each has a frame sequence number, and a frame sequence number of any frame in the at least one frame is within the frame sequence number range of the receive window corresponding to the target priority queue or is less than a start frame sequence number of the receive window corresponding to the target priority queue; and wherein the acknowledgment field indicates a status of receiving a frame with each frame sequence number in the receive window corresponding to the target priority queue (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 14, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 13, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame further comprises multicast location information, and the access device is configured to determine, based on the multicast location information, that the acknowledgment field indicates a status of receiving the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 15, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 14, wherein the multicast location information comprises a media access control (MAC) address field of a transmit channel, a MAC address field of a receive channel, and a traffic identifier TID field (MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 71-85 teach receiver address, transmitter address and random trigger body. See also Liu, Figs. 5A, 5B and paragraphs 39-40.); and wherein the MAC address field of the transmit channel indicates a MAC address of a channel that is in a terminal device and that is for generating the multicast block acknowledgment frame, the MAC address field of the receive channel indicates a MAC address of a channel that is in the access device and that is for processing the multicast block acknowledgment frame, and the TID field indicates the target priority queue (MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 71-85 teach in a Receiver Address field 303, the address (MAC address) of a terminal that is the destination of the trigger frame 300 is described. A terminal that is specified as the destination of the trigger frame can also be called a terminal requested to transmit ACK/NACK. A broadcast address may be described in the Receiver Address field 303. Further, in a Transmitter Address field 304, the address (MAC address) of the AP, which is the transmission source of the trigger frame 300, is described. A Random NACK Trigger Body field 305 corresponds to the frame body of the trigger frame 300. In the Random NACK Trigger Body field 305, information for giving instructions regarding ACK/NACK signal transmission (Random NACK Transmission) to a terminal specified as a destination by the Receiver Address field 303 is described. Moreover, in the end of the trigger frame 300, a frame check sequence (FCS) 306 for detecting and correcting errors in data contents described in the trigger frame 300 is added. See also Liu, Figs. 5A, 5B and paragraphs 39-40.).
For claim 16, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 11, wherein the sending the multicast block acknowledgment frame to the access device comprises:
receiving a multicast block acknowledgment request frame from the access device, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment request frame comprises an acknowledgment request field, and the acknowledgment request field is for requesting a status of receiving the at least one frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S506 and paragraph 101 teach when the AP finishes the multicast transmission of all the MPDUs (Yes in Step S505), the AP transmits the trigger frame including each parameter set in Step S503 by multicasting (Step S506).); sending the multicast block acknowledgment frame to the access device based on the acknowledgment request field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment request frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S507 and paragraph 102 teach after that, the AP performs the processing of receiving an ACK/NACK signal from each terminal that is the multicast frame transmission destination (Step S507).).
For claim 17, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 16, wherein a receive channel of the first multicast frame is different from a receive channel of the multicast block acknowledgment request frame, and the receive channel of the first multicast frame is different from a transmit channel of the multicast block acknowledgment frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 71-85 teach in a Receiver Address field 303, the address (MAC address) of a terminal that is the destination of the trigger frame 300 is described. A terminal that is specified as the destination of the trigger frame can also be called a terminal requested to transmit ACK/NACK. A broadcast address may be described in the Receiver Address field 303. Further, in a Transmitter Address field 304, the address (MAC address) of the AP, which is the transmission source of the trigger frame 300, is described. A Random NACK Trigger Body field 305 corresponds to the frame body of the trigger frame 300. In the Random NACK Trigger Body field 305, information for giving instructions regarding ACK/NACK signal transmission (Random NACK Transmission) to a terminal specified as a destination by the Receiver Address field 303 is described. Moreover, in the end of the trigger frame 300, a frame check sequence (FCS) 306 for detecting and correcting errors in data contents described in the trigger frame 300 is added. See also Liu, Figs. 5A, 5B and paragraphs 39-40.).
For claim 18, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claim 16, further comprising: updating the frame sequence number range of the receive window corresponding to the target priority queue based on the multicast block acknowledgment request frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 steps S507-509 and paragraphs 102-104 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 19, MORIOKA and Liu further teach the method according to claims 11, further comprising: updating the frame sequence number range of the receive window corresponding to the target priority queue based on the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 steps S507-509 and paragraphs 102-104 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508). Note that, in a case where it is estimated, on the basis of, for example, the fact that the retransmission priority of each MPDU cannot be clearly determined, that the ACK/NACK signals have been failed to be received with sufficient granularity, the AP reduces, by adjustment, an Individual Signal Size that is described in a trigger frame to be transmitted sequentially. See also MORIOKA, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 74-75 for sequence number.).
For claim 20, MORIOKA teaches a data transmission system (MORIOKA, Fig.4), comprising:
an access device (MORIOKA, Fig.4 item AP); and
a terminal device (MORIOKA, Fig. 4 item STA1); wherein the access device is configured to:
send a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices, wherein the plurality of terminal devices includes the terminal device (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S504 and paragraphs 98-100 teach the AP sequentially transmits a plurality of multicast frames (Step S504).);
receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S507 and paragraph 102 teach the AP performs the processing of receiving an ACK/NACK signal from each terminal that is the multicast frame transmission destination (Step S507).); and
based on determining, based on the acknowledgment field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment frame from any terminal device in the plurality of terminal devices, that the any terminal device does not receive a target frame in the first multicast frame (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S508 and paragraph 103 teach the AP determines, on the basis of the ACK/NACK signal reception result with respect to each target MPDU, the retransmission priority of each MPDU (step 508).), resending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices (MORIOKA, Fig. 5 step S509 and paragraph 104 teach When a next transmission timing arrives, the AP performs the retransmission processing of a predetermined number of MPDUs in order of priority (Step S509).).
Liu further teaches sending a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices (Liu, Fig. 6 step 605 and paragraph 43 teach a plurality of data units/packets/frames are multicast to intended receivers.);
receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices (Liu, Fig. 6 step 630 and paragraph 43 teach The station transmitting/multicasting the data begins receiving M-BlockAcks at 630.), wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame (Liu, Fig. 5A and paragraph 39 teach M-BlockAck signal/frame/message, which contains a BA control field and a BA information field…The BA control field and the BA information field indicate the traffic identifier (TID), the block ACK starting frame sequence number, and the block ACK bitmap for blocks/units of data/packets/frames which the M-BlockAck frame acknowledges.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in MORIOKA with Liu to have method of sending a first multicast frame to a plurality of terminal devices; receiving multicast block acknowledgment frames respectively from the plurality of terminal devices, wherein the multicast block acknowledgment frame from a given terminal device comprises an acknowledgment field that indicates whether the given terminal device receives at least one frame comprised in the first multicast frame; and
based on determining, based on the acknowledgment field comprised in the multicast block acknowledgment frame from any terminal device in the plurality of terminal devices, that the any terminal device does not receive a target frame in the first multicast frame, resending the target frame to the plurality of terminal devices in order to have an efficient method for reliable multicast data transmission, acknowledgement and retransmission. [Liu: background].
Conclusion
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/WILL W LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412