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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 24th June 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1 – 6, 9 – 12, 13 – 15 and 17 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hobbs et al (US 2015/0282069 A1) in view of Inoue (US 2020/0088435 A1).
Claim 15 (similarly Claims 1 and 12). Hobbs shows a system (figs. 1 and 6: power management subsystem 112) comprising: at least one memory element for storing data (fig. 6: memory 606); and at least one processor for executing instructions associated with the data (fig. 6: processing device 604), wherein executing the instructions causes the system to perform operations, comprising: obtaining capability information for each of one or more devices wirelessly connected to an access point of a wireless local area network ([0007]: the remote units can wirelessly communicate (RF) with terminal devices in a coverage zone; [0033]: the measurement module 114 can be used to determine or otherwise obtain a utilization metric for one or more of the remote units 106a, 106b, 106c); determining a power policy for the access point based, at least in part, on the capability information obtained for each of the one or more devices wirelessly connected to the access point ([0033]: the measurement module 114 can determine or otherwise obtain a utilization metric based on monitoring system traffic in the DAS 102); and enforcing the power policy for the access point ([0033]: the optimization module 116 can be used to determine whether one or more remote units 106a, 106b, 106c are underutilized based on the utilization metric), wherein the enforcing includes maintaining the access point in a full-power state ([0036]: the presence or absence of sensed objects or activities can be used by the power management subsystem 112 to determine whether full-power coverage is desirable) or causing the access point to operate in a low-power state ([0033]: the optimization module 116 can configure the DAS 102 to operate in a low-power mode based on determining that one or more remote units 106a, 106b, 106c are underutilized… the optimization module 116 can be used to configure one or more of the remote units 106a, 106b, 106c into a low-power mode when the remote unit is underutilized; [0074]: a power management subsystem 112 can be used to manage power for a telecommunication system that includes multiple macro-cell base stations, multiple small-cell base stations, multiple remote radio heads, etc. wherein the power management subsystem 112 can be used to manage power consumption in telecommunication systems involving distributed communication with a higher propensity for imbalance of use – base station or remote unit(s) can be an access point).Hobbs does not expressly describe wherein the capability information indicates, at least in part, whether each of the one or more devices is capable or is not capable of being wirelessly wirelessly disconnected from the access point of the wireless local area network for managing a power state of the access point.Inoue teaches feature of capability information indicates, at least in part, whether each of one or more devices is capable or is not capable of being wirelessly wirelessly disconnected from an access point of the wireless local area network for managing a power state of the access point ([0145]: there may be provided the communication control system, wherein the operating device is capable of accepting a disconnection operation for instructing the air-conditioning apparatus to disconnect from the communication network, and upon receiving a signal indicating that the operating device has accepted the disconnection operation, the air-conditioning apparatus disconnects the wireless device from the wireless access point).It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the wireless disconnection capability feature indication as taught by Inoue in the system of Hobbs to facilitate device and access point pairing.
Claim 2. Hobbs shows the method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the capability information for each of the one or more devices wirelessly connected to the access point includes: obtaining the capability information via an advertisement of the capability information by at least one device ([0045]: system traffic in the DAS 102 can include uplink traffic received by one or more of the remote units 106a, 106b, 106c; [0046]: the occupancy level can be used to obtain the utilization metric, either alone or in combination with other data (e.g. levels of uplink traffic received by remote units)).
Claim 3. Hobbs shows the method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining access point capability information from the access point ([0069]: a unit 104 (e.g. power management subsystem 112) that is communicatively coupled to a base station 101 may receive data from the base station 101 regarding the location of a terminal device… can determine from the location of the terminal device that the terminal device is near one or more coverage zones of the DAS 102), wherein the determining is based additionally on the access point capability information ([0074]: a power management subsystem 112 can be used to manage power for a telecommunication system that includes multiple macro-cell base stations, multiple small-cell base stations, multiple remote radio heads, etc. wherein the power management subsystem 112 can be used to manage power consumption in telecommunication systems involving distributed communication with a higher propensity for imbalance of use).
Claim 4 (similarly claim 13). Hobbs shows the method of claim 1, wherein determining the power policy for the access point further comprises: classifying the one or more devices based on the obtained capability information to generate a device policy for each of the one or more devices that indicates, at least in part, whether each of the one or more devices is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point ([0030]-[0031] discuss each remote unit (e.g. 106a, 106b, 106c, etc.) will be evaluated for individual power utilization, and any power-underutilizing remote unit will be switch back to low-power mode; [0052]: configuring a remote unit 106 for low-power operation can involve deactivating one or more devices).
Claim 5. Hobbs shows the method of claim 4, wherein determining the power policy for the access point further comprises: determining, based on the capability information, whether any device that is wirelessly connected to the access point is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point ([0050] and [0052] discuss remote unit(s) power utilization monitoring and deactivation).
Claim 6. Hobbs shows the method of claim 5, further comprising: based on determining that at least one device that is wirelessly connected to the access point is not capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point, enforcing the power policy for the access point includes maintaining the access point in the full-power state ([0050]: utilization metrics for respective remote units 106a, 106b may have values that are greater than the threshold utilization and the power management subsystem 112 can respond to determining that these values of the utilization metrics are greater than the threshold utilization by continuing to operate the remote units 106a, 106b in a high-power mode); or based on determining that every device that is wirelessly connected to the access point is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point, enforcing the power policy for the access point includes triggering the access point to enter into the low-power state ([0050]: the utilization metrics for a remote unit 106c may have a value that is less than the threshold utilization and the power management subsystem 112 can respond to determining that this value of the utilization metric is less than the threshold utilization by configuring the remote unit 106c to operate in a low-power mode).
Claim 9 (similarly claim 18). Hobbs shows the method of claim 4, wherein the device policy generated for each of the one or more devices further indicates temporal information related to whether each of the one or more devices is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point ([0055]: the remote unit 106 can operate in a low-power mode by suspending coverage for one or more of RF bands (e.g. by not providing service in those RF bands during a given time period) wherein suspending coverage for one or more of RF bands can allow the remote unit 106 to deactivate devices in corresponding receive and transmit paths).
Claim 10 (similarly claims 14 and 19). Hobbs shows the method of claim 1, further comprising: for the access point operating in the low-power state, obtaining a trigger from a particular device that seeks to connect with the access point ([0057]: the remote unit 106 can subsequently activate or increase power consumption by transmitters and receivers in the transceiver in response to receiving a command from the power management subsystem 112 to increase signal coverage by the remote unit 106), wherein the trigger causes the access point to enter into the full-power state (see above).
Claim 11 (similarly claim 20). Hobbs shows the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing to the one or more devices an indication that power management capabilities are provided for the wireless local area network ([0031]: the power management subsystem 112 can transmit or otherwise provide a control signal to the remote unit 106c that causes the remote unit 106c to operate in a low-power mode).
Claim 17. Hobbs shows the system of claim 15, wherein determining the power policy for the access point further comprises: classifying the one or more devices based on the obtained capability information to generate a device policy for each of the one or more devices that indicates, at least in part, whether each of the one or more devices is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point ([0030]-[0031] discuss each remote unit (e.g. 106a, 106b, 106c, etc.) will be evaluated for individual power utilization, and any power-underutilizing remote unit will be switch back to low-power mode; [0052]: configuring a remote unit 106 for low-power operation can involve deactivating one or more devices); and determining, based on the capability information, whether any device that is wirelessly connected to the access point is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point ([0050] and [0052] discuss remote unit(s) power utilization monitoring and deactivation).
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Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hobbs et al in view of Inoue, applied to claim 5, and in further view of Atefi (US 2020/0229096 A1).
Claim 7. Hobbs, modified by Inoue, shows the method of claim 5; Hobbs, modified by Inoue, does not very expressly describe wherein determining the power policy for the access point further comprises: determining that at least one secondary device that is wirelessly connected to the access point is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point if at least one primary device is not wirelessly connected to the access point.Atefi teaches feature of determining that at least one secondary device that is wirelessly connected to an access point is capable of being wirelessly disconnected from the access point if at least one primary device is not wirelessly connected to the access point ([0155]: if/when an apparatus (e.g. STA/AP) operates according to the aforementioned third mode/state/configuration (in which its primary/main radio/receiver may be/operate in an off/low-/lower-/inactive/doze power mode/state/configuration and its secondary radio/receiver may be/operate in an on/high-/higher-/active power mode/state/configuration), the apparatus (e.g. STA) may be configured to inactivate, hold, stop, suspend, or otherwise not maintain/implement one or more communication aspects/windows (e.g. one or more service periods previously negotiated between the apparatus (e.g. (STA) and another apparatus (e.g. AP/another-STA))).It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the primary and secondary devices disconnection scheme as taught by Atefi in the power policy of Hobbs, modified by Inoue, enable relatively faster download and/or upload of information, relatively less latency, and/or relatively less power consumption, which may provide various technical benefits and may improve the overall user experience.
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Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hobbs et al in view of Inoue, applied to claim 2, and in further view of Patil et al (US 2025/0142319 A1).
Claim 21. Hobbs, modified by Inoue, shows the method of claim 2; Hobbs, modified by Inoue, does not expressly describe wherein the advertisement of the capability information is obtained via one or more user data fields included in a payload portion of a probe request message, an association request, or an action frame obtained from the at least one device via the wireless local area network.Patil teaches feature of advertisement of the capability information is obtained via one or more user data fields included in a payload portion of a probe request message, an association request, or an action frame obtained from the at least one device via the wireless local area network ([0074]: the recipient device may transmit an indication of a threshold quantity of MPDUs that the recipient device can verify (such as using MAC header verification, the payload verification, or both) within a SIFS time interval 608-a wherein the recipient device may transmit a management frame, a beacon frame, an action frame, a probe request frame, a probe response frame, an association request frame, an association response frame, a reassociation request frame, a reassociation response frame, or any combination thereof including one or more fields indicating the processing capability… the extension may provide additional time for the recipient device to perform the MAC header verification, the payload verification, or both within the SIFS time interval 608-a).It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the payload feature as taught by Patil in the advertisement of Hobbs, modified by Inoue, to facilitate establishing or maintaining a communication link with a WLAN.
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Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 12 and 15 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.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Naito et al, US 2011/0122835 A1: a radio communication device comprising a reception unit which receives information indicating a connection state or a communication capability of another radio communication device which the radio communication device attempts to connect to; and a selection unit which selects, depending on the information received by the reception unit, which communication is to be performed from among first communication in which a direct connection to such other radio communication device is established and direct communication with such other radio communication device is performed, second communication in which a connection to such other radio communication device via a base station that relays radio communication is established and direct communication with such other radio communication device is performed, and third communication in which a connection to such other radio communication device via the base station is established and indirect communication with such other radio communication device via the base station is performed.
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Xavier Szewai Wong whose telephone number is 571.270.1780. The examiner can normally be reached on 11:30 am - 8:30 pm Mon to Fri.
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/XAVIER S WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415 11th July 2026
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