DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to applicant’s response filed under 37 C.F.R. §1.111 in response to a non-final office action. Claims 1 and 10 have been amended. Claims 1, 3-10, and 12-20 are subject to examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 10 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-7, 10, and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lou et al. (US 2022/0173773 A1, hereinafter “Lou”) in view of Ouchi (US 2021/0360630 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Lou teaches a beacon transmission method comprising: generating a first beacon frame (Lou: a method for multi-AP transmission … the method comprises: … receiving a plurality of repetition beacons, one from each of a plurality of APs, see paragraph [0163]); and
using a first group of tones to send a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) that carries the first beacon frame of a first access point (AP) being one of APs in a multi-AP (MAP) system (Lou: each group of RUs may be used by one AP only to transmit or receive data, see paragraph [0091]; depiction of beacon transmission in PPDU format, see Fig. 17); wherein
a transmission period of the first PPDU overlaps a transmission period of a second PPDU that carries a second beacon frame of a second AP being another of the APs in the MAP system, and the first group of tones used by transmission of the first PPDU comprises one or more tones that are not included in a second group of tones used by transmission of the second PPDU (Lou: The multi-AP repetition beacons may be transmitted concurrently by the group of APs, see paragraph [0135]; In coordinated OFDMA, each group of RUs may be used by one AP only to transmit or receive data, see paragraph [0091]).
Though Lou teaches the first group of tones is a first resource unit (RU), and the second group of tones is a second RU (Lou: In coordinated OFDMA, each group of RUs may be used by one AP only to transmit or receive data, see paragraph [0091]), it does not explicitly teach:
the first group of tones used by transmission of the first PPDU further comprises one or more tones that are included in the second group of tones used by transmission of the second PPDU, and
the second RU partially overlaps the first RU.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ouchi teaches the first group of tones used by transmission of the first PPDU further comprises one or more tones that are included in the second group of tones used by transmission of the second PPDU (Ouchi: the RU used by the AP 101 and the STA 102 for communication and that used by the AP 106 and the STA 107 overlap partially or wholly, see paragraph [0029]); and
the second RU partially overlaps the first RU (Ouchi: the RU used by the AP 101 and the STA 102 for communication and that used by the AP 106 and the STA 107 overlap partially or wholly, see paragraph [0029]).
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 invention of Lou to include the features as taught by Ouchi above in order to improve multi-AP coordination efficiency (Ouchi: see paragraph [0090]).
Regarding Claim 3, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a synchronization frame (Lou: the leading AP may need to transmit a frame right before the set of multi-AP repetition beacon transmissions to let the APs synchronize. The frame may be a trigger frame or a beacon frame, see paragraph [0138] and Fig. 13); and
sending the synchronization frame to coordinate beacon transmission of the APs in the MAP system (Lou: the leading AP … may transmit a multi-AP beacon trigger frame, see paragraph [0137] and Fig. 13); wherein
the first PPDU is sent in response to the synchronization frame (Lou: All the APs in the group may transmit multi-AP repetition beacon frames concurrently … right after the trigger frame, see paragraph [0137] and Fig. 13).
Regarding Claim 4, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 3, wherein the first PPDU and the second PPDU have a same transmission start time. (Lou: All the APs in the group may transmit multi-AP repetition beacon frames concurrently … right after the trigger frame, see paragraph [0137] and Fig. 13).
Regarding Claim 5, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a synchronization frame, wherein the synchronization frame is used to coordinate beacon transmission of the APs in the MAP system (Lou: the leading AP may need to transmit a frame right before the set of multi-AP repetition beacon transmissions to let the APs synchronize. The frame may be a trigger frame or a beacon frame, see paragraph [0138] and Fig. 13); wherein
the first PPDU is sent in response to the synchronization frame (Lou: All the APs in the group may transmit multi-AP repetition beacon frames concurrently … right after the trigger frame, see paragraph [0137] and Fig. 13).
Regarding Claim 6, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 5, wherein the first PPDU and the second PPDU have a same transmission start time. (Lou: All the APs in the group may transmit multi-AP repetition beacon frames concurrently … right after the trigger frame, see paragraph [0137] and Fig. 13).
Regarding Claim 7, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 1, wherein timing synchronization function (TSF) timers of the plurality of APs in the MAP system are synchronized through periodic TSF synchronization, and a same target beacon transmission time (TBTT) setting is employed by the APs in the MAP system (Lou: In some embodiments, the TSF can be signaled in the preamble of each beacon, such that each repetition has its own self-contained TSF timer… in some embodiments, signal target beacon transmission time (TBTT) is in the beacon frame instead of the timestamp of the beacon, see paragraph [0150]).
Regarding Claim 10, Lou teaches an access point (AP) arranged to generate a first beacon frame, and use a first group of tones to send a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) that carries the first beacon frame of the AP being one of APs in a multi-AP (MAP) system (Lou: the WTRU according to this application may comprises: a transceiver, configured to receive a plurality of repetition beacons, one from each of a plurality of APs, see paragraph [0164]; each group of [resource units] RUs may be used by one AP only to transmit or receive data, see paragraph [0091]; depiction of beacon transmission in PPDU format, see Fig. 17).
Lou does not explicitly teach, a network interface circuit; and
a control circuit to instruct the network interface circuit.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ouchi teaches a network interface circuit (Ouchi: the AP (STA) includes ... an input unit 304, an output unit 305, a communication unit 306, and an antenna 307, see paragraph [0030]); and
a control circuit to instruct the network interface circuit (Ouchi: the AP (STA) includes ... a control unit 302 ... the control unit 302 executes a program stored in the storage unit 301, thereby controlling the AP (STA), see paragraphs [0030]-[0031]).
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 invention of Lou to include the features as taught by Ouchi above in order to implement desired AP functions (Ouchi: see paragraph [0031]).
Regarding all other limitations of claim 10, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 1, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 12, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 10.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 12, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 3, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 13, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 12.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 13, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 4, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 14, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 10.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 14, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 5, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 15, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 14.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 15, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 6, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 16, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 10.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 16, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 7, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 8-9 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lou-Ouchi in view of Yang et al. (WO 2023009285 A1, hereinafter “Yang”).
Regarding Claim 8, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach, wherein the first group of tones is a regular resource unit (RU) with no tones interleaved with tones of other RUs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches, the first group of tones is a regular resource unit (RU) with no tones interleaved with tones of other RUs (Yang: Figure 6 shows an example mapping of a payload 601 of a PPDU 602 to a set of tones or subcarriers for transmission over a wireless channel. In some implementations, the payload 601 may be modulated on a regular RU (rRU) corresponding to a logical RU 604 associated with a legacy tone plan, see paragraph [0074]).
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 invention of Lou-Ouchi to include the features as taught by Yang above in order to avoid interference on the pilot tones (Yang: see paragraph [0073]).
Regarding Claim 9, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach, wherein the first group of tones is a distributed resource unit (RU) with tones interleaved with tones of other RUs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches, the first group of tones is a distributed resource unit (RU) with tones interleaved with tones of other RUs (Yang: Figure 6 shows an example mapping of a payload 601 of a PPDU 602 to a set of tones or subcarriers for transmission over a wireless channel. In some implementations, the payload 601 may be ... further mapped to a distributed RU (dRU) 606 in accordance with a distributed tone plan, see paragraph [0074]).
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 invention of Lou-Ouchi to include the features as taught by Yang above in order to provide greater flexibility in medium utilization (Yang: see paragraph [0073]).
Regarding Claim 17, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 10.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 17, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 8, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 18, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 10.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 18, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 9, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lou-Ouchi in view of Kim (US 2021/0144766 A1).
Regarding Claim 19, Lou-Ouchi teaches the beacon transmission method of claim 1.
Lou further teaches the MAP system is a Wi-Fi system, the first beacon frame is transmitted from the first AP, and the second beacon frame is transmitted from the second AP (Lou: receiving a repetition beacon from each of a plurality of APs, see paragraph [0002]; the base station and the WTRUs may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), see paragraph [0041]; The multi-AP repetition beacons ... may be transmitted concurrently by the group of APs, see paragraph [0135]).
Lou does not explicitly teach that the first beacon frame and the second beacon frame are transmitted in frequency-division duplexing (FDD) implemented partially so that overlapping only occurs in partial band of transmission of the first beacon frame and the second beacon frame.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ouchi teaches that the first beacon frame and the second beacon frame are transmitted so that overlapping only occurs in partial band of transmission of the first beacon frame and the second beacon frame (Ouchi: the RU used by the AP 101 and the STA 102 for communication and that used by the AP 106 and the STA 107 overlap partially or wholly, see paragraph [0029]; In F405, the AP 101 broadcasts a Beacon frame ... In F406, the AP 106 transmits a Beacon frame, see paragraph [0050]).
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 invention of Lou to include the features as taught by Ouchi above in order to improve multi-AP coordination efficiency (Ouchi: see paragraph [0090]).
Lou-Ouchi does not explicitly teach frequency-division duplexing (FDD).
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches frequency-division duplexing (FDD) (Kim: An example of the present specification proposes a method of transmitting and receiving a PPDU, based on FDD, see paragraph [0007]; the transmitting device may correspond to an access point (AP), see paragraph [0009]).
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 invention of Lou-Ouchi to include the features as taught by Kim above in order to decrease transmission delay (Kim: see paragraph [0163]).
Regarding Claim 20, Lou-Ouchi teaches the AP of claim 10.
Regarding all other limitations of claim 20, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 19, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ouchi (US 2024/0251389 A1) teaches multi-AP synchronization using beacon frames where the RUs used by different APs are permitted to overlap in the frequency domain (see paragraphs [0048], [0056], [0078]).
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 PHILLIP J EGAN KEARNS whose telephone number is 571-272-4869. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 10-6 MST.
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/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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