DETAILED ACTION
The instant application having Application No. 18/638193 filed on 04/17/2024 is presented for examination by the examiner.
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 . 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.
Allowable Subject Matters
Claims 5, 11, 19 are 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. Claims 6, 12-14, 20 are objected since they depend on claims 5, 11 and 19 respectively
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US Patent Publication # 2016/0234851 A1.)
As per claim 1, Zhang discloses “A first access point (AP)comprising:” [(par. 0561), the UE may split the uplink data packet into a first uplink data packet and a second uplink data packet, send the first uplink data packet to the base station, and send the second uplink data packet to the wifi AP,] “a communication interface configured to: receive, from one or more non-AP stations, a first subset of a plurality of uplink packets;” [(par. 0561), Correspondingly, for an uplink data packet, the UE may split the uplink data packet into a first uplink data packet and a second uplink data packet, send the first uplink data packet to the base station, and send the second uplink data packet to the wifi AP, so that the wifi AP forwards the second uplink data packet to the base station;] “and receive, from the a second AP, a second subset of the plurality of uplink packets;” ;” [(par. 0561), Correspondingly, for an uplink data packet, the UE may split the uplink data packet into a first uplink data packet and a second uplink data packet, send the first uplink data packet to the base station, and send the second uplink data packet to the wifi AP, so that the wifi AP forwards the second uplink data packet to the base station;] “and processing circuitry coupled to the communication interface and configured to determine, based on the first subset and the second subset, the plurality of uplink packets from the one or more non-AP stations” [(par. 0561), the base station then combines the first uplink data packet and the second uplink data packet into an uplink data packet, and sends the uplink data packet to the core network device, to complete transmission of uplink data.]
As per claim 7, as [see rejection of claim 1.]
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 7-10, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sachs et al. (US Patent Publication # 2009/0003378 A1.)
As per claim 1, Sachs discloses “A first access point (AP)comprising:” [(par. 0003), Such data units carry a variety of names in the context of different communication systems and communication protocols, such as packets, frames, segments, protocol data units, etc.] “a communication interface configured to: receive, from one or more non-AP stations, a first subset of a plurality of uplink packets” [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 1-3 to Relay A 72, and Relay A forwards the packets 1-3 to Receiver 74.] “; and receive, from the a second AP, a second subset of the plurality of uplink packets;” [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 4-9 to Relay B 73, and Relay B forwards the packets 4-9 to Receiver 74.] “and processing circuitry coupled to the communication interface and configured to determine, based on the first subset and the second subset, the plurality of uplink packets from the one or more non-AP stations.” [(fig. 7), Receiver 74 determines that it successfully received packets 1-9, and transmits acknowledgement (A1-A9) for packet 1-9 to Sender 71.]
As per claim 2, Sachs discloses “The first AP of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive the second subset via a wired connection or a wireless connection with the second AP.” [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 4-9 to Relay B 73, and Relay B forwards the packets 4-9 to Receiver 74.]
As per claim 3, Sachs discloses “The first AP of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the communication interface is further configured to send, to the one or more non-AP stations in response to receiving the second subset, a block acknowledgment (BA) message” [(fig. 7), Receiver 74 determines that it successfully received packets 1-9, and transmits acknowledgement (A4, A5), (A6, A7), (A8, A9) for packet 4-9 to Sender 71.]
As per claim 4, Sachs discloses “The first AP of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the plurality of uplink packets comprise packet sequence identifiers or traffic identifiers, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to arrange, based on the packet sequence identifiers or the traffic identifiers, the first subset and the second subset” [(Fig. 7), Packets 1-3 and Packets 4-9. (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8. A9).]
As per claim 7, as [see rejections of claim 1.]
As per claim 8, as [see rejections of claim 3.]
As per claim 9, as [see rejections of claim 4.]
As per claim 10, as [see rejections of claim 4.]
As per claim 15, Sachs discloses “A network entity comprising:” [(par. 0003), Such data units carry a variety of names in the context of different communication systems and communication protocols, such as packets, frames, segments, protocol data units, etc.] “a communication interface configured to: receive, from a first access point (AP) a first subset of a plurality of uplink packets of one or more non-AP stations;” as [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 1-3 to Relay A 72, and Relay A forwards the packets 1-3 to Receiver 74.] “and receive, from a second AP, a second subset of the plurality of uplink packets of the one or more non-AP stations;” [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 4-9 to Relay B 73, and Relay B forwards the packets 4-9 to Receiver 74.] “and a processing circuitry coupled to the communication interface and configured to determine, based on the first subset and the second subset, the plurality of uplink packets from the one or more non-AP stations” [(fig. 7), Receiver 74 determines that it successfully received packets 1-9, and transmits acknowledgement (A1-A9) for packet 1-9 to Sender 71.]
As per claim 16, Sachs discloses “The network entity of claim 15,” as [see rejection of claim 15.] “wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive the first subset or the second subset via a wired connection with the first AP and the second AP” [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 1-3 to Relay A 72, and Relay A forwards the packets 1-3 to Receiver 74. (fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 4-9 to Relay B 73, and Relay B forwards the packets 4-9 to Receiver 74. (fig. 7), Receiver 74 determines that it successfully received packets 1-9, and transmits acknowledgement (A1-A9) for packet 1-9 to Sender 71.]
As per claim 17, Sachs discloses “The network entity of claim 15,” as [see rejection of claim 15.] “wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive the first subset or the second subset via a wireless connection with the first AP and the second AP” [(fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 1-3 to Relay A 72, and Relay A forwards the packets 1-3 to Receiver 74. (fig. 7), Sender 71 transmits packets 4-9 to Relay B 73, and Relay B forwards the packets 4-9 to Receiver 74. (fig. 7), Receiver 74 determines that it successfully received packets 1-9, and transmits acknowledgement (A1-A9) for packet 1-9 to Sender 71.]
As per claim 18, Sachs discloses “The network entity of claim 15,” as [see rejection of claim 15.] “wherein each of the plurality of uplink packets comprises a packet sequence identifier or a traffic identifier, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to arrange, based on the packet sequence identifier or the traffic identifier, the first subset and the second subset” [(Fig. 7), Packets 1-3 and Packets 4-9. (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8. A9).]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANG HANG YEUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-7319. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached on (571) 270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG HANG YEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
