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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/29/2025 has been entered.
Claims 1-3, 5, 8-12, 14 & 17-20 are pending and presented for examination.
Response to Amendment
Claims 6, 7, 15 & 16 have been cancelled. Claims 4 & 13 were previously cancelled.
Claims 1, 10 & 18 have been amended.
Previous rejections to claims 1-3, 5, 8-12, 14, 17 & 18 under 35 USC 103 have been withdrawn based on amendments to claims 1 & 10. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejections under 35 USC 103 have been made to these claims based on new references Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130).
New claims 19 & 20 have been added and are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see “Remarks”, filed 12/29/2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-3, 5, 8-12, 14, 17 & 18 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, these rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejections based on 35 U.S.C. 103 have been introduced in view of new references Yang and Huang.
Regarding claim 1, applicant submits that amendments to this claim traverses the prior rejection of record under 35 USC 103. Examiner agrees and withdraws the prior rejection of record of claim 1 under 35 USC 103. However, upon further consideration, examiner introduces new grounds of rejection of amended claim 1 under 35 USC 103 based on new references Yang and Huang. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Regarding claim 10, applicant submits that amendments to this claim are similar to those made for claim 1 and, for the same arguments made above, traverses the prior rejection of record under 35 USC 103. Examiner agrees and withdraws the prior rejection of record of claim 10 under 35 USC 103, but for the same reasons as discussed above introduces new grounds of rejection of amended claim 10 under 35 USC 103 based on new references Yang and Huang.
Regarding claims 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17 & 18, applicant submits that these claims traverse the prior rejection of record under 35 USC 103 based on amendments to claim 1 & claim 10 and due to their dependency on claim 1 or claim 10. Examiner agrees and withdraws the prior rejection of record of claims 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17 & 18 under 35 USC 103, but for the same reasons as discussed above introduces new grounds of rejection of these claims under 35 USC 103 based on new references Yang and Huang.
Claim Interpretation
Several of the claims in the present application recite Markush groups in the format of “at least of A, B or C”. For the purpose of this review, the examiner is interpreting these Markush claims as a single element selection from a closed group of elements consisting of alternatives A, B or C. See MPEP 2173.05(h) for further details.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 10, 11 & 14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and further in view of Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130).
Regarding claims 1 & 10, Sugaya discloses an access point (AP), comprising: a processing circuit (Figs 12-14, [0108] & [0115]-[0116] disclose a wireless communication module 101 as part of an AP 100 comprising a data processing unit 120.);
a wireless communication circuit (Fig 14 & [0116] disclose a wireless communication unit 110.); and
a control method of the access point (AP) (Figs 2-4 & [0059] disclose a method of setting a used channel by an AP (i.e. a control method of an AP).); wherein the control method is one comprising, and the wireless communication circuit is configured to perform the steps of:
establishing a link with at least one station, wherein the link uses a bonded channel comprising a plurality of Wi-Fi channels, and one of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels serves as a primary channel of the AP (Fig 4, [0073], Fig 5 & [0079]-[0080] discloses an AP 100a forming BSS 10a establishing a link with STA 200a-2, wherein BSS 10a uses a primary channel 36 and secondary channels 40, 46, 58 & 114. [0041]-[0042] discloses that the primary channel 36 and secondary channels 40, 46, 58 & 114 may use channel bonding to form a 320 MHz bonded channel based on a communication scheme conforming to 802.11ac (i.e. Wi-Fi channels).);
obtaining channel information of another AP, wherein the channel information of the another AP indicates a primary channel of the another AP (Fig 5 & [0088]-[0089] discloses AP 100a obtaining a channel notification signal including information regarding the primary channel used by another AP 100b.);
determining if changing the primary channel of the AP according to the primary channel of the another AP, to make the primary channels of the AP and the another AP correspond to different Wi-Fi channels (Fig 4 & [0074] discloses that AP 100b determines a frequency band of a primary channel for BSS 10b according to being a frequency band furthest from the frequency band of BSS 10a, making the primary channels of AP 100a and AP 100b different. [0091] discloses that AP 100a and AP 100b may set their primary channels a plurality of times, performing resetting of the frequency bands of the primary channels (i.e. determining if changing the primary channel of, for example AP 100a according to the primary channel of AP 100b, is required to make the primary channels of AP 100a and AP 100b different).); and
sending traffic information to the another AP, wherein the traffic information comprises channel bandwidth information, wherein the channel bandwidth information comprised in the traffic information indicates a portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel, and the portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels does not comprise the primary channel of the another AP (Fig 5 & [0079]-[0084] disclose AP 100a transmitting a channel notification signal including information regarding the primary and secondary channel of BSS 10a (i.e. traffic information) to AP 100b (i.e. another AP) through STA 200a-2 and STA200b-1 (i.e. steps S1000, S1008 and S1012 in fig 5). Fig 6 and [0096] & [0098] disclose that the channel notification signal may may include a Secondary Ch. Number list, and that the Secondary Ch. Number list may omit part of the Secondary Ch. (20) Number, the Secondary Ch. (40) Number, the Secondary Ch. (80) Number and the Secondary Ch. (160) Number. In the case where the Secondary Ch. Number list omits the Secondary Ch. (160) number (i.e. channel 114 in fig 4), the channel notification signal transmitted by AP 100a to AP 100b would include channel bandwidth information comprising a portion of the plurality of channels within the 320 MHz bonded channel that does not comprise the primary channel of AP 100b (i.e. does not comprise channel 128 in fig 4).);
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the sending of traffic information to the another AP comprises requirement of a service period of the AP.
However, Kakani teaches wherein the sending of traffic information to the another AP comprises requirement of a service period of the AP (Col 4, Lines 11-36 disclose an AP sending traffic information comprising a service period requirement of the AP to multiple STAs or other nodes (i.e. another AP).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an AP configured to, or a control method for an AP to, send traffic information to another AP comprising channel bandwidth information, as disclosed by Sugaya, wherein the traffic information further comprises a requirement of a service period of the AP, as taught by Kakani. The motivation to do so would be to have enterprise APs configured to, or a control method to enable enterprise APs to, schedule transmission periods with each other to allow the APs to go into power saving or “eco” friendly mode when not communicating with each other or any STAs, on channels that may cause interference, to save battery life.
Sugaya fails to disclose performing a packet detection on the primary channel of the another AP to determine if the another AP uses another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel; and if the another AP does not use the another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel, using the another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels to transmit packet(s).
However, Yang further teaches performing a packet detection on the primary channel of the another AP to determine if the another AP uses another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel (Fig 7 & [0098]-[0099] disclose a wireless communication device, that may be an AP, performing packet detection on a wide bandwidth channel including a primary channel (e.g. transmitted by another AP) to determine if the wide bandwidth channel is busy. A packet detection threshold may be set based on the size of the primary channel and secondary channel bandwidths. The packet detection threshold may be set to determine, based on a packet detection of the wide bandwidth channel including the primary channel, if a portion of secondary channels within the wide bandwidth channel are in use. [0056] discloses that the wide bandwidth channel may be a bonded channel.); and
if the another AP does not use the another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel, using the another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels to transmit packet(s) ([0075] discloses that if a channel (e.g. the wideband bonded channel) is idle for the duration of a backoff timer (i.e. an another AP is not using a portion of the wideband bonded channel), a wireless communication device (i.e. the AP) can transmit frames (i.e. packets) over the channel.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an AP configured to, or a control method for an AP to, establish a link with at least one station, wherein the link uses a bonded channel comprising a plurality of Wi-Fi channels, and one of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels serves as a primary channel of the AP; obtain channel information of another AP, wherein the channel information of the another AP indicates a primary channel of the another AP; determine if changing the primary channel of the AP according to the primary channel of the another AP, to make the primary channels of the AP and the another AP correspond to different Wi-Fi channels; and send traffic information to the another AP, wherein the traffic information comprises channel bandwidth information, wherein the channel bandwidth information comprised in the traffic information indicates a portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel, and the portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels does not comprise the primary channel of the another AP, as disclosed by Sugaya, and perform a packet detection on the primary channel of the another AP to determine if the another AP uses another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel; and if the another AP does not use the another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel, using the another portion of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels to transmit packet(s), as further taught by Yang. The motivation to do so would be to have an AP device configured to, or a control method for an AP device to, determine if secondary channels associated with a wideband bonded channel are idle through a packet detection of a primary channel of another AP, and if the secondary channels are not in use then use the secondary channels for data transmission in order to increase throughput for the AP.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the packet detection is performed after sending traffic information to the another AP.
However, Huang further teaches wherein the packet detection is performed after sending traffic information to the another AP (Fig 3 & [0073]-[0078] disclose a root AP sending a response message to a first AP comprising information about channels used and channels detected by a second AP. After sending the response message to the first AP, the root AP receives a list of channels selected by the first AP and distills the list of channels by assessing how each candidate channel in the list of channels would impact network performance utilizing a contention graph coloring algorithm. [0012] discloses that channel selection information may include channel condition information regarding other channels detected by the second AP. A broadest reasonable interpretation is that root AP performs packet detection of the channels in use by the second AP, including detection of the primary channel of the second AP, in performing the contention graph coloring algorithm, all which occurs after the root AP sends traffic information to the first AP.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an AP, or a control method for an AP, that sends traffic information to the another AP and performs a packet detection on the primary channel of the another AP, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Yang, wherein the packet detection is performed after sending traffic information to the another AP, as further taught by Huang. The motivation to do so would be to have an AP, or a control method for an AP, wherein the AP transmits packets during a service period, sends traffic information to a second AP indicating a portion of channels of a wideband bonded channel that the AP is using for transmission during the service period, and after receiving a list of channels selected by the second AP, performs a packet detection on channels used by the second AP, including the primary channel of a second AP, in order to execute a contention graph coloring algorithm used to distill the list of channels selected by the second AP to channels that minimize the impact to overall network performance, in order to report the distilled list of channels back to the second AP so that the second AP can select channels to use from the distilled list of channels to minimize impact to overall network performance.
Regarding Claim 2, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the method of claim 1.
Sugaya discloses wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: detecting all of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel to determine the primary channel of the another AP (Fig 4 & [0073]-[0074] disclose AP 100b receiving a signal to obtain channel information of BSS 10a (associated with another AP 100a) which includes a plurality of Wi-Fi channels 36, 40, 46, 58 & 114 within a 320 MHz bonded channel and indicating that 36 is a primary channel and channels 40, 46, 58 & 114 are secondary channels of BSS 10a), allowing AP 100b to determine the primary channel from the plurality of wi-Fi channels with the 320 MHz bonded channel.).
Regarding Claim 5, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the method of claim 1.
Sugaya discloses wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a channel bandwidth (Fig 4 & [0073]-[0074] disclose sending traffic information through a signal including channel bandwidth information of a BSS 10a (associated with an AP 100a) received by another AP 100b.).
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a transmission period, the service period within the transmission period, a start time of the service period.
However, Kakani teaches wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a transmission period, the service period within the transmission period and a start time of the service period (Fig 2, col 4, lines 55-67 & col 5, lines 1-31 disclose sending traffic information comprising a management action frame 201 (i.e. a transmission period). Within the management action frame is a frame body 205 including a plurality or STA Info fields 216A through 216Z. Within the STA Info fields 216A through 216Z are DL Transmission and UL Transmission Duration times (i.e. service periods) and DL Transmission and UL Transmission Start Offsets (i.e. start times).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the method of claim 1, wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a channel bandwidth, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, and wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a transmission period, the service period within the transmission period and a start time of the service period, as taught by Kakani. The motivation to do so would be to have a control method allowing APs configured with different primary channels to improve power efficiency in STAs by scheduling traffic through the use of transmission periods, service periods and start times for an associated channel bandwidth that enable the STAs to have long sleep periods.
Regarding Claim 11. Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the AP of claim 10.
Sugaya discloses wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: detecting all of the plurality of Wi-Fi channels within the bonded channel to determine the primary channel of the another AP (Fig 4 & [0073]-[0074] disclose AP 100b receiving a signal to obtain channel information of BSS 10a (associated with another AP 100a) which includes a plurality of Wi-Fi channels 36, 40, 46, 58 & 114 within a 160 MHz bonded channel and indicating that 36 is a primary channel and channels 40, 46, 58 & 114 are secondary channels of BSS 10a), allowing AP 100b to determine the primary channel from the plurality of wi-Fi channels with the 160 MHz bonded channel.).
Regarding Claim 14, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the AP of claim 10.
Sugaya discloses wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a channel bandwidth (Fig 4 & [0073]-[0074] disclose sending traffic information through a signal including channel bandwidth information of a BSS 10a (associated with an AP 100a) received by another AP 100b.).
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a transmission period, the service period within the transmission period, a start time of the service period.
However, Kakani teaches wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a transmission period, the service period within the transmission period and a start time of the service period (Fig 2, col 4, lines 55-67 & col 5, lines 1-31 disclose sending traffic information comprising a management action frame 201 (i.e. a transmission period). Within the management action frame is a frame body 205 including a plurality or STA Info fields 216A through 216Z. Within the STA Info fields 216A through 216Z are DL Transmission and UL Transmission Duration times (i.e. service periods) and DL Transmission and UL Transmission Start Offsets (i.e. start times).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the AP of claim 10, wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a channel bandwidth, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, and wherein the traffic information sent by the AP comprises a transmission period, the service period within the transmission period and a start time of the service period, as taught by Kakani. The motivation to do so would be to allow APs configured with different primary channels to improve power efficiency in STAs by scheduling traffic through the use of transmission periods, service periods and start times for an associated channel bandwidth that enable the STAs to have long sleep periods.
Claim 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Schenkel et al. (US 2016/0100315)(herein after “Schenkel”).
Regarding Claim 3, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the method of Claim 1.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: directly receiving the channel information from the another AP.
However, Schenkel further teaches wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: directly receiving the channel information from the another AP (Fig 2 & [0018] discloses an AP 20 monitoring and detecting a beacon signal directly from another AP that contains channel information such as SSID.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the control method of claim 1, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: directly receiving the channel information from the another AP, as further taught by Schenkel. The motivation to do so would be to have a control method to enable an AP to obtain channel information such as SSID, primary channel and secondary channel information directly from other AP’s beacon channels to reduce signaling overhead between APs.
Claim 12 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to claim 10, and further in view of Schenkel et al. (US 2016/0100315)(herein after “Schenkel”).
Regarding Claim 12, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the AP of Claim 10.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: directly receiving the channel information from the another AP.
However, Schenkel further teaches wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: directly receiving the channel information from the another AP (Fig 2 & [0018] discloses an AP 20 monitoring and detecting a beacon signal directly from another AP that contains channel information such as SSID.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the AP of claim 10, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of obtaining the channel information of the another AP comprises: directly receiving the channel information from the another AP, as further taught by Schenkel. The motivation to do so would be to enable an AP to obtain channel information such as SSID, primary channel and secondary channel information directly from other AP’s beacon channels to reduce signaling overhead between APs.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of Grandhi et al. (US 2012/0327870)(herein after “Grandhi”).
Regarding Claim 8, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the control method of claim 1.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: using a non-high throughput (non-HT) duplicate mechanism to transmit the traffic information at the plurality of Wi-Fi channels.
However, Grandhi further teaches wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: using a non-high throughput (non-HT) duplicate mechanism to transmit the traffic information at the plurality of Wi-Fi channels ([0097] discloses the use of non-HT duplicate packet formats as a mechanism for transmitting NAV information on a plurality of primary and non-primary channels.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the control method of claim 1, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: using a non-high throughput (non-HT) duplicate mechanism to transmit the traffic information at the plurality of Wi-Fi channels, as further taught by Grandhi. The motivation to do so would be to have a control method to avoid disruption for APs that do not support HT features, when sending traffic information to an HT capable AP, by sending non-HT duplicate packets to represent a NAV message informing non-HT capable APs to defer transmission for a specific duration.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to Claim 10, and further in view of Grandhi et al. (US 2012/0327870)(herein after “Grandhi”).
Regarding Claim 17, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the AP of Claim 10.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: using a non-high throughput (non-HT) duplicate mechanism to transmit the traffic information at the plurality of Wi-Fi channels.
However, Grandhi further teaches wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: using a non-high throughput (non-HT) duplicate mechanism to transmit the traffic information at the plurality of Wi-Fi channels ([0097] discloses the use of non-HT duplicate packet formats as a mechanism for transmitting NAV information on a plurality of primary and non-primary channels.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the AP of Claim 10, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: using a non-high throughput (non-HT) duplicate mechanism to transmit the traffic information at the plurality of Wi-Fi channels, as further taught by Grandhi. The motivation to do so would be to have an AP that avoids disruption for legacy APs that do not support HT features, when sending traffic information to an HT capable AP, by sending non-HT duplicate packets to represent a NAV message informing non-HT capable APs to defer transmission for a specific duration.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Baek et al. (US 2025/0159720)(herein after “Baek”).
Regarding Claim 9, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the control method of claim 1.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: sending the traffic information to the another AP, for the another AP to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a quiet period setting, a preamble puncturing mechanism or a clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2SELF) operation to prevent station(s) of the another AP from transmitting packets using Wi-Fi channels of the corresponding channel bandwidth information during the service period.
However, Baek further teaches wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: sending the traffic information to the another AP, for the another AP to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a quiet period setting, a preamble puncturing mechanism or a clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2SELF) operation to prevent station(s) of the another AP from transmitting packets using Wi-Fi channels of the corresponding channel bandwidth information during the service period (Figs 8-10 & [0114] disclose transmitting resource units (RUs) in a wireless LAN system based on OFDMA. Fig 16, [0005] & [0203] disclose a quiet interval related to a Service Period preventing an STA from performing transmission during the quiet interval. Fig 13 & [0166] disclose Preamble Puncturing to prevent an STA transmission of a PDDU on a secondary 20 MHz band. [0202] discloses use of CTS-to-Self to stop transmission of and STA.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the control method of claim 1, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: sending the traffic information to the another AP, for the another AP to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a quiet period setting, a preamble puncturing mechanism or a clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2SELF) operation to prevent station(s) of the another AP from transmitting packets using Wi-Fi channels of the corresponding channel bandwidth information during the service period, as further taught by Baek. The motivation to do so would be to have a control method for avoiding collisions in transmissions by two different APs using techniques such a quiet intervals, preamble puncturing or CTS-to-Self operation by restricting channel usage on specific Wi-Fi channels.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to claim 10, and further in view of Baek et al. (US 2025/0159720)(herein after “Baek”).
Regarding Claim 18, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the AP of claim 10.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: sending the traffic information to the another AP, for the another AP to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a quiet period setting, a preamble puncturing mechanism or a clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2SELF) operation to prevent station(s) of the another AP from transmitting packets using Wi-Fi channels of the corresponding channel bandwidth information during the service period.
However, Baek further teaches wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: sending the traffic information to the another AP, for the another AP to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a quiet period setting, a preamble puncturing mechanism or a clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2SELF) operation to prevent station(s) of the another AP from transmitting packets using Wi-Fi channels of the corresponding channel bandwidth information during the service period (Figs 8-10 & [0114] disclose transmitting resource units (RUs) in a wireless LAN system based on OFDMA. Fig 16, [0005] & [0203] disclose a quiet interval related to a Service Period preventing an STA from performing transmission during the quiet interval. Fig 13 & [0166] disclose Preamble Puncturing to prevent an STA transmission of a PDDU on a secondary 20 MHz band. [0202] discloses use of CTS-to-Self to stop transmission of and STA.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the AP of Claim 10, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of sending the traffic information to the another AP comprises: sending the traffic information to the another AP, for the another AP to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), a quiet period setting, a preamble puncturing mechanism or a clear to send (CTS) to self (CTS2SELF) operation to prevent station(s) of the another AP from transmitting packets using Wi-Fi channels of the corresponding channel bandwidth information during the service period, as further taught by Baek. The motivation to do so would be to have an AP that can avoid collisions in transmissions with another AP using techniques such a quiet intervals, preamble puncturing or CTS-to-Self operation by restricting channel usage on specific Wi-Fi channels.
Claims 19 & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugaya et al. (US 2021/0314940)(herein after “Sugaya”) in view of Kakani et al. (US 8233876)(herein after “Kakani”) and Yang et al. (US 20200178299)(herein after “Yang”) and Huang et al. (US 20180279130), as applied to Claims 1 & 10 respectively, and further in view of Chu et al. (US 2016/0381704)(herein after “Chu”).
Regarding claims 19 & 20, Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang disclose the control method of claim 1, and the AP of claim 10.
Sugaya fails to disclose wherein the step of performing the packet detection on the primary channel of another AP is performed during a packet transmission of the AP within the service period.
However, Chu further teaches wherein the step of performing the packet detection on the primary channel of another AP is performed during a packet transmission of the AP within the service period (Fig 3A & [0028]-[0030] disclose an AP transmitting OFDMA frames within a TWT service period (SP), and during transmission of the OFDMA frames, the AP can determine when a collision occurs and perform a TWT backoff process to compete for the channel in order to continue transmitting OFDMA frames. [0028] discloses that the TWT techniques (i.e. TWT backoff process) may involve detecting that a primary channel is physically idle through physical sensing (i.e. the TWT backoff process involves packet detection). Thus, packet detection in the TWT backoff process would occur during transmission of OFDMA frames within a TWT service period.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the method of claim 1, or the AP of claim 10, as disclosed by Sugaya in view of Kakani and Yang and Huang, wherein the step of performing the packet detection on the primary channel of another AP is performed during a packet transmission of the AP within the service period, as further taught by Chu. The motivation to do so would be to have an AP, or a control method for an AP, wherein the AP transmits packets during a TWT service period, sends traffic information to a second AP indicating a portion of channels of a wideband bonded channel that the AP is using for transmission during the TWT service period, and after receiving a list of channels selected by the second AP, performs a packet detection on channels used by the second AP, including the primary channel of a second AP, in order to execute a contention graph coloring algorithm used to distill the list of channels selected by the second AP to channels that minimize the impact to overall network performance, in order to report the distilled list of channels back to the second AP so that the second AP can select channels to use from the distilled list of channels to minimize impact to overall network performance.
Conclusion
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/JAMES P SEYMOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419