DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
In response to the application filed on 01/02/2026, claims 1-15 are currently pending for the examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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.
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.
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 35 U.S.C. 103 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 1-3, and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2017/0126447 A1) in view of Liu et al. (US 2017/0104553 A1 ).
Regarding claim 1; Yang teaches a method in a wireless LAN system, the method comprising:
receiving, by a receiving station (STA), a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) including a data field from a transmitting STA (See Figs. 2 and 3: the data unit can comprise a physical layer data unit (PPDU). In some aspects, the PPDU is referred to as a packet. ¶ [0065]); and
decoding, by the receiving STA, the data field, wherein a Multiple-Resource Unit (MRU) is assigned to the receiving STA (See Figs. 2 and 6: the apparatus to receive and decode the set of parameters. ¶ [0008] and ¶ [0009]), wherein subcarrier indices of the MRU consist of indices of corresponding RUs in the data field, wherein Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) tone mapping is performed in the MRU based on a LDPC tone mapping distance parameter, DTM(See Fig. 6: for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity Col. heck (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 3, for an RU size of 106, an LDPC DTM of 6, for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9, for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 12, and for an RU size of 996, an LDPC DTM of 20. ¶ [0012]),
wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 484+242 tone-MRU, the DTM is 18 (See Fig. 6: for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9; for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 9; and the multiplexing for DTM would be 18. See Yang’s claim 1. ¶ [0009]); and
wherein for the MRU that spans multiple 80 MHz frequency subblocks (See Fig. 3: a wireless device can receive a packet via an 80 megahertz (MHz) wireless channel (e.g., a channel having 80 MHz bandwidth). ¶ [0076]), the LDPC tone mapping is performed separately in each frequency subblock on a portion of the MRU in the frequency subblock (See Fig. 6: LDPC tone mapping and performing separately in each allocated frequency, tones, LDPC, DCM, DTM and BCC. ¶ [0098]-¶ [0105]).
Even though, Yang teaches the method wherein for the MRU that spans multiple 80 MHz frequency subblocks and LDPC tone mapping is performed separately, Yang doesn’t explicitly describe the MRU falling within that frequency subblock.
However, Liu from the same or similar fields of endeavor further discloses a method wherein the MRU falling within that frequency subblock (Liu: See Fig. 1: for the PPDU transmission with DCM, LDPC encoded streams are first modulated by a DCM constellation mapper. The modulated symbols of the lower half of the frequency segment and the modulated symbols of the upper half of the frequency segment are modulated using the same LDPC encoded bits using DCM mapping. The modulated symbols of the lower half of the frequency segment are mapped to lower half of the data subcarriers using DCM LDPC tone mapper. The modulated symbols of the upper half of the frequency segment are mapped to upper half of the data subcarriers using the same DCM LDPC tone mapper. See Abstract.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide the method wherein the MRU falling within that frequency subblock as taught by Liu to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide to achieve maximum frequency diversity for DCM and higher performance for DCM modulation. See Liu’s Abstract and ¶ [0035].
Regarding claim 2; Yang teaches the method wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 52+26 tone-MRU, the DTM is 4 (See Fig. 6: the second set of interleaver parameters can include, for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 3. ¶ [0012]), wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 106+26 tone-MRU, the DTM is 6 (See Fig. 7: the first set of interleaver parameters can include, for a resource unit (RU) size of 106, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 2 or 5, and for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1. The summation for DTM of 106+26 could be 3 or 6. See ¶ [0011-0012]);
the 52+26 tone-MRU is an MRU in which a 52 tone RU and a 26 tone RU are aggregated, wherein the 106+26 tone-MRU is an MRU in which a 106 tone RU and a 26 tone RU are aggregated, wherein the 484+242 tone-MRU is an MRU in which a 484 tone RU and a 242 tone RU are aggregated (See Fig. 6 and 7: see the RU sizes/tones and DTM values. Note, the DTM values can be combined or aggregated. ¶ [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 3; Yang teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the data field is generated based on a bitstream, wherein the bitstream is mapped to data tones based on constellation mapping, and wherein tone spacing of the data tones is set to the DTM for the MRU based on the LDPC tone mapping (Yang: ¶ [0031-0032]).
Regarding claim 9; Yang teaches the method , wherein the 26 tone RU is a resource unit composed of 26 tones, the 52 tone RU is a resource unit composed of 52 tones, and the 26 tone RU and the 52 tone RU are adjacent to each other or included within a 20 MHz channel (See Fig. 6 and 8: ¶ [0011-0012] and ¶ [0115])
Regarding claim 10; Yang teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the 26 tone RU is a resource unit composed of 26 tones, the 106 tone RU is a resource unit composed of 106 tones, and the 26 tone RU and the 106 tone RU are adjacent to each other or included within a 20 MHz channel (See Fig. 6 and 8: ¶ [0011-0012] and ¶ [0115])
Regarding claim 11; Yang teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the PPDU further includes a control field, and wherein the control field includes allocation information on the MRU (See Fig. 6 and 8: ¶ [0065] and ¶ [0115]).
Regarding claim 12; Yang teaches a receiving station (STA) in a wireless LAN system, the receiving STA comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor combined operatively with the memory and the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive, by a receiving station (STA), a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) including a data field from a transmitting STA (See Figs. 2 and 3: the data unit can comprise a physical layer data unit (PPDU). In some aspects, the PPDU is referred to as a packet. ¶ [0065]); and
decode the data field, wherein a Multiple-Resource Unit (MRU) (See Figs. 2 and 6: the apparatus to receive and decode the set of parameters. ¶ [0008] and ¶ [0009]), wherein subcarrier indices of the MRU consist of indices of corresponding RUs in the data field, wherein Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) tone mapping is performed in the MRU (See Fig. 6: for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 3, for an RU size of 106, an LDPC DTM of 6, for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9, for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 12, and for an RU size of 996, an LDPC DTM of 20. ¶ [0012]), a LDPC tone mapping distance parameter, DTM (See Fig. 6 and 7 for constant distance parameter values: the first set of interleaver parameters can include, for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 1, for an RU size of 106, an LDPC DTM of 3, for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9, for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 9, and for an RU size of 996, an LDPC DTM of 14. ¶ [0019]);
wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 484+242 tone-MRU, the DTM is 18 (See Fig. 6: for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9; for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 9; and the multiplexing for DTM would be 18. See Yang’s claim 1. ¶ [0009]); and
wherein for the MRU that spans multiple 80 MHz frequency subblocks (See Fig. 3: a wireless device can receive a packet via an 80 megahertz (MHz) wireless channel (e.g., a channel having 80 MHz bandwidth). ¶ [0076]), the LDPC tone mapping is performed separately in each frequency subblock on a portion of the MRU in the frequency subblock (See Fig. 6: LDPC tone mapping and performing separately in each allocated frequency, tones, LDPC, DCM, DTM and BCC. ¶ [0098]-¶ [0105]).
Even though, Yang teaches the method wherein for the MRU that spans multiple 80 MHz frequency subblocks and LDPC tone mapping is performed separately, Yang doesn’t explicitly describe the MRU falling within that frequency subblock.
However, Liu from the same or similar fields of endeavor further discloses a method wherein the MRU falling within that frequency subblock (Liu: See Fig. 1: for the PPDU transmission with DCM, LDPC encoded streams are first modulated by a DCM constellation mapper. The modulated symbols of the lower half of the frequency segment and the modulated symbols of the upper half of the frequency segment are modulated using the same LDPC encoded bits using DCM mapping. The modulated symbols of the lower half of the frequency segment are mapped to lower half of the data subcarriers using DCM LDPC tone mapper. The modulated symbols of the upper half of the frequency segment are mapped to upper half of the data subcarriers using the same DCM LDPC tone mapper. See Abstract.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide the method wherein the MRU falling within that frequency subblock as taught by Liu to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide to achieve maximum frequency diversity for DCM and higher performance for DCM modulation. See Liu’s Abstract and ¶ [0035].
Regarding claim 13; Yang teaches a method in a wireless LAN system, the method comprising:
generating, by a transmitting station (STA), a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) including a data field (See Figs. 2 and 3: the data unit can comprise a physical layer data unit (PPDU). In some aspects, the PPDU is referred to as a packet. ¶ [0065]); and
transmitting, by the transmitting STA, the PPDU to a receiving STA, wherein a Multiple-Resource Unit (MRU) is assigned to the receiving STA (See Figs. 2 and 6: the apparatus to receive and decode the set of parameters. ¶ [0008] and ¶ [0009]),
wherein subcarrier indices of the MRU consist of indices of corresponding RUs in the data field (See Fig. 6: for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 3, for an RU size of 106, an LDPC DTM of 6, for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9, for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 12, and for an RU size of 996, an LDPC DTM of 20. ¶ [0012]), wherein a LDPC tone mapping distance parameter, DTM is constant for the MRU (See Fig. 6 and 7 for constant distance parameter values: the first set of interleaver parameters can include, for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 1, for an RU size of 106, an LDPC DTM of 3, for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9, for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 9, and for an RU size of 996, an LDPC DTM of 14. ¶ [0019]);
wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 484+242 tone-MRU, the DTM is 18 (See Fig. 6: for an RU size of 242, an LDPC DTM of 9; for an RU size of 484, an LDPC DTM of 9; and the multiplexing for DTM would be 18. See Yang’s claim 1. ¶ [0009]); and
wherein for the MRU that spans multiple 80 MHz frequency subblocks (See Fig. 3: a wireless device can receive a packet via an 80 megahertz (MHz) wireless channel (e.g., a channel having 80 MHz bandwidth). ¶ [0076]), the LDPC tone mapping is performed separately in each frequency subblock on a portion of the MRU in the frequency subblock (See Fig. 6: LDPC tone mapping and performing separately in each allocated frequency, tones, LDPC, DCM, DTM and BCC. ¶ [0098]-¶ [0105]).
Even though, Yang teaches the method wherein for the MRU that spans multiple 80 MHz frequency subblocks and LDPC tone mapping is performed separately, Yang doesn’t explicitly describe the MRU falling within that frequency subblock.
However, Liu from the same or similar fields of endeavor further discloses a method wherein the MRU falling within that frequency subblock (Liu: See Fig. 1: for the PPDU transmission with DCM, LDPC encoded streams are first modulated by a DCM constellation mapper. The modulated symbols of the lower half of the frequency segment and the modulated symbols of the upper half of the frequency segment are modulated using the same LDPC encoded bits using DCM mapping. The modulated symbols of the lower half of the frequency segment are mapped to lower half of the data subcarriers using DCM LDPC tone mapper. The modulated symbols of the upper half of the frequency segment are mapped to upper half of the data subcarriers using the same DCM LDPC tone mapper. See Abstract.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide the method wherein the MRU falling within that frequency subblock as taught by Liu to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide to achieve maximum frequency diversity for DCM and higher performance for DCM modulation. See Liu’s Abstract and ¶ [0035].
Regarding claim 14; Yang teaches the method wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 52+26 tone-MRU, the DTM is 4 (See Fig. 6: the second set of interleaver parameters can include, for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1, for an RU size of 52, an LDPC DTM of 3. ¶ [0012]);
wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 106+26 tone-MRU, the DTM is 6 (See Fig. 7: the first set of interleaver parameters can include, for a resource unit (RU) size of 106, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 2 or 5, and for a resource unit (RU) size of 26, a low-density parity check (LDPC) tone mapping distances (DTM) of 1. The summation for DTM of 106+26 could be 3 or 6. See ¶ [0011-0012]);
wherein the 52+26 tone-MRU is an MRU in which a 52 tone RU and a 26 tone RU are aggregated, wherein the 106+26 tone-MRU is an MRU in which a 106 tone RU and a 26 tone RU are aggregated, wherein the 484+242 tone-MRU is an MRU in which a 484 tone RU and a 242 tone RU are aggregated (See Fig. 6 and 7: see the RU sizes/tones and DTM values. Note, the DTM values can be combined or aggregated. ¶ [0009-0012]).
Regarding claim 15; Yang teaches the method wherein the data field is generated based on a bitstream, wherein the bitstream is mapped to data tones based on constellation mapping, and wherein tone spacing of the data tones is set to the DTM for the MRU based on the LDPC tone mapping (Yang: ¶ [0031-0032]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 are objected to as being dependent upon the 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.
Response to Arguments
In response to the amendment as filed on 01/02/2026, Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Arguments:
Applicant argues the cited references fail to disclose or suggest the limitation: “wherein based on a size of the MRU being a 484+242 tone-MRU, the DTM is 18.”
Examiner’s responses:
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Yang et al. (US 2017/0126447 A1) teaches the relationship between resource unit (RU) size and the corresponding data transmission multiplier (DTM), including configurations involving multiple RU sizes.
Specifically, Yang discloses:
• For an RU size of 242 tones, an LDPC DTM of 9; and For an RU size of 484 tones, an LDPC DTM of 9.
See, e.g., Fig. 6, ¶ [0009], and claim 1 of Yang. Yang further teaches that when multiple RUs are used together (e.g., through multiplexing or aggregation), the resulting DTM corresponds to the combined contribution of the individual RU DTMs.
Accordingly: A 484-tone RU (DTM = 9) combined with a 242-tone RU (DTM = 9) results in a total DTM of: 9 + 9 = 18. Thus, Yang teaches that when the MRU consists of a 484+242 tone combination, the corresponding DTM is 18.
Arguments:
Applicant further argues that under non-DCM operation, Yang’s Fig. 6 teaches that: for an RU-242, DTM = 9; and for an RU-484, DTM = 12; and therefore, even under the Examiner’s approach, the resulting value would be 9 + 12 = 21, not 18.
Examiner’s responses:
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Yang et al. (US 2017/0126447 A1) discloses multiple embodiments for determining the data transmission multiplier (DTM), including variations depending on coding schemes, configurations, and operational modes. While Applicant relies on a specific embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6 (allegedly corresponding to a particular non-DCM configuration), Yang is not limited to that single embodiment.
Importantly, Yang also teaches an embodiment in which:
For an RU size of 242 tones, the LDPC DTM is 9; and For an RU size of 484 tones, the LDPC DTM is 9. See, e.g., ¶ [0009] and claim 1 of Yang.
The claims do not recite any limitation restricting operation to: a specific “non-DCM” embodiment as interpreted by Applicant; or the specific parameter mapping shown in Fig. 6.
Under the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI), the claim encompasses any embodiment in which: an MRU includes a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU, and the resulting DTM is determined based on those RU components. Yang teaches combining or multiplexing multiple RUs, and the resulting transmission parameter (DTM) corresponds to the aggregate contribution of the individual RUs. Thus, Yang teaches that for an MRU comprising 484+242 tones, the resulting DTM is 18, as recited in the claim. Accordingly, it is proper to rely on any embodiment disclosed in Yang that satisfies the claimed relationship. Applicant’s argument is therefore not persuasive, and the rejection is maintained.
Conclusion
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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 extension fee 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 SAI AUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-3507. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, Alt Fridays, 7:30 AM- 5:00 PM (EST).
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/SAI AUNG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416