DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Status
This office action is in response to the communication(s) filed on 10/15/2025.
Claim(s) 1, 9-10, 12-13, 21-22, 24-25, 28, and 31-50 is/are currently presenting for examination.
Claim(s) 1, 13, 25 and 28 is/are independent claim(s).
Claim(s) 1, 9-10, 12-13, 21-22, 24-25, 28, and 31-43, 45-50 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 44 is/are objected to.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 9-10, 12-13, 21-22, 24-25, 28, and 31-40, 45-50 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US_20260142746_A1_Yu.
Regarding claim 1, Yu discloses a first wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the first wireless communication device to (Yu figures 2, the transmitter is corresponding to the claimed “first wireless communication device”, and figure 22): transmit, via one or more subfields of a user info field associated with a second wireless communication device (Yu figures 3-5, the 1st user field includes a plurality of subfields, and paragraph 138, “…the user field in the PPDU #1 is associated with a user #1…”), information indicative of one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS), from a plurality of MCSs, associated with communication between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device via one or more spatial streams (Yu figures 3-5, the UEQM MCS group indication field, or the MCS filed; paragraph 129, “…The first field indicates a first MCS group. The first field may be referred to… that is, a UEQM MCS group indication field… The first MCS group includes a plurality of MCSs… The second field indicates a number of spatial streams corresponding to one or more MCSs in the first MCS group. The second field may be referred to as an NSS combination indication field”, paragraph 158, and table 2), wherein the one or more subfields collectively comprise at least five bits (Yu figures 3-5, paragraph 135, “…a UEQM MCS group indication field (that is, the first field),…For example, a length of the first field may be 3 bits (bits), 4 bits, 5 bits, or 6 bits.…”, paragraph 199, “…a length of the UEQM MCS field is 7 bits, …”, paragraph 205, “…the length of the UEQM MCS field is 9 bits…”); and communicate with the second wireless communication device in accordance with the one or more MCSs (Yu figure 1, paragraph 116, “The technical solutions of the present disclosure are applicable to data communication between an access point (access point, AP) and one or more stations (Station, STA), and are also applicable to communication between APs, and are further applicable to communication between STAs”, paragraph 155, “…the receiver demodulates a data field in the PPDU based on the MCS used by each spatial stream of the first user”).
Regarding claim 9, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein: the user info field includes second information indicative of a pattern of modulation orders associated with the communication between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device (Yu figures 3-5, the UEQM MCS group indication field and the NSS combination indication field, and tables 12-14, paragraphs 214, “…a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index, and the index corresponds to different tables under different NSSs. For example, when a value of the NSS field in the user field is 2, a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index in Table 12. For another example, when a value of the NSS field in the user field is 3, a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index in Table 13…”. Each of the indexes in tables 12-14 is corresponding to a pattern of modulation orders); the pattern of modulation orders corresponds to an unequal modulation pattern (Yu figure 5, tables 12-14, and paragraph 141, UEQM format,) comprising different types of modulation across a plurality of spatial streams with a common code rate (Yu tables 12-14, and paragraph 129, “…a UEQM MCS group indication field. A name of a field in the present disclosure may be another different name, provided that functions essentially indicated are the same. The name of the field is not limited in the present disclosure. The first MCS group includes a plurality of MCSs. For example, the first MCS group includes combinations of BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM and a same coding rate (for example, a coding rate of 1/2). For example, the first MCS group includes combinations of 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024-QAM, 4096-QAM and a same coding rate…”); and communicating with the second wireless communication device is further in accordance with the pattern of modulation orders (Yu paragraph 162, “…The receiver may learn of, based on an EQM/UEQM field, whether an index in Table 4 indicates an MCS (meaning under the EQM) or an MCS group (meaning under the UEQM)…”, paragraph 193, “…The receiver learns, based on the index 15 and Table 10, that the spatial stream of the receiver uses the UEQM and spatial stream boundaries corresponding to four MCSs, and then reads the UEQM MCS group indication field to learn an MCS group…”, paragraph 216, “…The receiver may learn, according to Table 12, MCSs respectively used by two spatial streams of the receiver…”, also read paragraphs 213, 215, 217).
Regarding claim 10, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein the one or more MCSs indicated by the user info field comprise at least a first MCS associated with a first modulation order of the pattern of modulation orders streams (Yu tables 2, 12-14, and paragraphs 158-159, 214-215), and wherein one or more additional modulation orders of the pattern of modulation orders are defined relative to the first modulation order (Yu paragraph 227, “A first manner of reducing the overheads is to limit a difference between highest modulation order and lowest modulation order of a spatial stream used by a same user from differing significantly. For example, a difference between a highest MCS index and a lowest MCS index that are used by the spatial stream and that are indicated by the seventh field is less than or equal to a second threshold…”).
Regarding claim 12, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein the second information comprises a quantity of the plurality of spatial streams and the pattern of modulation orders (Yu figures 3-5, UEQM MCS group indication field and the NSS combination indication field, paragraph 129), and the user info field includes a first subfield that indicates the quantity of the plurality of spatial streams (Yu figures 3-5, the NSS combination indication field, paragraph 129, “… The second field indicates a number of spatial streams corresponding to one or more MCSs in the first MCS group. The second field may be referred to as an NSS combination indication field”) and a second subfield that indicates the pattern of modulation orders (Yu figures 3-5, tables 12-14, paragraphs 214, “…a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index, and the index corresponds to different tables under different NSSs. For example, when a value of the NSS field in the user field is 2, a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index in Table 12. For another example, when a value of the NSS field in the user field is 3, a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index in Table 13…”. Each of the indexes in tables 12-14 is corresponding to a pattern of modulation orders).
Regarding claim 31, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the pattern of modulation orders indicated by the second subfield is in accordance with the quantity of spatial streams indicated by the first subfield (Yu tables 12-14, and paragraph 214, “…a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index, and the index corresponds to different tables under different NSSs. For example, when a value of the NSS field in the user field is 2, a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index in Table 12. For another example, when a value of the NSS field in the user field is 3, a value of the UEQM MCS field is an index in Table 13”, paragraph 218).
Regarding claim 32, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein: the plurality of spatial streams comprises two spatial streams including a first spatial stream and a second spatial stream (Yu Table 12, two spatial streams, which are the first spatial stream, and the second spatial stream), the pattern of modulation orders is indicated from a set of at least a first pattern and a second pattern in accordance with the plurality of spatial streams comprising the two spatial streams (Yu Table 12, each of the indexes is corresponding to a pattern of modulation orders), and the first pattern (Yu Table 12, pattern with index 9) defines that a first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream (Yu Table 12, pattern with index 9, 256-QAM) and that a second modulation order is mapped to the second spatial stream (Yu Table 12, pattern with index 9, 64-QAM); and the second pattern (Yu Table 12, pattern with index 6) defines that the first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream (Yu Table 12, pattern with index 6, 256-QAM) and that a third modulation order is mapped to the second spatial stream (Yu Table 12, pattern with index 6, 16-QAM).
Regarding claim 33, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 32, wherein the first modulation order corresponds to a first index, the second modulation order corresponds to a second index, and the third modulation order corresponds to a third index, and wherein: the second index that corresponds to the second modulation order is equal to the first index minus one, and the third index that corresponds to the third modulation order is equal to the first index minus two (Yu Table 15, for the QPSK column, the 256-QAM is with index 3, the 64-QAM is with index 2, and the 16-QAM is with index 1).
Regarding claim 34, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein: the plurality of spatial streams comprises three spatial streams including a first spatial stream, a second spatial stream, and a third spatial stream (Yu Table 13, three spatial streams, which are the first spatial stream, the second spatial stream, and the third spatial stream), the pattern of modulation orders is indicated from a set of at least a first pattern, a second pattern, and a third pattern in accordance with the plurality of spatial streams comprising the three spatial streams (Yu Table 13, each of the indexes is corresponding to a pattern of modulation orders), and the first pattern (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 53) defines that a first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream and the second spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 53, 256-QAM) and that a second modulation order is mapped to the third spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 53, 64-QAM); the second pattern (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 44) defines that the first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream and the second spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 44, 256-QAM) and that a third modulation order is mapped to the third spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 44, 16-QAM); and the third pattern (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 41) defines that the first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 41, 256-QAM), that the second modulation order is mapped to the second spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 41, 32-QAM), and that the third modulation order is mapped to the third spatial stream (Yu Table 13, pattern with index 41, 16-QAM).
Regarding claim 35, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 34, wherein the first modulation order corresponds to a first index, the second modulation order corresponds to a second index, and the third modulation order corresponds to a third index, and wherein: the second index that corresponds to the second modulation order is equal to the first index minus one, and the third index that corresponds to the third modulation order is equal to the first index minus two (Yu Table 15, for the QPSK column, the 256-QAM is with index 3, the 64-QAM is with index 2, and the 16-QAM is with index 1)..
Regarding claim 36, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein: the plurality of spatial streams comprises four spatial streams including a first spatial stream, a second spatial stream, a third spatial stream, and a fourth spatial stream (Yu Table 14, four spatial streams, which are the first spatial stream, the second spatial stream, the third spatial stream, and the fourth spatial stream), the pattern of modulation orders is indicated from a set of at least a first pattern, a second pattern, and a third pattern in accordance with the plurality of spatial streams comprising the four spatial streams (Yu Table 14, each of the indexes is corresponding to a pattern of modulation orders), and the first pattern (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 114) defines that a first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream, the second spatial stream, and the third spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 114, 256-QAM) and that a second modulation order is mapped to the fourth spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 114, 64-QAM); the second pattern (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 95) defines that the first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream, the second spatial stream, and the third spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 95, 256-QAM) and that a third modulation order is mapped to the fourth spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 95, 16-QAM); and the third pattern (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 89) defines that the first modulation order is mapped to the first spatial stream and the second spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 89, 256-QAM), that the second modulation order is mapped to the third spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 89, 64-QAM), and that the third modulation order is mapped to the fourth spatial stream (Yu Table 14, pattern with index 89, 16-QAM).
Regarding claim 37, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 36, wherein the first modulation order corresponds to a first index, the second modulation order corresponds to a second index, and the third modulation order corresponds to a third index, and wherein: the second index that corresponds to the second modulation order is equal to the first index minus one, and the third index that corresponds to the third modulation order is equal to the first index minus two (Yu Table 15, for the QPSK column, the 256-QAM is with index 3, the 64-QAM is with index 2, and the 16-QAM is with index 1)..
Regarding claim 38, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein the second information indicates that the pattern of modulation orders corresponds to the unequal modulation pattern (Yu figure 5, tables 12-14, and paragraph 141, UEQM format).
Regarding claim 39, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein a first modulation order of the pattern of modulation orders comprises a modulation order of one of the one or more MCSs indicated by the user info field (Yu tables 2, 12-14, and paragraphs 158-159, 214-215, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM…).
Regarding claim 40, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the one or more subfields comprise a first subfield that includes the at least five bits (Yu figures 3-5, paragraph 135, “…a UEQM MCS group indication field (that is, the first field),…For example, a length of the first field may be 3 bits (bits), 4 bits, 5 bits, or 6 bits.…”, paragraph 199, “…a length of the UEQM MCS field is 7 bits, …”, paragraph 205, “…the length of the UEQM MCS field is 9 bits…”,and paragraph 141, the lengths of the MCS field and the UEQM MCS group indication field can be the same), and wherein the at least five bits indicate a single MCS from the plurality of MCSs (Yu paragraph 139, “…When a spatial stream of a user uses the EQM, a user field in the PPDU sent by the transmitter includes the MCS field and the NSS field, to indicate a same MCS used by all spatial streams of the user.”).
Regarding claim 13, Yu discloses a first wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the first wireless communication device to (Yu figures 2, the receiver is corresponding to the claimed “first wireless communication device”, and figure 22): receive, via one or more subfields of a user info field associated with the first wireless communication device (Yu figures 3-5, the 1st user field includes a plurality of subfields, and paragraph 138, “…the user field in the PPDU #1 is associated with a user #1…”), information indicative of one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS), from a plurality of MCSs, associated with communication between the first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device via one or more spatial streams (Yu figures 3-5, the UEQM MCS group indication field, or the MCS filed; paragraph 129, “…The first field indicates a first MCS group. The first field may be referred to… that is, a UEQM MCS group indication field… The first MCS group includes a plurality of MCSs… The second field indicates a number of spatial streams corresponding to one or more MCSs in the first MCS group. The second field may be referred to as an NSS combination indication field”, paragraph 158, and table 2), wherein the one or more subfields collectively comprise at least five bits (Yu figures 3-5, paragraph 135, “…a UEQM MCS group indication field (that is, the first field),…For example, a length of the first field may be 3 bits (bits), 4 bits, 5 bits, or 6 bits.…”, paragraph 199, “…a length of the UEQM MCS field is 7 bits, …”, paragraph 205, “…the length of the UEQM MCS field is 9 bits…”); and communicate with the second wireless communication device in accordance with the one or more MCSs (Yu figure 1, paragraph 116, “The technical solutions of the present disclosure are applicable to data communication between an access point (access point, AP) and one or more stations (Station, STA), and are also applicable to communication between APs, and are further applicable to communication between STAs”, paragraph 155, “…the receiver demodulates a data field in the PPDU based on the MCS used by each spatial stream of the first user”).
Regarding claim 21, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 9.
Regarding claim 22, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 10.
Regarding claim 24, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 12.
Regarding claim 45, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 31.
Regarding claim 46, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 32.
Regarding claim 47, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 33.
Regarding claim 48, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 34.
Regarding claim 49, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 35.
Regarding claim 50, Yu discloses limitations as set forth in claim 36.
Regarding claim 25, Yu discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 28, Yu discloses the limitations as set forth in claim 13.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 41-43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20260142746_A1_Yu in view of US_20250126010_A1_Huang.
Regarding claim 41, Yu discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein: the plurality of MCSs corresponds to a ultra-high reliability (UHR) network, a first subset of the plurality of MCSs is a same set as a set of MCSs that corresponds to an extremely high throughput (EHT) network, and the EHT network lacks a second subset of the plurality of MCSs corresponding to the UHR network.
Huang discloses wherein: the plurality of MCSs corresponds to a ultra-high reliability (UHR) network (Huang Table 2A, UHR-MCS 0-24), a first subset of the plurality of MCSs is a same set as a set of MCSs that corresponds to an extremely high throughput (EHT) network (Huang Table 1, EHT-MCS 0-15, Table 2A, UHR-MCS 0-24. The EHT-MCS 0-15 includes the UHR-MCS 0-3, 5, 7, 8, 11-13, 15-18, 20-21), and the EHT network lacks a second subset of the plurality of MCSs corresponding to the UHR network (Huang Table 1, EHT-MCS 0-15, Table 2A, UHR-MCS 0-24. The EHT-MCS 0-15 doesn’t include the UHR-MCS 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 19, and 22-24).
Thus 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 teachings of Huang’s the UHR-MCS 0-24 includes all the MCSs in the EHT-MCS 0-15 and adds some new MCSs in Yu’s system to preserve existing speeds, and to improve connection stability and range. This method for improving the system of Yu was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Huang. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Yu and Huang to obtain the invention as specified in claim 41.
Regarding claim 42, Yu and Huang disclose the first wireless communication device of claim 41, and Huang further disclose wherein the first subset of the plurality of MCSs comprises at least 15 MCSs of the plurality of MCSs (Huang Table 1, EHT-MCS 0-15, Table 2A, UHR-MCS 0-24. The EHT-MCS 0-15 includes the UHR-MCS 0-3, 5, 7, 8, 11-13, 15-18, 20-21. Therefore, 16 MCSs).
Regarding claim 43, Yu and Huang disclose the first wireless communication device of claim 41, and Huang further disclose wherein: a first MCS of the second subset of the plurality of MCSs corresponds to a code rate of 2/3 and a modulation of quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) network (Huang table 1 and table 2A,, UHR-MCS 4), a second MCS of the second subset corresponds to a code rate of 2/3 and a modulation of 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) (Huang table 1 and table 2A,, UHR-MCS 8), a third MCS of the second subset corresponds to a code rate of 5/6 and a modulation of 16-QAM (Huang table 1 and table 2A,, UHR-MCS 10), and a fourth MCS of the second subset corresponds to a code rate of 2/3 and a modulation of 256-QAM (Huang table 1 and table 2A,, UHR-MCS 14).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 44 is/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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The reference US_20260067024_A1_Hu, teaches a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) indication method includes a first device determining an unequal MCS configuration. The first device sends indication information to a second device. The indication information indicates the unequal MCS configuration supported by the first device under a specified condition, and the specified condition includes at least one of the following: a bandwidth corresponding to the unequal MCS configuration, a size of a resource unit (RU) corresponding to the unequal MCS configuration, or a size of a multiple resource unit (MRU) corresponding to the unequal MCS configuration (Hu figure 7, paragraphs 8, 215).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEIBIN HUANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3695. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30AM - 6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached at (571)272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/W.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Prosecution Insights