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 (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.
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/685,452 filed on 21 February 2024. The application claims 371 priority to PCT/CN2021/115413 filed on 30 August 2021. The preliminary amendment filed 21 February 2024 amends claims 1, 8, 18, and 19, cancels claims 16 and 17, and adds claims 20-21 is hereby acknowledged. Claims 1-15 and 18-20 are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 8, and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities: The "ID" acronym is introduced before providing an explanation. For the purpose of examination, Examiner will interpret the limitation to mean “an identifier (ID) bit.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-15 and 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2022/0264429 A1 to Gan et al and in view of USPGPUB 2024/0107448 A1 to Cariou et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Gan discloses a communication method, comprising: determining a traffic indication map (TIM) frame in a first link among multi-links (FIG. 7 and 0125 provides for the multi-link TIM frame includes a field identifying a specific link), wherein the TIM frame is configured to identify a condition that a downlink data frame is cached for each of the multi-links (0056 and 0125 provides for the AID bit is 1 indicates that the downlink traffic data is buffered for each link); and sending the TIM frame (0114 provides for sending TIM frames). Gan doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the TIM frame comprises an ID bit configured to identify a presence of a multi-link traffic element. Cariou, in a similar field of endeavor, discloses wherein the TIM frame comprises an ID bit configured to identify a presence of a multi-link traffic element (0082 and 0091-0093 provides for wake up on a specific band to deliver data frames based on a channel condition and TID). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filed date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Cariou for conveying traffic information in a TIM frame. The traffic information of Cariou, when implemented with the multi-link configuration of the Gan system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to buffer data in order to load transmissions based on conditions measured in the system. Therefore, the examiner concludes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to utilize the traffic information of Cariou with the multi-link configuration of the Gan system for the desirable purpose of configuring a network to buffer data while transmitting information in a multi-link system.
Regarding Claim 2, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the TIM frame further comprises TIM ID information, wherein the TIM ID information identifies a condition that the downlink data frame is cached for the first link (Gan, 0056 and 0125 provides for the AID bit is 1 indicates that the downlink traffic data is buffered for each link).
Regarding Claim 3, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 2, wherein the multi-link traffic element identifies a condition that the downlink data frame is cached for another link other than the first link among the multi-links (Cariou, 0039-0040 provides for buffereding data on other bands). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 4, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the multi-link traffic element identifies a condition that the downlink data frame is cached for each of the multi-links (Gan, 0056 and 0125 provides for the AID bit is 1 indicates that the downlink traffic data is buffered for each link).
Regarding Claim 5, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the TIM frame further comprises time stamp information for the first link (Gan, 0115 provides for timestamp field).
Regarding Claim 6, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the TIM frame further comprises time stamp information for other links other than the first link among the multi-links (Gan, 0117 provides for “each time the STA multi-link device maintain a record of a value of a beacon check field corresponding to each link received last time”).
Regarding Claim 7, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the TIM frame further comprises a timing offset for identifying time information for other links other than the first link among the multi-links (Gan, 0075 provides for offset of a partial virtual bitmap).
Regarding Claim 8, Gan discloses a communication method, comprising: receiving a traffic indication map (TIM) frame in a first link among multi-links (FIG. 7 and 0125 provides for the multi-link TIM frame includes a field identifying a specific link), wherein the TIM frame is configured to identify a condition that a downlink data frame is cached for each of the multi-links (0056 and 0125 provides for the AID bit is 1 indicates that the downlink traffic data is buffered for each link); and performing a communication operation based on the TIM frame (0114 provides for sending TIM frames). Gan doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the TIM frame comprises an ID bit configured to identify a presence of a multi-link traffic element. Cariou, in a similar field of endeavor, discloses wherein the TIM frame comprises an ID bit configured to identify a presence of a multi-link traffic element (0082 and 0091-0093 provides for wake up on a specific band to deliver data frames based on a channel condition and TID). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 9, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 2 teaches the communication method of claim 9.
Regarding Claim 10, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 3 teaches the communication method of claim 10.
Regarding Claim 11, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 4 teaches the communication method of claim 11.
Regarding Claim 12, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 5 teaches the communication method of claim 12.
Regarding Claim 13, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 6 teaches the communication method of claim 13.
Regarding Claim 14, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 7 teaches the communication method of claim 14.
Regarding Claim 15, the Gan/Cariou system discloses the communication method according to claim 8, wherein the communication method further comprises: obtaining time information on clock synchronization for other links other than the first link among the multi-links from other message frame (Cariou, 0093 provides for new MB TIM element indicate band-specific TIM bitmap information). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 18, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 1 teaches the electronic device of claim 18.
Regarding Claim 19, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 1 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19.
Regarding Claim 20, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 8 teaches the electronic device of claim 20.
Regarding Claim 21, similar rejection where the communication method of claim 1 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPUB 2024/0056796 A1 to Li et al discloses a link identifier field that indicates multi-link element and a delivery traffic indication map.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCHQUITA GOODWIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5477. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm EST.
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/SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459