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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, 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 – 7, 9, 11-18, 20, 22 and 25-26 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Dong et al (US Pub. No. 2023/0319821 A1) in view of Kim et al (US Pub. No. 2013/0250832A1).
Regarding claim 1, Dong discloses “A communication method, performed by a station” (See Dong Figure 1); “supporting a-multi-link communication” (See Dong figure 1 and ¶ 0008; communication method is performed by a station (STA) supporting a multi-link communication); the communication method comprising “determining a first message frame in a first link among multi-links” (See Dong figure 2, and ¶ 0034; a first message frame is determined on a first link of the multiple links; see Dong figure 3, step 320 and ¶ 0051; determining a message frame in a selected link), “wherein the first message frame comprises: first information on traffic indication map (TIM) frame discloses the message include TIM periods (intervals) to enable the STA to determine the TBTT time points on the other links; also ¶ 0059, discloses first message frame includes a TIM element, and the time information); “and wherein the multi-links refers to multi-links established between the station and an access point (AP), associated with the station, supporting the multi-link communication.”(See Dong figure 1 and ¶s 0029 - ¶ 0030; shows that the communication and the links are between AP and station); “supporting the multi-link communication” ( See Dong figure 1 and ¶s 0029 and ¶ 0051 shows that the communication and the links are between AP and station and clearly state that the AP and the STA may each be a device supporting the multi-link) and “sending the first message frame” (See Figure 2, element 220 and Figure 3 element 340; ¶ 0047, ¶ 0052; the first message frame is sent on the first link).
Dong does not appear to explicitly disclose “first information on traffic indication map (TIM) frame broadcast intervals and requested by the station”.
However, Kim discloses “first information on traffic indication map (TIM) frame broadcast intervals requested by the station” (See Kim figure 6 and ¶ 0094; The TIM broadcast interval field indicates a transmission interval of the TIM frame requested by the STA). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Dong and Kim before him or her, to modify the invention of Dong to include information including TIM broadcast intervals and links requested by the station. The suggestion for doing so would have been so the AP can respectively notify times when different TIM frames are respectively transmitted to STAs. Therefore, in a machine to machine (M2M) system in which an association identifier (AID) can duplicatedly granted to the STAs, the respective STAs can be prevented from being kept in awake state even without buffered traffic to the respective STAs themselves. As a result, in an M2M support WLAN system in which a low cost device is a main member, power efficiency can be improved (¶ 0021).
Regarding claim 2, claim 1 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “the first information comprises a set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link”; (see Dong ¶ 0053, ¶ 0054,discloses the message include TIM periods (intervals) to enable the STA to determine the TBTT time points on the other links; Kim figure 7, ¶ 0094; TIM broadcast request element includes a field for the requested TIM broadcast interval “TIM broadcast interval field”); “the TIM frame broadcast interval indicates a number of beacon frame cycles between sending of TIM frames”; (see Dong ¶ 0053, ¶ 0054, TIM frame broadcast interval or periods defined as a number of beacon cycles between TIM frames; Kim figure 7, ¶ 0094; TIM broadcast interval expressed as a multiple of the beacon interval; transmission interval of the requested TIM frame may be expressed as the multiple of the beacon interval); “the set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link is based on one of the beacon frame cycles in the first link”; (see Dong ¶ 0053, ¶ 0054, the set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link may be based on the beacon frame cycles in the first link.”; Kim ¶ 0094 and ¶ 0147; TIM broadcast interval field is set as a multiple of the beacon interval, which is per-link).
Regarding claim 3, claim 2 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “wherein a value of a TIM frame broadcast interval for another link other than the first link among the multi-links has a specific offset value from the set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link”; (see Dong ¶ 0053, Dong teaches that the TIM frame broadcast intervals for other links can be determined with a specific offset from the first link’s interval; ¶ 0046; Dong discloses a value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for another link other than the first link among the multi-links has a specific offset value from the set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link. The specific offset value may be carried in other information elements (e.g., a reduced neighbor report (RNRE); Kim ¶ 0126; Dong teaches that different STAs or groups (which are analogous to links in a multi-link context) may have different TIM broadcast offsets, and these offsets can be relative to a reference time such as the beacon or TBTT. See “[…] respective TIM broadcast offset fields indicating different offset values may be included in the TIM broadcast elements received by the respective STAs).
Regarding claim 4, claim 1 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “wherein the first information comprises a set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for each of the multi-links”; (see Dong table 2 and ¶ 0059; Dong teaches that the message frame (e.g., TIM broadcast request information element) may include a set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for each of the multi-links; Kim ¶ 0147; The first TIM broadcast indication frame may further include a first TIM interval field indicating a transmission period of the first TIM frame. … the second TIM broadcast indication frame may further include a second TIM interval field indicating a transmission period of the second TIM frame.).
Regarding claim 5, claim 4 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “wherein the first information further comprises link ID information configured to identify each of the multi-links”; (see Dong table 2 and ¶ 0037; Dong teaches that the link ID included in the first message frame may be an ID of a link set (i.e., the Link set) or an ID of an individual link (i.e., the Link ID); Kim ¶ 0098.).
Regarding claim 6, claim 1 is incorporated as stated above. In addition Kim further discloses “receiving a second message frame from the AP, wherein the second message frame comprises feedback information from the AP to the first information”; (Kim ¶ 0099 the TIM broadcast response frame includes feedback fields: status (accept/refusal/ignoring)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Dong and Kim before him or her, to modify the invention of Dong to include status or feedback information to the first information. The suggestion for doing so would have been so providing status including accepting, rejecting or ignoring; and as a result, in an M2M support WLAN system in which a low cost device is a main member, power efficiency can be improved (¶s 0099 and 0021).
Regarding claim 7, claim 6 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “wherein the feedback information comprises at least one of: status information indicating an acceptance of the first information, in a case where the AP accepts the first information, or second information on TIM frame broadcast intervals related to the multi-links and recommended by the AP, in a case where the AP rejects the first information”; (Kim ¶ 0099 the TIM broadcast response frame includes feedback fields: status (accept/refusal/ignoring) ¶s 0099-0102 ; it may return new or recommended intervals in the response frame).
Regarding claim 9, claim 7 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “wherein the second information comprises at least one of:a recommended set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link, in a case where the first information comprises the set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for the first link-, or a recommended set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for each of the multi- links, in a case where the first information comprises the set value of the TIM frame broadcast interval for each of the multi-links”; (Kim ¶ 0099 the TIM broadcast response frame includes feedback fields: status (accept/refusal/ignoring) ¶s 0099-0102 ; it may return new or recommended intervals in the response frame).
Regarding claim 11, claim 9 is incorporated as stated above. In addition, the combination of Dong and Kim further discloses “wherein the first information further comprises link ID information configured to identify each of the multi-links”; (see Kim table 2 and ¶ 0037; Dong teaches that the link ID included in the first message frame may be an ID of a link set (i.e., the Link set) or an ID of an individual link (i.e., the Link ID); Kim ¶ 0098.).
Regarding claim 12, Dong discloses “A communication method, performed by an access point device” (See Dong Figure 1); “supporting a-multi-link communication” (See Dong figure 1 and ¶ 0007; communication method is performed by an access point (AP) supporting a multi-link communication); the communication method comprises “receiving a first message frame in a first link among multi-links” (See Figure 2, element 220 and Figure 3 element 340; ¶ 0047, ¶ 0052; the first message frame is sent on the first), “wherein the first message frame comprises: first information on traffic indication map (TIM) frame link See Dong figure 2, and ¶ 0034; a first message frame is determined on a first link of the multiple links; also see Dong figure 3 and ¶ 0053,discloses the message include TIM periods (intervals) to enable the STA to determine the TBTT time points on the other links; also ¶ 0059, discloses first message frame includes a TIM element, and the time information); “the station supporting the multi-link communication and associated with the access point, and wherein the multi-links refers to multi-links established between the station and the access point”(See Dong figure 1 and ¶s 0029 - ¶ 0030; shows that the communication and the links are between AP and station; See Dong figure 1 and ¶s 0029 and ¶ 0051 shows that the communication and the links are between AP and station and clearly state that the AP and the STA may each be a device supporting the multi-link) and “and performing a communication operation based on the first message frame” (See Figure 2, element 220 and Figure 3 element 340; ¶ 0047, ¶ 0052; the first message frame is sent on the first link).
Dong does not appear to explicitly disclose “first information on traffic indication map (TIM) frame broadcast intervals and requested by the station”.
However, Kim discloses “first information on traffic indication map (TIM) frame broadcast intervals requested by the station” (See Kim figure 6 and ¶ 0094; The TIM broadcast interval field indicates a transmission interval of the TIM frame requested by the STA). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Dong and Kim before him or her, to modify the invention of Dong to include information including TIM broadcast intervals and links requested by the station. The suggestion for doing so would have been so the AP can respectively notify times when different TIM frames are respectively transmitted to STAs. Therefore, in a machine to machine (M2M) system in which an association identifier (AID) can duplicatedly granted to the STAs, the respective STAs can be prevented from being kept in awake state even without buffered traffic to the respective STAs themselves. As a result, in an M2M support WLAN system in which a low cost device is a main member, power efficiency can be improved (¶ 0021).
Claims 13 – 18, 20 and 22 are the method claims corresponding to the method claims 2 – 7, 9 and 11 that have been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claims 2 – 7, 9 and 11. Claims 13 – 18, 20 and 22 are rejected under the same rational as claims 2 – 7, 9 and 11.
Claim 25 is the electronic device claim corresponding to the method claim 1 that has been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claim 25 is rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Claim 26 is the electronic device claim corresponding to the method claim 12 that has been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claim 12. Claim 26 is rejected under the same rational as claim 12.
Conclusion
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/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475