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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement(s) submitted on February 26, 2024 and April 9, 2025 have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Specification
4. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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
5. 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.
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 of this title, 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.
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.
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 17-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katla et al. (“Sensing-specific feedback using NDPA and trigger frames”, September 2021)(This reference is cited in the IDS filed on 02/26/2024) in view of Luo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2024/0187905 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Katla et al. teach a method performed by a first station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system (read as Sensing responder (Slide 5)), the method comprising:
receiving, from a second STA (Sensing initiator (Slide 5)), measurement session establishment information related to a STA group including the first STA (read as “Sensing initiator (Tx/processor) sends NDPA as well as trigger frame to all STAs identified as sensing responders (Rx)”(Slide 5));
in a first measurement exchange among the plurality of measurement exchanges, transmitting or receiving a first sensing signal to or from at least one another STA (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)) in the STA group (read as “Sensing Rxs send measurement report to sensing initiator/processor that processes all received measurements”(Slide 5)); and
in a second measurement exchange among the plurality of measurement exchanges, receiving or transmitting a second sensing signal from or to at least one another STA (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)) in the STA group. (read as “Sensing Rxs send measurement report to sensing initiator/processor that processes all received measurements”(Slide 5))
However, Katla et al. fail to explicitly teach measurement session establishment information including one measurement session identification information related to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA;
Luo et al. teach a method wherein measurement session establishment information including one measurement session identification information related to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA (read as formatting a frame (e.g.: trigger) comprising Measurement Setup ID (Fig(s).6, 8, 12, 20-21, and 23-24));
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for formatting a frame (e.g.: trigger) with a Measurement Setup ID as taught by Luo et al. with the Sensing initiator sending a trigger frame to a Sensing responder as taught by Katla et al. for the purpose of improving WLAN sensing measurements by devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 27, Katla et al. teach a first station (STA) device in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system (read as Sensing responder (Rx) (Slide 5)),
receive, from a second STA (Sensing initiator (Slide 5)), measurement session establishment information related to a STA group including the first STA (read as “Sensing initiator (Tx/processor) sends NDPA as well as trigger frame to all STAs identified as sensing responders (Rx)”(Slide 5));
in a first measurement exchange among the plurality of measurement exchanges, transmitting or receiving a first sensing signal to or from at least one another STA (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)) in the STA group (read as “Sensing Rxs send measurement report to sensing initiator/processor that processes all received measurements”(Slide 5)); and
in a second measurement exchange among the plurality of measurement exchanges, receiving or transmitting a second sensing signal from or to at least one another STA (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)) in the STA group. (read as “Sensing Rxs send measurement report to sensing initiator/processor that processes all received measurements”(Slide 5))
However, Katla et al. fail to explicitly teach the STA device comprising:
at least one transceiver; and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one transceiver,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
receive, at least one transceiver, from a second STA, measurement session establishment information including one measurement session identification information related to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA.
Luo et al. teach the STA device (Fig(s).1 @ 120 and 33 @ 700) comprising:
at least one transceiver (Fig.7 @ 730); and
at least one processor (Fig.7 @ 710) coupled with the at least one transceiver (Fig.7 @ 730),
wherein the at least one processor (Fig.7 @ 710) is configured to:
receive, at least one transceiver (Fig.7 @ 730), from a second STA (Fig.1 @ 110), measurement session establishment information including one measurement session identification information related to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA. (read as formatting a frame (e.g.: trigger) comprising Measurement Setup ID (Fig(s).6, 8, 12, 20-21, and 23-24))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the computer hardware architecture for a plurality of devices in a communication system and the function for formatting a frame (e.g.: trigger) with a Measurement Setup ID as taught by Luo et al. with the Sensing initiator sending a trigger frame to a Sensing responder as taught by Katla et al. for the purpose of improving WLAN sensing measurements by devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 28, Katla et al. teach a second station (STA) device for performing a sensing procedure in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system (read as Sensing responder (Rx) (Slide 5)), the device comprising:
transmit measurement session establishment information to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA (read as “Sensing initiator (Tx/processor) sends NDPA as well as trigger frame to all STAs identified as sensing responders (Rx)”(Slide 5));
in a first measurement exchange among the plurality of measurement exchanges, transmitting or receiving, through the at least one transceiver, a first sensing signal to or from at least one STA including the first STA (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)) in the STA group. (read as “Sensing Rxs send measurement report to sensing initiator/processor that processes all received measurements”(Slide 5)); and
in a second measurement exchange among the plurality of measurement exchanges, receiving or transmitting, through the at least one transceiver, a second sensing signal from or to at least one STA including the first STA (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)) in the STA group. (read as “Sensing Rxs send measurement report to sensing initiator/processor that processes all received measurements”(Slide 5)).
However, Katla et al. fail to explicitly teach the device comprising:
at least one transceiver; and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one transceiver,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
transmit, at least one transceiver, from a second STA, measurement session establishment information including one measurement session identification information related to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA.
Luo et al. teach the device (Fig.1 @ 110 and 33 @ 700) comprising:
at least one transceiver (Fig.7 @ 730); and
at least one processor (Fig.7 @ 710) coupled with the at least one transceiver (Fig.7 @ 730),
wherein the at least one processor (Fig.7 @ 710) is configured to:
transmit, at least one transceiver (Fig.7 @ 730), from a second STA (Fig.1 @ 120), measurement session establishment information including one measurement session identification information related to a plurality of measurement exchanges for a STA group including the first STA. (read as a formatting a frame (e.g.: trigger) comprising Measurement Setup ID (Fig(s).6, 8, 12, 20-21, and 23-24));
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the computer hardware architecture for a plurality of devices in a communication system and the function for formatting a frame (e.g.: trigger) with a Measurement Setup ID as taught by Luo et al. with the Sensing initiator sending a trigger frame to a Sensing responder as taught by Katla et al. for the purpose of improving WLAN sensing measurements by devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 18, and as applied to claim 17 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) wherein:
each of the first measurement exchange and the second measurement exchange includes at least one of
a trigger frame (TF) sounding phase (read as trigger frame (Slide 5); For example, the generation of the trigger may incorporate a “basic trigger-based sounding procedure in 802.11ax/be”.(Slide 5)) or
a null data packet announcement (NDPA) sounding phase (read as NDPA (Slide 5)),
the TF sounding phase includes a sensing signal transmission from the first STA responding to a trigger frame from the second STA,
the NDPA sounding phase includes a sensing signal reception of the first STA following a NDPA frame from the second STA.
Regarding claim 19, and as applied to claim 18 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) wherein:
the each of the first measurement exchange and the second measurement exchange includes the trigger frame (TF) sounding phase. (read as Trigger frame (Slide 5))
Regarding claim 20, and as applied to claim 18 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) wherein:
the each of the first measurement exchange and the second measurement exchange includes the null data packet announcement (NDPA) sounding phase. (read as NDPA (Slide 5))
Regarding claim 21, and as applied to claim 18 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) clearly shows and discloses a method wherein:
the first measurement exchange includes the TF sounding phase (read as Trigger frame (Slide 5)), and the second measurement exchange includes the NDPA sounding phase. (read as NPDA (Slide 5))
Regarding claim 22, and as applied to claim 18 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) clearly shows and discloses a method wherein:
the first measurement exchange includes the NDPA sounding phase (read as NPDA (Slide 5)), and the second measurement exchange includes the TF sounding phase. (read as Trigger frame (Slide 5))
Regarding claim 23, and as applied to claim 17 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) clearly shows and discloses a method wherein:
the measurement session setup establishment information includes role indication information of the first STA corresponding to the plurality of measurement exchange (read as sensing-specific information (Slide 9)),
the role indication information indicates that the first STA performs
a sensing transmitter role (read as “The NDPA frame may also indicate the sensing feedback information that sensing responder (Rx) has to respond with”(Slide 9)), or
a sensing receiver role, or
both of the sensing transmitter role and the sensing receiver role.
Regarding claim 24, and as applied to claim 17 above, Katla et al. teach devices executing a method for requesting and receiving sensing-specific feedback using NDPA and trigger frames (Slide 5)
However, Katla et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein:
a measurement reporting including a measurement result based on at least one of
a first sensing signal or
a second sensing signal
received from at least one another STA is performed.
Luo et al. teach a method wherein:
a measurement reporting including a measurement result (Fig(s).23-25) based on at least one of
a first sensing signal (Fig(s).23-25) or
a second sensing signal (Fig(s).23-25)
received from at least one another STA is performed. (Fig(s).23-25)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for formatting a frame (e.g.: sensing report trigger frame ) with a Measurement Setup ID as taught by Luo et al. with the Sensing initiator sending a trigger frame to a Sensing responder as taught by Katla et al. for the purpose of improving WLAN sensing measurements by devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 25, and as applied to claim 24 above, Katla et al. teach devices executing a method for requesting and receiving sensing-specific feedback using NDPA and trigger frames (Slide 5)
However, Katla et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein:
the measurement reporting is performed based on a reporting trigger frame, a measurement reporting of the first STA is included in a first resource unit allocated by the reporting trigger frame, and a measurement reporting of another STA is included in a second resource unit allocated by the reporting trigger frame.
Luo et al. teach a method wherein:
the measurement reporting is performed based on a reporting trigger frame, a measurement reporting of the first STA is included in a first resource unit allocated by the reporting trigger frame, and a measurement reporting of another STA is included in a second resource unit allocated by the reporting trigger frame. (Fig(s).23-25)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for formatting a frame (e.g.: sensing report trigger frame ) with a Measurement Setup ID as taught by Luo et al. with the Sensing initiator sending a trigger frame to a Sensing responder as taught by Katla et al. for the purpose of improving WLAN sensing measurements by devices in a communication network.
Regarding claim 26, and as applied to claim 17 above, Katla et al., as modified by Luo et al., teach a method (Slide 5) wherein:
the first STA is a sensing responder (read as Sensing Rx (Slide 5)), the second STA is a sensing initiator (read as Sensing Initiator (Slide 5)).
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure:
Dong (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2024/0349093 A1) teaches “A WLAN sensing session initiated by the initiator may include one or more of the following phases: a setup phase, a measurement phase, a reporting phase, and a termination phase.”(Paragraph [0029])
Lopez et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0318721 A1) teach “the measurements used for WLAN sensing are performed by the same STA that supports sensing, while in other cases other STAs send feedback comprising the measurement reports to the STA that supports sensing.”(Paragraph [0007])
Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Any inquiry concerning this communication or early communications from the Examiner should be directed to Salvador E. Rivas whose telephone number is (571) 270-1784. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:00AM to 3:30PM.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Un C. Cho can be reached on (571) 272- 7919. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/SALVADOR E RIVAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
February 4, 2026