DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
In response to amendment filed on 6/10/2026, claims 1- 20, 30 and 40 are cancelled, claims 21- 24, 26- 34 and 36- 29 and 31- 39 are amended. claims 21- 29 and 31- 39 are pending for examinations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) filed in the remarks on 6/10/20269 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant has amended independent claim; hence examiner believes that the scope has been changed, hence new reference Staccy et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0282229 A1) is incorporated.
Primary reference Patil teaches in [0006] regarding AP MLD generating a frame including a first element carrying discovery information for the first AP and the one or more virtual APs belonging to the first multiple BSSID set, and including a second element carrying discovery information for the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some implementations, the method may also include transmitting the frame on the first communication link; further refer to [0237] about the frame further may include an identifier (ID) field carrying a first identifier that uniquely identifies one or both of the AP MLD with which the first AP is associated or a respective secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs that is affiliated with the first AP MLD. …. In some instances, the first identifier may include one or more of a first link identifier that identifies the secondary AP affiliated with the first AP MLD, or a first MLD identifier that identifies the first AP MLD, and each identifier of the one or more second identifiers may include one or more of a second link identifier that identifies the secondary AP that is affiliated with the second AP MLD, or a second MLD identifier that identifies the second AP MLD; further see [0012]…. the frame may also include a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element carrying one or more neighbor AP information fields, each field of the one or more neighbor AP information fields carrying the unique link ID of a corresponding secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may further include an MLD common element or field carrying common attributes shared by each secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the AP MLD, and the RNR element may also include a control field indicating a presence or absence of one or more of the common attributes in the MLD common element or field (i.e. here MLD common element can be MMLD element); further see [0179] an MLD common element or field that indicates one or more common attributes shared by the one or more secondary APs (or their respective secondary communication links). The one or more common attributes indicated in the MLD common element may include at least one of an authentication scheme, an address of the AP MLD, or a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may also include a bitmap indicating a presence or absence of each of the one or more common attributes indicated in the MLD common element. For example, a first logic state of each bit in the bitmap may indicate the presence of a respective one of the authentication scheme, the address of the AP MLD, or the BSSID of the AP MLD in the MLD common element, and a second logic state of each bit in the bitmap may indicate an absence of the respective one of the authentication scheme, the address of the AP MLD, or the BSSID of the AP MLD from the MLD common element. In some other instances, an absence of a particular attribute in the MLD common element may indicate that the particular attribute of the corresponding secondary AP is the same as the particular attribute of the first AP (and therefore may be “inherited” from the first AP).
Here Patil teaches the broad discovery frame and link specific elements, but does not explicitly teach about AP MLD being singly identified by an identifier (i.e. means limitations AP MLD affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs and also MMLD element having ID of the MMLD).
However Staccy teaches in claim 1 regarding ML probe response frame is encoded to include a ML element and a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element (i.e. MMLD element ), the ML element including a MAC address of the AP MLD and information of the affiliated APs, the RNR element including a neighbor AP information field for each reported AP, the neighbor AP information field configurable to include a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field for each reported AP, wherein each of the TBTT information fields are encoded to include an AP TBTT offset subfield and a MLD parameters subfield, wherein the MLD parameters subfield includes an MLD ID subfield and a link ID subfield, the MLD ID subfield indicating an identifier of the AP MLD to which a reported AP is affiliated, and the link ID subfield indicating a link identifier of the reported AP to which the reported AP is affiliated, and wherein the MLD ID subfield is configurable to indicate whether any of the reported APs are not affiliated with the AP MLD; further see claims 5- 6 (in context with claims 1- 4) about herein the AP MLD is a logical entity comprising the plurality of the affiliated AP and having a common medium access control (MAC) service access point (SAP) to a logical link control (LLC) entity of the AP MLD; see claim 5 and further see claim 6 wherein the common MAC SAP (i.e. identifier) is associated with the MAC address that is included in the ML element to singly identify the AP MLD.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Staccy with the teachings of Patil to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein receiving information about AP MLD affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs and also MMLD element having ID of the MMLD; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
Claim(s) 21, 25, 26- 27, 29, 31, 35- 36 and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0014911 A1) in view of Staccy et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0282229 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Patil teaches a method performed by a station (STA) configured to perform multi-link operations by communicating on a plurality of links concurrently (see [0004].. the AP may communicate with one or more STAs over multiple concurrent communication links. Each of the communication links may be of various bandwidths …; further see [0095].. APs 102 and STAs 104 can support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (for example, multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (for example, multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102). To support the MU transmissions, the APs 102 and STAs 104 may utilize multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and multi-user orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MU-OFDMA) techniques; further see Fig. 1 in context with [0007] #102 as an AP MLD and #104 as a AP MLD ), the method comprising:
receiving, from an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), a frame comprising a multi-MLD (MMLD) element indicating that the AP MLD is affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs, wherein the MMLD element comprises a field indicating an identifier of the MMLD (Patil teaches in [0006] regarding AP MLD generating a frame including a first element carrying discovery information for the first AP and the one or more virtual APs belonging to the first multiple BSSID set, and including a second element carrying discovery information for the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some implementations, the method may also include transmitting the frame on the first communication link; further refer to [0237] about the frame further may include an identifier (ID) field carrying a first identifier that uniquely identifies one or both of the AP MLD with which the first AP is associated or a respective secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs that is affiliated with the first AP MLD. …. In some instances, the first identifier may include one or more of a first link identifier that identifies the secondary AP affiliated with the first AP MLD, or a first MLD identifier that identifies the first AP MLD, and each identifier of the one or more second identifiers may include one or more of a second link identifier that identifies the secondary AP that is affiliated with the second AP MLD, or a second MLD identifier that identifies the second AP MLD; further see [0012]…. the frame may also include a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element carrying one or more neighbor AP information fields, each field of the one or more neighbor AP information fields carrying the unique link ID of a corresponding secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may further include an MLD common element or field carrying common attributes shared by each secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the AP MLD, and the RNR element may also include a control field indicating a presence or absence of one or more of the common attributes in the MLD common element or field (i.e. here MLD common element can be MMLD element); further see [0179] an MLD common element or field that indicates one or more common attributes shared by the one or more secondary APs (or their respective secondary communication links). The one or more common attributes indicated in the MLD common element may include at least one of an authentication scheme, an address of the AP MLD, or a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may also include a bitmap indicating a presence or absence of each of the one or more common attributes indicated in the MLD common element. For example, a first logic state of each bit in the bitmap may indicate the presence of a respective one of the authentication scheme, the address of the AP MLD, or the BSSID of the AP MLD in the MLD common element, and a second logic state of each bit in the bitmap may indicate an absence of the respective one of the authentication scheme, the address of the AP MLD, or the BSSID of the AP MLD from the MLD common element. In some other instances, an absence of a particular attribute in the ML).
transmitting a message, wherein the message comprises an indication that the STA supports MMLD operations when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links (see [0113].. At block 704, the AP receives a ML association request (i.e. multi-link request) from a second wireless communication device (i.e. STA has a support for ML association; refer to [0095] discussed above regarding.. APs 102 and STAs 104 can support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (for example, multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (for example, multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102)) on the first communication link based at least in part on the discovery information…); and
receiving first information related to one or more of the plurality of AP MLDs for establishing communications on the plurality of links (see [0113].. At block 706, the AP transmits a second packet on the first communication link, the second packet including association information for at least the first communication link and the second communication link; further see [0071.. the AP MLD then transmits a second packet on the first communication link. The second packet includes association information for at least the first communication link and the second communication link. In some implementations, the AP MLD associates with the STA MLD based at least in part on the association information…).
Here Patil teaches the broad discovery frame and link specific elements, but does not explicitly teach about AP MLD being singly identified by an identifier (i.e. means limitations AP MLD affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs and also MMLD element having ID of the MMLD).
However Staccy teaches in claim 1 regarding ML probe response frame is encoded to include a ML element and a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element (i.e. MMLD element ), the ML element including a MAC address of the AP MLD and information of the affiliated APs, the RNR element including a neighbor AP information field for each reported AP, the neighbor AP information field configurable to include a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field for each reported AP, wherein each of the TBTT information fields are encoded to include an AP TBTT offset subfield and a MLD parameters subfield, wherein the MLD parameters subfield includes an MLD ID subfield and a link ID subfield, the MLD ID subfield indicating an identifier of the AP MLD to which a reported AP is affiliated, and the link ID subfield indicating a link identifier of the reported AP to which the reported AP is affiliated, and wherein the MLD ID subfield is configurable to indicate whether any of the reported APs are not affiliated with the AP MLD; further see claims 5- 6 (in context with claims 1- 4) about herein the AP MLD is a logical entity comprising the plurality of the affiliated AP and having a common medium access control (MAC) service access point (SAP) to a logical link control (LLC) entity of the AP MLD; see claim 5 and further see claim 6 wherein the common MAC SAP (i.e. identifier) is associated with the MAC address that is included in the ML element to singly identify the AP MLD.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Staccy with the teachings of Patil to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein receiving information about AP MLD affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs and also MMLD element having ID of the MMLD; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 25, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, wherein the frame is included in at least one of a beacon, a short beacon, a probe response, a fast initial link setup (FILS) discovery frame, or an association response frame; Patil see [0148].. the frame 1000 may be a beacon frame, a probe response frame, an association response frame, or some other appropriate frame.
Regarding claim 26, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, wherein Patil teaches:
the MMLD element comprises at least one of an element ID field, a length field, an element identifier (ID) field, and element ID extension field, a MMLD media access control (MAC) Address field, a partial reporting field, a number of reported MLDs field, or a MLD information field (Patil see [0179]… one of an authentication scheme, an address of the AP MLD, or a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the AP MLD. ..; already discussed above Staccy as well see claims 5- 6, MAC address).
Regarding claim 29, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, further Patil teaches about comprising transmitting the message to at least one of:
the AP MLD; or
one or more of the plurality of AP MLDs; already discussed above see [0113].. At block 704, the AP receives a ML association request (i.e. multi-link request) from a second wireless communication device (i.e. STA has a support for ML association; refer to [0095] discussed above regarding.. APs 102 and STAs 104 can support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (for example, multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (for example, multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102)) on the first communication link based at least in part on the discovery information….
Regarding claim 31, Patil teaches a station (STA) configured to perform multi-link operations by communicating on a plurality of links concurrently, the STA comprising: a transceiver; and a processor configured to (see [0004].. the AP may communicate with one or more STAs over multiple concurrent communication links. Each of the communication links may be of various bandwidths …; further see [0095].. APs 102 and STAs 104 can support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (for example, multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (for example, multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102). To support the MU transmissions, the APs 102 and STAs 104 may utilize multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and multi-user orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MU-OFDMA) techniques; further see Fig. 1 in context with [0007] #102 as an AP MLD and #104 as a AP MLD ):
receive, via the transceiver, from an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD), a frame comprising a multi-MLD (MMLD) element indicating that the AP MLD is affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs, wherein the MMLD element comprises a field indicating an identifier of the MMLD (Patil teaches in [0006] regarding AP MLD generating a frame including a first element carrying discovery information for the first AP and the one or more virtual APs belonging to the first multiple BSSID set, and including a second element carrying discovery information for the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some implementations, the method may also include transmitting the frame on the first communication link; further refer to [0237] about the frame further may include an identifier (ID) field carrying a first identifier that uniquely identifies one or both of the AP MLD with which the first AP is associated or a respective secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs that is affiliated with the first AP MLD. …. In some instances, the first identifier may include one or more of a first link identifier that identifies the secondary AP affiliated with the first AP MLD, or a first MLD identifier that identifies the first AP MLD, and each identifier of the one or more second identifiers may include one or more of a second link identifier that identifies the secondary AP that is affiliated with the second AP MLD, or a second MLD identifier that identifies the second AP MLD; further see [0012]…. the frame may also include a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element carrying one or more neighbor AP information fields, each field of the one or more neighbor AP information fields carrying the unique link ID of a corresponding secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the first AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may further include an MLD common element or field carrying common attributes shared by each secondary AP of the one or more secondary APs of the AP MLD, and the RNR element may also include a control field indicating a presence or absence of one or more of the common attributes in the MLD common element or field (i.e. here MLD common element can be MMLD element); further see [0179] an MLD common element or field that indicates one or more common attributes shared by the one or more secondary APs (or their respective secondary communication links). The one or more common attributes indicated in the MLD common element may include at least one of an authentication scheme, an address of the AP MLD, or a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the AP MLD. In some instances, the frame may also include a bitmap indicating a presence or absence of each of the one or more common attributes indicated in the MLD common element. For example, a first logic state of each bit in the bitmap may indicate the presence of a respective one of the authentication scheme, the address of the AP MLD, or the BSSID of the AP MLD in the MLD common element, and a second logic state of each bit in the bitmap may indicate an absence of the respective one of the authentication scheme, the address of the AP MLD, or the BSSID of the AP MLD from the MLD common element. In some other instances, an absence of a particular attribute in the ML).
transmitting a message, wherein the message comprises an indication that the STA supports MMLD operations when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links (see [0113].. At block 704, the AP receives a ML association request (i.e. multi-link request) from a second wireless communication device (i.e. STA has a support for ML association; refer to [0095] discussed above regarding.. APs 102 and STAs 104 can support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (for example, multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (for example, multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102)) on the first communication link based at least in part on the discovery information…); and
receiving first information related to one or more of the plurality of AP MLDs for establishing communications on the plurality of links (see [0113].. At block 706, the AP transmits a second packet on the first communication link, the second packet including association information for at least the first communication link and the second communication link; further see [0071.. the AP MLD then transmits a second packet on the first communication link. The second packet includes association information for at least the first communication link and the second communication link. In some implementations, the AP MLD associates with the STA MLD based at least in part on the association information…).
Here Patil teaches the broad discovery frame and link specific elements, but does not explicitly teach about AP MLD being singly identified by an identifier (i.e. means limitations AP MLD affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs and also MMLD element having ID of the MMLD).
However Staccy teaches in claim 1 regarding ML probe response frame is encoded to include a ML element and a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element (i.e. MMLD element ), the ML element including a MAC address of the AP MLD and information of the affiliated APs, the RNR element including a neighbor AP information field for each reported AP, the neighbor AP information field configurable to include a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field for each reported AP, wherein each of the TBTT information fields are encoded to include an AP TBTT offset subfield and a MLD parameters subfield, wherein the MLD parameters subfield includes an MLD ID subfield and a link ID subfield, the MLD ID subfield indicating an identifier of the AP MLD to which a reported AP is affiliated, and the link ID subfield indicating a link identifier of the reported AP to which the reported AP is affiliated, and wherein the MLD ID subfield is configurable to indicate whether any of the reported APs are not affiliated with the AP MLD; further see claims 5- 6 (in context with claims 1- 4) about herein the AP MLD is a logical entity comprising the plurality of the affiliated AP and having a common medium access control (MAC) service access point (SAP) to a logical link control (LLC) entity of the AP MLD; see claim 5 and further see claim 6 wherein the common MAC SAP (i.e. identifier) is associated with the MAC address that is included in the ML element to singly identify the AP MLD.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Staccy with the teachings of Patil to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein receiving information about AP MLD affiliated with MMLD comprising a plurality of AP MLDs and also MMLD element having ID of the MMLD; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 35, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31, wherein Patil teaches about the frame is included in at least one of a beacon, a short beacon, a probe response, a fast initial link setup (FILS) discovery frame, or an association response frame; see [0148].. the frame 1000 may be a beacon frame, a probe response frame, an association response frame, or some other appropriate frame.
Regarding claim 36, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31, wherein:
the MMLD element comprises at least one of an element ID field, a length field, an element identifier (ID) field, and element ID extension field, a MMLD media access control (MAC) Address field, a partial reporting field, a number of reported MLDs field, or a MLD information field (Patil see [0179]… one of an authentication scheme, an address of the AP MLD, or a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the AP MLD. ..; already discussed above Staccy as well see claims 5- 6, MAC address).
Regarding claim 39, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31,wherein Patil teaches about the processor is configured to transmit the message via the transceiver, to at least one of:
the AP MLD; or
one or more of the plurality of AP MLDs; already discussed above see [0113].. At block 704, the AP receives a ML association request (i.e. multi-link request) from a second wireless communication device (i.e. STA has a support for ML association; refer to [0095] discussed above regarding.. APs 102 and STAs 104 can support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (for example, multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from an AP 102 to corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (for example, multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from corresponding STAs 104 to an AP 102)) on the first communication link based at least in part on the discovery information….
Claim(s) 22 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0014911 A1) in view of Staccy et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0282229 A1) in view of Jiang et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0044333 A1).
Regarding claim 22, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, but Patil fails to state about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement coordinated beamforming when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; however Jiang states in [0019] regarding .. an access point (AP) configured for multi-AP coordinated beamforming (CBF) and multi-AP joint transmission (JT) in an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) wireless local area network (WLAN).. when the AP is operating as a first AP (AP1) in a multi-AP network, the AP1 is configured to: encode a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame for multi-AP channel sounding, the NDPA for transmission to a second AP (AP2) and a plurality of stations (STAs) of an EHT group. The NDPA may be encoded to have an information field indicating whether a sounding sequence type in the NDP1 and NDP2 is for JT channel sounding or CBF channel sounding… The NDP1 is to be transmitted concurrently…….; now refer to [0020].. the AP1 may decode a channel state information (CSI) report frame receive from each STA of the EHT group. Each CSI report frame may include channel state information determined by one of the STAs of the EHT group based on both the NDP1 and the NDP2. For the CBF channel sounding, the CSI reports may be determined by the STAs separately for the NDP1 and the NDP2 (i.e., the CSI reports represent the individual channel). For the JT channel sounding, the CSI reports may be determined by the STAs from a combined reception of the NDP1 and the NDP2 (i.e., the CSI reports represent the joint channel). In these embodiments, the channel sounding sequence for JT can be reused for the channel sounding on CBF. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Jiang with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more reliable. Having a mechanism wherein providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement coordinated beamforming when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; greater way more reliable communication be carried out by coordinated efforts in the communication system.
Regarding claim 32, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31, but Patil fails to state about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement coordinated beamforming when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; however Jiang states in [0019] regarding .. an access point (AP) configured for multi-AP coordinated beamforming (CBF) and multi-AP joint transmission (JT) in an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) wireless local area network (WLAN).. when the AP is operating as a first AP (AP1) in a multi-AP network, the AP1 is configured to: encode a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame for multi-AP channel sounding, the NDPA for transmission to a second AP (AP2) and a plurality of stations (STAs) of an EHT group. The NDPA may be encoded to have an information field indicating whether a sounding sequence type in the NDP1 and NDP2 is for JT channel sounding or CBF channel sounding… The NDP1 is to be transmitted concurrently…….; now refer to [0020].. the AP1 may decode a channel state information (CSI) report frame receive from each STA of the EHT group. Each CSI report frame may include channel state information determined by one of the STAs of the EHT group based on both the NDP1 and the NDP2. For the CBF channel sounding, the CSI reports may be determined by the STAs separately for the NDP1 and the NDP2 (i.e., the CSI reports represent the individual channel). For the JT channel sounding, the CSI reports may be determined by the STAs from a combined reception of the NDP1 and the NDP2 (i.e., the CSI reports represent the joint channel). In these embodiments, the channel sounding sequence for JT can be reused for the channel sounding on CBF. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Jiang with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more reliable. Having a mechanism wherein providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement coordinated beamforming when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; greater way more reliable communication be carried out by coordinated efforts in the communication system.
Claim(s) 23 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0014911 A1) in view of Staccy et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0282229 A1) in view of Park et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0164700 A1).
Regarding claim 23, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, but Patil fails to state about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement interference reduction when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; however Park teaches in [0004] regarding method performed by a sharing access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system according to various embodiments may include a technical feature for performing multi-AP transmission (i.e. see [0257] … Multi-AP (MAP) transmission may include joint transmission and coordinated transmission. Joint transmission is a method in which a plurality of APs simultaneously transmits one piece of data to a STA using antennas thereof…). The sharing AP may transmit a first measurement announcement frame for requesting measurement of a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to a first station (STA). The sharing AP may transmit a first measurement request frame for requesting a first path loss value, which is path loss information of an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) AP and the first STA, and an acceptable receiver interference level (ARIL) value to the first STA. The sharing AP may receive a first measurement report frame including the first path loss and a first ARIL value of the first STA from the first STA. The sharing AP may transmit first data to the first STA.; now refer to [0005]… a sharing AP and a shard AP may transmit data to different STAs by using the same time-frequency resource through spatial reuse. Here, to reduce interference, the sharing AP may obtain path loss information and ARIL information from the STAs, and may determine power of transmission data based on the path loss information and the ARIL information, thereby reducing interference between signals. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Park with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more reliable. Having a mechanism about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement interference reduction when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; greater way more reliable communication be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 33, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31, but Patil fails to state about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement interference reduction when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; however Park teaches in [0004] regarding method performed by a sharing access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system according to various embodiments may include a technical feature for performing multi-AP transmission (i.e. see [0257] … Multi-AP (MAP) transmission may include joint transmission and coordinated transmission. Joint transmission is a method in which a plurality of APs simultaneously transmits one piece of data to a STA using antennas thereof…). The sharing AP may transmit a first measurement announcement frame for requesting measurement of a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to a first station (STA). The sharing AP may transmit a first measurement request frame for requesting a first path loss value, which is path loss information of an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) AP and the first STA, and an acceptable receiver interference level (ARIL) value to the first STA. The sharing AP may receive a first measurement report frame including the first path loss and a first ARIL value of the first STA from the first STA. The sharing AP may transmit first data to the first STA.; now refer to [0005]… a sharing AP and a shard AP may transmit data to different STAs by using the same time-frequency resource through spatial reuse. Here, to reduce interference, the sharing AP may obtain path loss information and ARIL information from the STAs, and may determine power of transmission data based on the path loss information and the ARIL information, thereby reducing interference between signals. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Park with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more reliable. Having a mechanism about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement interference reduction when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; greater way more reliable communication be carried out in the communication system.
Claim(s) 24 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0014911 A1) in view of Staccy et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0282229 A1) and further in view of Fang et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0104554 A1).
Regarding claim 24, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, but Patil fails to state about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement spatial efficiency when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; however Fang teaches in [0050] regarding …example of FIG. 9, non-AP MLD 950 associated with AP MLD1 is in the coverage area of 5 GHz BSS 920 and 2.4 GHz BSS, which overlaps with BSS-5 GHz-2 and BSS-2.4 GHz-2 of AP MLD2. Non-AP MLD 950 can measure the path loss of a beacon received frame from neighbor APs, such as 5 GHz BSS 940 affiliated with AP MLD2 930, and can report transmission information to AP MLD1 905. AP MLD1 905 and AP MLD2 930 can perform Coordinated Spatial Reuse (C-SR) transmission on the 5 GHz channel…. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Park with the teachings of Patil to make system more effective. Having a mechanism about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement spatial efficiency when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 34, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31, but Patil fails to state about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement spatial efficiency when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; however Fang teaches in [0050] regarding …example of FIG. 9, non-AP MLD 950 associated with AP MLD1 is in the coverage area of 5 GHz BSS 920 and 2.4 GHz BSS, which overlaps with BSS-5 GHz-2 and BSS-2.4 GHz-2 of AP MLD2. Non-AP MLD 950 can measure the path loss of a beacon received frame from neighbor APs, such as 5 GHz BSS 940 affiliated with AP MLD2 930, and can report transmission information to AP MLD1 905. AP MLD1 905 and AP MLD2 930 can perform Coordinated Spatial Reuse (C-SR) transmission on the 5 GHz channel…. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Park with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more effective. Having a mechanism about providing second information to the AP MLD and wherein the second information is configured to implement spatial efficiency when concurrently communicating on the plurality of links; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim(s) 27- 28 and 37- 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0014911 A1) in view of Staccy et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0282229 A1) and further in view of Shafin et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0303907 A1).
Regarding claim 27, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 21, but Patil fails to teach about providing a transmit wake time (TWT) request message to establish a TWT agreement; and receiving a TWT response message comprising an indication that the TWT agreement is accepted; however Shafin states in context with [0078] teaches in [0007] regarding … The WI-FI devices that support MLO are referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs). With MLO, it is possible for a non-AP MLD to discover, authenticate, associate, and set up multiple links with an AP MLD. Channel access and frame exchange is possible on each link that is set up between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD; now refer to [0069].. present disclosure recognize that a STA affiliated with an MLD may negotiate individual TWT agreements with another STA affiliated with another MLD, and in doing so, may indicate multiple links for negotiation. If multiple links are indicated in one TWT element, then multiple TWT agreements are requested with the same TWT parameters—one for each of the STAs that are operating on the indicated links; further refer to [0164] regarding…. For broadcast TWT operation between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, an MLO Enabled bit 2302 may be present in the Control field of the Broadcast TWT element that is sent over the negotiating link either from the AP MLD (Accept TWT, Alternate TWT, or Dictate TWT) or from the non-AP MLD (Request TWT, Suggest TWT, or Demand TWT), and can be used to indicate that broadcast TWT schedules corresponding to all Broadcast TWT Parameter Sets present in that Broadcast TWT element are applicable to the enabled links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Shafin with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein providing a transmit wake time (TWT) request message to establish a TWT agreement; and receiving a TWT response message comprising an indication that the TWT agreement is accepted; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 28, Patil in view of Staccy and Shafin teaches as per claim 27, comprising communicating on the plurality of links in accordance with the TWT agreement; Shafin already discussed above see [0007] regarding … The WI-FI devices that support MLO are referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs). With MLO, it is possible for a non-AP MLD to discover, authenticate, associate, and set up multiple links with an AP MLD. Channel access and frame exchange is possible on each link that is set up between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD; now refer to [0069].. present disclosure recognize that a STA affiliated with an MLD may negotiate individual TWT agreements with another STA affiliated with another MLD, and in doing so, may indicate multiple links for negotiation. If multiple links are indicated in one TWT element, then multiple TWT agreements are requested with the same TWT parameters—one for each of the STAs that are operating on the indicated links.
Regarding claim 37, Patil in view of Staccy teaches as per claim 31, but Patil fails to teach about provide, via the transceiver, a transmit wake time (TWT) request message to establish a TWT agreement; and receive, via the transceiver, a TWT response message comprising an indication that the TWT agreement is accepted; however Shafin states in context with [0078] teaches in [0007] regarding … The WI-FI devices that support MLO are referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs). With MLO, it is possible for a non-AP MLD to discover, authenticate, associate, and set up multiple links with an AP MLD. Channel access and frame exchange is possible on each link that is set up between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD; now refer to [0069].. present disclosure recognize that a STA affiliated with an MLD may negotiate individual TWT agreements with another STA affiliated with another MLD, and in doing so, may indicate multiple links for negotiation. If multiple links are indicated in one TWT element, then multiple TWT agreements are requested with the same TWT parameters—one for each of the STAs that are operating on the indicated links; further refer to [0164] regarding…. For broadcast TWT operation between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, an MLO Enabled bit 2302 may be present in the Control field of the Broadcast TWT element that is sent over the negotiating link either from the AP MLD (Accept TWT, Alternate TWT, or Dictate TWT) or from the non-AP MLD (Request TWT, Suggest TWT, or Demand TWT), and can be used to indicate that broadcast TWT schedules corresponding to all Broadcast TWT Parameter Sets present in that Broadcast TWT element are applicable to the enabled links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Shafin with the teachings of Patil in view of Staccy to make system more effective. Having a mechanism to provide, via the transceiver, a transmit wake time (TWT) request message to establish a TWT agreement; and receive, via the transceiver, a TWT response message comprising an indication that the TWT agreement is accepted; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 38, Patil in view of Staccy and Shafin teaches as per claim 37, wherein the processor is configured to communicate on the plurality of links in accordance with the TWT agreement; Shafin already discussed above see [0007] regarding … The WI-FI devices that support MLO are referred to as multi-link devices (MLDs). With MLO, it is possible for a non-AP MLD to discover, authenticate, associate, and set up multiple links with an AP MLD. Channel access and frame exchange is possible on each link that is set up between the AP MLD and non-AP MLD; now refer to [0069].. present disclosure recognize that a STA affiliated with an MLD may negotiate individual TWT agreements with another STA affiliated with another MLD, and in doing so, may indicate multiple links for negotiation. If multiple links are indicated in one TWT element, then multiple TWT agreements are requested with the same TWT parameters—one for each of the STAs that are operating on the indicated links.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 form for considered prior arts for record.
Reference Chu et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0212150 A1) states regarding .. a method and an apparatus for multi-link operations are disclosed. The method involves at a multi-link device (MLD) that supports a first link, link1, and a second link, link2, announcing at least one of a capability, Basic Service Set (BSS) operating parameter, and operating mode of an AP affiliated with an AP MLD in a reported link, and at least one of a capability, Basic Service Set (BSS) operating parameter, and operating mode of an AP affiliated with an AP MLD in a reporting link via a management frame on the reporting link...; see abstract.
Reference Cariou et al. (US Pub. No.2021/0112490 A1) teaches in [abstract] regarding access point (AP) station (STA) (AP STA) that is part of an AP multi-link device (MLD) may be configured as a reporting AP may encode a BSS Transition Management (BTM) request frame for transmission to one or more associated non-AP stations (STAs). The BTM request frame may include a neighbor report element encoded to include information about one or more neighbor APs. The neighbor report element may indicate whether the one or more neighbor APs identified in the neighbor report element are part of an AP MLD and, when a neighbor AP is indicated to be part of an AP MLD whether the reporting AP is part of the indicated AP MLD. The AP STA may decode a reassociation frame from one of the non-AP STAs for transition from one of the AP STAs of the AP MLD to one of the neighbor APs..
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
/PARTH PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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