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 .
Response to Amendment
This communication is considered fully responsive to the Arguments/Remarks filed on 6/1/2026.
Claims 1, 3, 7, 8, , 9, 11, 15, 16, 19 and 22 have been amended.
Claims 2, 10 and 21 have been cancelled.
Claims 7, 8, 15 and 16 rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn as they have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/1/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant, in its Remarks in pages 9-11 that for claims 1, 9, 19, argued that “As shown in FIG. 2 of Huang, the status code field is an independent field isolated from the multi-link element field, that is, the status code is not contained in the multi-link element. Moreover, the transmitted link is link 1, and the non-transmitted link is link 2 and link 3. The status code for the transmitted link 1 is an independent field isolated from the multi-link element. The status codes for the non-transmitted links 2 and 3 are contained in the multi-link element. See Huang FIG. 10. Therefore, according to Huang, the status codes of not all the links are contained in the multi-link element, and it is required to set an independent field for the status code of the link 1…. Therefore, Huang fails to disclose or suggest "wherein the first message frame comprises a multi-link element, and the one or more status codes are comprised in the multi-link element" as recited in amended claim 1”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Huang clearly discloses that the status code field of each non-transmitted link may be located in MLD-level info in the multi-link element as seen in Fig. 10 and par. 0227. Here, whether the link is non-transmitted or transmitted link is not relevant. The claim does not specify that it has to be a transmitted link. Applicant’s Specification also refers to this same feature in par. 0056-0057 where it states “[0056] However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a status code of the first link sending the first message frame may be located in different positions from status codes of other links. [0057] For example, the status code of the first link sending the first message frame may be located in a frame body of the first message frame, while status codes of other links may be located in a per-sta profile subelement as shown in Tables 1 to 3”. This same embodiment is shown in Huang par. 0227-0228 where it states “the status code field of each non-transmitted link may be located in the per link profile info field in the multi-link element. For example, it is assumed that the STA MLD requests to establish three links, which are separately a link 1, a link 2, and a link 3. The link 1 is a transmitted link, and the link 2 and the link 3 are non-transmitted links. As shown in FIG. 11, a status code field of the link 1 is directly carried in a multi-link association response frame in a form of an independent field, and a status code field of the link 2 and a status code field of the link 3 are separately located in respective link configuration information in a multi-link element”. Therefore, examiner maintains the previous rejections on all amended claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 9, 11 and 19, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (US 2023/0021262, hereinafter “Huang”) in view of Kim et al. (US 2023/0217271, hereinafter “Kim”).
For claims 1 and 19, Huang discloses A multi-link communication method, performed by an access point (AP) supporting multi-link communication (When the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 is configured to perform the AP MLD the method performed by in the method embodiment described in FIG. 4; see Huang par. 0286, Figs. 19, 4), comprising:
determining a first message frame (the processing unit 102 is configured to determine a multi-link association response frame; see Huang par. 0286-0288 and Fig. 19, Fig. 4, 0247 and Fig. 13) in a first link among multi-links, wherein the first message frame comprises one or more status codes corresponding respectively to at least one link (As shown in FIG. 10, a status code field of the link 1 is directly carried in a multi-link association response frame in a form of an independent field, and a status code field of the link 2 and a status code field of the link 3 are located in MLD-level info of a multi-link element; see Huang par. 0227 and Fig. 10); and
sending the first message frame (S403: The AP MLD sends a reassociation response frame; see Huang par. 0246 and Fig. 13; the communication unit 101 is further configured to send the multi-link association response frame; see Huang par. 0289),
wherein the first message frame comprises a multi-link element, wherein the status code is comprised in the multi-link element (the status code field of each non-transmitted link may be located in MLD-level info in the multi-link element. For example, it is assumed that the STA MLD requests to establish three links, which are separately a link 1, a link 2, and a link 3. The link 1 is a transmitted link, and the link 2 and the link 3 are non-transmitted links. As shown in FIG. 10, a status code field of the link 1 is directly carried in a multi-link association response frame in a form of an independent field, and a status code field of the link 2 and a status code field of the link 3 are located in MLD-level info of a multi-link element. In another implementation, the status code field of each non-transmitted link may be located in the per link profile info field in the multi-link element…; see Huang 0227-0228 and Fig. 10).
Huang does not explicitly disclose the status code indicates a status acknowledgement of a received setup request for at least one link; and. Kim discloses each status code indicating a status acknowledgement of a received setup request for a respective link (STA 2 may transmit STA information (e.g. STA ID, etc.) and Link information to be changed (e.g. Link ID or AP BSS information, etc.) in the Link switching request frame. Upon receiving this, the AP MLD may transmit a Link switching response frame of "acknowledgment" to STA 3 through the existing Link 2 when accepting the change. Thereafter, STA 2 of the non-AP MLD may reconnect to AP 3 after performing a Link (re) setup process; see Kim par. 0351). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Kim's arrangement in Huang's invention to acquire changed critical update information for another AP by transmitting a probe request frame thereafter without transitioning to the awake state immediately, therefore, there is an effect that PS efficiency can be increased (see Kim par. 0014).
Specifically for claim 19, Huang discloses An electronic apparatus, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing a computer program executable by the processor,
wherein the processor is configured to (A communication apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 19 may include a communication unit 101 and a processing unit 102. The processing unit 102 is configured to process data. The communication unit 101 is integrated with a receiving unit and a sending unit. The communication unit 101 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit. Alternatively, the communication unit 101 may be split into a receiving unit and a sending unit; see Huang par. 0280 and Fig. 19).
For claims 3, 11 and 22, Huang does not explicitly disclose The communication method according to claim 2, wherein the multi-link element comprises a per-station profile sub-information element (per-sta profile subelement) corresponding to each of the at least one link, wherein the status code is comprised in the per-sta profile subelement. Kim discloses The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the multi-link element comprises a per-station profile sub-information element (per-sta profile subelement) corresponding to each of the at least one link, wherein the status code is comprised in the per-sta profile subelement (In 802.llbe, an ML Multi-Link Information Element (IE) is defined as shown in FIG. 39 to define information for each link. Elements or fields can be added later depending on the proposed function. In the Per-STA Profile (x) sub-element, various information about the link can be included. The corresponding sub-element includes the corresponding link ID and the contents of the information range included in the corresponding sub-element through the Per- STA control field, and then lists information (Element) corresponding to the information requested by the STA. At this time, if there is non-inheritance information, information may be included using a non-inheritance element. The Complete Profile in the Per-STA Control sub-element is a field that distinguishes whether the included information is complete information or partial information of the link; see Kim par. 0452 and Fig. 39). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Kim's arrangement in Huang's invention to acquire changed critical update information for another AP by transmitting a probe request frame thereafter without transitioning to the awake state immediately, therefore, there is an effect that PS efficiency can be increased (see Kim par. 0014).
For claim 9, Huang discloses A multi-link communication method, performed by a non- access point (non-AP) supporting multi-link communication (When the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 19 is configured to perform the STA MLD the method performed by in the method embodiment described in FIG. 6; see Huang par. 0292 and Figs. 19 and 6), comprising:
receiving a first message frame in a first link among multi-links (the communication unit 101 is further configured to receive a multi-link association response frame; see Huang par. 0295 and Figs. 19 and 6), wherein the first message frame comprises one or more status codes corresponding respectively to at least one link (As shown in FIG. 10, a status code field of the link 1 is directly carried in a multi-link association response frame in a form of an independent field, and a status code field of the link 2 and a status code field of the link 3 are located in MLD-level info of a multi-link element; see Huang par. 0227 and Fig. 10), and;
performing a communication operation based on the first message frame (As shown in FIG. 2, the STA MLD performs the multi-link establishment operation, to establish the plurality of links, for example, the link 1, the link 2, and the link 3, to the AP MLD. The multi-link establishment operation may also be referred to as a multi-link association operation; see Huang par. 0128; The multi-link association request frame in this application is an association request frame that carries a multi-link element. Optionally, the multi-link association request frame may also be referred to as a multi-link establishment request frame, an association request frame, or an establishment request frame. The multi-link association response frame in this application is an association response frame that carries a multi-link element; see Huang par. 0133),
wherein the first message frame comprises a multi-link element, wherein the status code is comprised in the multi-link element (the status code field of each non-transmitted link may be located in MLD-level info in the multi-link element. For example, it is assumed that the STA MLD requests to establish three links, which are separately a link 1, a link 2, and a link 3. The link 1 is a transmitted link, and the link 2 and the link 3 are non-transmitted links. As shown in FIG. 10, a status code field of the link 1 is directly carried in a multi-link association response frame in a form of an independent field, and a status code field of the link 2 and a status code field of the link 3 are located in MLD-level info of a multi-link element. In another implementation, the status code field of each non-transmitted link may be located in the per link profile info field in the multi-link element…; see Huang 0227-0228 and Fig. 10).
Huang does not explicitly disclose the status code indicates a status acknowledgement of a received setup request for at least one link; and. Kim discloses each status code indicating a status acknowledgement of a received setup request for a respective link (STA 2 may transmit STA information (e.g. STA ID, etc.) and Link information to be changed (e.g. Link ID or AP BSS information, etc.) in the Link switching request frame. Upon receiving this, the AP MLD may transmit a Link switching response frame of "acknowledgment" to STA 3 through the existing Link 2 when accepting the change. Thereafter, STA 2 of the non-AP MLD may reconnect to AP 3 after performing a Link (re) setup process; see Kim par. 0351). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Kim's arrangement in Huang's invention to acquire changed critical update information for another AP by transmitting a probe request frame thereafter without transitioning to the awake state immediately, therefore, there is an effect that PS efficiency can be increased (see Kim par. 0014).
For claim 20, Huang discloses A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method according to claim 1 (This application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer readable storage medium is executed by a computer, a function of any one of the foregoing method embodiments is implemented; see Huang par. 0377, see also claim 24 in pages 26-27 for “a non-transitory” feature).
Claim(s) 4-7 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang and Kim, and further in view of Jang et al. (EP 4319456 A1, hereinafter “Jang”).
For claims 4 and 12, the combination of Huang and Kim does not explicitly disclose The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the per-sta profile subelement comprises a station (STA) Info field, wherein the status code is comprised in the STA Info field. Jang discloses The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the per-sta profile subelement comprises a station (STA) Info field (FIG. 15 shows the structure of the Link Info field of Multi-link Element. Referring to FIG. 15, the Link Info field includes a Per-STAProfile subfield when the optional subelement ID is 0, and includes a Vendor Specific subfield when the optional subelement ID is 221; see Jang par. 0154-0155), wherein the status code is comprised in the STA Info field (There may be several multi-link setup cases such as: 1) In case AP MLD does not accept T link but accepts one or more NT links. According to the existing baseline, in this case, Association Response will indicate the reason for T link rejection in Status code. Therefore, ML setup is not performed. However, only NT link can be accepted for flexible ML setup; see Jang par. 0159-0160; The status code indicates the same as before by putting the reason for refusal of T link. An indicator indicating that one or more NT links are accepted is signaled in the Multi-link Control field or Common Info field of the ML IE transmitted in the Association Response frame. (e.g., Accepted APs Present (1 bit)); see Jang par. 0164). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Huang's invention to allow an effect that multi-link configuration can be efficiently improved through the status code without additional overhead (see Jang par. 0016).
For claims 5 and 13, the combination of Huang and Kim does not explicitly disclose The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the per-sta profile subelement comprises a STA Control field, wherein the STA Control field comprises a bit identifying a presence of the status code in the STA Info field. Jang discloses The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the per-sta profile subelement comprises a STA Control field, wherein the STA Control field comprises a bit identifying a presence of the status code in the STA Info field (FIG. 16 is a case where the AP MLD does not accept for link 1 based on the example of FIG. 13. In this case, as in 1-1 ), link 1 is rejected through a new status code, and only Link 2, which includes the Per-STA Profile, is accepted. 1-2) Add an indicator to ML IE that means status code for 1-1) The status code indicates the same as before by putting the reason for refusal of T link. An indicator indicating that one or more NT links are accepted is signaled in the Multi-link Control field or Common Info field of the ML IE transmitted in the Association Response frame. (e.g., Accepted APs Present (1 bit); see Jang par. 0163-0164). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Huang's invention to allow an effect that multi-link configuration can be efficiently improved through the status code without additional overhead (see Jang par. 0016).
For claims 6 and 14, the combination of Huang and Kim does not explicitly disclose The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the per-sta profile subelement comprises a STA Profile field, wherein the status code is comprised in the STA Profile field. Jang discloses The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the per-sta profile subelement comprises a STA Profile field, wherein the status code is comprised in the STA Profile field (The first association response frame includes a first multi-link (ML) element. The first ML element includes a profile field of the second transmitting STA. The profile field of the second transmitting STA includes a status code; see Jang par. 0190). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Huang's invention to allow an effect that multi-link configuration can be efficiently improved through the status code without additional overhead (see Jang par. 0016).
For claims 7 and 15, the combination of Huang and Kim does not explicitly disclose The communication method according to claim 1,wherein, when a status code corresponding to the first link is set to refused, a status code corresponding to a link other than the first link among the at least one link is set to refused. Jang discloses The communication method according to claim 1,wherein, when a first status code corresponding to the first link is set to refused, a second status code corresponding to a link other than the first link among the at least one link is set to refused (Adds a new Status Code that does not exist before. For example, Status Code= Refused_Other links are accepted (code name can be changed). This means that it does not accept a T link, but accepts one or more NT links. Therefore, Association Response includes this status code, and ML IE informs of successful ML setup, including Per STA Profile corresponding to the accepted AP/link; see Jang par. 0161; In the Multi-link Control field or Common Info field of the ML IE delivered in the Association Request frame, an indicator indicating that T link is not requested and one or more NT _links are requested is signaled. (e.g., Not request transmitting link (1 bit)). In particular, in the Association Response, the Status code can be set to success or to 1-1) presented above (Status Code= Refused_Other links are accepted); see Jang par. 0169 and Figs. 16 and 17). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Huang's invention to allow an effect that multi-link configuration can be efficiently improved through the status code without additional overhead (see Jang par. 0016).
Claim(s) 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang, Kim and Jang, and further in view of “Inohiza” (US 2024/0214964).
For claims 8 and 16, The combination of Huang and Kim does not explicitly disclose The communication method according to claim 1, wherein, when a status code corresponding to the first link is set to success. Jang discloses The communication method according to claim 1, wherein, when a first status code corresponding to the first link is set to success (In the Multi-link Control field or Common Info field of the ML IE delivered in the Association Request frame, an indicator indicating that T link is not requested and one or more NT _links are requested is signaled. (e.g., Not request transmitting link (1 bit)). In particular, in the Association Response, the Status code can be set to success or to 1-1) presented above (Status Code= Refused_Other links are accepted); see Jang par. 0169, 0176 and Figs. 16 and 17). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Huang's invention to allow an effect that multi-link configuration can be efficiently improved through the status code without additional overhead (see Jang par. 0016).
The combination of Huang, Kim and Jang does not explicitly disclose a status code corresponding to a link other than the first link among the at least one link is set arbitrarily. Inohiza discloses a second status code corresponding to a link other than the first link among the at least one link is set to success or refused (FIG. 7 illustrates a fourth example of a Multi-link communication setup process according to the present exemplary embodiment. In the fourth example, the AP MLD sets a STATUS CODE of an Association Response to FAIL in a case where the AP MLD rejects some of the links for which a setup is requested. There may be a plurality of methods for indicating FAIL. For example, a plurality of STATUS_CODES other than SUCCESS, such as REFUSED_BAD_SUPPORTED_CHANNELS and STATUS_INVALID_PMK, may be defined to enable indication of a detailed reason for FAIL. The REFUSED_BAD_SUPPORTED_ CHANNELS is a STATUS CODE that indicates that the channel is unsupported. The STATUS_INVALID_PMK is a STATUS CODE that indicates that PMKID is invalid. Then, in a case where the Non-AP MLD receives an Association Response with a STATUS CODE set to FAIL and some of the links that are accepted are included, an Association Request including only the accepted links is retransmitted. Differences from the first example will be described in detail below; see Inohiza par. 0065). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Inohiza’s arrangement in Huang's invention to provide a mechanism for performing multi-link communication setup using Association Requests/Association Responses (see Inohiza par. 0008).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAE S LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-8236. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM - 5:00PM.
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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