CTNF 18/701,378 CTNF 84535 DETAILED ACTION This action is in response to communication on April 15 th , 2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending. The present application is a 371 National Stage entry of International Application no. PCT/EP2022/078260 filed on October 11 th , 2022, which claims priority to European Union Application no. EP21204149.5, filed on October 22 nd , 2021. 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hwang et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication no. 2024/0340950, hereinafter Hwang) . With respect to claims 1 and 17-20, Hwang discloses first and second communication device, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium configured to bidirectionally exchange data with a second communication device (paragraph [0028], lines 10-13, bidirectional communication ), the first communication device comprising circuitry configured to: initiate a bidirectional transmit opportunity (TXOP) by transmitting (paragraph [0094], lines 1-6, initiated by performing the channel contention procedure ), to the second communication device (paragraph [0094], lines 1-6, STA1 ), a TXOP indicator indicating that a wideband TXOP is split into two channels (paragraph [0067], lines 12-16, a plurality of links may be configured in one frequency band ) and indicating that a first channel is primarily to be used for transmission of data from the first communication device to the second communication device (paragraph [0097], forward direction communication ) and a second channel is primarily to be used for transmission of data from the second communication device to the first communication device (paragraph [0097], reverse direction communication ); transmit data to the second communication device on the first channel (paragraph [0097], forward direction communication ) and listen for the reception of data from the second communication device on the second channel (paragraph [0097], reverse direction communication ). With respect to claim 2, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit, to the second communication device, a first TXOP indicator on the first channel indicating that the first channel shall primarily be used for transmission of data from the first communication device to the second communication device (paragraph [0094], AC information field may indicate an AC of a data unit ) and a second TXOP indicator on the second channel primarily indicating that the second channel shall primarily be used for transmission of data from the second communication device to the first communication device (paragraph [0096], lines 1-8, RDG (reverse direction grant) indicator ). With respect to claim 3, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit, to the second communication device, a common wideband TXOP indicator using the first channel and the second channel (paragraph [0118], lines 1-7). With respect to claim 4, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first channel and the second channel are sub-channels of a wideband channel or sub-bands of a channel of a wideband channel (paragraph [0067], lines 12-16, a plurality of links may be configured in one frequency band ) or wherein the first channel and the second channel cover directly adjacent frequency bands or frequency bands separated by a guard band, the guard band having a maximum bandwidth of five times the bandwidth of the first channel or the second channel (paragraph [0067], lines 12-16). With respect to claim 5, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first channel includes a primary channel of basic service set (BSS) of which the first communication device and the second communication device are members (paragraph [0052]). With respect to claim 6, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the circuitry is configured to perform channel access for accessing the primary channel by counting down a contention window (CW) on at least the primary channel and/or to perform channel access for accessing non-primary channels (paragraph [0088]) by listening, on the non-primary channels, for a predetermined period before the channel access on the primary channel and to access the non-primary channels only when the non-primary channel is indicated as idle during the predetermined period (paragraph [0094]). With respect to claim 7, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit a TXOP indicator including one or more of: time information indicating when the bidirectional TXOP takes effect and data transmission shall start (paragraph [0155], lines 10-17); duration information indicating the duration of the bidirectional TXOP (paragraph [0149], lines 12-14); and instruction information indicating that the second communication device shall await further instruction before starting data transmission (paragraph [0150], lines 1-7). With respect to claim 8, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to detect, before initiating the bidirectional TXOP, if the second channel is idle or busy and, if the second channel is idle, initiate bidirectional TXOP (paragraph [0086]). With respect to claim 9, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit a request-to-send (RTS) frame to the second communication device on the first channel and the second channel (paragraph [0081], lines 1-5), listen for reception of a clear-to-send (CTS) frame from the second communication device on the first channel and the second channel (paragraph [0081], lines 1-5), and initiate the bidirectional TXOP only if a CTS frame has been received from the second communication device (paragraph [0122], lines 1-5). With respect to claim 10, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the circuitry is configured to split, if a CTS frame has only been received on one of the first and second channels or on one of multiple sub-bands of one of the first and second channels, the channel or sub-band, on which the CTS has been received, into two sub-channels (paragraph [0084], lines 6-19) and use a first sub-channel as first channel and a second sub-channel as second channel in the bidirectional TXOP and/or to transmit a contention free (CF) end frame on a sub-channel on which no CTS has been received from the second communication device (paragraph [0094], lines 1-6). With respect to claim 11, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit a TXOP indicator on the second channel indicating to the second communication device one or more of: a reverse direction grant (RDG) granting to the second communication device the transmission of frames other than response frames by a setting in an RDG subfield of a data unit (paragraph [0096], lines 1-6); a contention free poll (CF-Poll) transferring the TXOP ownership to the second communication device for a duration specified within a subfield in CF-Poll subtype frames (paragraph [0081], lines 1-5); and a single trigger frame enabled TXOP sharing transferring TXOP ownership for the second channel to the second communication device (paragraph [0127], lines 1-10). With respect to claim 12, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to detect, before initiating the bidirectional TXOP, if the second channel is idle or busy (paragraph [0086]) and, if the second channel is busy, wait until the second channel is idle (paragraph [0086]), or wait until channel access can be achieved (paragraph [0086]), or start to count down a new a contention window (CW) on the first channel or on the first channel and the second channel (paragraph [0088]). With respect to claim 13, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured, if it is detected that one of the first and second channels cannot be used anymore, to terminate the bidirectional TXOP (paragraph [0155], lines 10-17) or change the use of the other one of the first and second channels into time multiplex use by the first and second communication devices (paragraph [0114], lines 1-5). With respect to claim 14, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit an acknowledgement on the second channel in response to a data unit received from the second communication device on the second channel (paragraph [0081], lines 1-5) and/or to listen for the reception of a response frame from the second communication device on the first channel, the acknowledgement including status information indicating if the data unit has been correctly received or not (paragraph [0099], lines 1-5). With respect to claim 15, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to agree or transmit signaling indicating the duration of data units and/or the timing of the transmission of data units by the first and second communication devices (paragraph [0155], lines 10-17). With respect to claim 16, Hwang discloses first communication device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to obtain a wideband TXOP before transmitting the TXOP indicator (paragraph [0094]) and/or to split, if a TXOP has only be obtained on one of the first and second channels or on one of multiple sub-bands of one of the first and second channels, the channel or sub-band, on which the TXOP has been obtained, into two sub-channels and use a first sub-channel as first channel and a second sub-channel as second channel in the bidirectional TXOP (paragraph [0067], lines 12-16, a plurality of links may be configured in one frequency band ) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cherian Pat. Pub. 2021/0168712 Lorgeoux Pat. Pub. 2024/0114551 Viger Pat. Pub. 2022/0264652 Viger Pat. Pub. 2022/0322426 Belghoul Pat. Pub. 2018/0227911 Sun Pat. Pub. 2021/0282161 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BLAKE J RUBIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3802. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ario Etienne can be reached on 571-272-4001. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. 5/6/26 /BLAKE J RUBIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457 Application/Control Number: 18/701,378 Page 2 Art Unit: 2457 Application/Control Number: 18/701,378 Page 3 Art Unit: 2457 Application/Control Number: 18/701,378 Page 5 Art Unit: 2457 Application/Control Number: 18/701,378 Page 6 Art Unit: 2457 Application/Control Number: 18/701,378 Page 8 Art Unit: 2457 Application/Control Number: 18/701,378 Page 9 Art Unit: 2457
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