Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 24, 2026
Application No. 18/725,179

Data Transmission Method and Device, Power State Adjustment Method and Device, Computer Readable Storage Medium, and Electronic Device

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Jun 28, 2024
Priority
Dec 30, 2021 — CN 202111669820.6 +1 more
Examiner
NOORISTANY, SULAIMAN
Art Unit
2415
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
ZTE Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
733 granted / 944 resolved
+19.6% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+24.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
33 currently pending
Career history
984
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
§103
54.7%
+14.7% vs TC avg
§102
18.4%
-21.6% vs TC avg
§112
12.5%
-27.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 944 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 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) 1-2, 5, 8-13, 15, 18-20, 22, 24, 28-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu US 20210282210 in view of Kneckt US 20220191786 1. A data transmission method, comprising: sending, on a first link, by a first node, a request frame to a second node (Liu: [0036, 0045] Switch alerts 508, 514, 516 may be transmitted by either the AP 120A or the STA 110 and receiving device performs a corresponding action….the STA sends a switch alert to AP on link 2, the current link that about to become unavailable) in response to detecting that [[a]] the first link for data transmission between the first node and the second node currently does not satisfy a low delay data transmission requirement (Liu: [0041, 0045] determines that the link 2 will become unavailable for longer than the worst-case ELL latency (e.g., > 5ms)), so as to trigger the second node to determine a second link (Liu: [0036] the receiver acts on the alert. [0045] the switch is to “either link 1 or link 3” [0038] the switch to link 3), and adjust a power state of a target station on the second link from a power save mode to an active mode (Liu: [0038, 0041-0042] the wake-from-powered-off happens on the backup link), wherein the second link is a link satisfying the low delay data transmission requirement and comprised in other links except the first link and the other links are pre-established links for data transmission between the first node and the second node (Liu: [0044] the selected link supports ELL data rate. [0038] links 1-3 are already established), and transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link (Liu: [0038]) wherein the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link comprises: transmitting, by the first node, the data to the second node on the second link in response to receiving a first trigger frame from the second node, wherein the first trigger frame is used for indicating that the second node has determined the second link and has adjusted the power state of the target station on the second link to the active mode (Liu: [0038] after the switch, the STA sends an alert on link 3 “to indicate the STA is ready to receive communication”). Liu merely discloses the term memory Kneckt teaches the term memory (Kneckt: [0029] non-transitory memory) Kneckt further teaches adjust a power state of a target station on the second link from a power save mode to an active mode (Kneckt: [0067-0068] PM=1 power save/PM=0 active. [0083] PM “changed from 1 to 0 …expedited link activation” [0075] per-link PM) Kneckt further teaches transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link wherein the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link comprises: transmitting, by the first node, the data to the second node on the second link in response to receiving a first trigger frame from the second node, wherein the first trigger frame is used for indicating that the second node has determined the second link and has adjusted the power state of the target station on the second link to the active mode (Kneckt: [0072, 0086] the STA sends a U-APSD trigger frame with PM=0, and then the AP transmit) Thus, it would have been obvious to one skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to include the above recited limitation into Liu’s invention in order to coordinating activation and deactivation of multiple wireless links to obtain benefits of increased throughput and latency reduction while also reducing power consumption, as taught by Kneckt. 2. The data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by a first node, a request frame to a second node comprises: sending, by the first node, a first request frame to the second node to request the second node to determine the second link, wherein the request frame comprises the first request frame: the data transmission method further comprises: before the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link, receiving, by the first node, a first response frame returned by the second node in response to the first request frame; and the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link comprises: in a case where the first node determines that the first response frame is a reception response frame, determining, by the first node, the second link from first indication information carried in the first response frame and used for indicating that the second link satisfies the low delay data transmission requirement, and transmitting, by the first node, the data to the second node on the second link, wherein the second link is a link selected by the second node based on a target selection mode; (Liu: [0036, 0038, 0044] the AP may send switch alerts, and the receiving device performs a corresponding action; [0044] the STA selects “the link with best quality that supports ELL data rate”; [0038] the STA send switch alerts on link 3 “to indicate the STA ready to receive communications” [0045] the alert identifies the switch target (“link 1 or link 3”)). 5. The data transmission method according to claim 2, wherein the sending, by the first node, a first request frame to the second node comprises: sending, by the first node, the first request frame to the second node on the first link (Liu: [0045, 0038] alert sent on link 2, the current link, before switching; [0036] the AP or STA may send alerts) and the receiving, by the first node, a first response frame returned by the second node in response to the first request frame comprises: receiving, by the first node, the first response frame returned on the second link by the second node in response to the first request frame (Liu: [0038] “a switch alert is sent at 425 by STA3 on link 3 to AP3”). 8. The data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by a first node, a request frame to a second node comprises: selecting, by the first node, the second link based on a target selection mode (Liu: [0037, 0044] select best quality supporting ELL rates), and sending, to the second node by the first node, a third request frame carrying third indication information used for indicating that the second link satisfies the low delay data transmission requirement, so as to instruct the second node to determine the second link and adjust the power state of the target station on the second link to the active mode, wherein the request frame comprises the third request frame (Liu: [0036] alert “may include various information”; Kneckt: [0068, 0070, 0075] link control = availability, not “satisfies”); and the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link comprises: transmitting, by the first node, the data to the second node on the second link in response to receiving a second trigger frame from the second node, wherein the second trigger frame is used for indicating that the second node has determined the second link and has adjusted the power state of the target station on the second link to the active mode (Liu: [0038] switch complete alert on link 3; Kneckt: [0083, 0086] U-APDS trigger with PM=0; PM 1[Wingdings font/0xE0]0). 9. The data transmission method according to claim 8, wherein the sending, to the second node by the first node, a third request frame comprises: sending, by the first node, the third request frame to the second node on the first link and the second link (Liu: [0036, 0038, 0045] alerts are sent on multiple links (STA3 on link 3, and “a switch alert is also sent by the STA1 on link 1”)). 10. The data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link comprises one of: stopping, by the first node, transmitting target data to the second node on the first link, and transmitting, by the first node, the target data to the second node on the second link; transmitting, by the first node, target data to the second node on the first link, and transmitting, by the first node, the target data to the second node on the second link; or transmitting, by the first node, a first part of data comprised in target data to the second node on the first link, and transmitting, by the first node, other data, except the first part of data, comprised in the target data to the second node on the second link (Liu: [0041] link2 becomes unavailable and the radio switches to link 3). 11. The data transmission method according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting, by the first node, whether the first link satisfies the low delay data transmission requirement based on at least one of the following parameters: a delay bound, a mean data rate, or a packet loss rate (Liu: [0041, 0044] link unavailable “for a period longer than a worst-case latency requirement for ELL communications …. greater than 5ms”). 30. The data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by a first node, a request frame to a second node comprises: selecting, by the first node, the second link based on a target selection mode, and sending, to the second node by the first node, a second request frame carrying second indication information used for indicating that the second link satisfies the low delay data transmission requirement, so as to instruct the second node to determine the second link and adjust the power state of the target station on the second link to the active mode, wherein the request frame comprises the second request frame; the data transmission method further comprises: before the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link, receiving, by the first node, a second response frame returned by the second node in response to the second request frame; and the transmitting, by the first node, data to the second node on the second link comprises: in a case where the first node determines that the second response frame is a reception response frame, transmitting, by the first node, the data to the second node on the second link (Liu: fig. 5[0036-0038] the receiving device of a switch alert “performs a corresponding action”; alerts can be either sent by the AP or STA; the alert indicated “the STA is ready to receive communication,” which works as a ready/accept signal and after receiving the link 3 alert, the AP communicates with the STA on link 3). 31. The data transmission method according to claim 30, wherein the target selection mode comprises: selecting the second link satisfying the low delay data transmission requirement based on at least one of: link measurements, channel load measurements, transmission traffic or transmission category measurements, or historical traffic statistics (Liu: [0044-0045] “select the link used to be used ..(e.g., the link with best quality that supports ELL data rate)”; [0044] selected link supports ELL data rate is referring to traffic class). 32. The data transmission method according to claim 30, wherein the sending, to the second node by the first node, a second request frame comprises: sending, by the first node, the second request frame to the second node on the first link; and the receiving, by the first node, a second response frame returned by the second node in response to the second request frame comprises: receiving, by the first node, the second response frame returned by the second node on the second link in response to the second request frame (Liu: [0038, 0045] “when the STA co-radio switch to link 3 is complete, a witch alert is sent at 425 by the STA3 on the link 3 to AP3 to indicate the STA3 is ready to receive communication” [0045] alert on link 2 (current link) [0038] alert in link 3 (new link). To gather these show a cross-link exchange – first link out, second link back). Regarding claims 12-13, 15-20, 22, 24, 28-23, 15, 18-20, 22, 24, 28-29, the independent claim and each dependent claim are related to the same limitation set for hereinabove in claims 1-2, 5, 8-11, 30-32 , where the difference used is an “apparatus & NTCRM” with a processor and a memory (Liu: Referring to FIG. 2, the wireless device 200 includes a processor 210, a memory 250) and the wordings of the claims were interchanged within the claim itself or some of the claims were presented as a combination of two or more previously presented limitations. This change does not affect the limitation of the above treated claims. Adding these phrases to the claims arid interchanging the wording did not introduce new limitations to these claims. Therefore, these claims were rejected for similar reasons as stated above. Response to Amendment Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2, 5, 8-13, 15, 18-20, 22, 24, 28-32 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Conclusion 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sulaiman Nooristany whose telephone number is (571) 270-1929. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9 to 5. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski, can be reached on (571) 270-1215. 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. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /SULAIMAN NOORISTANY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 28, 2024
Application Filed
May 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 29, 2026
Response Filed
Oct 13, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+24.3%)
3y 5m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 944 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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