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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to application filed 07/27/2026.
Claims 1-29 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant asserts the Chuah fails to disclose “an apparatus at an AP configured to "transmit an indication of queue information associated with one or more pending downlink buffered units for a station (STA) in an enhanced delivery mode" and "transmit the one or more pending downlink buffered units to the STA in accordance with the queue information and the plurality of operational parameters," as recited in independent claim 1. That is, Chuah does not indicate queue information that is also used for transmission of pending downlink buffered units to a STA” (see remarks pg. 10-11). Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Chuah discloses the base station schedules transmission of its uplink and downlink traffic and allocates bandwidth dynamically, based on traffic characteristics and QoS requirements as well as the current bandwidth needs of all supported hosts. A service tag is used to schedule the transmission order of the packets from the hosts, with the current queue information of all hosts being always known to the base station ([0029], [0120]). Chuah further discloses downlink unicast subframe transmitted by the AP in which the "more data" information indicates whether additional downlink data remains to be transmitted and may specifically identify the number of remaining bytes to be transmitted ([0053], [0055]). Chuah further discloses the AP schedules its downlink packets and thereafter transmits downlink data packets. ([0078]). Chuah also discloses that the order to which the access point serves the various downlink connections is also based on the self-clocked fair queuing algorithm ([0120]). Thus, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation, the more data information constitutes an indication of queue information associated with pending downlink buffered units because it indicates the number of remaining bytes to be transmitted. Therefore, Chuah does not merely provide Xon/Xoff signaling, Chuah also discloses transmitting the “more data” information that contains pending downlink data that the AP subsequently schedules and transmits to the station according to the downlink scheduling parameters.
Applicant further asserts that “Chuah fails to disclose "identify, in accordance with the queue information associated with the one or more pending downlink buffered units, a plurality of operational parameters to use for transmission of the one or more pending downlink buffered units," and "transmit the one or more pending downlink buffered units to the STA in accordance with the queue information and the plurality of operational parameters," as recited in independent claim 1” (see remarks pg. 11). Examiner respectfully disagree.
Chuah discloses the “more data” information that indicates the number of remaining bytes to be transmitted ([0053],[0055]). Chuah further discloses that the queue size information is used to determine transmission parameters. Chuah discloses that the access point obtains complete information on the total uplink/downlink queue size and use this information to dynamically adjust the uplink/downlink ratio based on the total uplink/downlink queue size information ([0133]). Chuah further discloses that the resulting frame specifies number of downlink slots and the uplink/downlink transmission time ratio for the next frame ([0134]). In other words, Chuah discloses using queue information to identify operational parameters for transmission, including allocation of downlink slots and uplink/downlink transmission time ration. Chuah further discloses the AP determines the transmission resources and schedules its downlink packets, and then transmits downlink data packets using those resources in accordance to its fair queuing scheduling mechanism ([0078], [0120]). Therefore, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation, Chuah discloses identifying based on queue information associated with pending buffered units, a plurality of operational parameter to use for transmission of the pending downlink buffered units.
Applicant further asserts that Chuah does not disclose the limitations of claim 8. More specifically, applicant argues that Chuah “fails to teach or suggest "receive an indication of a second plurality of operational parameters the STA intends to use for reception of the one or more pending downlink buffered units," much less "wherein the one or more pending downlink buffered units are transmitted in accordance with the indication," as recited in dependent claim 8” (see remarks pg. 12-13). Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Chuah discloses each connection request contains the following information: bandwidth requirement, delay requirement, a "loss tolerable/non-tolerable" flag, a "service interruption allowed" flag, acceptable packet loss rate, and a traffic descriptor which consists of peak data rate, average data rate, and a potential burstiness factor for each direction, uplink and downlink ([0154]). In other words, the station provides an indication containing multiple operational parameters requirements for its requested communication, including parameters applicable to its downlink reception. Furthermore, Chua discloses the bandwidth requirement, delay requirement, packet loss rate, and the traffic descriptor are all used in the admission control technique ([0154]). Moreover, Chuah discloses in order to determine how the AP should transmit downlink traffic from various connections, the AP requires a downlink scheduling system and that the AP bandwidth allocation scheme accounts for diverse QoS requirements of the connections ([0112]). Therefore, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, Chuah discloses receiving an indication containing a plurality of operational parameters applicable to station reception of downlink traffic and using those parameters in determining the handling and transmission of downlink traffic destined for that station.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-8, 10-11, 16, 18, 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chuah (EP 0910176 A2).
Regarding claim 1, Chuah discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at an access point (AP) comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause ([0136]: For the Frequency Division Half-Duplex version, both the wireless modem and the access point maintain a memory for buffering both uplink and downlink messages),
the apparatus to: transmit an indication of queue information associated with one or more pending downlink buffered units for a station (STA) in an enhanced delivery mode ([0050], [0053]: the AP sends both downlink unicast data and transmit permits. The frame format of a downlink unicast sub-frame 700. The "more data" information can be as simple as one bit in the Frame Control 702 subfield of the MAC header, or may be more particularly expressed as the number of remaining bytes to be transmitted);
identify, in accordance with the queue information associated with the one or more pending downlink buffered units, a plurality of operational parameters to use for transmission of the one or more pending downlink buffered units ([0133]-[0134]: the access point obtains complete information on the total uplink/downlink queue size and use this information to dynamically adjust the uplink/downlink ratio based on the total uplink/downlink queue size information. The resulting frame specifies number of downlink slots and the uplink/downlink transmission time ratio for the next frame); and
transmit the one or more pending downlink buffered units to the STA in accordance with the queue information and the plurality of operational parameters ([0077]-[0078]: the AP proceeds to allocate uplink bandwidth 1330 among the remote hosts requesting access, followed by allocation of bandwidth for its own downlink transmission 1335. Each remote host waits to receive a transmit permit 1337 during a subsequent downlink transmission and, upon receiving one, transmits a waiting packet from its queue. If the queue at a remote is not then empty 1338, the remote returns to waiting for additional transmit permits 1337, otherwise it waits for new packets to arrive 1339. The AP then schedules its downlink packets 1340 and then transmits downlink data packets 1355).
Regarding claim 2, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit a request for the STA to use a second plurality of operational parameters for reception of the one or more pending downlink buffered units, wherein the one or more pending downlink buffered units are transmitted in accordance with the request ([0149],[0152]: If the downlink/uplink buffer occupancy has exceeded the high threshold, the access point will, in a preferred embodiment, determine if this is caused by a specific connection or a group of connections. If it is caused by a specific connection, the access point will send a flow control signal to the connection to prevent it from sending more data. In addition, the access point may reduce the bandwidth shares allocated to any users who have indicated during the connection set-up that they can tolerate a variable allocated bandwidth).
Regarding claim 3, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second plurality of operational parameters are signaled via an operating mode control field or an extremely high throughput operating mode control field in a medium access control header ([0035]: the downlink frame for the FDHD scheme of the invention may include physical layer overhead, such as some combination of guard and/or preamble bits 310 (which may be used as synchronizing bits), a medium access control (MAC) header 312, various control messages. [0149],[0152]: the access point will send a flow control signal to the connection to prevent it from sending more data).
Regarding claim 4, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of operational parameters, the second plurality of operational parameters, or both comprise one or more of a bandwidth, a number of spatial streams, or a modulation and coding scheme to use for reception of the one or more pending downlink buffered units ([0149]: If the downlink/uplink buffer occupancy has exceeded the high threshold, the access point will determine if this is caused by a specific connection or a group of connections. If it is caused by a specific connection…the access point may reduce the bandwidth shares allocated to any users who have indicated during the connection set-up that they can tolerate a variable allocated bandwidth).
Regarding claim 7, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the request indicates a duration of time for which to use the second plurality of operational parameters ([0078]: The AP then schedules its downlink packets 1340, schedules the uplink transmissions 1345 of the successfully contending remote hosts, issues the associated transmit permits 1350, and then transmits downlink data packets 1355, after which it returns to monitoring activity in the contention reservation slots 1360).
Regarding claim 8, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to: receive an indication of a second plurality of operational parameters the STA intends to use for reception of the one or more pending downlink buffered units ([0154]: ach connection request contains the following information: bandwidth requirement, delay requirement, a "loss tolerable/non-tolerable" flag, a "service interruption allowed" flag, acceptable packet loss rate, and a traffic descriptor which consists of peak data rate, average data rate, and a potential burstiness factor for each direction, uplink and downlink), wherein the one or more pending downlink buffered units are transmitted in accordance with the indication ([0112], [0154]: the AP should transmit downlink traffic from various connections, the AP requires a downlink scheduling system and that the AP bandwidth allocation scheme accounts for diverse QoS requirements of the connections. The bandwidth requirement, delay requirement, packet loss rate, and the traffic descriptor are all used in the admission control technique).
Regarding claim 10, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second plurality of operational parameters indicated by the STA are equivalent to the plurality of operational parameters requested by the AP ([0118]: For the half-duplex case, both the uplink and downlink queues at the access points are managed as if they are sharing the same bandwidth, i.e., as if there is only one system virtual time).
Regarding claim 11, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the queue information indicates a quantity of the one or more pending downlink buffered units for the STA, a time duration for which the one or more pending downlink buffered units have been pending ([0053]: The "more data" information can be as simple as one bit in the Frame Control 702 subfield of the MAC header, or may be more particularly expressed as the number of remaining bytes to be transmitted), a time duration after which the one or more pending downlink buffered units will be dropped ([0153]: Packets at the base station having a delay exceeding a time-to-live threshold 2135 are then discarded 2140, and connections with a Frame Error Rates that has exceeded a frame error rate threshold for a specified time 2145 and that have indicated that their connections can be interrupted 2150 are disconnected 2155), a request for the STA to switch to an active mode or an enhanced power save mode for reception of the one or more pending downlink buffered units, a request for the STA to increase one or more operational parameters for reception of the one or more pending downlink buffered units, delivery status information associated with a plurality of communication links, basic service set load information associated with the plurality of communication links, or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 16, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the queue information is signaled via a frame that is individually addressed to the STA, a frame that is addressed to one or more STAs for which the AP has queue information about pending downlink buffered units, or a broadcast frame ([0053]: a frame format of a downlink unicast sub-frame 700 according to the present invention. Examples of unicast subframes are control messages, such as association response frames and flow control request frames, and data messages, with acknowledgments and/or "more data" information. The "more data" information can be as simple as one bit in the Frame Control 702 subfield of the MAC header, or may be more particularly expressed as the number of remaining bytes to be transmitted).
Regarding claim 18, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the queue information is signaled via one or more of a trigger frame, a beacon frame, a broadcast frame, a Link Recommendation frame, an individually addressed frame, or a traffic indicator map frame ([0053]: a frame format of a downlink unicast sub-frame 700)
Regarding claims 28 and 29; the claims are interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in further view of Verma et al. (US 2020/0374062 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 4.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein: the bandwidth comprises a maximum bandwidth of the STA, and the number of spatial streams comprises a maximum number of spatial streams supported by the STA.
In an analogous art, Verma discloses wherein: the bandwidth comprises a maximum bandwidth of the STA, and the number of spatial streams comprises a maximum number of spatial streams supported by the STA ([0063]: EHT-SIG 368 may include one or more jointly encoded symbols and may be encoded in a different block from the block in which U-SIG 366 is encoded. EHT-SIG 368 may be used by an AP to identify and inform multiple STAs 104 that the AP has scheduled UL or DL resources for them. EHT-SIG 368 may include RU allocation information, spatial stream configuration information, and per-user signaling information such as MCSs, among other examples.[0067]: The signal field 380 may further include a spatial reuse subfield 390 indicating whether spatial reuse is allowed during transmission of the corresponding PPDU. The signal field 380 may further include a bandwidth subfield 392 indicating a bandwidth of the PPDU data field, such as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, and so on).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein: the bandwidth comprises a maximum bandwidth of the STA, and the number of spatial streams comprises a maximum number of spatial streams supported by the STA” taught by Verma.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled transmitting DL data on a portion of the frequency bandwidth reserved for the first AP concurrently with the transmissions of DL data from the one or more identified APs on their respective allocated portions of the frequency bandwidth (Verma, [0007]).
Regarding claim 9, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 8.
However, Chuah discloses wherein the second plurality of operational parameters comprise a bandwidth and a number of spatial streams the STA intends to use for downlink reception during a current enhanced service period.
In an analogous art, Verma discloses wherein the second plurality of operational parameters comprise a bandwidth and a number of spatial streams the STA intends to use for downlink reception during a current enhanced service period ([0063]: EHT-SIG 368 may include one or more jointly encoded symbols and may be encoded in a different block from the block in which U-SIG 366 is encoded. EHT-SIG 368 may be used by an AP to identify and inform multiple STAs 104 that the AP has scheduled UL or DL resources for them. EHT-SIG 368 may include RU allocation information, spatial stream configuration information, and per-user signaling information such as MCSs, among other examples.[0067]: The signal field 380 may further include a spatial reuse subfield 390 indicating whether spatial reuse is allowed during transmission of the corresponding PPDU. The signal field 380 may further include a bandwidth subfield 392 indicating a bandwidth of the PPDU data field, such as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, and so on).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the second plurality of operational parameters comprise a bandwidth and a number of spatial streams the STA intends to use for downlink reception during a current enhanced service period” taught by Verma.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled transmitting DL data on a portion of the frequency bandwidth reserved for the first AP concurrently with the transmissions of DL data from the one or more identified APs on their respective allocated portions of the frequency bandwidth (Verma, [0007]).
Claims 6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in view of Nayak et al. (US 2024/0373344 – Priority Date 05/05/2023).
Regarding claim 6, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 2.
However, Chuah disclose wherein: the request from the AP includes an instruction for the STA to switch to an awake mode to receive the one or more pending downlink buffered units from the AP, and the awake mode is either an active mode or a power save mode with awake state, wherein the enhanced delivery mode includes the power save mode.
In an analogous art, Nayak discloses wherein: the request from the AP includes an instruction for the STA to switch to an awake mode to receive the one or more pending downlink buffered units from the AP, and the awake mode is either an active mode or a power save mode with awake state, wherein the enhanced delivery mode includes the power save mode ([0116]: Time for state switch upon cross link indication 509 can indicate the time the STA takes to switch from the doze state to the awake state when the AP sends a cross link wake up request to the STA. [0146]: an STA performs power save. For example, the AP can transmit a cross link wake up frame to wake up the STA to receive some low latency traffic).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein: the request from the AP includes an instruction for the STA to switch to an awake mode to receive the one or more pending downlink buffered units from the AP, and the awake mode is either an active mode or a power save mode with awake state, wherein the enhanced delivery mode includes the power save mode” taught by Nayak.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled an access point to start transmitting DL data to STAs that are in wake state to transmit PPDU on the uplink (Nayak, [0198]).
Regarding claim 19, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 18.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein the broadcast frame indicates ultra‑high reliability multi-link capable devices with pending downlink buffered units and a plurality of communication links via which the ultra-high reliability multi-link capable devices, including the STA, can receive the pending downlink buffered units.
In an analogous art, Nayak discloses wherein the broadcast frame indicates ultra‑high reliability multi-link capable devices with pending downlink buffered units and a plurality of communication links via which the ultra-high reliability multi-link capable devices, including the STA, can receive the pending downlink buffered units ([0229]: an STA affiliated with a non-AP MLD that supports operation on PS links (e.g., ultra high reliability (UHR) non-AP MLD) may transmit a request frame 2605 to the AP affiliated with an AP MLD to request information about other APs affiliated with the same AP MLD. Accordingly, the AP of the AP MLD can transmit information 2607 for APs that operate on PS links as well as those that operate on non-PS link).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the broadcast frame indicates ultra‑high reliability multi-link capable devices with pending downlink buffered units and a plurality of communication links via which the ultra-high reliability multi-link capable devices, including the STA, can receive the pending downlink buffered units” taught by Nayak.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled an access point to start transmitting DL data to STAs that are in wake state to transmit PPDU on the uplink (Nayak, [0198]).
Claim 12-13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chuah in view of Park et al. (US 2016/0337969 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 11.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein the delivery status information indicates a respective delivery wait time for each of the plurality of communication links.
In an analogous art, Park discloses wherein the delivery status information indicates a respective delivery wait time for each of the plurality of communication links ([0063]-[0064]: The information on a time (a downlink data transmission resuming time) of performing the transmission resuming of the downlink data may be transmitted while being included in a resume downlink transmission time field. The information on a time (a downlink data transmission resuming time) of performing the transmission resuming of the downlink data may be transmitted while being included in a resume downlink transmission time field).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the delivery status information indicates a respective delivery wait time for each of the plurality of communication links” taught by Park.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled deciding, by the AP, hold-off of the transmission of the first downlink data transmitted as a response to the first trigger frame based on a first priority of the first downlink data buffered with respect to the first STA (Park, [0010]).
Regarding 13, Chuah-Park discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein one or more frames containing the queue information are scheduled after a beacon frame (Chuah, [0050]: The second transmit permit 656 is for remote node 657 #5, which may start transmission at start slot 658 #3 and may transmit through end slot 659 # 5. Different "Type" and "Subtype" labels may be used for the transmit permits of those wireless modems to which the AP sends both downlink unicast data and transmit permits. Subframes combining transmit permits and schedules are preferably sent after the pure transmit permits and before any pure transmit schedules).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in view of Park, as applies to claim 12, in further view of Nayak et al. (US 2024/0373344 A1).
Regarding 14, Chuah-Park discloses the apparatus of claim 12.
However. Chuah-Park does not disclose wherein one or more frames indicate a list of ultra-high reliability STAs with pending downlink buffered units and respective queue information for each of the ultra-high reliability STAs, which includes the STA.
In an analogous art, Nayak discloses wherein one or more frames indicate a list of ultra-high reliability STAs with pending downlink buffered units and respective queue information for each of the ultra-high reliability STAs, which includes the STA ([0097]: An AP may indicate to one or more of the associated non-AP devices about such pending BUs via a broadcast or multi-cast signaling. Each AP of the AP MLD may transmit beacon frames that may periodically include a traffic information map (TIM) element and, optionally, also a multi-link traffic indication element. [0229]: STA affiliated with a non-AP MLD that supports operation on PS links (e.g., ultra high reliability (UHR) non-AP MLD) may transmit a request frame 2605 to the AP affiliated with an AP MLD to request information about other APs affiliated with the same AP MLD).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah-Park to comprise “wherein one or more frames indicate a list of ultra-high reliability STAs with pending downlink buffered units and respective queue information for each of the ultra-high reliability STAs, which includes the STA” taught by Nayak.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled an access point to start transmitting DL data to STAs that are in wake state to transmit PPDU on the uplink (Nayak, [0198]).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in view of Park, as applies to claim 11, in further view of Ryu et al. (US 2025/0071813 A1 – Priority Date 05/18/2022).
Regarding claim 15, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 11.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein the delivery status information, the basic service set load information, or both are signaled or categorized on a per traffic type basis or differentiated per traffic identifier or per access category.
In an analogous art, Ryu discloses wherein the delivery status information, the basic service set load information, or both are signaled or categorized on a per traffic type basis or differentiated per traffic identifier or per access category ([0090]: The r-TWT DL TID bitmap subfield and the r-TWT UL TID bitmap subfield may specify which TID(s) (e.g. traffic identifiers) are identified by the TWT scheduling AP or the TWT scheduled STA as latency sensitive traffic streams in a downlink and an uplink direction, respectively. A value of 1 at bit position k in the bitmap indicates that TID k is classified as a latency sensitive traffic stream).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the delivery status information, the basic service set load information, or both are signaled or categorized on a per traffic type basis or differentiated per traffic identifier or per access category” taught by Ryu.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to categorize latency sensitive traffic using traffic identifiers (TIDs) (Ryu, [0129]).
Claim 17, 25-26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in view of Lanante et al. (US 2025/0331045 A1 – Priority Date: 10/18/2022).
Regarding claim 17, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 11.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein the queue information is signaled via a quality-of-service control field or a buffer status report control field of a medium access control header of a frame.
In an analogous art, Lanante discloses wherein the queue information is signaled via a quality-of-service control field or a buffer status report control field of a medium access control header of a frame ([0072]: The queue size subfield is present in QoS null frames sent by a STA when bit 4 of the QoS control field is set to 1. The AP may use information contained in the queue size subfield to determine the TXOP duration assigned to the STA or to determine the uplink (UL) resources assigned to the STA).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the queue information is signaled via a quality-of-service control field or a buffer status report control field of a medium access control header of a frame” taught by Lanante.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to send MBSR frame includes a buffer status report (BSR) for traffic intended to be transmitted by the AP during the multi-AP transmission (Lanante, [0109]).
Regarding claim 25, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Chuah discloses wherein the queue information comprises respective buffer status reports for a plurality of ultra-high reliability STAs, including the STA, with pending downlink buffered units.
In an analogous art, Lanante discloses wherein the queue information comprises respective buffer status reports for a plurality of ultra-high reliability STAs, including the STA, with pending downlink buffered units ([0095]: The queue size high subfield indicates the amount of buffered traffic, in units of SF octets, for the AC identified by the ACI high subfield, that is intended for the STA identified by the receiver address of the frame containing the buffer status report (BSR) control subfield. [0117]: DL MU PPDU 904 may be transmitted by a second AP, e.g., AP2, to two associated STAs, STA21 and STA22. For example, DL MU PPDU 902 and 904 may correspond to PPDUs 714 and 716 described above with reference to FIG. 7. In an example, DL MU PPDUs 902 and 904 may be Ultra High Reliability (UHR) MU PPDUs.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the queue information comprises respective buffer status reports for a plurality of ultra-high reliability STAs, including the STA, with pending downlink buffered units” taught by Lanante.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to send MBSR frame includes a buffer status report (BSR) for traffic intended to be transmitted by the AP during the multi-AP transmission (Lanante, [0109]).
Regarding claim 26, Chuah-Lanante discloses the apparatus of claim 25, wherein: the respective buffer status reports are signaled per traffic identifier or per access category (Lanante, [0179]: the BSR for the multi-AP transmission indicates a TID for traffic having a non-empty queue size at the first AP and that the first AP wishes to transmit during the multi-AP transmission). The same rationale applies as in claim 1.
Claim 20-22, 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in view of Liu et al. (US 2012/0263086 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein the queue information indicates a cumulative delay associated with delivery of the one or more pending downlink buffered units to the STA.
In an analogous art, Liu discloses wherein the queue information indicates a cumulative delay associated with delivery of the one or more pending downlink buffered units to the STA ([0091]: when the AP 14 has downlink data buffered for the client station 25, the data unit 412 also includes an indication of a delay time after which the AP 14 will transmit downlink data to the client station 25. For example, it may take the AP 14 some time to process the trigger 408 and/or to prepare for a transmission of downlink data to the client station 25. Thus, the AP 14 includes the indication of the delay time to facilitate powering down the network interface 27 of the client station 25 during the delay. In an embodiment, the delay time corresponds to a minimum time before which the network interface 27 of the client station 25 should not poll the AP 14 for buffered downlink data).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the queue information indicates a cumulative delay associated with delivery of the one or more pending downlink buffered units to the STA” taught by Liu.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to facilitate powering down the network interface 27 of the client station 25 during the delay (Liu, [0091]).
Regarding claim 21, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit an indication of a time period in which the STA is permitted to transmit uplink triggering frames or power save polling frames to the AP; and receive, during the time period, at least one uplink triggering frame or power save polling frame that triggers transmission of the one or more pending downlink buffered units from the AP.
In an analogous art, Liu discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit an indication of a time period in which the STA is permitted to transmit uplink triggering frames or power save polling frames to the AP ([0102]: Scheduling transmission of uplink data by the client station 25 includes utilizing TDMA scheduling techniques or other suitable techniques. In an embodiment, information that indicates a schedule for transmission of uplink data by the client station 25 is included in one or more beacon frames); and receive, during the time period, at least one uplink triggering frame or power save polling frame that triggers transmission of the one or more pending downlink buffered units from the AP ([0103]: a client device 25 in a power save mode uses a trigger frame to determine whether the AP 14 has broadcast data and/or multicast data to be transmitted. For example, in response to a trigger frame transmitted by a client device 25, the AP 14 transmits a data unit that indicates whether the AP 14 has broadcast data and/or multicast data to be transmitted, in an embodiment. The data unit responsive to the trigger frame additionally includes information regarding timing of the broadcast and/or multicast data, in an embodiment.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit an indication of a time period in which the STA is permitted to transmit uplink triggering frames or power save polling frames to the AP; and receive, during the time period, at least one uplink triggering frame or power save polling frame that triggers transmission of the one or more pending downlink buffered units from the AP” taught by Liu.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to facilitate powering down the network interface 27 of the client station 25 during the delay (Liu, [0091]).
Regarding claim 22, Chuah-Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 21, wherein: the time period is signaled via a network allocation vector within a beacon frame, and the network allocation vector is indicated by a field of the beacon frame or an information element contained in the beacon frame (Liu, [0102]: Scheduling transmission of uplink data by the client station 25 includes utilizing TDMA scheduling techniques or other suitable techniques. In an embodiment, information that indicates a schedule for transmission of uplink data by the client station 25 is included in one or more beacon frames). The same rationale applies as in claim 21.
Regarding claim 27, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein, to transmit the queue information, the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit to a plurality of ultra-high reliability STAs including the STA, a beacon frame that schedules transmission of one or more trigger frames; and receive, from the STA, an uplink triggering frame in accordance with the beacon frame.
In an analogous art, Liu discloses wherein, to transmit the queue information, the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to a plurality of ultra-high reliability STAs including the STA, a beacon frame that schedules transmission of one or more trigger frames; and receive, from the STA, an uplink triggering frame in accordance with the beacon frame ([0102]: , information that indicates a schedule for transmission of uplink data by the client station 25 is included in one or more beacon frames. Thus, the network interface 27 of the client station 25 receives and processes the one or more beacon frames to determine a schedule for transmitting, by the client station 25, uplink data).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein, to transmit the queue information, the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to a plurality of ultra-high reliability STAs including the STA, a beacon frame that schedules transmission of one or more trigger frames; and receive, from the STA, an uplink triggering frame in accordance with the beacon frame” taught by Liu.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to facilitate powering down the network interface 27 of the client station 25 during the delay (Liu, [0091]).
Claims 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Chuah in view of Viger et al. (US 2024/0244481 A1).
Regarding claim 23, Chuah discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
However, Chuah does not disclose wherein: a first portion of the queue information is signaled via a first information element that indicates whether the AP has pending downlink buffered units for the STA, and a second portion of the queue information is signaled via a second information element or field that indicates a quantity of the one or more pending downlink buffered units for the STA.
In an analogous art, Viger discloses wherein: a first portion of the queue information is signaled via a first information element that indicates whether the AP has pending downlink buffered units for the STA, and a second portion of the queue information is signaled via a second information element or field that indicates a quantity of the one or more pending downlink buffered units for the STA ([0064]: transmitting to the station MLD a multi-link buffer status report, ML-BSR, comprising an indication relating to a resource allocation on a determined link to be used for a subsequent uplink transmission [0270]: The amount of data 502 corresponds to the count of buffered data units that are relevant for the present buffer reporting, i.e., data units relating to the considered traffic in the ML-BSR. [0294]: The Queue Size High subfield indicates the amount of buffered traffic, in units of SF octets, for the AC identified by the ACI High subfield that is intended for the STA identified by the receiver address of the frame containing the ML-BSR Control subfield).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chuah to comprise “wherein: a first portion of the queue information is signaled via a first information element that indicates whether the AP has pending downlink buffered units for the STA, and a second portion of the queue information is signaled via a second information element or field that indicates a quantity of the one or more pending downlink buffered units for the STA” taught by Viger.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to send information of the amount of data to be transmitted (Viger, [0270]).
Regarding claim 24, Chuah-Viger discloses the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the second information element or field is included in a beacon frame or a broadcast frame (Viger, [0294]: The Queue Size High subfield indicates the amount of buffered traffic, in units of SF octets, for the AC identified by the ACI High subfield that is intended for the STA identified by the receiver address of the frame containing the ML-BSR Control subfield). The same rationale applies as in claim 23.
Additional References
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicants disclosure.
Lee et al., US 10,492,223 B2: Channel Access for Multi-User Communication.
Pirskanen et al., US 2015/0236822 A1: Method and Apparatus for Providing Transmission Opportunity.
Belur Ramachandra et al., US 2021/0378054 A1: Spatial Reuse (SR) For OFDMA Transmissions in WLAN Systems.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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/J.C.T/Examiner, Art Unit 2454
/GLENTON B BURGESS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2454
