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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 9 objected to because of the following informalities: claim recites “…(NSTR) mobile AP MLD and the firs AP…..”. There is a typo and should be “first”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 9 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9’s limitation “include, by a first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, …….and operating on a non-primary link”. The sentence is very confusing with multiple “and”s, not sure of “include” and “does not include”, not clear on which entity performs “advertises”.
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, 3-5, 8, 11, 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2024/0365414, hereinafter “Zhang”) in view of Baek et al. (US 2024/0179744, hereinafter “Baek”).
For claim 1, Zhang discloses An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) associated with a non-AP MLD in a wireless network, the AP MLD comprising:
at least two APs, each AP being affiliated with the AP MLD (As shown in FIG. 2, an AP MLD may include an AP 1, an AP 2, and the like. A non-AP MLD includes a STA 1, a STA 2, and the like. A link 1 is formed between the AP 1 and the STA 1, a link 2 is formed between the AP 2 and the STA 2, and the like. The AP 1 and the STA 1 may perform data communication with each other by using the link 1, and the AP 2 and the STA 2 may perform data communication with each other by using the link 2; see Zhang par. 0062, 0114-0116 and Fig. 2); and
a processor coupled to the at least two APs, the processor configured to (FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications device 600 according to an embodiment of this application. The communications device 600 shown in FIG. 16 includes a processor 610, and the processor 610 may invoke a computer program from a memory and run the computer program to implement a method in embodiments of this application; see Zhang par. 0332, 0337):
advertise, by a first AP affiliated with the AP MLD (the TWT SP is announced by the AP, and usually the AP announces a TWT SP of a current round in each beacon frame; see Zhang par. 0065) and operating on a primary link established between the first AP and a first STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a broadcast target wake time (TWT) schedule for a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD and operating on a non-primary link established between the second AP and a second STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD (As shown in FIG. 7, there are two links between a mobile AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. A link 1 (Link1) is a primary link, and a link 2 (Link2) is a secondary link. The mobile AP MLD includes an AP 1 and an AP 2. The non-AP MLD includes a STA 1 and a STA 2. The AP 1 and the STA 1 work on the link 1, and the AP 2 and the STA 2 work on the link 2. Due to an NSTR feature, the mobile AP MLD does not support simultaneous transmission and reception of two links. Therefore, the AP 1 in the mobile AP MLD may send a beacon frame that carries a B-TWT element on the primary link, and indicate, by using a link ID bitmap field in the B-TWT element, a link on which the mobile AP MLD sets a TWT SP. Then, the mobile AP MLD enters a doze state indicating that the mobile AP MLD schedules the TWT SP of the link 1 and that of the link 2; see Zhang par. 0190-0191) by including a TWT element comprising a broadcast TWT parameter set field (FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of a format of a TWT parameter information field in a B-TWT element according to an embodiment of this application; see Zhang par. 0168, 0171-0173) corresponding to the second AP operating on the non-primary link in a broadcast frame via the primary link (if TWT parameter information that needs to be set for at least two links is different, a plurality of B-TWT elements may be carried in a first frame, and each B-TWT carries different B-TWT parameter information to indicate B-TWT SP parameter settings on different links. Optionally, a non-AP MLD may determine, according to the last broadcast parameter set field in the TWT parameter information field, whether a current B-TWT element is a last B-TWT element; see Zhang par. 0185-0186).
Zhang does not explicitly disclose advertise. Baek discloses advertise (when other STA which supports a r-TWT operation is a TXOP holder, the TXOP should be ended before a start time of a r-TWT SP advertised in a combined AP. Accordingly, a STA related to a corresponding r-TWT (i.e., a low latency STA) may transmit or receive traffic preferentially compared to the other STAs in a r-TWT; see Baek par. 0243). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Baek's arrangement in Zhang's invention to improve energy efficiency of non-AP STAs by defining a service period (SP) between an AP and non-AP STA and sharing information about a SP each other to reduce media contention (see Baek par. 0191).
SP.
For claims 3, 11 and 16, Zhang discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the broadcast frame is a beacon frame or a probe response frame (TWT parameter information carried in the B-TWT element may be referred to as B-TWT parameter information. Correspondingly, a TWT SP determined according to the B-TWT parameter information may be referred to as a B-TWT SP. In some embodiments of this application, the B-TWT element is carried in a first frame. For example, the first frame may be a beacon frame, or may be a management frame. That is, the B-TWT element may be carried by using the beacon frame or the management frame, where the B-TWT element is used to carry the first information. Optionally, the management frame may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: a probe response frame, an association response frame, and a reassociation response frame.; see Zhang par. 0129-0131, 0294, 0329).
For claims 4 and 17, Zhang does not explicitly disclose The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein a value in a broadcast target wake time (TWT) persistence subfield corresponding to the broadcast TWT schedule is in reference to a most recent target beacon transmission time (TBTT) and beacon interval indicated by the first AP operating on the primary link. Baek discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein a value in a broadcast target wake time (TWT) persistence subfield corresponding to the broadcast TWT schedule is in reference to a most recent target beacon transmission time (TBTT) (In reference to FIG. 18, a broadcast TWT information (broadcast TWT info) subfield is included only in a broadcast TWT parameter set field. A broadcast TWT information subfield may include a 3-bit reserved bit, a 5-bit broadcast TWT identifier (ID) subfield and a 8-bit broadcast TWT persistence subfield. A broadcast TWT identifier subfield represents a broadcast ID of a specific broadcast TWT that a STA requests participation or provides a TWT parameter according to a value of a TWT setup command subfield of a TWT element. A broadcast TWT persistence subfield represents the number of TBTTs planned on a schedule of a broadcast TWT; see Baek par. 02230) and beacon interval indicated by the first AP operating on the primary link (when a value of a negotiation type subfield is 1, a TWT subfield is about a next TBTT time and a TWT element includes one individual TWT parameter set. It may correspond to a wake TBTT and a wake interval negotiation between a TWT scheduled STA and a TWT scheduling AP; see Baek par. 0204). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Baek's arrangement in Zhang's invention to improve energy efficiency of non-AP STAs by defining a service period (SP) between an AP and non-AP STA and sharing information about a SP each other to reduce media contention (see Baek par. 0191).
For claims 5 and 18, Zhang discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the AP MLD is a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) mobile AP MLD (the AP MLD may be any AP MLD, for example, may include an NSTR AP MLD, as an example mobile AP MLD, or may include an STRAP MLD, which is not limited in this application; see Zhang par. 0081, 0070-0072, 0191, 0195).
For claims 8 and 20, Zhang discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the primary link and the second link are a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) link pair (The primary-secondary link pair of the mobile AP MLD has an NSTR feature, and an AP or a STA on the secondary link cannot separately access a channel to obtain a TXOP, but can only perform transmission by using a TXOP obtained by an AP or a STA on the primary link. Therefore, the AP of the mobile AP MLD that is on the secondary link does not have a capability of separately scheduling the B-TWT SP; see Zhang par. 0195).
Claim(s) 2, 7, 10, 15, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Baek, and further in view of Kwon et al. (US 2022/0132419, hereinafter “Kwon”).
For claims 2 and 15, the combination of Zhang and Baek does not explicitly disclose The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the broadcast TWT parameter set field is included in a station (STA) profile field of a Per-STA profile subelement of a basic multi-link element. Kwon discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the broadcast TWT parameter set field is included in a station (STA) profile field of a Per-STA profile subelement of a basic multi-link element (when a non-AP MLD receives a management frame (e.g., beacon frame and/or probe response frame) on a first link that includes a Change Sequence field for a first AP operating on second link, where the Change Sequence field includes a Change Sequence value that is greater a Change Sequence value of the non-AP MLD, and where the management frame includes the first event, the non-AP MLD identifies each update event that corresponds to the Change Sequence value from the management frame on the first link. When the first event occurs, other APs (e.g., a second AP) that are associated with the same AP MLD as the first AP include the first event and the other (subsequent) update events in an ML element included in the management frame(s) of the other APs. As an example, the first event and the other (subsequent) update events are included in a per-STA profile sub-element of the ML element included in the management frame(s) of the other AP, such that the per-STA profile sub-element corresponds to the first AP; see Kwon par. 0075-0076, 0080-0082). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Kwon's arrangement in Zhang's invention to improve operations when a Quiet element and a restricted SP are used in multi-link communications (see Kwon par. 0087).
For claims 7, 10 and 19, the combination of Zhang and Baek does not explicitly disclose The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the first AP is not in a multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set or the first AP corresponds to a transmitted BSSID in a multiple BSSID set. Kwon discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the first AP is not in a multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set or the first AP corresponds to a transmitted BSSID in a multiple BSSID set (for an AP corresponding to a non-transmitted BSSID in a multiple BSSID set, the early indication is carried in a non-transmitted BSSID Capability field (which may have the same structure as the Capability Information field) and signals the update to the change sequence information in the RNR element for APs corresponding to the AP MLD to which the non-transmitted BSSID is affiliated with. In such embodiments, a non-AP MLD that receives the early indication may optionally decode the TBD subfield included in the Capability Information field; see Kwon par. 0054, 0058, 0059, 0064). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Kwon's arrangement in Zhang's invention to improve operations when a Quiet element and a restricted SP are used in multi-link communications (see Kwon par. 0087).
Claim(s) 6, 9, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Baek, and further in view of Ryu et al. (US 2025/0031242, hereinafter “Ryu”).
For claim 6, the combination of Zhang and Baek does not explicitly disclose The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive, by the second AP from the second STA, a TWT request to join the broadcast TWT schedule. Ryu discloses The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive, by the second AP from the second STA, a TWT request to join the broadcast TWT schedule (Upon a successful exchange of TWT setup request frame 1106 and TWT setup response frame 1108, the requested r-TWT is setup between AP 1102 and STA 1104. STA 1104 is considered a member r-TWT scheduled STA of the r-TWT. In other words, STA 1104 may be allowed to transmit during service periods of the setup r-TWT. Another STA (not shown in FIG. 11) may join the setup r-TWT by exchanging TWT setup request and response frames with AP 1102. AP 1102 may also add another STA (not shown in FIG. 11) to the setup r-TWT by transmitting a TWT setup response frame to the STA; see Ryu par. 0127). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ryu's arrangement in Zhang's invention to avoid the interfering event and to compensate STA MLD for the loss of r-TWT SP by providing another time-adjacent (delayed) r-TWT SP (see Ryu par. 0139).
For claim 9, Zhang discloses An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) associated with a non-AP MLD in a wireless network, the AP MLD comprising:
at least two APs, each AP being affiliated with the AP MLD (As shown in FIG. 2, an AP MLD may include an AP 1, an AP 2, and the like. A non-AP MLD includes a STA 1, a STA 2, and the like. A link 1 is formed between the AP 1 and the STA 1, a link 2 is formed between the AP 2 and the STA 2, and the like. The AP 1 and the STA 1 may perform data communication with each other by using the link 1, and the AP 2 and the STA 2 may perform data communication with each other by using the link 2; see Zhang par. 0062, 0114-0116 and Fig. 2); and
a processor coupled to the at least two APs, the processor configured to (FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications device 600 according to an embodiment of this application. The communications device 600 shown in FIG. 16 includes a processor 610, and the processor 610 may invoke a computer program from a memory and run the computer program to implement a method in embodiments of this application; see Zhang par. 0332, 0337):
include, by a first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a basic multi-link element for the AP MLD in a broadcast frame (As shown in FIG. 5, the B-TWT element includes at least one of the following fields: an element ID, a length, control, and TWT parameter information…when the B-TWT element does not include the link ID bitmap field, it indicates that an application scenario of transmission herein is a single-link trans mission scenario, or may correspond to a multi-link transmission scenario, for example, B-TWT parameter information of each link in the multi-link transmission scenario corresponds to one independent B-TWT element; see Zhang par. 0157-0166), wherein the basic multi-link element does not include a link information field unless the AP MLD is a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) mobile AP MLD (Due to an NSTR feature, the mobile AP MLD does not support simultaneous transmission and reception of two links. Therefore, the AP 1 in the mobile AP MLD may send a beacon frame that carries a B-TWT element on the primary link, and indicate, by using a link ID bitmap field in the B-TWT element, a link on which the mobile AP MLD sets a TWT SP. Then, the mobile AP MLD enters a doze state. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, if the mobile AP MLD sets a TWT SP of the link 1 and that of the link 2, the link ID bitmap field is set to 11, indicating that the mobile AP MLD schedules the TWT SP of the link 1 and that of the link 2; see Zhang par. 0191) and the firs AP is operating on a primary link established between the first AP and a first STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD, and advertises a broadcast target wake time (TWT) schedule for a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD (the TWT SP is announced by the AP, and usually the AP announces a TWT SP of a current round in each beacon frame; see Zhang par. 0065) and operating on a non-primary link (As shown in FIG. 7, there are two links between a mobile AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. A link 1 (Link1) is a primary link, and a link 2 (Link2) is a secondary link. The mobile AP MLD includes an AP 1 and an AP 2. The non-AP MLD includes a STA 1 and a STA 2. The AP 1 and the STA 1 work on the link 1, and the AP 2 and the STA 2 work on the link 2. Due to an NSTR feature, the mobile AP MLD does not support simultaneous transmission and reception of two links. Therefore, the AP 1 in the mobile AP MLD may send a beacon frame that carries a B-TWT element on the primary link, and indicate, by using a link ID bitmap field in the B-TWT element, a link on which the mobile AP MLD sets a TWT SP. Then, the mobile AP MLD enters a doze state indicating that the mobile AP MLD schedules the TWT SP of the link 1 and that of the link 2; see Zhang par. 0190-0191); and
Zhang does not explicitly disclose transmit, by the first AP affiliated with AP MLD, the broadcast frame. Ryu discloses transmit, by the first AP affiliated with AP MLD, the broadcast frame (For r-TWT, TWT element 600 may be transmitted in a broadcast management frame, which can be a beacon frame, a TIM broadcast frame, a probe response frame, etc. In this embodiment, TWT element 600 provides non-negotiated TWT schedules (e.g., broadcast TWT schedules); see Ryu par. 0070, 0110). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ryu's arrangement in Zhang's invention to avoid the interfering event and to compensate STA MLD for the loss of r-TWT SP by providing another time-adjacent (delayed) r-TWT SP (see Ryu par. 0139).
For claim 14, Zhang discloses A non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) associated with an AP MLD in a wireless network (the communications device 600 may specifically be a non-AP MLD in embodiments of this application, and the communications device 600 may implement corresponding procedures implemented by the non-AP MLD in the methods according to embodiments of this application; see Zhang par. 0338 and Fig. 16), the non-AP MLD comprising:
at least two STAs, each STA being affiliated with the non-AP MLD (As shown in FIG. 2, an AP MLD may include an AP 1, an AP 2, and the like. A non-AP MLD includes a STA 1, a STA 2, and the like. A link 1 is formed between the AP 1 and the STA 1, a link 2 is formed between the AP 2 and the STA 2, and the like. The AP 1 and the STA 1 may perform data communication with each other by using the link 1, and the AP 2 and the STA 2 may perform data communication with each other by using the link 2; see Zhang par. 0062, 0114-0116 and Fig. 2); and
a processor coupled to the at least two STAs, the processor configured to (FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications device 600 according to an embodiment of this application. The communications device 600 shown in FIG. 16 includes a processor 610, and the processor 610 may invoke a computer program from a memory and run the computer program to implement a method in embodiments of this application; see Zhang par. 0332, 0337):
receive, by a first STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD and operating on a primary link established between the first STA and a first AP affiliated with the AP MLD, a broadcast frame via the primary link (a first communications unit 510, configured to receive, on the first link, first information sent by an access point AP MLD device, where the first information includes at least one piece of target wake time TWT parameter information, and the TWT parameter information is used to determine a TWT SP, where the at least one piece of TWT parameter information is broadcast TWT B-TWT parameter information or restricted TWT R-TWT parameter information, and the at least one piece of TWT parameter information corresponds to at least one link; see Zhang par. 0298), the broadcast frame advertising a broadcast target wake time (TWT) schedule for a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD (the TWT SP is announced by the AP, and usually the AP announces a TWT SP of a current round in each beacon frame; see Zhang par. 0065) and operating on a non-primary link established between the second STA and an second AP affiliated with the AP MLD (As shown in FIG. 7, there are two links between a mobile AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. A link 1 (Link1) is a primary link, and a link 2 (Link2) is a secondary link. The mobile AP MLD includes an AP 1 and an AP 2. The non-AP MLD includes a STA 1 and a STA 2. The AP 1 and the STA 1 work on the link 1, and the AP 2 and the STA 2 work on the link 2. Due to an NSTR feature, the mobile AP MLD does not support simultaneous transmission and reception of two links. Therefore, the AP 1 in the mobile AP MLD may send a beacon frame that carries a B-TWT element on the primary link, and indicate, by using a link ID bitmap field in the B-TWT element, a link on which the mobile AP MLD sets a TWT SP. Then, the mobile AP MLD enters a doze state indicating that the mobile AP MLD schedules the TWT SP of the link 1 and that of the link 2; see Zhang par. 0190-0191) by including a TWT element comprising a broadcast TWT parameter set field (FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of a format of a TWT parameter information field in a B-TWT element according to an embodiment of this application; see Zhang par. 0168, 0171-0173) corresponding to the second AP operating on the non-primary link (if TWT parameter information that needs to be set for at least two links is different, a plurality of B-TWT elements may be carried in a first frame, and each B-TWT carries different B-TWT parameter information to indicate B-TWT SP parameter settings on different links. Optionally, a non-AP MLD may determine, according to the last broadcast parameter set field in the TWT parameter information field, whether a current B-TWT element is a last B-TWT element; see Zhang par. 0185-0186); and
Zhang does not explicitly disclose transmit, by the second STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD and operating on the non-primary link, a TWT request to join the broadcast TWT schedule. Ryu discloses transmit, by the second STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD and operating on the non-primary link, a TWT request to join the broadcast TWT schedule (Upon a successful exchange of TWT setup request frame 1106 and TWT setup response frame 1108, the requested r-TWT is setup between AP 1102 and STA 1104. STA 1104 is considered a member r-TWT scheduled STA of the r-TWT. In other words, STA 1104 may be allowed to transmit during service periods of the setup r-TWT. Another STA (not shown in FIG. 11) may join the setup r-TWT by exchanging TWT setup request and response frames with AP 1102. AP 1102 may also add another STA (not shown in FIG. 11) to the setup r-TWT by transmitting a TWT setup response frame to the STA; see Ryu par. 0127). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ryu's arrangement in Zhang's invention to avoid the interfering event and to compensate STA MLD for the loss of r-TWT SP by providing another time-adjacent (delayed) r-TWT SP (see Ryu par. 0139).
Claim(s) 12, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Ryu, and further in view of Lu et al. (US 2023/0113355, hereinafter “Lu”).
For claim 12, the combination of Zhang and Ryu does not explicitly disclose The AP MLD of claim 11, wherein the probe response frame is not in a multi-link probe response that the first AP transmits. Lu discloses The AP MLD of claim 11, wherein the probe response frame is not in a multi-link probe response that the first AP transmits (a reporting AP of an AP MLD may indicate that a reported AP is scheduled to be or is unavailable or quiet or disabled through the Per-STA Profile sub-element corresponding to a non-primary link associated with the reported AP. The indication may be included in a Multi-Link IE in the Beacon frame(s) and/or Probe Response frame(s) or multi-link Probe Response (Re-)Association Response frame(s) transmitted by the reporting AP. It is noteworthy that the various proposed schemes described above may be applied to a reported AP affiliated with an AP MLD; see Lu par. 0038). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Lu's arrangement in Zhang's invention to provide solutions pertaining to link availability indication for a non-primary link in wireless communications (see Lu par. 0022).
For claim 13, Zhang discloses The AP MLD of claim 9, wherein when the first AP is affiliated with the NSTR mobile AP MLD (the AP MLD may be any AP MLD, for example, may include an NSTR AP MLD, as an example mobile AP MLD, or may include an STRAP MLD, which is not limited in this application; see Zhang par. 0081) and operating on the primary link (Links provided by the mobile AP MLD include a primary link and a non-primary link (a secondary link). The mobile AP MLD communicates with a traditional device or a single-link device only on the primary link; see Zhang par. 0071) and the first AP advertises the broadcast TWT schedule for the second AP (the TWT SP is announced by the AP, and usually the AP announces a TWT SP of a current round in each beacon frame; see Zhang par. 0065),
The combination of Zhang and Ryu does not explicitly disclose a station (STA) profile in the link formation field of the basic multi-link element only includes a broadcast TWT element for the second AP operating on the non-primary link. Lu discloses a station (STA) profile in the link formation field of the basic multi-link element only includes a broadcast TWT element for the second AP operating on the non-primary link (FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 of quiet interval scheduling for a non-primary link under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. In scenario 200, an AP affiliated with an NSTR AP MLD and operating on a primary link of an NSTR link pair may schedule one or more quiet intervals for another AP affiliated with the NSTR AP MLD that is operating on a non-primary link of the NSTR link pair. For instance, referring to part (A) of FIG. 2, when an AP ( e.g., AP1) affiliated with an NSTR AP MLD and operating on the primary link schedules one or more quiet intervals on the primary link by transmitting one or more Quiet elements carried in Beacon frames and/or Probe Response frames. Moreover, the same quiet interval (s) may be scheduled for another AP (e.g., AP2) affiliated with the same NSTR AP MLD that is operating on the non-primary link. Alternatively, referring to part (B) of FIG. 2, an AP ( e.g., AP1) affiliated with an NSTR AP MLD and operating on the primary link may schedule quiet intervals only for the other AP (e.g., AP2) affiliated with the same NSTRAP MLD that is operating on the non-primary link by transmitting one or more Quiet elements carried in a Per-STA Profile sub-element corresponding to AP2 in a Basic Variant Multi-Link element in Beacon frames and/or Probe Response frames transmitted by AP! on the primary link; see Lu par. 0032). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Lu's arrangement in Zhang's invention to provide solutions pertaining to link availability indication for a non-primary link in wireless communications (see Lu par. 0022).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-Huang et al. (US 2026/0012885).
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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