DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to 6/25/2024.
Claims 1-27 are pending.
Claims 1-11, 13, and 15-27 are rejected.
Claims 12, 14, and 25 are objected to.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/25/2024 and 1/23/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 27 is 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 27 recites the limitation "the response A-PPDU" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of examination, claim 27 depends on claim 26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-11, 13, 15-24, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al. US 20250226912 A1, hereinafter Park.
Regarding Claim 1, Park discloses a method performed by a wireless device (Park see Fig. 1), comprising:
wirelessly transmitting an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit (A-PPDU) (Park see [0197-0198] disclosing A-PPDU transmission; see Fig. 14),
wherein the A-PPDU includes a plurality of sub-PPDUs each occupying a different one of a plurality of subchannels, wherein all of the plurality of sub-PPDUs are addressed to a same station (STA) (Park see Fig. 14, [0197-0198] disclosing A-PPDU transmission; Fig. 15, [0214] discloses a first STA receiving a specific PPDU including multiple S-PPDUs from a second STA).
Regarding Claim 2, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein each of the plurality of subchannels has a bandwidth that is a multiple of 20 Megahertz (MHz) (Park see Fig. 14).
Regarding Claim 3, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein each sub-PPDU of the plurality of sub-PPDUs includes a signal field that includes information regarding data and padding included in the sub-PPDU (Park at least [0099-0100] discloses the SIG field may include information on modulation and coding rates of data and the length of data; the data field may include padding bits if necessary to adjust the length of a data field in a predetermined unit).
Regarding Claim 4, Park discloses the method of claim 3 and further discloses wherein each sub-PPDU of the plurality of sub-PPDUs further includes an ultra high reliability (UHR) short training field and a UHR long training field between the signal field included in the sub-PPDU and the data and padding included in the sub-PPDU (Park [0201] discloses that the UHR MU PPDU may have a similar structure to the EHT MU PPDU; in Fig. 13, EHT-STF and EHT-LFT is in between the EHT-SIG and Data fields).
Regarding Claim 5, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein all of the plurality of sub-PPDUs have a same PPDU format (Park at least [0239, 0245] discloses that S-PPDUs of the same type of format may be configured and allocated in a bandwidth).
Regarding Claim 6, Park discloses the method of claim 5 and further discloses wherein the same PPDU format is an ultra high reliability (UHR) PPDU format (Park at least [0239, 0245] discloses that UHR PPDU may be configured and allocated in a bandwidth).
Regarding Claim 7, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein at least two of the plurality of sub-PPDUs have different PPDU formats (Park at least [0200] discloses that each S-PPDU constituting an A-PPDU may be a PPDU of a different format).
Regarding Claim 8, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein one or more of the plurality of sub-PPDUs include a same data and padding (Park at least [0099-0100] discloses the data field may include padding bits if necessary to adjust the length of a data field in a predetermined unit).
Regarding Claim 9, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein all of the plurality of sub-PPDUs include different data and padding (Park at least see [0099] disclosing the length field of SIG field carrying the length of data; and [0150] disclosing different values of the length field based on the type of the PPDU).
Regarding Claim 10, Park discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses further comprising:
wirelessly receiving one or more response frames from the STA in one or more of the plurality of subchannels as a response to the A-PPDU (Park [0068] discloses Fig. 3 illustrating a network discovery operation including an active scanning process. An STA performing scanning transmits a probe request frame; a responder transmits a probe response frame as a response to the probe request frame);
selecting one or more of the plurality of subchannels for use in a subchannel selective transmission based on the one or more response frames (Park [0196] discloses EHT MU PPDU including punctured channel information but the EHT TB PPDU does not include puncture channel information as it is assumed to be configured according to the resource allocation indication by the trigger frame or TRS control information; therefore, there is no need for the STA to inform the AP of the resource information of the EHT TB PPDU); and
wirelessly transmitting a data frame in the selected one or more subchannels as part of the subchannel selective transmission (Park see also [0304] disclosing A-PPDU structure when SST operation/setting is applied).
Regarding Claim 11, Park discloses the method of claim 10 and further discloses wherein the one or more response frames include one or more acknowledgement (ACK) frames, and wherein the selected one or more subchannels are subchannels in which the one or more ACK frames were received (Park [0084] discloses control frame including Acknowledgment frame).
Regarding Claim 13, Park discloses the method of claim 10 and further discloses wherein the one or more response frames are received as part of a response A-PPDU transmitted by the STA (Park [0196] discloses EHT MU PPDU including punctured channel information).
Regarding Claim 15, Park discloses a method performed by a station (STA) implemented by a wireless device (Park see Fig. 1), comprising:
wirelessly receiving an aggregated physical layer protocol data unit (A-PPDU) (Park see [0197-0198] disclosing A-PPDU transmission; see Fig. 14),
wherein the A-PPDU includes a plurality of sub-PPDUs each occupying a different one of a plurality of subchannels, wherein all of the plurality of sub-PPDUs are addressed to the STA (Park see Fig. 14, [0197-0198] disclosing A-PPDU transmission; Fig. 15, [0214] discloses a first STA receiving a specific PPDU including multiple S-PPDUs from a second STA); and
attempting to separately decode each of the plurality of sub-PPDUs included in the A-PPDU (Park see [0051]).
Claims 16-22 are rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claims 2-3 and 5-9, respectively. Claims 16-22 recite similar features as in claims 2-3 and 5-9, respectively, from the perspective of a wireless device of a station.
Regarding Claim 23, Park discloses the method of claim 15 and further discloses further comprising:
wirelessly transmitting one or more response frames in one or more of the plurality of subchannels based on whether the attempts to separately decode the plurality of sub-PPDUs were successful,
wherein the one or more response frames are to be used by a transmitter of the A-PPDU to select subchannels for use in a subchannel selective transmission (Park [0068] discloses Fig. 3 illustrating a network discovery operation including an active scanning process. An STA performing scanning transmits a probe request frame; a responder transmits a probe response frame as a response to the probe request frame; [0196] discloses EHT MU PPDU including punctured channel information but the EHT TB PPDU does not include puncture channel information as it is assumed to be configured according to the resource allocation indication by the trigger frame or TRS control information; therefore, there is no need for the STA to inform the AP of the resource information of the EHT TB PPDU); and
wirelessly receiving a data frame as part of the subchannel selective transmission (Park see also [0304] disclosing A-PPDU structure when SST operation/setting is applied).
Regarding Claim 24, Park discloses the method of claim 23 and further discloses wherein the one or more response frames include one or more acknowledgement (ACK) frames that occupy one or more subchannels of the plurality of subchannels in which the attempt to decode a sub-PPDU of the A-PPDU was successful (Park [0084] discloses control frame including Acknowledgment frame; see also [0051]).
Claim 26 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 13. Claim 26 recites similar features as in claim 13 from the perspective of a wireless device of a station.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12, 14, and 25 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 27 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Seok et al. US 20240064809 A1
Lou et al. US 20240333465 A1
Park et al. US 20260082374 A1
Chen et al. US 20240430052 A1
Naik et al. US 20250113339 A1
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEWON KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-6524. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, GARY MUI can be reached at (571)270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Y.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/GARY MUI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights