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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 10/28/2024 was filed. The submission is 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 § 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, 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 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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 5 – 6, 10 – 12, 14 – 15, 17 – 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin et al. US20230081745A1, hereinafter Xin in view of CIOCHINA-KAR et al. US20260136386A1, hereinafter Ciochina-Kar.
Regarding claim 1, Xin teaches an apparatus for a station (STA), the apparatus comprising memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:
(Xin: Summary, Fig. 2, para. [0047] 50 of STA includes CPU 58 and memory (e.g., RAM) 60 for executing a program(s). para. [0054] STA operating on a link of a different frequency. The MLD has external I/O access to applications, this access connects to a MLD management entity 78 having a CPU 92 and memory (e.g., RAM) 94 to allow executing a program(s) that implement communication protocols at the MLD level)
decode, from an access point (AP), (Xin: para. [0048] STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station. Para. [0084] STA A sends a PPDU, i.e., PPDU1 182, with punctured resource. STA C receives and decodes PPDU1; and it should be appreciated that STA C may decide to only decode the preamble of PPDU1 to obtain punctured resource information. From this, STA C has obtained the location of the punctured resource during PPDU1 and performs channel sensing over the punctured resource)
a frame;
(Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 (corresponds to claim limitation “frame”) preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1)
wait for a preemption duration (backoff), the preemption duration less than (the duration of backoff is within (or less than) the duration of punctured resource) a wait duration of the AP (punctured resource); and
(Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during (or within) the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1)
encode, for transmission to the AP after the preemption duration (backoff 422) an indication of a preemption request (PR) (Fig. 20 424 preemption request signal P=high. Fig. 21 472, Para. [0148-0149 & 0156 & 0161-0162] When the backoff 422 is counted down to zero, then STA B can access the channel and sends a signal 424 to request a preemption transmission. It should be noted that when STA B accesses the channel, it may wait several microseconds to align its OFDM symbol boundary with that of STA A),
in response to a determination that a medium is idle during the preemption duration
(Xin: para. [0144] preempting STA only senses the channel condition during the punctured resource as indicated by the ongoing PPDU transmitted by the preempted STA during the backoff procedure. If the channel condition during the punctured resource is idle for a backoff slot time, then the backoff counter is decremented (e.g., by one). Otherwise, the backoff counter is not decremented. The preempting STA gains channel access when the backoff counter reaches zero with the channel still idle)
and that the STA has pending data to send to the AP.
(Xin: Fig. 20 424 preemption request signal P=high, and Fig. 21 472 preemption request signal P=high. para. [0122] preempting STA sends a preemption request to the preempted STA to launch a preemption transmission. The preempting STA indicates the priority of its preemption transmission in the preemption request. The preemption transmission is only allowed when the priority of the preemption transmission is higher than the ongoing transmission. Para. [0148-0149 & 0156 & 0161-0162] When the backoff 422 is counted down to zero, then STA B can access the channel and sends a signal 424 to request a preemption transmission. It should be noted that when STA B accesses the channel, it may wait several microseconds to align its OFDM symbol boundary with that of STA A)
It is noted that Xin does not explicitly disclose: the STA has pending low-latency (LL) data to send to the AP.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
the preemption duration (backoff duration is within/less than) less than a wait duration (preemptive period) of the AP;
(Ciochina-Kar: para. [0143] a backoff counter reached 0 during a preemptive period)
the STA has pending low-latency (LL) data to send to the AP. (Ciochina-Kar: [0109] establishing low latency sensitive traffic stream (LLTS) sessions to inform about the low latency traffic stream characteristics and preemption parameters. A non-AP STA having low latency sensitive traffic may establish a low latency traffic session with the AP with which it is associated)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 2, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the preemption duration and the wait duration are each one of: short inter-frame space (SIFS) (Xin: para. [0151] a SIFS time), point coordination function (PCF) inter-frame space (PIFS), distributed coordination function (DCF) inter-frame space (DIFS), or another inter-frame space (Xin: para. [0151] a IFS time).
Regarding claim 3, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the PR is completed by an end of the wait duration.
(Xin: para. [0107 & 0116] FD originator STA can detect a preemption request over the reserved channel resource. The reserved channel resource can be indicated in the PPDU transmitted by the FD originator STA. para. [0123] preempting STA can sense the channel (or partial channel) during the punctured resource and sends a preemption request over the channel (or partial channel) if there is no third party transmission)
Regarding claim 5, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame, a beacon frame, an association response frame, a reassociation response frame, a request-to-send frame (Xin: para. [0172] RTS frame), a trigger frame, or a multi-user request to send frame (Xin: para. [0165] Para. [0165] MU-RTS TXS trigger frame 482 as defined in IEEE 802.11be), signal field,
(Xin: para. [0110-0111] LTF fields)
a ultra-high reliability (UHR) signal field, or an universal signal field.
It is noted that Xin does not explicitly disclose: comprises an indication that PRs are permitted.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
comprises an indication that PRs are permitted. (Ciochina-Kar: [0114] AP can include within the LLSTSReservation, an indication of whether preemption is supported and with which parameters, e.g., preemption allowed only in downlink or in both uplink and downlink, maximum waiting interval that could be allowed during a data exchange, maximum PPDU length that a pSTA may use as preemptive data if sent during a waiting interval, whether a transmission from a pSTA can be performed simultaneously with a transmission from an sSTA within a same or a different link or channel or within different links or channels, whether a transmission from a pSTA can be performed simultaneously with the reception of a transmission towards an sSTA over a different link or subchannel of a channel or over a different channel. Para. [0065-0066 & 0071] RTS. Para. [0094] LLTI indication being a flag set within the SIG field) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 6, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame is a first frame,
(Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 (corresponds to claim limitation “frame”) preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1)
and Xin does not explicitly teach: wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode a second frame, from the AP, the second frame indicating an intent to obtain a transmission opportunity (TxOP); and encode, for transmission to the AP, a third frame, the third frame in response to the second frame, wherein the first frame is decoded during the TxOP.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode a second frame, from the AP, the second frame indicating an intent to obtain a transmission opportunity (TxOP) (Ciochina-Kar: [0058] and FIG. 4 downlink (DL) inter-PPDU truncation for DL or trigger-based UL preemptive traffic. AP and an sSTA are exchanging data within a TXOP obtained by the AP. During the transmission of one of the PPDUs (or, more generally, data units or data frames), denoted as sPPDU, the AP receives an LL Traffic Notification (TN), more generally also called truncation notification, indicating that LL sensitive traffic destined for pSTA is queued. The LLTN may come from higher layer, e.g. a distribution system or a central control entity. After finishing the transmission of the sPPDU, the AP sends a pPPDU at least to pSTA, which may contain a low latency truncation indication (LLTI), signaling that LL traffic towards pSTA follows); and
encode, for transmission to the AP, a third frame, the third frame in response to the second frame, wherein the first frame is decoded during the TxOP. (Ciochina-Kar: [0109] establishing low latency sensitive traffic stream (LLTS) sessions to inform about the low latency traffic stream characteristics and preemption parameters. A non-AP STA having low latency sensitive traffic may establish a low latency traffic session with the AP with which it is associated) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 10, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame is a first frame, (Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 (corresponds to claim limitation “frame”) preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1) and
Xin does not explicitly teach: wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode, a second frame from the AP before the first frame, the second frame comprising a control frame to obtain an transmission opportunity (TxOP), and the second frame.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: decode, a second frame from the AP before the first frame, the second frame comprising a control frame to obtain an transmission opportunity (TxOP), and the second frame (Ciochina-Kar: [0058] and FIG. 4 downlink (DL) inter-PPDU truncation for DL or trigger-based UL preemptive traffic. AP and an sSTA are exchanging data within a TXOP obtained by the AP. During the transmission of one of the PPDUs (or, more generally, data units or data frames), denoted as sPPDU, the AP receives an LL Traffic Notification (TN), more generally also called truncation notification, indicating that LL sensitive traffic destined for pSTA is queued. The LLTN may come from higher layer, e.g. a distribution system or a central control entity. After finishing the transmission of the sPPDU, the AP sends a pPPDU at least to pSTA, which may contain a low latency truncation indication (LLTI), signaling that LL traffic towards pSTA follows)
comprising an indication that PR are permitted during the TxOP. (Ciochina-Kar: [0114] AP can include within the LLSTSReservation, an indication of whether preemption is supported and with which parameters, e.g., preemption allowed only in downlink or in both uplink and downlink, maximum waiting interval that could be allowed during a data exchange, maximum PPDU length that a pSTA may use as preemptive data if sent during a waiting interval, whether a transmission from a pSTA can be performed simultaneously with a transmission from an sSTA within a same or a different link or channel or within different links or channels, whether a transmission from a pSTA can be performed simultaneously with the reception of a transmission towards an sSTA over a different link or subchannel of a channel or over a different channel. Para. [0065-0066 & 0071] RTS. Para. [0094] LLTI indication being a flag set within the SIG field) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 11, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, Xin does not explicitly teach: wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode, from the AP, a trigger frame, the trigger frame comprising an uplink resource unit for the STA; and encode, for transmission to the AP, the pending LL data.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode, from the AP, a trigger frame, the trigger frame comprising an uplink resource unit for the STA (Ciochina-Kar: [0058] AP sends a pPPDU at least to pSTA, which may contain a low latency truncation indication (LLTI), signaling that LL traffic towards pSTA follows. Para. [0059-0064] pPPDU can be implemented as a trigger frame, which in the user specific field contains information regarding the parameters that should be respected: e.g., transmission should not exceed the TXOP boundary); and encode, for transmission to the AP, the pending LL data. (Ciochina-Kar: [0058] AP sends a pPPDU at least to pSTA, which may contain a low latency truncation indication (LLTI), signaling that LL traffic towards pSTA follows. Para. [0059-0064] pPPDU can be implemented as a trigger frame, which in the user specific field contains information regarding the parameters that should be respected: e.g., transmission should not exceed the TXOP boundary. Para. [0089] If an LLTN is issued at the AP, requesting it to start a LL DL transmission towards pSTA or trigger an LL UL transmission from the pSTA) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 12, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the STA is affiliated with a non-access point (AP) (Xin: para. [0048-0054] STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station or a regular station (non-AP STA)) multi-link device (MLD) (Xin: para. [0054] Multiple STAs are affiliated with an MLD) and Xin does not explicitly teach: the access point is affiliated with an AP MLD.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
the access point is affiliated with an AP MLD (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0064] AP is capable of multi-link operation) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 14, Xin teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when processed by one or more processors, configure an apparatus of a station (STA) to perform operations comprising:
(Xin: Summary, Fig. 2, para. [0047] 50 of STA includes CPU 58 and memory (e.g., RAM) 60 for executing a program(s). para. [0054] STA operating on a link of a different frequency. The MLD has external I/O access to applications, this access connects to a MLD management entity 78 having a CPU 92 and memory (e.g., RAM) 94 to allow executing a program(s) that implement communication protocols at the MLD level)
decode, from an access point (AP), (Xin: para. [0048] STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station. Para. [0084] STA A sends a PPDU, i.e., PPDU1 182, with punctured resource. STA C receives and decodes PPDU1; and it should be appreciated that STA C may decide to only decode the preamble of PPDU1 to obtain punctured resource information. From this, STA C has obtained the location of the punctured resource during PPDU1 and performs channel sensing over the punctured resource)
a frame, the frame soliciting uplink frames from one or more STAs, the one or more STAs comprising the STA;
(Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 (corresponds to claim limitation “frame”) preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1)
and
in response to a determination that the STA has pending data to send to the AP, encode, for transmission to the AP, (Xin: Fig. 20 424 preemption request signal P=high, and Fig. 21 472 preemption request signal P=high. para. [0122] preempting STA sends a preemption request to the preempted STA to launch a preemption transmission. The preempting STA indicates the priority of its preemption transmission in the preemption request. The preemption transmission is only allowed when the priority of the preemption transmission is higher than the ongoing transmission. Para. [0148-0149 & 0156 & 0161-0162] When the backoff 422 is counted down to zero, then STA B can access the channel and sends a signal 424 to request a preemption transmission. It should be noted that when STA B accesses the channel, it may wait several microseconds to align its OFDM symbol boundary with that of STA A)
an indication of a preemption request (PR) on a dedicated resource unit for PRs.
(Xin: para. [0077] punctured resource can be any type of channel resource that is capable of carrying the signal during the PPDU. For example, the punctured resource can be in terms of RUs, OFDM symbols, and/or tones of carrier)
It is noted that Xin does not explicitly disclose: the STA has pending low-latency (LL) data to send to the AP.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
the STA has pending low-latency (LL) data to send to the AP. (Ciochina-Kar: [0109] establishing low latency sensitive traffic stream (LLTS) sessions to inform about the low latency traffic stream characteristics and preemption parameters. A non-AP STA having low latency sensitive traffic may establish a low latency traffic session with the AP with which it is associated)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 15, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the indication of the PR is a common PR control frame. (Xin: para. [0248] and FIG. 31 840 of a preemption request signal format. The frame control field indicates the type of frame)
Regarding claim 17, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the n apparatus for an access point (AP), (Xin: para. [0048] STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station) the apparatus comprising memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:
(Xin: Summary, Fig. 2, para. [0047] 50 of STA includes CPU 58 and memory (e.g., RAM) 60 for executing a program(s). para. [0054] STA operating on a link of a different frequency. The MLD has external I/O access to applications, this access connects to a MLD management entity 78 having a CPU 92 and memory (e.g., RAM) 94 to allow executing a program(s) that implement communication protocols at the MLD level)
encode, for transmission to one or more stations (STAs) (Xin: para. [0048] STA to perform the functions of an access point (AP) station. Para. [0084] STA A sends a PPDU, i.e., PPDU1 182, with punctured resource. STA C receives and decodes PPDU1; and it should be appreciated that STA C may decide to only decode the preamble of PPDU1 to obtain punctured resource information. From this, STA C has obtained the location of the punctured resource during PPDU1 and performs channel sensing over the punctured resource)
during a transmission opportunity (TxOP), (Xin: para. [0133] TXOP)
a frame; (Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 (corresponds to claim limitation “frame”) preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1)
decode, after a preemption duration (backoff 422) and before an end of a wait duration of the AP (punctured resource 420),
(Xin: para. [0160] STA A 412 is the preempted STA and is transmitting PPDU1 418 preceded by preamble 416, which contains an indication of the PPDU being of a low priority. PPDU1 embeds punctured resources 420. STA B 414 is the preempting STA. STA B contends for the channel by sensing channel status during the punctured resource of PPDU1. For example, STA B counts down the backoff 422 when it senses that the channel is idle during the punctured resource 420 of PPDU1)
from one or more STAs of the one or more STAs, one or more indications of a preemption request (PR); and (Xin: Fig. 20 424 preemption request signal P=high, and Fig. 21 472 preemption request signal P=high. para. [0122] preempting STA sends a preemption request to the preempted STA to launch a preemption transmission. The preempting STA indicates the priority of its preemption transmission in the preemption request. The preemption transmission is only allowed when the priority of the preemption transmission is higher than the ongoing transmission. Para. [0148-0149 & 0156 & 0161-0162] When the backoff 422 is counted down to zero, then STA B can access the channel and sends a signal 424 to request a preemption transmission. It should be noted that when STA B accesses the channel, it may wait several microseconds to align its OFDM symbol boundary with that of STA A)
interrupt the TxOP to provide units to the one or more STAs, in response to the one or more indications of the PR. (Xin: para. [0156] When STA A receives the preemption request signal, it is shown ending its PPDU1 transmission and accepting the preemption request with a DTX confirm signal 454. The DTX portion 456 of PPDU1 is that portion of PPDU1 that is not transmitted due to the interruption. According to information in the DTX confirmation signal 454, both the receiver of PPDU1 and STA B can recognize (know) that PPDU1 has been interrupted)
It is noted that Xin does not explicitly disclose: decode, from one or more low-latency (LL) STAs of the one or more STAs, one or more indications of a preemption request (PR); and
to provide uplink resource units to the one or more LL STAs, in response to the one or more indications of the PR.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of:
decode, from one or more low-latency (LL) STAs of the one or more STAs, one or more indications of a preemption request (PR); (Ciochina-Kar: [0109] establishing low latency sensitive traffic stream (LLTS) sessions to inform about the low latency traffic stream characteristics and preemption parameters. A non-AP STA having low latency sensitive traffic may establish a low latency traffic session with the AP with which it is associated)
to provide uplink resource units to the one or more LL STAs, in response to the one or more indications of the PR. (Ciochina-Kar: [0059-0063] sSTA is interrupted for an uplink (UL) transmission of the pSTA, then pPPDU can be implemented as a trigger frame, which in the user specific field contains information regarding the parameters that should be respected: e.g., transmission should not exceed the TXOP boundary. In this case the indication of … possible duration of traffic exchange with pSTA may be included. Para. [0111] The AP responds to the latency traffic session request with an acceptance/rejection or suggestion for alternate parameters. Specifically regarding preemption, the AP may indicate if, in order to satisfy the traffic requirements in point of latency, .. Chosen values may be indicated in scheduling intervals defined with these parameters. A framework for this may be that basically within certain scheduling intervals, certain STAs may request TXOPs, which are defined such that in between a number of PPDUs a waiting time of e.g. PIFS is defined. This information may be sent, e.g. via some setup or beacons to all STAs not only the pSTA) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claims 18 and 20, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claims 2 and 5, and therefore apparatus claims 18 and 20 are rejected using the same rationales.
Claim(s) 4 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin and Ciochina-Kar as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chu et al. US 20240284496 A1, hereinafter Chu. (Chu: para. [0001] benefit U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/487,436, filed on Feb. 28, 2023, hereinafter Chu’436)
Regarding claim 4, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication is a null data packet (NDP) (Xin: para. [0180] Null Data Packet (NDP))
Xin and Ciochina-Kar do not explicitly teach: wherein the indication is a null data packet (NDP) feedback report (NFR) preemption request frame.
However, Takata from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: wherein the indication is a null data packet (NDP) feedback report (NFR) preemption request frame (Chu: para. [0079 & 0060 & 0065 & 0094] UHR STA 610-2 can transmit a Trigger frame (e.g., a Null Data Packet (NDP) Feedback Report Poll (NFRP) Trigger frame 622. Chu’436: page 5 3rd bullet) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Chu in the apparatus of Xin and Ciochina-Kar. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for scheduling of UL transmission of the low latency frame from the 3rd party STA (Chu: para. [0060]).
Regarding claim 19, Xin, Ciochina-Kar and Chu teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claim 4, and therefore apparatus claim 19 is rejected using the same rationales.
Claim(s) 7 – 9, 13, 16 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin and Ciochina-Kar as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Takata et al. WO2023243568A1 (with filing date 2023-06-09, translation provided for citation), hereinafter Takata.
Regarding claim 7, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, Xin does not explicitly teach: wherein the PR, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode, for transmission to the AP on an assigned resource unit, after the preemption duration the indication of the PR, the indication of the PR being a LL frame, the LL frame comprising an LL buffer status of the STA.
However, Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode, for transmission to the AP on an assigned resource unit, after the preemption duration the indication of the PR, the indication of the PR being a LL frame, the LL frame comprising an LL buffer status of the STA. (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0054-0058] a) It may represent or include a Low Latency Truncation Notification (LLTN), which is a notification that comes from an upper layer of the respective communication device, indicating that LL traffic is queued or requested, thru preemptive period) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Xin and Ciochina-Kar do not explicitly teach: wherein the PR is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based random access (UORA).
However, Takata from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: wherein the PR is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based random access (UORA). (Takata: para. [0071] existing random access (UL OFDMA-based random access (UORA)) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Takata in the apparatus of Xin and Ciochina-Kar. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for by setting the OCWmax value for Pre-emption transmission to a smaller value than for other transmissions, the OBO counter becomes 0 more easily, increasing the chance that the terminal 200 transmits Pre-emption data. This makes it possible to transmit pre-emption signals with lower delay (Takata: para. [0071-0073]), and by setting the value of OCWmax for Pre-emption transmission larger than for other transmissions, the OBO counter is less likely to reach 0, so the terminal 200 has an opportunity to transmit Pre-emption data. can be suppressed and interference with other terminals can be reduced (Takata: para. [0074]).
Regarding claim 8, Xin, Ciochina-Kar and Takata teach the apparatus of claim 7, Xin does not explicitly teach: wherein the LL frame comprises a resource request or uplink data.
Ciochina-Kar from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: wherein the LL frame comprises a resource request or uplink data. (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0110] When setting up such a session the non-AP STA (having a station management entity (SME) and a MAC) informs its counterpart of the traffic characteristics (e.g., periodicity, duration) and requirements (e.g., in points of data rate and latency bounds). Furthermore, it may inform the AP (having a SME and a MAC) that it is preemption-ready. In this case, it may additionally indicate which preemption related parameters it can support. para. [0112 & 0109-0113] specific schedules and periodicity can be defined at the Low Latency Sensitive Traffic Stream (LLSTS or LLTS) setup. Alternatively, these can be further announced by the AP, within the setup and/or announcement of scheduling intervals for particular STAs, e.g. individual or broadcast target wake up times. In order to allow the pSTA to determine these intervals, the AP assigns an allocation ID, to which the LLTS identifier together with identifiers of the pSTA and AP are mapped. In case of broadcast wake up time intervals, an AP may indicate, within control frames carrying setup or update configuration information, that data exchanges during these intervals can be suspended for allowing high priority low latency traffic) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Regarding claim 9, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, the indication of the PR being a LL frame. (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0054-0058] a) It may represent or include a Low Latency Truncation Notification (LLTN), which is a notification that comes from an upper layer of the respective communication device, indicating that LL traffic is queued or requested, thru preemptive period) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ciochina-Kar in the apparatus of Xin. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for allow a low latency sensitive traffic exchange (Ciochina-Kar: para. [0006 & 0019 & 0053]).
Xin and Ciochina-Kar do not explicitly teach: wherein the PR is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based random access (UORA), and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode, for transmission to the AP on a random-access resource unit, after the preemption duration the indication of the PR.
However, Takata from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: wherein the PR is an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based random access (UORA). (Takata: para. [0071] existing random access (UL OFDMA-based random access (UORA)) wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode, for transmission to the AP on a random-access resource unit, (Takata: para. [0071 & 0069-00] notifying resources that can be used for pre-emption transmission using the RU Allocation subfield. For example, similar to existing random access (UL OFDMA-based random access (UORA)) control, multiple RUs may be notified using RU Allocation and RA-RU Information subfield) after the preemption duration (OFDM random access backoff) the indication of the PR, (Takata: para. [0072] pre-emption transmission by the terminal 200 whose OBO (OFDM random access backoff) counter becomes 0 is possible (or transmission is permitted) based on the control of the OFDMA contention window (OCW)) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Takata in the apparatus of Xin and Ciochina-Kar. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for by setting the OCWmax value for Pre-emption transmission to a smaller value than for other transmissions, the OBO counter becomes 0 more easily, increasing the chance that the terminal 200 transmits Pre-emption data. This makes it possible to transmit pre-emption signals with lower delay (Takata: para. [0071-0073]), and by setting the value of OCWmax for Pre-emption transmission larger than for other transmissions, the OBO counter is less likely to reach 0, so the terminal 200 has an opportunity to transmit Pre-emption data. can be suppressed and interference with other terminals can be reduced (Takata: para. [0074]).
Regarding claim 13, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the apparatus of claim 1, Xin and Ciochina-Kar do not explicitly teach: further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry, wherein the transceiver circuitry is coupled to two or more microstrip antennas for receiving signaling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique, or the transceiver circuitry is coupled to the processing circuitry, the transceiver circuitry coupled to two or more patch antennas for receiving signaling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique.
However, Takata from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry, wherein the transceiver circuitry is coupled to two or more microstrip antennas for receiving signaling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique, or the transceiver circuitry is coupled to the processing circuitry, the transceiver circuitry coupled to two or more patch antennas for receiving signaling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique. (Takata: para. [0208] Different resources (for example, RU or Streams, etc.) are allocated, and the signals between the terminal 200 that performs Pre-emption transmission and the terminal 200 that performs non-Pre-emption transmission are multiplexed using a user multiplexing method (UL OFDMA or UL MU-MIMO, etc.)) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Takata in the apparatus of Xin and Ciochina-Kar. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for by setting the OCWmax value for Pre-emption transmission to a smaller value than for other transmissions, the OBO counter becomes 0 more easily, increasing the chance that the terminal 200 transmits Pre-emption data. This makes it possible to transmit pre-emption signals with lower delay (Takata: para. [0071-0073]), and by setting the value of OCWmax for Pre-emption transmission larger than for other transmissions, the OBO counter is less likely to reach 0, so the terminal 200 has an opportunity to transmit Pre-emption data. can be suppressed and interference with other terminals can be reduced (Takata: para. [0074]).
Regarding claim 16, Xin and Ciochina-Kar teach the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein a block acknowledgement (Xin: para. [0115] Block Acks (BAs))
Xin and Ciochina-Kar do not explicitly teach: wherein a block acknowledgement or an uplink (UL) trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UL TB PPDU) comprises the dedicated resource unit for PRs.
However, Takata from the same or similar fields of endeavor teach: wherein a block acknowledgement or an uplink (UL) trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UL TB PPDU) comprises the dedicated resource unit for PRs. (Takata: para. [0042-0045] a resource dedicated to Pre-emption) may be used as the allocated resource for Pre-emption. Para. [0044] Trigger frame that includes control information regarding Pre-emption may also include transmission conditions for Pre-emption) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Takata in the apparatus of Xin and Ciochina-Kar. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for to reduce interference between the terminal 200 that does not perform Pre-emption transmission and the terminal 200 that performs Pre-emption transmission (Takata: para. [0074]).
Regarding claim 19, Xin, Ciochina-Kar and Takata teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claim 7, and therefore apparatus claim 19 is rejected using the same rationales.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PTO-892.
Yee et al. US 20260143512 teaches in para. 0069 STA may send a high priority preemption request (HPPR).
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/WUTCHUNG CHU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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