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 .
Status of the Claims
This office action considers claims 1, 3-15, and 21-23 filed on 08/07/2026 are pending for prosecution.
Claims 2 and 16-20 are canceled.
Claims 21-23 are added new.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 08/07/2026 with respect to claims 1, 3-15, and 21-23 have been considered but they mute as they are not applicable to the combination of prior arts used in this Office Action.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 15 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al. (EP 2986056 A1, of IDS, hereinafter 'XIANG') in view of Abdel-Kader et al. (US 20080259882 A1, hereinafter ‘KADER’).
Regarding claim 1, XIANG teaches an electronic device (
Fig. 1 Mobile Phone or Portable Computer or WiFi AP or WiFi STA,
[0040] FIG. 1 is an application scenario diagram of a Wi-Fi network connection method ….. A Wi-Fi device may serve as a station (Station, STA for short) in an uplink direction to access a Wi-Fi network at a 2.4 GHz/5 GHz frequency band or another frequency band; may serve as an access point (Access Point, AP for short), that is, a hotspot, in a downlink direction, so that a Wi-Fi terminal at a 2.4 GHz/5 GHz or another frequency band may access the Internet by using the Wi-Fi device; and may also serve as a terminal that has an AP function …… the Wi-Fi device may be a router, a Mobile Wi-Fi, a data card, or the like, or may be a terminal device such as a mobile phone or a PAD having a Wi-Fi function.
Fig. 2, S1 First wi-Fi device,
[0041] FIG. 2 shows a Wi-Fi network connection method, applied to a Wi-Fi device.
Fig. 10 Wi-Fi Device 100,
[0117-0118] FIG. 10 is a diagram of a hardware architecture of a …. Wi-Fi device 100) comprising:
a communication module configured to exchange data with an external device (
[0040] … may serve as an access point (Access Point, AP for short), that is, a hotspot, in a downlink direction, so that a Wi-Fi terminal at a 2.4 GHz/5 GHz or another frequency band may access the Internet by using the Wi-Fi device…
[0042] S1. A first Wi-Fi device acquires at least one packet broadcasted by a second Wi-Fi device, where each packet includes channel information.
[0119] The Wi-Fi device 100 includes a baseband chip 101, a Wi-Fi chip 103, and a radio frequency component 102, where the baseband chip 101 is connected to the Wi-Fi chip 103 and the radio frequency component 102 by using a data bus.
[0120] The baseband chip controls the Wi-Fi chip 103 to acquire at least one packet broadcasted by a second Wi-Fi device ….
[0123] the baseband chip 101 may further control the Wi-Fi chip 103 or the radio frequency component 102 to receive a beacon (Beacon) packet or a probe response (Probe Response) packet that is broadcasted by a Wi-Fi device and listened for by another device except the Wi-Fi device.);
memory storing one or more computer programs (
See Fig. 10 Wireless Device 100 with Baseband Chip 101,
[0151] Methods or steps described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification may be implemented by hardware, a software program executed by a processor, or a combination thereof. The software program may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically programmable ROM); and
one or more processors communicatively coupled to the communication module and the memory (
See Fig. 10 Wireless Device 100 with Baseband Chip 101 and [0119-0123, 0151] cited above),
wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively (
See Fig. 10 Wireless Device 100 with Baseband Chip 101 and [0119-0123, 0151] cited above), cause the electronic device to:
receive a management frame transmitted by the external device using the communication module (
Fig. 2 [0042] S1. A first Wi-Fi device acquires at least one packet broadcasted by a second Wi-Fi device, where each packet includes channel information.
[0043] Specifically, a beacon (Beacon) packet or a probe response (Probe Response) packet broadcasted by the second Wi-Fi device around the first Wi-Fi device may be listened for by the first Wi-Fi device.),
obtain a country information based on the management frame (
[0048] S33. The first Wi-Fi device acquires, according to the update signal, the at least one packet broadcasted by the second Wi-Fi device.
[0049] Specifically, the first Wi-Fi device may acquire channel information of all packets, and may also acquire channel information of some packets of all the packets.
[0050] For example, as shown in Table 1, the first Wi-Fi device acquires a packet in Japan, and channel information of the packet shown in Table 1 only lists a part of typical information.
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[0052] S2. The first Wi-Fi device determines target channel information according to the channel information of the at least one packet.
[0053] Specifically, the channel information includes a channel list and the at least one packet includes multiple packets), and
set one or more available channels for the electronic device (
[0052] S2. The first Wi-Fi device determines target channel information according to the channel information of the at least one packet.
[0053] Specifically, the channel information includes a channel list and the at least one packet includes multiple packets; and the determining target channel information according to the channel information of the at least one packet includes: acquiring multiple channel lists of the multiple packets; and determining a target channel list according to the multiple channel lists and using the target channel list as the target channel information; ……
[0069] S3. The first Wi-Fi device performs, according to the target channel information, Wi-Fi network access or provides a hotspot service for a user equipment.
[0070] When the target channel information is the target channel list, the Wi-Fi device may implement, according to the target channel list, at least one of performing Wi-Fi network access and providing a hotspot service.
[0071] Optionally, when the target channel information is the target country code, the step in which the first Wi-Fi device performs, according to the target channel information, Wi-Fi network access or provides a hotspot service for a user equipment is shown in FIG. 6.
[0072] S61. The first Wi-Fi device searches for, according to the target channel information, a pre-stored channel list corresponding to the target channel information in a pre-stored channel information list.
[0073] The first Wi-Fi device may search for, according to the target country code, the pre-stored channel list corresponding to the target country code in the pre-stored channel information list.
[0074] S62. The first Wi-Fi device implements, according to the pre-stored channel list corresponding to the target country code, at least one of performing Wi-Fi network access and providing a hotspot service.).
XIANG does not explicitly disclose receive a management frame transmitted by the external device using the communication module through a preset social channel in a 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band when a country code of the electronic device is blank or the country code is a default code, obtain a country information based on the management frame, update the country code of the electronic device based on the country information, and set one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the country code in a 5 GHz frequency band or a 6 GHz frequency band.
In an analogous art, KADER teaches receive a management frame transmitted by the external device using the communication module through a preset social channel in a 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band when a country code of the electronic device is blank or the country code is a default code (
[0026] Configuring the physical layer of the WLAN interface 106 for operation in a particular frequency band in a particular WLAN regulatory domain is accomplished, at least in part, by setting in the appropriate register a value indicative of an ISO country code of that particular WLAN regulatory domain. The register is "zeroed" or cleared immediately upon disconnection of STA 100 from an AP. When the register is in a zeroed or cleared state, the physical layer of WLAN interface 106 is not configured for any particular WLAN regulatory domain in that particular frequency band. In response to receipt by WLAN interface 106 in a particular frequency band of a beacon frame containing an IEEE 802.11d country IE, the appropriate register may be set to a value indicative of the ISO country code contained in the country string of the country IE.
Fig. 4, 402 [Wingdings font/0xE8] 404 receiving Country Code on 2.4 GHz band, [0030] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for determining a WLAN regulatory domain in which a mobile station is currently located. The method of FIG. 4 may be performed by STA 100 at 306 or at 312 in the method of FIG. 3.
[0031] At 402, it is checked, either by driver 132 or within MAC/BB processor 122, whether one or more IEEE 802.11d country IEs have been received by WLAN interface 106. If so, then at 404 it is checked whether IEEE 802.11d country IEs have been received in beacon frames on both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands. If so, then information in the received country IEs is used to determine the WLAN regulatory domain in which the mobile station is currently located. For example, the ISO country code in the received country IEs may be programmed to country code register 134.),
obtain a country information based on the management frame, update the country code of the electronic device based on the country information (
Fig. 4, 402 [Wingdings font/0xE8] 404 [Wingdings font/0xE8] 406 receiving Country IE on 2.4 GHz band and saving the ISP country Code,
See [0031] cited above), and
set one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the country code in a 5 GHz frequency band or a 6 GHz frequency band (
[0009] According to the IEEE 802.11d standard, a STA that is enabled for operation across WLAN regulatory domains defaults to passive scanning when it has lost connectivity with its extended service set (ESS). Passive scanning is performed using only the receive capabilities of the station and is, thus, compatible with regulatory requirements. When a STA enters a WLAN regulatory domain, it passively scans to learn at least one valid channel, i.e. a channel upon which it detects IEEE 802.11 beacon frames. The beacon frame contains information on the country code, the maximum allowable transmit power, and the channels to be used for the WLAN regulatory domain. Once the STA has acquired the information so that it is able to meet the transmit requirements of the WLAN regulatory domain, it transmits a request to an AP to gain the additional WLAN regulatory domain information contained in the response frame, unless the information was previously received in a beacon frame. The STA then has sufficient information available to configure its physical layer for operation in the WLAN regulatory domain.
Fig. 1, [0025] since WLAN interface 106 is operable in the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band, MAC/BB processor 122 comprises register 134 and a register 135 to store a value indicative of an ISO country code.
See also [0031] cited above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of when register holding country code is cleared or blanked receiving beacon frame containing country code over WLAN 2.4 GHz band of KADER to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG in order to take the advantage of providing a method for determining a WLAN regulatory domain for a IEEE 802.11d STA to configure its physical layer for operation in the WLAN regulatory domain (KADER: [0009, 0026]).
Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, XIANG teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the management frame is either a probe request or a probe response (
Se Fig. 2, S1, [0042, 0043] cited above for claim 1), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a search and listening on the one or more available channels using the communication module (
[0043] Specifically, a beacon (Beacon) packet or a probe response (Probe Response) packet broadcasted by the second Wi-Fi device around the first Wi-Fi device may be listened for by the first Wi-Fi device.).
Regarding claim 21, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG does not explicitly disclose wherein the default country code indicates an international region.
KADER teaches wherein the default country code indicates an international region (
Fig. 1, [0025] since WLAN interface 106 is operable in the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band, MAC/BB processor 122 comprises register 134 and a register 135 to store a value indicative of an ISO country code.
See also [0037] driver 132 may revert at 430 to a hard-coded default ISO country code to determine the WLAN regulatory domain).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of when register holding country code is cleared or blanked receiving beacon frame containing country code over WLAN 2.4 GHz band of KADER to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG in order to take the advantage of providing a method for determining a WLAN regulatory domain for a IEEE 802.11d STA to configure its physical layer for operation in the WLAN regulatory domain (KADER: [0009, 0026]).
Regarding claim 22, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG does not explicitly disclose wherein the default country code is XZ.
KADER teaches wherein the default country code is XZ (
See [0037] driver 132 may revert at 430 to a hard-coded default ISO country code to determine the WLAN regulatory domain.
(Value XY is interpreted to be a hard codes ISO country code)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of when register holding country code is cleared or blanked receiving beacon frame containing country code over WLAN 2.4 GHz band of KADER to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG in order to take the advantage of providing a method for determining a WLAN regulatory domain for a IEEE 802.11d STA to configure its physical layer for operation in the WLAN regulatory domain (KADER: [0009, 0026]).
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al. (EP 2986056 A1, of IDS, hereinafter 'XIANG') ) in view of Abdel-Kader et al. (US 20080259882 A1, hereinafter ‘KADER’) and with further in view of Kim et al. (US 20170118276 A1, of IDS, hereinafter ‘KIM’).
Regarding claim 4, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes a group owner (GO) negotiation request or a GO negotiation response.
In an analogous art, KIM teaches wherein the management frame includes a group owner (GO) negotiation request or a GO negotiation response (
Fig. 1A, [0056] Referring to FIG. 1A, a mobile phone 110, a first laptop 120-1 and a second laptop 120-2 may form a peer to peer (P2P) Group 1 and perform WiFi P2P communication through Channel X. The second laptop 120-2 and a printer 130 may form a P2P Group 2 and perform WiFi P2P communication through Channel Y.
[0057] In a wireless communication system of FIG. 1A, the mobile phone 110 may be set with communication of other mobile communication standards such as CDMA, 3G, and 4G with a base station 10 and may also be set with radio communication of WiFi Direct as a group owner (GO) of Group 1.
Fig. 4 Go negotiation req (441), GO negotiation resp (442) between First Electronics Apparatus to Second Electronics Apparatus
[0126] The first electronic apparatus 200 converted into a formation state may transmit a GO negotiation request signal for determination of a group owner to the second electronic apparatus 200′…..
[0127] The second electronic apparatus 200′ that receives the GO negotiation request 441 may transmit a GO negotiation response signal 442 to the first electronic apparatus 200. …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of GO negotiation of KIM to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for communication and for supporting wireless peer to peer (P2P) communication with an external device for setting a Wi-Fi group for Wi-Fi Direct service considering device performance and interference in system environment enhancing P2P communication performance (KIM: [0003, 0005, 0010, 0157]).
Regarding claim 5, XIANG, in view of KADER and KIM, teaches the electronic device of claim 4.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame is a GO negotiation response, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain, as target information, a country string and a channel list attribute comprised in the GO negotiation response,
update a country code of the electronic device based on the country string,
set one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the channel list attribute,
determine an operating channel based on the set available channels,
generate a GO negotiation confirmation based on the operating channel, and
transmit the GO negotiation confirmation to the external device using the communication module.
KIM teaches wherein the management frame is a GO negotiation response (
Fig. 4 GO negotiation resp (442)), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain, as target information, a country string and a channel list attribute comprised in the GO negotiation response (
[0128] The GO negotiation request frame and the GO negotiation response frame that are exchanged between the first electronic apparatus 200 and the second electronic apparatus 200′ may include P2P IE and WSC IE and, there among, the P2P IE may have the following information.
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[0133] The channel list attributes may include an Operating Class list and channel pair information. The channel list attributes has the following format.
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[0134] Here, the channel entry list field may include at least one channel entry and have the following format.
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[0135] The two electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ that exchange information of the above channel list attributes may check available operable channels of the electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ and determine a common available channel.
[0136] The operating channel attributes may include an operating channel and operating class information. The operating channel attributes have the following format.
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[0137] Here, a value of the operating class field may indicate a frequency band or a preferred driving frequency band when an electronic apparatus operates as a P2P group owner. In addition, a value of the channel number field may indicate a channel number or a preferred operating channel when an electronic apparatus operates as a P2P group owner.
),
update a country code of the electronic device based on the country string (
[0135] The two electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ that exchange information of the above channel list attributes may check available operable channels of the electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ and determine a common available channel.
[0136] The operating channel attributes may include an operating channel and operating class information. The operating channel attributes have the following format.
See Table 6 cited above
(It is obvious that based on country code corresponding channel list, determining the common available channel includes updating the country code and the determined channel )),
set one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the channel list attribute (
See [0135, 0136], Table 6 cited above),
determine an operating channel based on the set available channels (
See [0135, 0136], Table 6 cited above),
generate a GO negotiation confirmation based on the operating channel (
[0139] The first electronic apparatus 200 that receives the GO negotiation response signal 442 may transmit the GO negotiation confirm signal 443 to the second electronic apparatus 200′. The GO negotiation confirm frame may be as follows.
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), and
transmit the GO negotiation confirmation to the external device using the communication module (
Fig. 4 GO negotiation confirm [0443] from First Electronics Apparatus to Second Electronics Apparatus,
See [0139] cited above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of GO negotiation of KIM to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for communication and for supporting wireless peer to peer (P2P) communication with an external device for setting a Wi-Fi group for Wi-Fi Direct service considering device performance and interference in system environment enhancing P2P communication performance (KIM: [0003, 0005, 0010, 0157]).
Regarding claim 6, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes an invitation request, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain, as target information, a country string and a channel list attribute comprised in the invitation request,
update a country code of the electronic device based on the country string,
set one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the channel list attribute,
generate an invitation response comprising the country code and the available channels, and
transmit the invitation response to the external device using the communication module.
KIM teaches wherein the management frame includes an invitation request (
Fig. 4 Go negotiation req (441), GO negotiation resp (442) between First Electronics Apparatus to Second Electronics Apparatus
[0126] The first electronic apparatus 200 converted into a formation state may transmit a GO negotiation request signal for determination of a group owner to the second electronic apparatus 200′…..), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain, as target information, a country string and a channel list attribute comprised in the invitation request (
[0127] The second electronic apparatus 200′ that receives the GO negotiation request 441 may transmit a GO negotiation response signal 442 to the first electronic apparatus 200. …
[0128] The GO negotiation request frame and the GO negotiation response frame that are exchanged between the first electronic apparatus 200 and the second electronic apparatus 200′ may include P2P IE and WSC IE and, there among, the P2P IE may have the following information.
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[0133] The channel list attributes may include an Operating Class list and channel pair information. The channel list attributes has the following format.
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[0134] Here, the channel entry list field may include at least one channel entry and have the following format.
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[0135] The two electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ that exchange information of the above channel list attributes may check available operable channels of the electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ and determine a common available channel.
[0136] The operating channel attributes may include an operating channel and operating class information. The operating channel attributes have the following format.
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[0137] Here, a value of the operating class field may indicate a frequency band or a preferred driving frequency band when an electronic apparatus operates as a P2P group owner. In addition, a value of the channel number field may indicate a channel number or a preferred operating channel when an electronic apparatus operates as a P2P group owner.),
update a country code of the electronic device based on the country string (
[0135] The two electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ that exchange information of the above channel list attributes may check available operable channels of the electronic apparatuses 200 and 200′ and determine a common available channel.
[0136] The operating channel attributes may include an operating channel and operating class information. The operating channel attributes have the following format.
See Table 6 cited above
(It is obvious that based on country code corresponding channel list, determining the common available channel includes updating the country code and the determined channel )),
set one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the channel list attribute (
See [0135, 0136], Table 6 cited above),
generate an invitation response comprising the country code and the available channels (
Fig. 4 GO negotiation resp (442) from Second Electronics Apparatus to First Electronics Apparatus
[0128] The GO negotiation request frame and the GO negotiation response frame that are exchanged between the first electronic apparatus 200 and the second electronic apparatus 200′ may include P2P IE and WSC IE ….
See also [0135-0137], Table 6 cited above), and
transmit the invitation response to the external device using the communication module (
Fig. 4 GO negotiation resp (442) from Second Electronics Apparatus to First Electronics Apparatus).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of GO negotiation of KIM to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for communication and for supporting wireless peer to peer (P2P) communication with an external device for setting a Wi-Fi group for Wi-Fi Direct service considering device performance and interference in system environment enhancing P2P communication performance (KIM: [0003, 0005, 0010, 0157]).
Claims 7 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al. (EP 2986056 A1, of IDS, hereinafter 'XIANG') in view of Abdel-Kader et al. (US 20080259882 A1, hereinafter ‘KADER’) and with further in view of Bang et al. (US 20190053302 A1, of IDS, hereinafter ‘BANG’).
Regarding claim 7, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes an invitation response, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
when the electronic device is a group owner (GO) in a group comprising the electronic device and the external device, determine a target channel for communication of the group based on the one or more available channels,
generate a channel switch announcement based on the target channel, and
transmit the channel switch announcement to the external device using the communication module.
In analogous art, BANG teaches wherein the management frame includes an invitation response (
Fig. 10, [0159] … the second external device 330 sends a GO negotiation request to the electronic device at operation at operation 1035, and the electronic device 310 may send a GO negotiation response at operation 1036 ..
[0190] In one embodiment, the electronic device 310 serving as the group owner may selectively accept the group participation request from the second external device 330, and allow the second external device 330 to join the group formed with the first external device 320.), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
when the electronic device is a group owner (GO) in a group comprising the electronic device and the external device, determine a target channel for communication of the group based on the one or more available channels (
[0191] In new channel selection and change 1040, the electronic device 310 may change the operating channel to the selected channel (e.g., third channel).),
generate a channel switch announcement based on the target channel, and transmit the channel switch announcement to the external device using the communication module (
[0191] the electronic device 310 may send a beacon signal indicating channel change to the first external device at operation 1041. Thereafter, when the channel change is completed between the electronic device 310 and the first external device 320, the electronic device 310 may transmit a beacon signal including the SSID (e.g., SSID-ABC) of the changed channel to the first external device and second external device at operations 1042 and 1043.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of forming a group for wireless communication with other devices via Wi-Fi direct (WFD) technology of BANG to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for providing an electronic device that enables a third electronic device wishing to join an existing Wi-Fi Direct (WFD) group to easily discover and join the existing WFD group (BANG: [0009]).
Regarding claim 13, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the external device pairs with the electronic device via a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, the management frame is a data frame of the BLE network, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to obtain the target information, based on at least one of a country string and a channel list attribute comprised in the data frame.
BANG teaches wherein the external device pairs with the electronic device via a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, the management frame is a data frame of the BLE network (
Fig. 1, [0042] FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including electronic devices according to an example embodiment of the disclosure.
[0051] The communication interface 170 can establish a communication between the electronic device 101 and other electronic devices 102 and 104 and/or a server 106. The communication interface 170 can support a direct connection using various short range communication protocols, e.g. a Wi-Fi protocol, a Bluetooth (BT) protocol, …..), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to obtain the target information, based on at least one of a country string and a channel list attribute comprised in the data frame (
[0085] Referring to FIG. 3B, the electronic device 310b and the first external device 320b may form a WFD group through channel A in the 5 GHz frequency band. In FIG. 3B, the second external device 330b may support both the 2.4 GHz frequency band and the 5 GHz frequency band, but may not support channel A in the 5 GHz frequency band. For example, in the case of the 5 GHz frequency band, as frequency assignments may vary from country to country, electronic devices released in different countries may support different channels in the 5 GHz frequency band.
(It is obvious that electronic device obtains expected/target information, based on a country string and corresponding channel list attribute comprised in the management/data frame)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of forming a group for wireless communication with other devices via Wi-Fi direct (WFD) technology of BANG to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for providing an electronic device that enables a third electronic device wishing to join an existing Wi-Fi Direct (WFD) group to easily discover and join the existing WFD group (BANG: [0009]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al. (EP 2986056 A1, of IDS, hereinafter 'XIANG') in view of Abdel-Kader et al. (US 20080259882 A1, hereinafter ‘KADER’) and with further in view of Ishitobi; Yusai (WO 2019009059 A1, of record, hereinafter ‘ISHITOBI’).
Regarding claim 8, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes an invitation response, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
when the electronic device is a group client (GC) in a group comprising the electronic device and the external device, determine a target channel for communication of the group based on the one or more available channels,
generate a channel switch request based on the target channel, and
transmit the channel switch request to the external device using the communication module.
In an analogous art, ISHITOBI teaches wherein the management frame includes an invitation response (
[0063]
If the communication mode for the newly initiated communication operation is GO mode or GC mode, and a new peer-to-peer communication group (network) is formed (Yes in ST210), the control unit 40 performs negotiation processing with the communication partner (ST215).
In this negotiation process, the control unit 40 requests the communication partner to assign itself to the group owner and to use the same channel as the channel currently in use for the other communication operation.
[0064]
In the WFD negotiation process, one communication device sends a "GO Negotiation Request" to the other communication device, and the other communication device that receives it sends a "GO Negotiation Response" back to the first communication device.
The "GO Negotiation Request" and "GO Negotiation Response" include a "Go Intent Value," which represents the intention to become the group owner with a number from Oto 15, and an "Operation Channel Attribute," which represents the candidate channel to be used for communication.
Of the two communication devices, the one with the higher "Go Intent Value" becomes the group owner.), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
when the electronic device is a group client (GC) in a group comprising the electronic device and the external device, determine a target channel for communication of the group based on the one or more available channels, generate a channel switch request based on the target channel, and transmit the channel switch request to the external device using the communication module (
[0063]
If the communication mode for the newly initiated communication operation is GO mode or GC mode, and a new peer-to-peer communication group (network) is formed (Yes in ST210), the control unit 40 performs negotiation processing with the communication partner (ST215).
In this negotiation process, the control unit 40 requests the communication partner to assign itself to the group owner and to use the same channel as the channel currently in use for the other communication operation.
[0067]
In GC mode, where it operates as a group client, the control unit 40 starts communication operations without channel restrictions (ST225).
(It is obvious that as GC, determines the currently used channel as target channel requesting switch to the channel for the other communication operation by operating without channel restrictions)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of performing wireless communication with different communication partners in time division of ISHITOBI to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for enabling concurrent moder wireless communication with different communication partners suppressing a decrease in throughput when communication is performed by switching between two communication operations with the different communication partners (ISHITOB: [0001, 0005, 0007]).
Claims 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al. (EP 2986056 A1, of IDS, hereinafter 'XIANG') in view of Abdel-Kader et al. (US 20080259882 A1, hereinafter ‘KADER’) and with further in view of Wi-Fi Alliance (“Neighbor Awareness Networking Specification Version 3.1", of IDS, hereinafter ‘WFA’).
Regarding claim 9, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the electronic device and the external device operate based on a communication protocol of wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) neighborhood aware networking (NAN).
In an analogous art, WFA teaches wherein the electronic device and the external device operate based on a communication protocol of wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) neighborhood aware networking (NAN) (
Page 19 of 214, Section NAN cluster topology
A NAN Network comprises all NAN Devices that share a common set of NAN parameters that include: the time period between consecutive Discovery Windows, time duration of the Discovery Windows, the beacon Interval. and NAN Discovery Channel(s).
See Figure 1. NAN cluster
Page 20/214 Paragraph 2:
Note that a NAN Device that chooses to participate in a NAN Cluster by sending NAN Service Discovery frames shalt also participate in the NAN Master Selection Procedure for transmission of NAN Synchronization and NAN Discovery Beacon frames tor that NAN Cluster).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of NAN of WFA to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for using ranging and service discovery mechanism to estimate distance to a NAN Device to provide a specific service while operating concurrently while operating in other Wi-Fi networks such as WLAN and/or WiFi Direct (WFA: Page 23 of 214, Paragraphs 3-4).
Regarding claim 10, XIANG, in view of LADER and WFA, teaches the electronic device of claim 9, wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain the country code based on a country code attribute in the management frame, set, as the one or more available channels, channels available in a country corresponding to the country code (
See Fig. 2, Fig. 3, [0048-0050, 0052-0053], Table 1 cited for claim 1.), and
transmit and receive additional frames to and from the external device based on at least one of the one or more available channels using the communication module
(
See Fig. 2 Box S3, performs W-Fi network access or provides a hotspot service).
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes a NAN beacon frame or a service discovery frame (SDF).
WFA teaches wherein the management frame includes a NAN beacon frame or a service discovery frame (SDF) (
See Page 24/214:
Figure 8. NAN device operating concurrently
See Page 58/214-59/214
Table 8. Availability Entry types and Channel Entries
See Pages 117/214-120/214:
Table 23. NAN Attributes in NAN Beacon frames
Table 24. NAN Service Discovery frame format
Table 25. NAN attributes in NAN SDF frames
Disclosing Country code, available channels).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of NAN of WFA to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for using ranging and service discovery mechanism to estimate distance to a NAN Device to provide a specific service while operating concurrently while operating in other Wi-Fi networks such as WLAN and/or WiFi Direct (WFA: Page 23 of 214, Paragraphs 3-4).
Regarding claim 11, XIANG, in view of KADER and WFA, teaches the electronic device of claim 9,
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes a data path request, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain the available channel information from an availability entry of an availability attribute in the data path request,
set the one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the available channel information,
generate a data path response based on the one or more available channels, and
transmit the data path response to the external device using the communication module.
WFA teaches wherein the management frame includes a data path request, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain the available channel information from an availability entry of an availability attribute in the data path request,
set the one or more available channels for the electronic device based on the available channel information,
generate a data path response based on the one or more available channels, and
transmit the data path response to the external device using the communication module (
See Pages 67/214 – 69/214
Sections 5.2:
NAN operation scheduling setup and update fer NAN devices that support Data Path or Ranging …..
Section 5.2.1: NAN operation initiation scheduling
A NAN Device initiates a NAN operation by transmitting an initiation request frame, which is either a NAN Service Discovery frame (SDF) or a NAN Action frame (NAF) to a peer NAN Device, during the peer device’s Committed DW or FAW or an available ULW, The peer NAN Device shall send back an initiation response frame during the initiators DW or FAW, or an available ULW. Table 12 summarizes the NAN Operation Initiation frame exchanges.
See Table 12, NAN Operation Initiation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of NAN of WFA to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for using ranging and service discovery mechanism to estimate distance to a NAN Device to provide a specific service while operating concurrently while operating in other Wi-Fi networks such as WLAN and/or WiFi Direct (WFA: Page 23 of 214, Paragraphs 3-4).
Regarding claim 12, XIANG, in view of KADER and WFA, teaches the electronic device of claim 9,
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein the management frame includes an NAN beacon frame, a service discovery frame (SDF), or an NAN action frame (NAF) in a state in which a data path is established between the electronic device and a second external device, and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
generate a schedule request based on the one or more available channels,
transmit the schedule request to the second external device using the communication module,
receive a schedule response to the schedule request from the second external device using the communication module, and
change the data path to a target channel among the available channels based on the schedule response.
WFA teaches wherein the management frame includes an NAN beacon frame, a service discovery frame (SDF), or an NAN action frame (NAF) in a state in which a data path is established between the electronic device and a second external device (
Page 20/214 Paragraph 2:
Note that a NAN Device that chooses to participate in a NAN Cluster by sending NAN Service Discovery frames shalt also participate in the NAN Master Selection Procedure for transmission of NAN Synchronization and NAN Discovery Beacon frames tor that NAN Cluster), and
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
generate a schedule request based on the one or more available channels,
transmit the schedule request to the second external device using the communication module,
receive a schedule response to the schedule request from the second external device using the communication module, and
change the data path to a target channel among the available channels based on the schedule response (
See Pages 67/214 – 68/214:
Section 5.2.1: NAN operation initiation scheduling
A NAN Device initiates a NAN operation by transmitting an initiation request frame, which is either a NAN Service Discovery frame (SDF) or a NAN Action frame (NAF) to a peer NAN Device, during the peer device’s Committed DW or FAW or an available ULW, The peer NAN Device shall send back an initiation response frame during the initiators DW or FAW, or an available ULW. Table 12 summarizes the NAN Operation Initiation frame exchanges.
See Table 12, NAN Operation Initiation
Section 5.2.2 NAN operation schedule update:
A NAN Device may use the NAN Beacon, Schedule Update Notification NAF, or any other unicast or broadcast NAN management frame to convey its updated availability schedules to one or more peer NAN Devices. ……..).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of NAN of WFA to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for using ranging and service discovery mechanism to estimate distance to a NAN Device to provide a specific service while operating concurrently while operating in other Wi-Fi networks such as WLAN and/or WiFi Direct (WFA: Page 23 of 214, Paragraphs 3-4).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al. (EP 2986056 A1, of IDS, hereinafter 'XIANG') in view of Abdel-Kader et al. (US 20080259882 A1, hereinafter ‘KADER’) and with further in view of Lee et al. (US 20180242135 A1, of IDS, hereinafter ‘LEE’).
Regarding claim 14, XIANG, in view of KADER, teaches the electronic device of claim 1.
XIANG and KADER do not explicitly disclose wherein one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
when paired with the external device via a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network through the communication module, receive, as the management frame, a data frame comprising a target protocol and operating channel information for the target protocol from the external device via the BLE network; and
receive the management frame of the target protocol transmitted by the external device based on the target protocol and the operating channel information comprised in the data frame.
In an analogous art, LEE teaches wherein one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
when paired with the external device via a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network through the communication module, receive, as the management frame, a data frame comprising a target protocol and operating channel information for the target protocol from the external device via the BLE network (
[0098] In the following, a method of configuring an ASP operating based on at least one selected from the group consisting of WFA, WFDS, Wi-Fi Direct, NAN (Neighbor Awareness Networking), NFC (Near Field Communication), and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is disclosed as an embodiment of the present invention.
[0107] In this case, for example, a plurality of the interfaces for performing the service discovery may correspond to at least one selected from the group consisting of Wi-Fi Direct, NAN (Neighbor Awareness Networking), NFC (Near Field Communication), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and WLAN Infrastructure.); and
receive the management frame of the target protocol transmitted by the external device based on the target protocol and the operating channel information comprised in the data frame (
[0108] And, a plurality of the interfaces for performing the service connection may correspond to at least one selected from the group consisting of Wi-Pi Direct, P2P, and Infrastructure. And, for example, the ASP can support a plurality of frequency bands. In this case, for example, a plurality of the frequency bands may correspond to 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and the like. And, for example, the ASP can support information on a frequency band less than 1 GHz. In particular, the ASP can support a plurality of frequency band and is not restricted to a specific frequency band.
[0109] Referring to FIG. 10, a first UE can perform device discovery or service discovery on a first service using the ASP. Subsequently, if searching for the device discovery or the service discovery is completed, it may perform service connection based on a search result. In this case, for example, an interface used for performing the service discovery may be different from an interface used for performing the service connection. The interfaces can be selected from among a plurality of interfaces.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of exchanging connection capability information in wireless communication system of LEE to the system Wi-Fi network connection method of XIANG and KADER in order to take the advantage of providing a method for or reducing unnecessary procedures of a user equipment in a wireless communication system for connecting a plurality of services based on an ASP (Application Service Platform), which supports a plurality of interfaces, is supported in a wireless communication system (LEE: [0001, 0028, 0030).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 23 is 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 in intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 23, XIANG, KADER, KIM, BANG, ISHITOBI, WFA and LEE or any prior art of record either alone or in combination fails to teach the electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the country code of the electronic device is the default country code, the electronic device uses at least one of channels 1, 6, or 11 in social channels.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Strater et al. (US 20230224019 A1), describing COUNTRY CODE OR TRANSMISSION POWER CONFIGURATION PRIOR TO ONBOARDING AN EXTENDER
Wang et al. (US 20220141778 A1), describing Information Obtaining Method And Terminal Device
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAH M RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8951. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30AM-5:30PM PST.
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/SHAH M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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