CTNF 18/786,355 CTNF 91387 DETAILED ACTION 1. The Office Action is in response to Application 18786355 filed on 07/26/2024. Claim 1-20 are pending. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 2. 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 3. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 07/26/2024, 05/19/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 4. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 AIA 5. Claim 1 and its dependent claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. For claim 1, it recites “an end time”, in “and adjusting, by the AP, at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP to synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP”. However, there are two rTWT SP (first one and the second one) and each one has an end time; therefore, it is not clear which end time of the two rTWT SP it refers to? Thus the scope of the claim and its dependent claims 2-8 are unclear. 6. Claim 9 and its dependent claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention for the similar reason as for claim 1 and its dependent claims 2-8. 7. Claim 15 and its dependent claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention for the similar reason as for claim 1 and its dependent claims 2-8. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 8. 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. 07-21-aia AIA 9. Claim s 1-6, 8-13, 15-19 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shafin et al. (US 20230379829) and in view of KIM (EP 4412378) . Regarding claim 1, Shafin teaches a method (fig. 36) comprising: receiving, by an Access Point (AP) (fig. 8, fig. 35, component 101) from a Station (STA) (fig. 8, fig. 35, component 111; examiner’s Note: 101 and 111 may include multiple APs and Stations, but can be interpreted as one AP and one station, as suggested in paragraph 0077, …the wireless network 100 includes APs 101 and 103, The AP 101 provides wireless access to the network 130 for a plurality of STAs 111-114 within a coverage area 120 of the AP 101) a first request for a first Restricted Target Wake Time (rTWT) Service Period (SP) (fig. 8, Restricted TWT SP B) on a first link established between the STA and the AP (fig. 8, link 2), the first request comprising a first start time and a first duration of the first rTWT SP on the first link (as shown in fig. 9 and fig. 10, each Restricted TWT SP has a start time and a duration), wherein the STA is a Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (NSTR) STA (paragraph 0008, … The second variation is non-simultaneous transmit/receive (NSTR) in which the links formed by the STAs affiliated with an MLD do not form an STR link pair… cannot simultaneously transmit and receive frames); receiving, by the AP from the STA , a second request for a second rTWT SP on a second link established between the STA and the AP (as shown in fig. 8, Restricted TWT SP B in link 3), the second request comprising a second start time and a second duration of the second rTWT SP on the second link (shown in fig. 9 and fig. 10, each Restricted TWT SP has a start time and a duration); and adjusting, by the AP, at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP to synchronize both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 36, last two steps are the adjustment; paragraph 0213, … extension or truncation of PPDU end time on one link in order to align PPDUs with another link to avoid NSTR interference). It is noticed that Shafin does not disclose explicitly of synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP. KIM discloses of synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 6B, in which, the first rTWTSP end time is synchronized with the second rTWT SB end time; paragraph 0082, … the rTWT SP on the first link and the rTWT SP on the second link may be synchronized. That is, each of the start and end times of the rTWT SP on the first link may be set to be the same as each of the start and end times of the rTWT SP on the second link). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the technology that synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP as a modification to the method for the benefit of that to support Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive STA (paragraph 0082). Regarding claim 9, Shafin teaches a system (fig. 1 to fig. 2A, fig. 2B) comprising: a memory storage (fig. 2A, 229); and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage (fig. 2A, 224), wherein the processing unit is operative to: receiving, by an Access Point (AP) (fig. 8, fig. 35, component 101) from a Station (STA) (fig. 8, fig. 35, component 111; examiner’s Note: 101 and 111 may include multiple AP and Stations, but can be interpreted as one AP and one station, as suggested in paragraph 0077, …the wireless network 100 includes APs 101 and 103, The AP 101 provides wireless access to the network 130 for a plurality of STAs 111-114 within a coverage area 120 of the AP 101) a first request for a first Restricted Target Wake Time (rTWT) Service Period (SP) (fig. 8, Restricted TWT SP B) on a first link established between the STA and the AP (fig. 8, link 2), the first request comprising a first start time and a first duration of the first rTWT SP on the first link (as shown in fig. 9 and fig. 10, each Restricted TWT SP has a start time and a duration), wherein the STA is a Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (NSTR) STA (paragraph 0008, … The second variation is non-simultaneous transmit/receive (NSTR) in which the links formed by the STAs affiliated with an MLD do not form an STR link pair… cannot simultaneously transmit and receive frames); receiving, by the AP from the STA , a second request for a second rTWT SP on a second link established between the STA and the AP (as shown in fig. 8, Restricted TWT SP B in link 3), the second request comprising a second start time and a second duration of the second rTWT SP on the second link (shown in fig. 9 and fig. 10, each Restricted TWT SP has a start time and a duration); and adjusting, by the AP, at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP to synchronize both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 36, last two steps are the adjustment; paragraph 0213, … extension or truncation of PPDU end time on one link in order to align PPDUs with another link to avoid NSTR interference). It is noticed that Shafin does not disclose explicitly of synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP. KIM discloses of synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 6B, in which, the first rTWTSP end time is synchronized with the second rTWT SB end time; paragraph 0082, … the rTWT SP on the first link and the rTWT SP on the second link may be synchronized. That is, each of the start and end times of the rTWT SP on the first link may be set to be the same as each of the start and end times of the rTWT SP on the second link). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the technology that synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP as a modification to the system for the benefit of that to support Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive STA (paragraph 0082). Regarding claim 15, Shafin teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium (fig. 2A, 229); that stores a set of instructions which when executed perform a method (fig. 36) executed by the set of instructions comprising (paragraph 0017, …various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions): receiving, by an Access Point (AP) (fig. 8, fig. 35, component 101) from a Station (STA) (fig. 8, fig. 35, component 111; examiner’s Note: 101 and 111 may include multiple AP and Stations, but can be interpreted as one AP and one station, as suggested in paragraph 0077, …the wireless network 100 includes APs 101 and 103, The AP 101 provides wireless access to the network 130 for a plurality of STAs 111-114 within a coverage area 120 of the AP 101) a first request for a first Restricted Target Wake Time (rTWT) Service Period (SP) (fig. 8, Restricted TWT SP B) on a first link established between the STA and the AP (fig. 8, link 2), the first request comprising a first start time and a first duration of the first rTWT SP on the first link (as shown in fig. 9 and fig. 10, each Restricted TWT SP has a start time and a duration), wherein the STA is a Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (NSTR) STA (paragraph 0008, … The second variation is non-simultaneous transmit/receive (NSTR) in which the links formed by the STAs affiliated with an MLD do not form an STR link pair… cannot simultaneously transmit and receive frames); receiving, by the AP from the STA , a second request for a second rTWT SP on a second link established between the STA and the AP (as shown in fig. 8, Restricted TWT SP B in link 3), the second request comprising a second start time and a second duration of the second rTWT SP on the second link (shown in fig. 9 and fig. 10, each Restricted TWT SP has a start time and a duration); and adjusting, by the AP, at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP to synchronize both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 36, last two steps are the adjustment; paragraph 0213, … extension or truncation of PPDU end time on one link in order to align PPDUs with another link to avoid NSTR interference). It is noticed that Shafin does not disclose explicitly of synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP. KIM discloses of synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 6B, in which, the first rTWTSP end time is synchronized with the second rTWT SB end time; paragraph 0082, … the rTWT SP on the first link and the rTWT SP on the second link may be synchronized. That is, each of the start and end times of the rTWT SP on the first link may be set to be the same as each of the start and end times of the rTWT SP on the second link). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the technology that synchronize an end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP as a modification to the system for the benefit of that to support Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive STA (paragraph 0082). Regarding claim 2, the combination Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Shafin further discloses that adjusting the at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP comprises truncating one of the first duration and the second duration to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 36, the last step on the left, in which, the duration is truncated to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP; paragraph 0213, … FIG. 36 illustrates an example process for extension or truncation of PPDU end time on one link in order to align PPDUs with another link to avoid NSTR interference ). Claim 10 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 2. Claim 16 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 2. Regarding claim 3, , the combination Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Shafin further discloses that adjusting the at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP comprises expanding one of the first duration and the second duration to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (fig. 36, the last step in the right, in which, the duration is extended truncated to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP; paragraph 0213, … FIG. 36 illustrates an example process for extension or truncation of PPDU end time on one link in order to align PPDUs with another link to avoid NSTR interference). Claim 11 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 3. Claim 17 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 3. Regarding claim 4, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 2 as discussed above. In addition, KIM further discloses that adjusting the at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP comprises changing one of the first start time and the second start time to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (as shown in fig. 6A and fig. 6B; when compared with fig. 6B with fig. 6A, at least one of the first start time and the second start time is changed to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP ). The motivation of combination is the same as in claim 1’s rejection. Regarding claim 12, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 9 as discussed above. In addition, KIM further discloses that adjusting the at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP comprises changing one of the first start time and the second start time to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (as shown in fig. 6A and fig. 6B; when compared with fig. 6B with fig. 6A, at least one of the first start time and the second start time is changed to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP ). The motivation of combination is the same as in claim 9’s rejection. Regarding claim 18, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 15 as discussed above. In addition, KIM further discloses that adjusting the at least one of the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP comprises changing one of the first start time and the second start time to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP (as shown in fig. 6A and fig. 6B; when compared with fig. 6B with fig. 6A, at least one of the first start time and the second start time is changed to synchronize the end time of both the first rTWT SP and the second rTWT SP ). The motivation of combination is the same as in claim 15’s rejection. Regarding claim 5, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Shafin further discloses that sending adjusted rTWT SP to the STA (fig. 10, aligned schedule (adjusted rTWT SP) is sent by AP to STA). Claim 13 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 5. Claim 19 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 5. Regarding claim 6, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Shafin further discloses that receiving, by the AP from the STA, a third request for the adjusted rTWT SP on the first link and the second link (as shown in fig. 10, the AP 101sends the adjusted rTWT SP (Aligned schedule) on the link 2 and the link 3 and STA 111 sends a third request for it (Broadcast TWT SP C and Broadcast TWT SP D, for example). Regarding claim 8, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Shafin further discloses that sharing rTWT SP schedule with other APs of a network (as shown in fig. 6, the rTWST SP information is shared with AP1/AP2/AP3; paragraph 0083-0084, AP MLD 101 is affiliated with multiple APs 202a-202n… the illustrated components of the AP MLD 101 represent a single upper MAC (UMAC) layer and other higher layers in the OSI model, which are shared by all of the affiliated APs 202a-202n; in which, the rTWT SP schedule is information of MAC layer and therefore, shared with Other Aps) . 07-21-aia AIA 10. Claim 7, 14, 20 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shafin et al. (US 20230379829) and in view of KIM (EP 4412378) and further in view of LI et al. (WO 2023130713) . Regarding claim 7, the combination of Shafin and KIM teaches the limitations recited in claim 1 as discussed above. It is noticed that Shafin does not disclose explicitly of providing synchronization error values if a desired alignment could not be achieved. LI discloses of providing synchronization error values if a desired alignment could not be achieved (fig. 8, step S830; page 8, .. send Indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the second communication device cannot synchronize the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the communication device of any link; in which, the indication information is the synchronization error values and that the second communication device cannot synchronize the start sequence number or the end sequence number is a desired alignment could not be achieved ). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the technology that providing synchronization error values if a desired alignment could not be achieved as a modification to the method for the benefit of that getting information of failed alignment such that it can response properly (page 8). Claim 14 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 7. Claim 20 is rejected as the similar reason as form claim 7. Conclusion 07-96 11 The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See form 892. 12 Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAIHAN JIANG whose telephone number is (571)272-1399. The examiner can normally be reached on flexible. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sath Perungavoor can be reached on (571)272-7455. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-0655. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ZAIHAN JIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 2 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 3 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 4 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 5 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 6 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 7 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 8 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 9 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 10 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 18/786,355 Page 11 Art Unit: 2488
