Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim 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.
Claims 1, 2, 6, 7, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 20220030604 to Noh et al (support found in Provisional Application No. 63057026) in view of U.S. Publication No. 20210359885 to Shellhammer et al (support found in Provisional Application No. 63025150).
Referring to claim 1, Noh et al disclose in Figures 1-52 a method for aligning HE (Sections 0126 and 0129-0132: HE sub-PPDUs), EHT (Sections 0126, 0129, 0130, 0132, and 0143: EHT sub-PPDUs), and EHT+ sub-PPDUs (Sections 0117, 0162, 0169, 0171, and 0178: EHT+ sub-PPDUs) included in an APPDU trigger frame (Sections 0127-0140, 0178, 0184, 0187, 0189, and 0191: APPDU trigger frame of Figures 11-18; the APPDU trigger frame comprises a plurality of sub-PPDUs), comprising:
Aligning a preamble portion of the sub-PPDUs by applying a MU-PPDU format to each of the sub-PPDUs. Figure 13 and Sections 0129-0130: UE aligns a preamble portion of the sub-PPDUs using a MU-PPDU format to align the preamble portion.
… a data portion of the sub-PPDUs (Figures 7 and 12; Sections 116 and 128: each sub-PPDU comprises a data field) … a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs (Sections 0129, 0130, 0132, 0155, 0164: each sub-PPDU comprises a padding subfield) ... Refer to Sections 0059-0214.
Noh et al do not disclose … aligning a data portion of the sub-PPDUs by including a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs to produce a common length.
Shellhammer et al disclose in Figures 1-25 and Figures 6-7B and 13 wherein each component PPDU (claimed “sub-PPDUs”) of an APPDU includes a preamble portion and a data portion. Section 0074: “For example, the AP may add padding to the data fields of all (or all but the longest) of the component sub-PPDUs so that they match a length or duration of the longest component PPDU that will be included in a multi-generation PPDU.”. For example in Figure 13: Each of the component PPDUs 731, 732, and 733 make up the multi-generation PPDU 1300. To align the ends of the data portion of PPDUs 731, 732, and 733, padding is added to one or more of the data portions of PPDUs 731, 732, and 733. AP determines a length of the data portion of the longest component PPDU (claimed “common length”) to determine the padding to add to the data portion of the remaining component PPDUs; AP determines that component PPDU 732 is the longest component PPDU. AP adds padding 1341 to the data portion of component PPDU 731 to align component PPDU 731 to the longest component PPDU 732, and AP also adds padding 1343 to the data portion of component PPDU 733 to align component PPDU 733 to the longest component PPDU 732. Refer to Sections 0038-0208. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include … aligning a data portion of the sub-PPDUs by including a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs to produce a common length. One would have been motivated to do so so that the data portion of each sub-PPDU is aligned to a common length by using a padding subfield, thereby ensuring transmission of each sub-PPDU.
Referring to claim 2, Noh et al disclose in Figures 1-52 wherein each sub-PPDU includes a TRS control subfield. Sections 0156-0158: each sub-PPDU includes a TRS control subfield. Refer to Sections 0059-0214.
Referring to claim 6, Noh et al disclose in Figures 1-52 a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (memory 232) comprising instructions (memory 232 stores instructions), which when
executed by one or more processors (processor 210) in a WLAN (Sections 0061-0063), cause the one
or more processors to perform (Sections 0207-0213: processor 210 executes instructions stored in memory 232 to perform UE functions):
Aligning a preamble portion of HE (Sections 0126 and 0129-0132: HE sub-PPDUs), EHT (Sections 0126, 0129, 0130, 0132, and 0143: EHT sub-PPDUs), and EHT+ sub-PPDUs (Sections 0117, 0162, 0169, 0171, and 0178: EHT+ sub-PPDUs) included in an APPDU trigger frame (Sections 0127-0140, 0178, 0184, 0187, 0189, and 0191: APPDU trigger frame of Figures 11-18; the APPDU trigger frame comprises a plurality of sub-PPDUs) by applying a MU-PPDU format to each of the sub-PPDUs. Figure 13 and Sections 0129-0130: UE aligns a preamble portion of the sub-PPDUs using a MU-PPDU format to align the preamble portion.
… a data portion of the sub-PPDUs (Figures 7 and 12; Sections 116 and 128: each sub-PPDU comprises a data field) … a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs (Sections 0129, 0130, 0132, 0155, 0164: each sub-PPDU comprises a padding subfield) ... Refer to Sections 0059-0214.
Noh et al do not disclose … aligning a data portion of the sub-PPDUs by including a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs to produce a common length.
Shellhammer et al disclose in Figures 1-25 and Figures 6-7B and 13 wherein each component PPDU (claimed “sub-PPDUs”) of an APPDU includes a preamble portion and a data portion. Section 0074: “For example, the AP may add padding to the data fields of all (or all but the longest) of the component sub-PPDUs so that they match a length or duration of the longest component PPDU that will be included in a multi-generation PPDU.”. For example in Figure 13: Each of the component PPDUs 731, 732, and 733 make up the multi-generation PPDU 1300. To align the ends of the data portion of PPDUs 731, 732, and 733, padding is added to one or more of the data portions of PPDUs 731, 732, and 733. AP determines a length of the data portion of the longest component PPDU (claimed “common length”) to determine the padding to add to the data portion of the remaining component PPDUs; AP determines that component PPDU 732 is the longest component PPDU. AP adds padding 1341 to the data portion of component PPDU 731 to align component PPDU 731 to the longest component PPDU 732, and AP also adds padding 1343 to the data portion of component PPDU 733 to align component PPDU 733 to the longest component PPDU 732. Refer to Sections 0038-0208. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include … aligning a data portion of the sub-PPDUs by including a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs to produce a common length. One would have been motivated to do so so that the data portion of each sub-PPDU is aligned to a common length by using a padding subfield, thereby ensuring transmission of each sub-PPDU.
Referring to claim 7, Noh et al disclose in Figures 1-52 wherein each sub-PPDU includes a TRS control subfield. Sections 0156-0158: each sub-PPDU includes a TRS control subfield. Refer to Sections 0059-0214.
Referring to claim 11, Noh et al disclose in Figures 1-52 a wireless device (UE) configured to align HE (Sections 0126 and 0129-0132: HE sub-PPDUs), EHT (Sections 0126, 0129, 0130, 0132, and 0143: EHT sub-PPDUs), and EHT+ sub-PPDUs (Sections 0117, 0162, 0169, 0171, and 0178: EHT+ sub-PPDUs) included in an APPDU trigger frame (Sections 0127-0140, 0178, 0184, 0187, 0189, and 0191: APPDU trigger frame of Figures 11-18; the APPDU trigger frame comprises a plurality of sub-PPDUs), comprising:
A memory device (memory 232 stores instructions) storing a set of instructions.
A processor (processor 210) coupled to the memory device, wherein the set of instructions when executed by the processor causes the wireless device to (Sections 0207-0213: processor 210 executes instructions stored in memory 232 to perform UE functions):
Align a preamble portion of the sub-PPDUs by applying a MU-PPDU format to each of the sub-PPDUs. Figure 13 and Sections 0129-0130: UE aligns a preamble portion of the sub-PPDUs using a MU-PPDU format to align the preamble portion.
Include a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs (Sections 0129, 0130, 0132, 0155, 0164: each sub-PPDU comprises a padding subfield) ... a data portion of the sub-PPDUs (Figures 7 and 12; Sections 116 and 128: each sub-PPDU comprises a data field) … Refer to Sections 0059-0214.
Noh et al do not disclose … include a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs to produce a common length to align a data portion of the sub-PPDUs.
Shellhammer et al disclose in Figures 1-25 and Figures 6-7B and 13 wherein each component PPDU (claimed “sub-PPDUs”) of an APPDU includes a preamble portion and a data portion. Section 0074: “For example, the AP may add padding to the data fields of all (or all but the longest) of the component sub-PPDUs so that they match a length or duration of the longest component PPDU that will be included in a multi-generation PPDU.”. For example in Figure 13: Each of the component PPDUs 731, 732, and 733 make up the multi-generation PPDU 1300. To align the ends of the data portion of PPDUs 731, 732, and 733, padding is added to one or more of the data portions of PPDUs 731, 732, and 733. AP determines a length of the data portion of the longest component PPDU (claimed “common length”) to determine the padding to add to the data portion of the remaining component PPDUs; AP determines that component PPDU 732 is the longest component PPDU. AP adds padding 1341 to the data portion of component PPDU 731 to align component PPDU 731 to the longest component PPDU 732, and AP also adds padding 1343 to the data portion of component PPDU 733 to align component PPDU 733 to the longest component PPDU 732. Refer to Sections 0038-0208. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include … include a padding subfield in each of the sub-PPDUs to produce a common length to align a data portion of the sub-PPDUs. One would have been motivated to do so so that the data portion of each sub-PPDU is aligned to a common length by using a padding subfield, thereby ensuring transmission of each sub-PPDU.
Referring to claim 12, Noh et al disclose in Figures 1-52 wherein each sub-PPDU includes a TRS control subfield. Sections 0156-0158: each sub-PPDU includes a TRS control subfield. Refer to Sections 0059-0214.
Claims 3, 8, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 20220030604 to Noh et al (support found in Provisional Application No. 63057026) in view of U.S. Publication No. 20210359885 to Shellhammer et al (support found in Provisional Application No. 63025150), and in further view of U.S. Publication No. 20200153558 to Sugaya et al.
Noh et al and Shellhammer et al do not disclose wherein instead of including a padding subfield for each of the sub-PPDUs, including a padding subfield for the entire APPDU.
Sugaya et al disclose in Figures 1-32 wherein an aggregated A-MPDU comprises a plurality of MPDU’s. Figure 15 and Sections 0154-0155 disclose one embodiment wherein a padding subfield is added to each MPDU of the A-MPDU. Figures 5, 13A-13B, and 18 and Sections 0082, 0131-0139, and 0165 disclose another embodiment wherein a padding subfield is added to the end of the entire A-MPDU, and a padding subfield is not added to each of the MPDU’s. Refer to Sections 0054-0263. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein instead of including a padding subfield for each of the sub-PPDUs, including a padding subfield for the entire APPDU. One would have been motivated to do so so to include a padding subfield for the entire APPD instead of including a padding subfield for each of the sub-PPDUs, thereby simplifying the system by using only one padding subfield.
Claims 4, 5, 9, 10, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 20220030604 to Noh et al (support found in Provisional Application No. 63057026) in view of U.S. Publication No. 20210359885 to Shellhammer et al (support found in Provisional Application No. 63025150), and in further view of U.S. Publication No. 20190357256 to Kim et al.
Referring to claims 4, 9, and 14, Noh et al and Shellhammer et al do not disclose wherein each of the padding subfields are at least two octets in length and set to a binary value including all “1”s.
Kim et al disclose in Figures 1-26 and Sections 0108 and 0136-0129 wherein a padding subfield of a trigger frame is at least two octets in lengths and set to a binary value of all 1’s. Refer to Sections 0039-0239. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein each of the padding subfields are at least two octets in length and set to a binary value including all “1”s. One would have been motivated to do so since a conventional padding subfield of a trigger frame can be two octets in length and set to a binary value of all “1”s.
Referring to claims 5, 10, and 15, Noh et al and Shellhammer et al do not disclose wherein each of the padding subfields are optionally present in an HE trigger frame.
Kim et al disclose in Figures 1-26 and Sections 0118, 0133, and 0139 wherein in a trigger frame such as a HE trigger frame, a padding field is optional. Refer to Sections 0039-0239. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein each of the padding subfields are optionally present in an HE trigger frame. One would have been motivated to do so so since padding subfields are optionally present in an HE trigger frame, thereby allowing flexibility in the HE trigger frame to not include padding subfields.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Publication No. 20210385115 to Cao et al disclose in Figures 1-6 and Sections 0073, 0082, and 0085 wherein APPDU comprises a plurality of sub-PPDUs; padding is added to the sub-PPDUs. Refer to Sections 0042-0111.
U.S. Publication No. 20200162187 to Zhang et al disclose in Figures 1-5 and Sections 0064-0068 wherein padding is provided to packets; a plurality of punctured bits are read from a buffer and provided to post-FEC padding block for subsequent processing, wherein the coding rate can be higher than ½, and therefore puncturing is performed. Refer to Sections 0017-0083.
U.S. Publication No. 20200221545 to Stacey et al disclose in Figures 1-23 and Section 0162 wherein padding is provided to packets; a padding extension comprising dummy bits can be added to a packet. Refer to Sections 0029-0197.
U.S. Publication No. 20190159127 to Son et al disclose in Figures 1-29 and Sections 0162, 0163, 0218, 0220, and 0227 wherein the L-Length field of the L-SIG of the PPDU indicates the length of the corresponding PPDU. Refer to Sections 0059-0247.
U.S. Publication No. 20180176901 to Huang et al disclose in Figures 1-8 and Sections 0047, 0050, 0071, 0072, and 0080-0082 wherein the duration of padding can be in the common info field of trigger frame for PPDUs. Refer to Sections 0017-0155.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTINE Y NG whose telephone number is (571)272-3124. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12pm-9pm.
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/Christine Ng/
Examiner, AU 2464
August 11, 2026
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