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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US Pub. 2026/0247286).
Regarding claims 1 and 20, Kim teaches a method performed by an access point (AP), the method comprising: transmitting, to a station (STA), a first message indicating a power save schedule of the AP (“when transitioning to a power saving state, the AP may notify one or more non-AP STAs (and/or one or more APs). Here, the AP may inform one or more non-AP STAs (and/or one or more APs) of which power saving state it is transitioning to” in [0157]); and transitioning, during a scheduled time window, from an awake state to a reduced power state, based on the power save schedule (see “ON” followed by “OFF” in Figure 8), wherein the reduced power state is associated with a power state transition capability (“the ON duration (and/or OFF duration) for each power saving state may be the same or different. For example, if the ON duration varies for each power saving state, the ON duration may decrease as the power saving state index (i.e., k) increases” in [0142]).
Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches transitioning, after expiration of the scheduled time window, from the reduced power state to the awake state (“when transitioning to a power saving state, the AP may notify one or more non-AP STAs (and/or one or more APs). Here, the AP may inform one or more non-AP STAs (and/or one or more APs) of which power saving state it is transitioning to” in [0157]).
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches transmitting, to the STA, a second message indicating that the power save schedule is stopped (“When each power saving state comprises one or more listen modes and scheduled power saving modes, transitioning to another power saving state can occur after the last scheduled power saving mode ends. Additionally, when transitioning to a power saving state, the AP may notify one or more non-AP STAs (and/or one or more APs)” in [0213], [0214]).
Regarding claim 4, Kim teaches after transitioning from the reduced power state to the awake state, receiving, from the STA, a second message (“non-AP STAs can transmit and receive frames with the AP during the ON duration” in [0191]); modifying the power save schedule based on the second message (“a non-AP STA may transmit the following information to the AP to enable the AP to determine the power-saving state selection” in [0239]); and transmitting, to the STA, a third message indicating the modification of the power save schedule (“The AP can determine a power saving state based on the above information and then transmit this information to non-AP STAs (or other APs) using a management frame (e.g., a Beacon frame)” in [0246]).
Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches the second message includes a presence request or an indication of latency sensitive data (“Information related to the traffic characteristics of the data to be transmitted. For example, low-latency or latency-tolerant traffic” in [0240]).
Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches transmitting, to the STA, a fourth message indicating that the power save schedule is resumed (“The AP can determine a power saving state based on the above information and then transmit this information to non-AP STAs (or other APs) using a management frame (e.g., a Beacon frame)” in [0246]).
Regarding claim 7, Kim teaches the fourth message includes a beacon (“The AP can determine a power saving state based on the above information and then transmit this information to non-AP STAs (or other APs) using a management frame (e.g., a Beacon frame)” in [0246]).
Regarding claim 15, Kim teaches the first message includes a beacon (“the AP may use a beacon, a probe response frame, etc. to transmit the following information” in [0168]).
Regarding claim 16, Kim teaches the power save schedule indicates a plurality of scheduled time windows, and wherein the method further comprises repeatedly transitioning between the awake state and reduced power state in accordance with the plurality of scheduled time windows (see “ON” followed by “OFF” in Figure 8).
Regarding claim 17, Kim teaches the reduced power state is a reduced capability awake state, and the associated power state transition capability is that reduced capability awake state can be switched to the awake state with full capabilities (“the ON duration (and/or OFF duration) for each power saving state may be the same or different. For example, if the ON duration varies for each power saving state, the ON duration may decrease as the power saving state index (i.e., k) increases” in [0142]).
Regarding claim 18, Kim teaches receiving, from the STA, while in the reduced capability awake state, a second message (“a non-AP STA may transmit the following information to the AP to enable the AP to determine the power-saving state selection” in [0239]); transitioning, before expiration of the scheduled time window, from the reduced capability awake state to the awake state with full capabilities (see transitioning from “OFF” to “ON” in Figure 11); and transmitting, to the STA, a third message, in response to the second message (“The AP can determine a power saving state based on the above information and then transmit this information to non-AP STAs (or other APs) using a management frame (e.g., a Beacon frame)” in [0246]).
Regarding claim 19, Kim teaches the second message includes a presence request or an indication of latency sensitive data (“Information related to the traffic characteristics of the data to be transmitted. For example, low-latency or latency-tolerant traffic” in [0240]), and wherein the third message includes an active frame indicating that the power save schedule is stopped (“When each power saving state comprises one or more listen modes and scheduled power saving modes, transitioning to another power saving state can occur after the last scheduled power saving mode ends. Additionally, when transitioning to a power saving state, the AP may notify one or more non-AP STAs (and/or one or more APs)” in [0213], [0214]).
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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. in view of Gupta et al. (US Pub. 2026/0019942).
Regarding claim 8, Kim teaches the limitations in claim 4 as shown above. Kim, however, does not teach modifying the power save schedule comprises canceling a subsequent transition to the reduced power state scheduled to occur at a next scheduled time window. Gupta teaches modifying the power save schedule comprises canceling a subsequent transition to the reduced power state scheduled to occur at a next scheduled time window (see “wake up from the power save mode (or cancel a scheduled power save mode” in [0048] and “canceling the upcoming power save mode” in [0052]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to have modifying the power save schedule comprises canceling a subsequent transition to the reduced power state scheduled to occur at a next scheduled time window as taught by Gupta in order to terminate the power save mode of the AP (or on one or more links of the AP) and begin operating in a fully awake mode [0052].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLEMENCE S HAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3158. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM EST.
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/CLEMENCE S HAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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