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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is response to Application 18/830,809 filed on 09/11/2024 in which claims 1-21 are presented for examination.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, 12, 13, 16 and 17 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.
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 1-5, 8, 15 and 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lim et al. (EP 4765933 A1).
1. Regarding claim 1, Lim teaches a communication method comprising:
a first communication device sending an add block acknowledgement (ADDBA) request frame to a second communication device through a communication link (Fig. 20 ADDBA REQ); and
the first communication device receiving an ADDBA response frame from the second communication device through the communication link (Lim, Fig 20), wherein each of the ADDBA request frame and the ADDBA response frame comprises a link adaptation negotiation field for negotiation of at least one link adaptation parameter of the communication link (Lim, Paragraphs [0221] to [0223] LA info transmitted in ADDBA REQ, ADDBA RES; negotiation).
2. Regarding claim 2, Lim teaches, wherein the link adaptation
negotiation field comprises a criterion based on the at least one link adaptation measurement and a corresponding level of the at least one link adaptation measurement (Paragraph [0221] to [0224] LA info, MCS info set as recommended MCS).
3. Regarding claim 3, Lim teaches wherein the at least one link
adaptation measurement comprises one or more of a throughput, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or a packet error rate (PER) of the communication link (Paragraph [0137] to [0141] improved link adaptation; feedback based on measurement result).
4. Regarding claim 4, Lim teaches, wherein the link adaptation
negotiation field is included in an existing field of the corresponding ADDBA request or response frame (Lim, Paragraphs [0221] to [0223] LA info transmitted in ADDBA REQ, ADDBA RES; negotiation).
5. Regarding claim 5, Lim teaches a communication method comprising:
a first communication device sending a block acknowledgement request (BAR) frame to a second communication device through a communication link, wherein the BAR frame comprises a link adaptation information request for feedback of at least one link adaptation parameter of the communication link ( Lim, Fig. 20 Paragraphs [0221] to [0223] LA info transmitted in ADDBA REQ, ADDBA RES; negotiation); and
the first communication device receiving a block acknowledgement (BA) frame from the
second communication device through the communication link, wherein the BA frame comprises a link adaptation information response relating to the at least one link adaptation parameter of the communication link (Lim, Fig. 20 Paragraphs [0221] to [0223] LA info transmitted in ADDBA REQ, ADDBA RES; negotiation).
6. Regarding claim 8, Lim teaches, wherein the link adaptation
information response comprises a recommendation or measurement relating to the at least one link adaptation parameter (Lim, Fig. 20 Paragraphs [0221] to [0223] LA info transmitted in ADDBA REQ, ADDBA RES; negotiation).
7. Regarding claim 15, Lim teaches A communication method comprising:
a first communication device sending a block acknowledgement (BA) frame to a second
communication device through a communication link, wherein the BA frame comprises a recommendation for increasing a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) level of the
communication link between the first communication device and the second communication device (Lim, Fig. 20 Paragraphs [0221] to [0224] LA info transmitted in ADDBA REQ, ADDBA RES; negotiation; MCS).
8. Regarding claim 18, Lim teaches a communication apparatus comprising: one or more processors functionally connected to one or more non-transitory machine-readable memories storing thereon machine-executable instructions, and the one or more processors are configured to execute the machine- executable instructions (Fig. 1a and 1b) and cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication
method of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
9. Regarding claim 19, Lim teaches a communication apparatus comprising: one or more processors functionally connected to one or more non-transitory machine-readable memories storing thereon machine-executable instructions, and the one or more processors are configured to execute the machine-executable instructions (Fig. 1a and 1b) and cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication
method of claim 5 (see rejection of claim 5).
10. Regarding claim 20, Lim teaches a communication apparatus comprising: one or more processors functionally connected to one or more non-transitory machine-readable memories storing thereon machine-executable instructions, and the one or more processors are configured to execute the machine-executable instructions (Fig. 1a and 1b) and cause the communication apparatus to perform the communication method of claim 15 (see rejection of claim 15).
11. Regarding claim 21, Lim teaches one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices (Paragraph [0245] CRM) comprising computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause one or more circuits to perform the communication method of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
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 9-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim et al. (EP 4765933 A1) in view of Zhou et al. (US 2017/0064695 A1).
12. Regarding claim 9, Lim does not explicitly disclose wherein the BAR frame
comprises a BAR type subfield including one value indicating an existence of the link adaptation information request in the BAR frame and the BA frame comprises a BA type subfield including one value indicating an existence of the link adaptation information response in the BA frame.
Zhou teaches wherein the BAR frame
comprises a BAR type subfield including one value indicating an existence of the link adaptation information request in the BAR frame and the BA frame comprises a BA type subfield including one value indicating an existence of the link adaptation information response in the BA frame (Fig. 3A and 3B Paragraph [0077] and [0078] soliciting frame; response to soliciting frame; Link adaptation Field).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the BAR frame
comprises a BAR type subfield including one value indicating an existence of the link adaptation information request in the BAR frame and the BA frame comprises a BA type subfield including one value indicating an existence of the link adaptation information response in the BA frame as taught by Zhou in the system of Lim for simplicity by reusing fields rather than defining additional fields see Paragraph [0080] of Zhou.
13. Regarding claim 10, Lim does not explicitly disclose, wherein
the BAR frame comprises a BAR information field specifying the link adaptation
information request; and the BA frame comprises a BA information field specifying the link adaptation information response.
Zhou teaches, wherein the BAR frame comprises a BAR information field specifying the link adaptation information request; and the BA frame comprises a BA information field specifying the link adaptation information response (Fig. 3A and 3B Paragraph [0077] and [0078] soliciting frame; response to soliciting frame; Link adaptation Field).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the BAR frame comprises a BAR information field specifying the link adaptation information request; and the BA frame comprises a BA information field specifying the link adaptation information response as taught by Zhou in the system of Lim for simplicity by reusing fields rather than defining additional fields see Paragraph [0080] of Zhou.
14. Regarding claim 11, Lim does not explicitly disclose wherein the link adaptation
information request for feedback of the at least one link adaptation parameter comprises a request for feedback of a single link adaptation parameter of the communication link.
Zhou teaches wherein the link adaptation
information request for feedback of the at least one link adaptation parameter comprises a request for feedback of a single link adaptation parameter of the communication link.
(Fig. 3A and 3B Paragraph [0077] and [0078] soliciting frame; response to soliciting frame; Link adaptation Field).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the link adaptation
information request for feedback of the at least one link adaptation parameter comprises a request for feedback of a single link adaptation parameter of the communication link.
as taught by Zhou in the system of Lim for simplicity by reusing fields rather than defining additional fields see Paragraph [0080] of Zhou.
15. Regarding claim 14, Lim in view of Zhou teaches wherein the single link
adaptation parameter is one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a number of spatial streams (NSS) and an unequal modulation (UEQM) pattern of the communication link (Zhou, Paragraphs [0077] to [0079] MCS, NSS).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Sammour et al. (US 2006/0268886 A1) Paragraphs [0038] to [0049]
Kim et al. (US 2017/0353887 A1) Paragraphs [0052] to [0057]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
