DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
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.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. In particular, this Application is national stage application of an international application that claims foreign priority to a Korean application filed on 21 Feb 2022. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement, submitted on 11 Dec 2024, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-17 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
A. Claim 1 recites, in part, “wherein based on the PPDU being transmitted based on a sensing result for the first primary 20 MHz channel, the PPDU is transmitted through a first channel that is idle in at least one antenna port among the plurality of antenna ports.” Emphasis added. This limitation is indefinite for two reasons. First, “based on the PPDU being transmitted . . . the PPDU is transmitted.” As currently drafted, the PPDU transmission is based on itself. To preclude this interpretation, the Examiner recommends removing the portion of claim 1 underlined above. Second, claim 1 transmits a PPDU through an idle “first channel . . . in at least one antenna port.” The concept of a channel in an antenna port is ambiguous. A channel is not a component of hardware, such an antenna port. As a result, it is unclear what constitutes a channel in an antenna port. Perhaps the channel is conveyed, transmitted, received, etc. by an antenna port, but the claimed invention does not require such.
Claims 9 and 10 recite similar limitations to one quoted in claim 1 and are indefinite for the reasons provided in the previous paragraph. All other claims are indefinite due to their dependence upon an indefinite independent claim.
B. Claims 2 and 11 recite, in part, “the second primary 20 MHz channel includes first to fourth Distributed Antenna System (DAS) primary channels,” where each of the first through fourth DAS primary channels “is an additional primary 20MHz channel.” It is unclear how the second primary 20MHz channel “includes” four 20MHz DAS primary channels. Either each DAS primary channel is only 5 MHz (i.e. 4 x 5 = 20 MHz) or each DAS primary channel is the same as the second primary channel (i.e. operates over the same 20 MHz) and thus should not be named differently. Claims 3-7 and 12-16 are indefinite due to their dependence upon claims 2 and 11.
C. Claims 8 and 17 recite, in part, “the plurality of antennas.” This limitation lacks antecedent basis.
D. Claim 8 and 17 also recite, in part, “an adjacent receiving STA.” Adjacent is a relative term. This creates ambiguity as to which receiving STAs qualify as adjacent or not adjacent.
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, 8-10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20210051722) in view of Rohfleisch (US 20130142186).
Regarding claim 1, Huang teaches a method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a receiving station (STA), control information from a transmitting STA (Huang, ¶¶116, 122-123– STAs receive RTS trigger frame with common SIG field; Huang, ¶174 – common info 2902 of a trigger frame [such as a RTS trigger frame] is “control information”);
receiving, by the receiving STA, allocation information on a first or second primary 20 MHz channel from a plurality of . . . [access points] based on the control information (Huang, ¶174 – user info 2904 of a trigger frame is “allocation information”; Huang, figure 14 and ¶124 – STA receives RTS on 20 MHz channel); and
receiving, by the receiving STA, a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) from the transmitting STA based on the allocation information (Huang, figure 22 and ¶155 – AP transmits PPDU to STA; Huang, ¶174 – data frame [i.e. PPDU] transmission complies with information provided in the trigger frame),
wherein the transmitting STA operates in a system in which a plurality of . . . [access points] are distributed (Huang, ¶145 figure 20 – multiple APs operate in the same environment and are controlled by the same central control entity),
wherein the first primary 20 MHz channel is a primary 20 MHz channel that exists within one Basic Service Set (BSS) (Huang, ¶¶123-124 – AP1 and AP2 are a part of the extended BSS and each had a different primary 20 MHz channel),
wherein the second primary 20 MHz channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel for each of the plurality of . . . [access points] (Huang, figure 14 and ¶124 – AP2 has a different primary 20 MHz channel than AP1),
wherein based on the PPDU being transmitted based on a sensing result for the first primary 20 MHz channel, the PPDU is transmitted through a first channel that is idle in at least one . . . [access point] among the plurality of . . . [access points] (Huang, ¶132 – solicited PPDU is transmitted after CTS; Huang figure 14 – after the CTS sent on the first 20 MHz channel, the AP transmits the data frame/PPDU on the 1st 20 MHz channel [unshown in figure 14, but shown in figure 27, where “data transmissions” follows the “polling and scheduling for STAs of each AP”]), and
wherein the at least one . . . [access point] is an . . . [access point] in which the first primary 20 MHz channel is idle. Huang, figure 14 (CTS is a clear-to-send signal indicating that the first 20 MHz is free for a transmission from AP1 to STA1).
Huang does not explicitly teach a plurality of “antenna ports,” each with a different channel. Instead, Huang teaches a plurality of “access points” controlled by the same entity (Huang, ¶145 and figure 20), where each access point has a different primary channel. Huang, ¶124. However, Rohfleisch teaches an access point that serves two basic service sets via different physical communication channels. Rohfleisch, ¶17. Each physical communication operates of a different antenna. Ibid. As a result, the access point contains a plurality of antenna “ports.” Id. at ¶25 and figure 5a (two antennas provides two ports for the BSS controller). At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the multiple access points implementing the channelization, taught by Huang, with a single access points providing a plurality of basic service sets via different antennas, as taught by Rohfleisch, in order to dynamically improve the communication provided to the STAs by assigning STAs to different BSSs based on their QoS requirements, load, or capabilities. Rohfleisch, ¶¶28-30.
Regarding claim 9, Huang teaches a receiving station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the receiving STA comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor being operatively connected to the memory and the transceiver (Huang, figure 7 and ¶105), wherein the processor is configured to:
receive control information from a transmitting STA (Huang, ¶¶116, 122-123– STAs receive RTS trigger frame with common SIG field; Huang, ¶174 – common info 2902 of a trigger frame [such as a RTS trigger frame] is “control information”);
receive allocation information on a first or second primary 20 MHz channel from a plurality of . . . [access points] based on the control information (Huang, ¶174 – user info 2904 of a trigger frame is “allocation information”; Huang, figure 14 and ¶124 – STA receives RTS on 20 MHz channel); and
receive a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) from the transmitting STA based on the allocation information (Huang, figure 22 and ¶155 – AP transmits PPDU to STA; Huang, ¶174 – data frame [i.e. PPDU] transmission complies with information provided in the trigger frame),
wherein the transmitting STA operates in a system in which a plurality of . . . [access points] are distributed (Huang, ¶145 figure 20 – multiple APs operate in the same environment and are controlled by the same central control entity),
wherein the first primary 20 MHz channel is a primary 20 MHz channel that exists within one Basic Service Set (BSS) (Huang, ¶¶123-124 – AP1 and AP2 are a part of the extended BSS and each had a different primary 20 MHz channel),
wherein the second primary 20 MHz channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel for each of the plurality of . . . [access points] (Huang, figure 14 and ¶124 – AP2 has a different primary 20 MHz channel than AP1),
wherein based on the PPDU being transmitted based on a sensing result for the first primary 20 MHz channel, the PPDU is transmitted through a first channel that is idle in at least one . . . [access point] among the plurality of . . . [access points] (Huang, ¶132 – solicited PPDU is transmitted after CTS; Huang figure 14 – after the CTS sent on the first 20 MHz channel, the AP transmits the data frame/PPDU on the 1st 20 MHz channel [unshown in figure 14, but shown in figure 27, where “data transmissions” follows the “polling and scheduling for STAs of each AP”]), and
wherein the at least one . . . [access point] is an . . . [access point] in which the first primary 20 MHz channel is idle. Huang, figure 14 (CTS is a clear-to-send signal indicating that the first 20 MHz is free for a transmission from AP1 to STA1).
Huang does not explicitly teach a plurality of “antenna ports,” each with a different channel. Instead, Huang teaches a plurality of “access points” controlled by the same entity (Huang, ¶145 and figure 20), where each access point has a different primary channel. Huang, ¶124. However, Rohfleisch teaches an access point that serves two basic service sets via different physical communication channels. Rohfleisch, ¶17. Each physical communication operates of a different antenna. Ibid. As a result, the access point contains a plurality of antenna “ports.” Id. at ¶25 and figure 5a (two antennas provides two ports for the BSS controller). At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the multiple access points implementing the channelization, taught by Huang, with a single access points providing a plurality of basic service sets via different antennas, as taught by Rohfleisch, in order to dynamically improve the communication provided to the STAs by assigning STAs to different BSSs based on their QoS requirements, load, or capabilities. Rohfleisch, ¶¶28-30.
Regarding claim 10, Huang teaches a method in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a transmitting station (STA), control information (Huang, ¶123 and figure 14 – Aps receive multi-AP trigger frame; Huang, ¶174 – common info 2902 of a trigger frame [such as a multi-AP trigger frame] is “control information”);
performing, by the transmitting STA, sensing for a first or second primary 20 MHz channel from a plurality of . . . [access points] based on the control information (Huang, ¶132 – solicited PPDU is transmitted after CTS is received; Huang figure 14 – after the CTS sent on the first 20 MHz channel, the AP transmits the data frame/PPDU on the 1st 20 MHz channel [unshown in figure 14, but shown in figure 27, where “data transmissions” follows the “polling and scheduling for STAs of each AP”]); and
transmitting, by the transmitting STA, a Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) to a receiving STA based on a result of the sensing (Huang, figure 22 and ¶155 – AP transmits PPDU to STA; Huang, ¶174 – data frame [i.e. PPDU] transmission complies with information provided in the trigger frame),
wherein the transmitting STA operates in a system in which a plurality of . . . [access points] are distributed (Huang, ¶145 figure 20 – multiple APs operate in the same environment and are controlled by the same central control entity),
wherein the first primary 20 MHz channel is a primary 20 MHz channel that exists within one Basic Service Set (BSS) (Huang, ¶¶123-124 – AP1 and AP2 are a part of the extended BSS and each had a different primary 20 MHz channel),
wherein the second primary 20 MHz channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel for each of the plurality of . . . [access points] (Huang, figure 14 and ¶124 – AP2 has a different primary 20 MHz channel than AP1),
wherein based on the PPDU being transmitted based on a sensing result for the first primary 20 MHz channel, the PPDU is transmitted through a first channel that is idle in at least one . . . [access point] among the plurality of . . . [access points] (Huang, ¶132 – solicited PPDU is transmitted after CTS; Huang figure 14 – after the CTS sent on the first 20 MHz channel, the AP transmits the data frame/PPDU on the 1st 20 MHz channel [unshown in figure 14, but shown in figure 27, where “data transmissions” follows the “polling and scheduling for STAs of each AP”]), and
wherein the at least one . . . [access point] is an . . . [access point] in which the first primary 20 MHz channel is idle. Huang, figure 14 (CTS is a clear-to-send signal indicating that the first 20 MHz is free for a transmission from AP1 to STA1).
Huang does not explicitly teach a plurality of “antenna ports,” each with a different channel. Instead, Huang teaches a plurality of “access points” controlled by the same entity (Huang, ¶145 and figure 20), where each access point has a different primary channel. Huang, ¶124. However, Rohfleisch teaches an access point that serves two basic service sets via different physical communication channels. Rohfleisch, ¶17. Each physical communication operates of a different antenna. Ibid. As a result, the access point contains a plurality of antenna “ports.” Id. at ¶25 and figure 5a (two antennas provides two ports for the BSS controller). At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the multiple access points implementing the channelization, taught by Huang, with a single access points providing a plurality of basic service sets via different antennas, as taught by Rohfleisch, in order to dynamically improve the communication provided to the STAs by assigning STAs to different BSSs based on their QoS requirements, load, or capabilities. Rohfleisch, ¶¶28-30.
Regarding claims 8 and 17, the combination of Huang and Rohfleisch also teaches wherein the one BSS is a BSS of the transmitting STA (Huang, ¶123 – access points [i.e. transmitting STAs] provide extended BSS),
wherein the control information includes first indication information on the first primary 20 MHz channel and second indication information on the second primary 20 MHz channel (Huang, ¶174 and figures 14 and 22 – each AP transmits over its channel based on the information indicated by the fields of the RTS trigger frame),
wherein the second indication information is transmitted only to an adjacent receiving STA for each of the plurality of antennas. Huang, figure 20 and ¶147 (radio ranges 2002-2006 define which STAs are adjacent to each AP).
Claims 2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20210051722) in view of Rohfleisch (US 20130142186) and further in view of Wang (US 12457643).
Regarding claims 2 and 11, the combination of Huang and Rohfleisch teaches the methods of claims 1 and 10 and all access points operating over the same 80 MHz (Huang, ¶147), each access point with its own primary channel (Huang, ¶124), and one access point providing a plurality of antenna ports. Rohfleisch, ¶¶17, 25. The combination of Huang and Rohfleisch does not explicitly teach “wherein based on the plurality of . . . [access points] including first to fourth . . . [access points], the second primary 20 MHz channel includes first to fourth Distributed Antenna System (DAS) primary channels, wherein the first DAS primary channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel of the first . . . [access point], wherein the second DAS primary channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel of the second . . . [access point], wherein the third DAS primary channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel of the third . . . [access point], wherein the fourth DAS primary channel is an additional primary 20 MHz channel of the fourth . . . [access point].”
However, Wang teaches four access points operating over 80 MHz. Wang, figure 7a and 29:6-7. The coordinating AP of Wang allocates 20 MHz channels for each of access points 1-4. Id. at 29:8-17. At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to coordinate the primary channels of each antenna port of an access point, as taught by the combination of Huang and Rohfleisch, by dividing 80 MHz equally among four devices, as taught by Wang, in order to implement mult-AP sounding over the same 4 ms TXOP. Wang, 28:65-29:7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN S LAMONT whose telephone number is (571)270-7514. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am to 3pm EST.
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/Benjamin Lamont/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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