DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 10/29/2024 in which claims 1-8 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Malkawi et al. (US20140301374A1).
As to claims 1 and 7, Malkawi teaches a WLAN communication method comprising: (abstract In a wireless communication network, to reduce the polling overhead it is proposed to poll several stations using the same polling frame. [0030] The access point 202 includes a host processor 206, a network interface 208, a global positioning system (GPS) circuit 210, a timing circuit 212, a scheduler 214 and an antenna 216. In other embodiments, the access point 202 may include more or fewer or alternative elements relative to those shown in FIG. 2.)
sending a polling request message from an access point simultaneously to a client among clients associated therewith; ([0073] Initially, the access point AP transmits a group polling frame 702…The group polling frame 702 may have the structure of group polling frame 600 of FIG. 6 including duration and address pairs for first station STA.sub.1 and second station STA.sub.2.)
receiving a polling response message sent by the one or more client to the access point; ([0074] The receiving station, first station STA.sub.1, responds by transmitting a suitable response [0076] the second station STA.sub.2 receives the group polling frame, designated upon receipt as group polling frame 702-2. In accordance with the protocol, the second station STA2 waits a SIFS time then transmits a response message)
upon receiving each polling response message, the sending an ACK acknowledgement message to the corresponding client from the access point; and ([0075] the access point AP receives the response frame which is designated upon receipt as A-MPDU STA1 706. In response and in acknowledgment, the access point AP transmits a block acknowledge (BA) frame 708. [0076] the access point AP receives the response message which is designated upon receipt as A-MPDU STA2 714. In response, after another SIFS time, the access point transmits a BA frame 718.)
But does not specifically teach:
when the access point has received the polling response messages of all of the clients or a preset latest response time of the last client is reached, repeating the above operations, starting with sending a polling request message to a client.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to repeat or to make continuous a known method (MPEP 2144.04V.E. In re Dilnot, 319 F.2d 188, 138 USPQ 248 (CCPA 1963) (Claim directed to a method of producing a cementitious structure wherein a stable air foam is introduced into a slurry of cementitious material differed from the prior art only in requiring the addition of the foam to be continuous. The court held the claimed continuous operation would have been obvious in light of the batch process of the prior art.).
As to claim 2, Malkawi teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polling request message comprises a respective mac address of the client. ([0073] The group polling frame 702 may have the structure of group polling frame 600 of FIG. 6 including duration and address pairs for first station STA.sub.1 and station STA.sub.2. [0067] Each duration and address pair 606, 608 includes a duration field and an address field. Thus, the first duration and address pair 606 includes a duration field 610 and an address field 612. These fields, taken together indicate that the station designated STA.sub.i having a MAC address defined by address field 612 should transmit according to the time duration specified in the duration field 610. Similarly, the station designated STA.sub.j having a MAC address defined by address field 616 should transmit according to the time duration specified in the duration field 614.)
As to claim 3, Malkawi teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the polling request message further comprises data to be sent to the client by the access point. (Fig. 7 shows 702-1 as the polling frame but is described in [0074] as the data frame 702-1… fig.6 also shows the polling frame containing other information including duration fields for each STA.)
Claim(s) 4-6, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Malkawi in view of Li et al. (WO2005015844A1).
As to claims 4 and 8, Malkawi teaches a WLAN communication method comprising: (abstract In a wireless communication network, to reduce the polling overhead it is proposed to poll several stations using the same polling frame. [0040] The client device 204 includes a host processor 224, a network interface 226, an antenna 228 and a timing circuit 236. In other embodiments, the client device 204 may include other components providing other functionality. For example, in embodiments where the client device 204 is a mobile phone, the client device 204 includes a call processor circuit, a user interface and possibly other components such as a camera and accelerometers.)
receiving a polling request message at a client from an access point; ([0073] Initially, the access point AP transmits a group polling frame 702…The group polling frame 702 may have the structure of group polling frame 600 of FIG. 6 including duration and address pairs for first station STA.sub.1 and station STA.sub.2.)
sending, within a response time window thereof, a polling response message from the client to the access point ([0067] These fields, taken together indicate that the station designated STA.sub.i having a MAC address defined by address field 612 should transmit according to the time duration specified in the duration field 610. [0074] The receiving station, first station STA.sub.1, responds by transmitting a suitable response [0076] the second station STA.sub.2 receives the group polling frame, designated upon receipt as group polling frame 702-2. In accordance with the protocol, the second station STA2 waits a SIFS time then transmits a response message)
receiving an ACK acknowledgement message from the access point at the client. ([0075] the access point AP receives the response frame which is designated upon receipt as A-MPDU STA1 706. In response and in acknowledgment, the access point AP transmits a block acknowledge (BA) frame 708. [0076] the access point AP receives the response message which is designated upon receipt as A-MPDU STA2 714. In response, after another SIFS time, the access point transmits a BA frame 718.)
But does not specifically teach:
wherein, if the client is a first client among all clients to receive the polling request message of the access point, the response time window starts at the moment of receiving the polling request message and ends at a preset latest response time of the first client; else
if the client is an Nth client, the response time window starts at the moment of the client observing an ACK acknowledgement message of an (N-1)th client or when a preset latest response time of the (N-1)th client is reached, and ends when a preset latest response time of the Nth client is reached, wherein N > 1 and N SM, where M is the total number of clients to be polled by the access point;
However Li teaches wherein, if the client is a first client among all clients to receive the polling request message of the access point, the response time window starts at the moment of receiving the polling request message and ends at a preset latest response time of the first client; else if the client is an Nth client, the response time window starts at the moment of the client observing an ACK acknowledgement message of an (N-1)th client or when a preset latest response time of the (N-1)th client is reached, and ends when a preset latest response time of the Nth client is reached, wherein N > 1 and N SM, where M is the total number of clients to be polled by the access point; (Li [0014] Each training response may occur at a different time so that the traimng responses from multiple STAs do not interfere with each other. In the illustrated embodiment, all five of the relevant STAs are polled in a single transmission by using a multicast transmission for a training poll. …Along with its individual address, each addressed STA may also receive an individual timing indicator directing the STA to wait for a particular time duration before responding with a training response. In the illustrated embodiment of Fig. 2 A, the individual timing durations are shown as ti - 1.sub.5 for STA1 -STA5, respectively. In some embodiments the timing indicator may be a simple ranking (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) which the indicated STA may multiply by a time increment to determine how long to wait, but other embodiments may use other techniques (e.g., an indicator may be directly expressed in units of time; each STA may wait until the next higher-ranked STA has finished responding before transmitting, t.sup.*.Math. may always be a short fixed delay such as 0, etc.). The time ti for the training responses is shown in Fig. 2A as the time between the training response start time (T.sub.ST) and the training response end time (T.sub.Eτ).)
(Malkawi [0077] Thus, as is shown in the example of FIG. 7, the response frame A-MPDU STA2 714 transmitted by second station STA.sub.2 must be received at the access point AP after the receipt of the response message A-MPDU STA1 706 transmitted by the first station STA1 and the block acknowledgement frame 708 is transmitted from the access point AP to the first station STA1.)
The combination of Malkawi and Li would mean a UE would send a response to a polling request and if it is not the first it must wait for the UEs ahead of itself to either get an acknowledgement or wait for the end of their response time to send their own response to the polling request.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the polling method of Malkawi with the polling methods of LI in order for each training response to occur at a different time so that the responses from multiple STAs do not interfere with each other.
As to claim 5, Malkawi in view of Li teaches the method as claimed in claim 4, wherein: the polling request message comprises mac addresses of each of the clients; and (Malkawi [0073] The group polling frame 702 may have the structure of group polling frame 600 of FIG. 6 including duration and address pairs for first station STA.sub.1 and station STA.sub.2. [0067] Each duration and address pair 606, 608 includes a duration field and an address field. Thus, the first duration and address pair 606 includes a duration field 610 and an address field 612. These fields, taken together indicate that the station designated STA.sub.i having a MAC address defined by address field 612 should transmit according to the time duration specified in the duration field 610. Similarly, the station designated STA.sub.j having a MAC address defined by address field 616 should transmit according to the time duration specified in the duration field 614.)
the client determines its order of sending the polling response message among all of the clients according to the mac addresses and determines a preset latest response time of the client according to the order. (Malkawi [0074] The duration of the response frame 704 is designated U.sub.1 and is set by the duration field for the station having the MAC address of the first station STA.sub.1 in the group polling frame 702. In accordance with the communication protocol, timing for the transmission of the response message may be predefined.) (Li [0014] Each training response may occur at a different time so that the traimng responses from multiple STAs do not interfere with each other. In the illustrated embodiment, all five of the relevant STAs are polled in a single transmission by using a multicast transmission for a training poll. …Along with its individual address, each addressed STA may also receive an individual timing indicator directing the STA to wait for a particular time duration before responding with a training response. In the illustrated embodiment of Fig. 2 A, the individual timing durations are shown as ti - 1.sub.5 for STA1 -STA5, respectively. In some embodiments the timing indicator may be a simple ranking (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) which the indicated STA may multiply by a time increment to determine how long to wait, but other embodiments may use other techniques (e.g., an indicator may be directly expressed in units of time; each STA may wait until the next higher-ranked STA has finished responding before transmitting, t.sup.*.Math. may always be a short fixed delay such as 0, etc.). The time ti for the training responses is shown in Fig. 2A as the time between the training response start time (T.sub.ST) and the training response end time (T.sub.Eτ).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the polling method of Malkawi with the polling methods of LI in order for each training response to occur at a different time so that the responses from multiple STAs do not interfere with each other.
As to claim 6, Malkawi teaches a WLAN communication method comprising: (abstract In a wireless communication network, to reduce the polling overhead it is proposed to poll several stations using the same polling frame.)
sending a polling request message from an access point simultaneously to two or more clients among clients associated therewith; ([0073] Initially, the access point AP transmits a group polling frame 702…The group polling frame 702 may have the structure of group polling frame 600 of FIG. 6 including duration and address pairs for first station STA.sub.1 and second station STA.sub.2.)
sending, within a response time window thereof, a polling response message from the client to the access point sequentially; ([0067] These fields, taken together indicate that the station designated STA.sub.i having a MAC address defined by address field 612 should transmit according to the time duration specified in the duration field 610. [0074] The receiving station, first station STA.sub.1, responds by transmitting a suitable response [0076] the second station STA.sub.2 receives the group polling frame, designated upon receipt as group polling frame 702-2. In accordance with the protocol, the second station STA2 waits a SIFS time then transmits a response message [0077] Thus, as is shown in the example of FIG. 7, the response frame A-MPDU STA2 714 transmitted by second station STA.sub.2 must be received at the access point AP after the receipt of the response message A-MPDU STA1 706 transmitted by the first station STA1 and the block acknowledgement frame 708 is transmitted from the access point AP to the first station STA1.)
upon receiving a polling response message of a client, sending an ACK acknowledgement message from the access point to the client; ([0075] the access point AP receives the response frame which is designated upon receipt as A-MPDU STA1 706. In response and in acknowledgment, the access point AP transmits a block acknowledge (BA) frame 708. [0076] the access point AP receives the response message which is designated upon receipt as A-MPDU STA2 714. In response, after another SIFS time, the access point transmits a BA frame 718.)
But does not specifically teach:
wherein, if the client is a first client among all clients to receive the polling request message of the access point, the response time window starts at the moment of receiving the polling request message and ends at a preset latest response time of the first client; else f the client is an Nth client, the response time window starts at the moment of observing an ACK acknowledgement message of an (N-1)th client or when a preset latest response time of the (N-l)th client is reached, and ends when a preset latest response time of the Nth client is reached, wherein N > 1 and N M, where M is the total number of clients to be polled by the access point;
when the access point has received the polling response messages of all of the clients or a preset latest response time of the last client is reached, repeating the above operations, starting with the access point sending a polling request message to a client.
However Li teaches wherein, if the client is a first client among all clients to receive the polling request message of the access point, the response time window starts at the moment of receiving the polling request message and ends at a preset latest response time of the first client; else if the client is an Nth client, the response time window starts at the moment of the client observing an ACK acknowledgement message of an (N-1)th client or when a preset latest response time of the (N-1)th client is reached, and ends when a preset latest response time of the Nth client is reached, wherein N > 1 and N SM, where M is the total number of clients to be polled by the access point; (Li [0014] Each training response may occur at a different time so that the traimng responses from multiple STAs do not interfere with each other. In the illustrated embodiment, all five of the relevant STAs are polled in a single transmission by using a multicast transmission for a training poll. …Along with its individual address, each addressed STA may also receive an individual timing indicator directing the STA to wait for a particular time duration before responding with a training response. In the illustrated embodiment of Fig. 2 A, the individual timing durations are shown as ti - 1.sub.5 for STA1 -STA5, respectively. In some embodiments the timing indicator may be a simple ranking (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) which the indicated STA may multiply by a time increment to determine how long to wait, but other embodiments may use other techniques (e.g., an indicator may be directly expressed in units of time; each STA may wait until the next higher-ranked STA has finished responding before transmitting, t.sup.*.Math. may always be a short fixed delay such as 0, etc.). The time ti for the training responses is shown in Fig. 2A as the time between the training response start time (T.sub.ST) and the training response end time (T.sub.Eτ).)
(Malkawi [0077] Thus, as is shown in the example of FIG. 7, the response frame A-MPDU STA2 714 transmitted by second station STA.sub.2 must be received at the access point AP after the receipt of the response message A-MPDU STA1 706 transmitted by the first station STA1 and the block acknowledgement frame 708 is transmitted from the access point AP to the first station STA1.)
The combination of Malkawi and Li would mean a UE would send a response to a polling request and if it is not the first it must wait for the UEs ahead of itself to either get an acknowledgement or wait for the end of their response time to send their own response to the polling request.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the polling method of Malkawi with the polling methods of LI in order for each training response to occur at a different time so that the responses from multiple STAs do not interfere with each other.
But Malkawi in view of Li does not specifically teach:
when the access point has received the polling response messages of all of the clients or a preset latest response time of the last client is reached, repeating the above operations, starting with sending a polling request message to a client.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to repeat or to make continuous a known method (MPEP 2144.04V.E. In re Dilnot, 319 F.2d 188, 138 USPQ 248 (CCPA 1963) (Claim directed to a method of producing a cementitious structure wherein a stable air foam is introduced into a slurry of cementitious material differed from the prior art only in requiring the addition of the foam to be continuous. The court held the claimed continuous operation would have been obvious in light of the batch process of the prior art.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELTON S WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-9933. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4 Mon-Fri.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached at (571) 270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Elton Williams/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights