Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/864,222

WIDE BANDWIDTH RESOURCE UNIT TONE PLAN DESIGNS FOR NEXT-GENERATION WLAN

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 08, 2024
Priority
May 19, 2022 — provisional 63/343,578 +1 more
Examiner
SHARMA, POONAM
Art Unit
2469
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
MediaTek Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
12m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allowance Rate
21 granted / 23 resolved
+33.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+11.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
50
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§103
60.6%
+20.6% vs TC avg
§102
16.8%
-23.2% vs TC avg
§112
17.7%
-22.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 23 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION This office action in response to an application filing received November 08, 2024. The Application Data Sheet received on November 08, 2024 has been considered. Claims 1-20 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement filed November 08, 2024 and July 17, 2026 has been considered. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness. Claim(s) 1, 9-11, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al., US 20230119491 A1, (hereinafter Liu) and in view of Chen et al., US 11871446 B2, (hereinafter Chen-1446). Regarding claim 1 and 11, Liu teaches a method, comprising: communicating, by a processor of a first apparatus, wirelessly with a second apparatus by either or both (see ¶ [0113]- [0114], In FIG. 1, one AP and three STAs are used as an example. Wireless communication may be performed between the AP and each of the STAs according to various standards.): transmitting first data or first information to the second apparatus (see Fig. 8, e.g., element S810, S820, S830; see ¶ [0179] - [0182], e.g., S810: A first communications device generates a physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, where the PPDU includes a long training field LTF, and the long training field carries an LTF sequence. S820: The first communications device sends the PPDU. Correspondingly, a second communications device receives the PPDU. S830: The second communications device parses the PPDU to obtain the LTF sequence in the PPDU.); and receiving second data or second information from the second apparatus (see ¶ [0174], for uplink transmission, a STA may be used as a transmit end, and an AP may be used as a receive end. For downlink transmission, the AP may be used as a transmit end, and the STA may be used as a receive end), wherein the communicating wirelessly comprises communicating in a 240MHz with a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 78.125kHz or a multiple of 78.125kHz (see ¶ [0014], a 240 MHz 2×LTF sequence; ¶ [0032], a 240 MHz 4×LTF sequence; ¶ [0157], To further improve system efficiency in different scenarios, an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of 4×, 2×, and 1× modes applicable to an embodiment of this application. 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … and a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.4×=20 MHz/256=78.125 kHz. A standard 20 MHz channel uses a 256-FFT in 4x mode. Scaling 20 MHz to 240 MHz is a factor of 12 (240 / 20 = 12). Therefore, 256 × 12 = 3072 FFT. Hence for 240 MHz subcarrier spacing can be calculated as: (240,000 kHz) /3072 = 78.125), however, it does not explicitly teach communicating in a 480MHz, 560MHz or 640MHz bandwidth. Chen-1446 teaches communicating in a 480MHz, 560MHz or 640MHz bandwidth (see Col. 35, lines 54-60, In the uncompressed mode (for OFDMA transmission), if the PPDU bandwidth is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz, … if the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz and above (such as 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, 640 MHz, among other examples); see Col. 8, lines 60-67 - Col. 9, lines 1-5, For example, PPDUs conforming to the IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac and 802.11ax standard amendments may be transmitted over the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, each of which is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels… , but larger channels can be formed through channel bonding.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446 to include communicating in a 480MHz, 560MHz or 640MHz bandwidth. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth.). Regarding claim 9 and 19, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in the bandwidth with the SCS being 156.25kHz and a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 4096 (see ¶ [0157], e.g., an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes … 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.2×=20 MHz/128=156.25 kHz; (note that, scaling 20 MHz to 640 MHz is a factor of 24 (640 / 20 = 32). Therefore, 128 × 32 = 4096-FFT. Hence for 640 MHz SCS Calculation 2x mode: (640,000 kHz) /3072 = 156.25KHz)), and wherein a resource unit (RU) allocation for the bandwidth comprises: an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 144 *26-tone RU, 64 *52-tone RU, 32 *106-tone RU, 16 *242-tone RU, 8 *484-tone RU and 4 *996-tone RU see [0124] - [0127], e.g., When OFDMA and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) technologies are applied, an AP divides spectrum bandwidth into several resource units (RUs) … In 802.11be, bandwidth is expanded from 160 MHz to 240 MHz and 320 MHz, to meet requirements of a user for ultra-high bandwidth, an ultra-high transmission rate, and an extremely high throughput. 240 MHz may be considered as direct splicing of three 80 MHz subcarriers in 802.11be … FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an 80 MHz carrier plan (tone plan) in 802.11be … 80 MHz bandwidth in 802.11be includes 36 RU26s, or 16 RU52s, or eight RU106s, or four RU242s, or two RU484s and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers (that is, two RU489s, where each RU489 includes one RU484 and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers), or one RU996 and five direct current subcarriers.); a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 4 x 996-tone RU (RU4x996) (see TABLE 8, RU4*996); and a tone plan of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 1be 320MHz bandwidth (see ¶ [0019] - ¶ [0020], e.g., a 320 MHz 2×LTF sequence is: 2×EHT_LTF_320M.sub.−2036:2036={−2×EHT_LTF_160M.sub.−1012:1012, 0.sub.23, 2×EHT_LTF_160M.sub.−1012:1012}, however, it does not explicitly teach 640MHz bandwidth. Chen-1446 teaches, 640MHz bandwidth (Col. 35, lines 54-60, In the uncompressed mode (for OFDMA transmission), if the PPDU bandwidth is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz, the EHT-SIG common field in each content channel may use one encoded block to encode all subfields; if the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz and above (such as 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, 640 MHz, among other examples)); It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446 to include 640MHz bandwidth. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth). Regarding claim 10 and 20, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu does not teach but Chen-1446 teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in the 240MHz bandwidth of a 5GHz frequency band or in the 240MHz, 480MHz, 560MHz or 640MHz bandwidth of a 6GHz frequency band (see Col. 31, lines 19-24, e.g., a content channel structure for all bandwidth modes, including 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz (and 80+80 MHz), 240 MHz (and 160+80 MHz), 320 MHz (and 160+160 MHz), and even higher bandwidth modes, (such as, 480 MHz or 640 MHz,); see Col. 7, lines 39-43, To establish a communication link 108 with an AP 102, each of the STAs 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations (“scans”) on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (for example, the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz or 60 GHz bands). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446 to include communicating in a 480MHz, 560MHz or 640MHz bandwidth. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth.). Claim(s) 2-3, 6-7, 12-13, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu, in view of Chen-1446 and in further view of CHUN et al., US 20230370126 A1, (hereinafter CHUN). Regarding claim 2 and 12, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in the 240MHz bandwidth with the SCS being 78.125kHz (see ¶ [0014], a 240 MHz 2×LTF sequence; ¶ [0032], a 240 MHz 4×LTF sequence; ¶ [0157], To further improve system efficiency in different scenarios, an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of 4×, 2×, and 1× modes applicable to an embodiment of this application. 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … and a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.4×=20 MHz/256=78.125 kHz. A standard 20 MHz channel uses a 256-FFT in 4x mode. Scaling 20 MHz to 240 MHz is a factor of 12 (240 / 20 = 12). Therefore, 256 × 12 = 3072 FFT. Hence for 240 MHz subcarrier spacing can be calculated as: (240,000 kHz) /3072 = 78.125), and a plurality of parameters comprising: a sampling frequency (Fs) of 240MHz (see ¶ [0014], a 240 MHz 2×LTF sequence; ¶ [0032], a 240 MHz 4×LTF sequence; also see ¶ [0251], A punctured 2×EHT LTF sequence corresponding to 320 MHz bandwidth may be used as a sequence with 240 MHz bandwidth. Subcarrier numbers of the sequence 2×EHT_LTF_240M range from −1524 to 1524.); a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 3072 (see ¶ [0157], wherein a standard 20 MHz channel uses a 256-FFT in 4x mode. Scaling 20 MHz to 240 MHz is a factor of 12 (240 / 20 = 12). Therefore, 256 × 12 = 3072-FFT); a number of data-carrying subcarriers (Nsd) of 2940 (see [0138], a RU996 is used in 80 MHz … a 240 MHz tone plan may be considered as three 80 MHz tone plans. ¶ [0148], e.g., An 80 MHz 996-tone RU in 802.11be has 980 data subcarriers and 16 pilot subcarriers, and has five direct current subcarriers in the middle; ¶ [0251], Subcarrier numbers of the sequence 2×EHT_LTF_240M range from −1524 to 1524; ¶ [0265], Subcarrier numbers of the sequence 4×EHT_LTF_80M range from −500 to 500); a number of pilot-tone subcarriers (Nsp) of 48 (see [0138], a RU996 is used in 80 MHz … a 240 MHz tone plan may be considered as three 80 MHz tone plans; see ¶ [0148], In the 80 MHz subcarrier design in FIG. 4, … 16 pilot subcarriers are numbered −468, −400, −334, −266, −220, −152, −86, −18, +18, +86, +152, +220, +266, +334, +400, +468); a number of direct-current (DC) tones (Ndc) of 5 (¶ [0148], e.g., a first 996-tone RU is subcarriers numbered from −500 to 500, where five direct current subcarriers are numbered −2, −1, 0, 1, and 2,); a total number of subcarriers (Ns,) of 3 *996 (see [0138], a RU996 is used in 80 MHz … a 240 MHz tone plan may be considered as three 80 MHz tone plans; see Table 8, element RU3*996); and a number of guard tones left and right (Ngurd)= (12, 11) (see Fig. 4, element edge 12, edge 11), however, it does not explicitly teach, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 12.800 µs; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,short) of 0.800 µs; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 1.600 µs; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 3.200 µs; an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi. Chen-1446 teaches, an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi (see Col. 25, lines 59-67 - Col. 26, lines 45-61, e.g., For an SU PPDU, the additional signaling fields 1062 may include one or more of the following indicators: a guard interval and long training field size (GI+LTF, such as 2 bits)). CHUN teaches, a plurality of parameters comprising: a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 12.800 µs; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,short) of 0.800 µs; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 1.600 µs; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 3.200 µs (see ¶ [0221], e.g., The EHT-LTF may have first, second, and third types (i.e., 1×, 2×, 4× LTF). For example, the first/second/third type LTF may be generated based on an LTF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 4/2/1 subcarriers. The first/second/third type LTF may have a time length of 3.2/6.4/12.8 .Math.s. In addition, a GI (e.g., 0.8/1/6/3.2 .Math.s) having various lengths may be applied to the first/second/third type LTF.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication and a plurality of parameters of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446 and CHUN to include an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi; a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 12.800 µs; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,short) of 0.800 µs; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 1.600 µs; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 3.200 µs. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth.) and as suggested by CHUN (see ¶ [0017], e.g., According to an example of the present specification, an LTF signal for a 320 MHz band may be transmitted and received.). Regarding claim 3 and 13, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in the 240MHz bandwidth with the SCS being 78.125kHz and a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 3072, and wherein a resource unit (RU) allocation for the 240MHz bandwidth comprises: an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 108 *26-tone RU, 48 *52-tone RU, 24 *106-tone RU, 12 *242-tone RU, 6 *484-tone RU and 3 *996-tone RU; a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 3 x 996-tone RU (RU3x996) (see [0124] - [0127], e.g., When OFDMA and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) technologies are applied, an AP divides spectrum bandwidth into several resource units (RUs) … In 802.11be, bandwidth is expanded from 160 MHz to 240 MHz and 320 MHz, to meet requirements of a user for ultra-high bandwidth, an ultra-high transmission rate, and an extremely high throughput. 240 MHz may be considered as direct splicing of three 80 MHz subcarriers in 802.11be … FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an 80 MHz carrier plan (tone plan) in 802.11be … 80 MHz bandwidth in 802.11be includes 36 RU26s, or 16 RU52s, or eight RU106s, or four RU242s, or two RU484s and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers (that is, two RU489s, where each RU489 includes one RU484 and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers), or one RU996 and five direct current subcarriers.); and a tone plan in a middle of a center 80MHz frequency segment among three 80MHz frequency segments of the 240MHz bandwidth (see ¶ [0147]- [0148], e.g., An 80 MHz 996-tone RU in 802.11be has 980 data subcarriers and 16 pilot subcarriers, and has five direct current subcarriers in the middle), however, it does not explicitly teach center frequency. CHUN teaches center frequency (see ¶ [0098] - [0101], e.g., RUs having various sizes are used, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU. a 242-RU. a 484-RU. a 996-RU, and the like may be used in an example of FIG. 7. Further, seven DC tones may be inserted in the center frequency, 12 tones may be used for a guard band in the leftmost band of the 80 MHz band, and 11 tones may be used for a guard band in the rightmost band of the 80 MHz band.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu as improved by Chen-1446 to incorporate the teachings of CHUN to include center frequency. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested CHUN (see ¶ [0017], e.g., According to an example of the present specification, an LTF signal for a 320 MHz band may be transmitted and received.). Regarding claim 6 and 16, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu as improved by Chen-1446 further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating with the SCS being 156.25kHz (see ¶ [0157], e.g., an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes … 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.2×=20 MHz/128=156.25 kHz; (note that, scaling 20 MHz to 480 MHz is a factor of 24 (480 / 20 = 24). Therefore, 128 × 24 = 3072. Hence for 480 MHz SCS Calculation 2x mode: (480,000 kHz) /3072 = 156.25KHz)), and a plurality of parameters comprising: a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 3072 see ¶ [0157], e.g., an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes … 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.2×=20 MHz/128=156.25 kHz; (note that, scaling 20 MHz to 480 MHz is a factor of 24 (480 / 20 = 24). Therefore, 128 × 24 = 3072 FFT); a number of data-carrying subcarriers (Nsd) of 2940 (¶ [0265], Subcarrier numbers of the sequence 4×EHT_LTF_80M range from −500 to 500); a number of pilot-tone subcarriers (Nsp) of 48 (see [0138], a RU996 is used in 80 MHz … a 240 MHz tone plan may be considered as three 80 MHz tone plans; see ¶ [0148], In the 80 MHz subcarrier design in FIG. 4, … 16 pilot subcarriers are numbered −468, −400, −334, −266, −220, −152, −86, −18, +18, +86, +152, +220, +266, +334, +400, +468);; a number of direct-current (DC) tones (Ndc) of 5 (see ¶ [0148], e.g., a first 996-tone RU is subcarriers numbered from −500 to 500, where five direct current subcarriers are numbered −2, −1, 0, 1, and 2); a total number of subcarriers (Ns,) of 3 *996 (see [0138], a RU996 is used in 80 MHz … a 240 MHz tone plan may be considered as three 80 MHz tone plans; see Table 8, element RU3*996); and a number of guard tones left and right (Ngurd)= (12, 11) (see Fig. 4, element edge 12, edge 11), however, it does not explicitly teach 480MHz bandwidth, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 6.400 s; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,shon)of 0.400 s; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 0.800 s; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 1.600 s; an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi; a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 3072; a number of data-carrying subcarriers (Nsd) of 2940; a sampling frequency (Fs) of 480MHz. Chen-1446 teaches, 480MHz bandwidth and a sampling frequency (Fs) of 480MHz (Col. 35, lines 54-60, In the uncompressed mode (for OFDMA transmission), if the PPDU bandwidth is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz, the EHT-SIG common field in each content channel may use one encoded block to encode all subfields; if the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz and above (such as 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, 640 MHz, among other examples)); an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi (see Col. 25, lines 59-67 - Col. 26, lines 45-61, e.g., For an SU PPDU, the additional signaling fields 1062 may include one or more of the following indicators: a guard interval and long training field size (GI+LTF, such as 2 bits)). CHUN teaches, a plurality of parameters comprising: a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 12.800 µs; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,short) of 0.800 µs; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 1.600 µs; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 3.200 µs (see ¶ [0221], e.g., The EHT-LTF may have first, second, and third types (i.e., 1×, 2×, 4× LTF). For example, the first/second/third type LTF may be generated based on an LTF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 4/2/1 subcarriers. The first/second/third type LTF may have a time length of 3.2/6.4/12.8 .Math.s. In addition, a GI (e.g., 0.8/1/6/3.2 .Math.s) having various lengths may be applied to the first/second/third type LTF.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication and a plurality of parameters of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446 and CHUN to include 480MHz bandwidth, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 6.400 s; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,shon)of 0.400 s; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 0.800 s; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 1.600 s; an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi; a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 3072; a number of data-carrying subcarriers (Nsd) of 2940; a sampling frequency (Fs) of 480MHz. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth.) and as suggested by CHUN (see ¶ [0017], e.g., According to an example of the present specification, an LTF signal for a 320 MHz band may be transmitted and received.). Regarding claim 7 and 17, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu as improved by Chen-1446 further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in bandwidth with the SCS being 156.25kHz and a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 3072, and wherein a resource unit (RU) allocation for the 480MHz bandwidth comprises: an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 108 *26-tone RU, 48 *52-tone RU, 24 *106-tone RU, 12 *242-tone RU, 6 *484-tone RU and 3 *996-tone RU; a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 3 x 996-tone RU (RU3x996) (see [0124] - [0127], e.g., When OFDMA and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) technologies are applied, an AP divides spectrum bandwidth into several resource units (RUs) … In 802.11be, bandwidth is expanded from 160 MHz to 240 MHz and 320 MHz, to meet requirements of a user for ultra-high bandwidth, an ultra-high transmission rate, and an extremely high throughput. 240 MHz may be considered as direct splicing of three 80 MHz subcarriers in 802.11be … FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an 80 MHz carrier plan (tone plan) in 802.11be … 80 MHz bandwidth in 802.11be includes 36 RU26s, or 16 RU52s, or eight RU106s, or four RU242s, or two RU484s and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers (that is, two RU489s, where each RU489 includes one RU484 and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers), or one RU996 and five direct current subcarriers.); and a tone plan with a middle of a center 160MHz frequency segment among three 160MHz frequency segments of the 480MHz bandwidth (see ¶ [0147]- [0148], e.g., An 80 MHz 996-tone RU in 802.11be has 980 data subcarriers and 16 pilot subcarriers, and has five direct current subcarriers in the middle), however, it does not explicitly teach 480MHz bandwidth and center frequency. Chen-1446 teaches, 480MHz bandwidth (see Col. 35, lines 54-60, In the uncompressed mode (for OFDMA transmission), if the PPDU bandwidth is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz, the EHT-SIG common field in each content channel may use one encoded block to encode all subfields; if the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz and above (such as 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, 640 MHz, among other examples)); CHUN teaches center frequency (see ¶ [0098] - [0101], e.g., RUs having various sizes are used, a 26-RU, a 52-RU, a 106-RU. a 242-RU. a 484-RU. a 996-RU, and the like may be used in an example of FIG. 7. Further, seven DC tones may be inserted in the center frequency, 12 tones may be used for a guard band in the leftmost band of the 80 MHz band, and 11 tones may be used for a guard band in the rightmost band of the 80 MHz band.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu as improved by Chen-1446 to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446 and CHUN to include 480MHz bandwidth and center frequency. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth.) and CHUN (see ¶ [0017], e.g., According to an example of the present specification, an LTF signal for a 320 MHz band may be transmitted and received.). Claim(s) 4-5 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu, in view of Chen-1446 and in further view of Chen et al., US 10863456 B2, (hereinafter Chen-3456). Regarding claim 4 and 14, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in the 240MHz bandwidth with the SCS (see ¶ [0157], e.g., subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.4×=20 MHz/256=78.125 kHz … subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.2×=20 MHz/128=156.25 kHz … a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.1×=20 MHz/64=312.5 kHz), and wherein a resource unit (RU) allocation for the 240MHz bandwidth comprises: a tone plan of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 be 160MHz bandwidth (see ¶ [0126], e.g., In 802.11be, bandwidth is expanded from 160 MHz to 240 MHz and 320 MHz, to meet requirements of a user for ultra-high bandwidth, an ultra-high transmission rate, and an extremely high throughput. 240 MHz may be considered as direct splicing of three 80 MHz subcarriers in 802.11be,), however, it does not explicitly teach SCS being 117.1875kHz and a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 2048 and an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 72 *26-tone RU, 32 *52-tone RU, 16 *106-tone RU, 8 *242-tone RU, 4 *484-tone RU and 2 *996-tone RU; a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 2 x 996-tone RU (RU2x996). Chen-3456 teaches SCS being 117.1875kHz and a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 2048 (see Col. 2, lines 36-49, e.g., The method may include identifying a transmission mode for a transmission of a signal, selecting a tone plan for transmission of the signal within a 320 MHz total channel bandwidth or a 240 MHz total channel bandwidth, where the tone plan includes a 256 point tone plan, a 512 point tone plan, a 1024 point tone plane, a 2048 point tone plan, a 4096 point tone plan; Also see claim 15, the tone plan being associated with a 256 point fast Fourier transform (FFT) size, a 512 point FFT size, a 1024 point FFT size, a 2048 point FFT size, or a 4096 point FFT size, the tone plan comprising a 320 MHz tone plan, a 240 MHz tone plan, a 160 MHz tone plan, or an 80 MHz tone plan; Note that SCS can be calculated using 2048 FFT as 240,000 KHz/ 2048-FFT = 117.1875.) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 72 *26-tone RU, 32 *52-tone RU, 16 *106-tone RU, 8 *242-tone RU, 4 *484-tone RU and 2 *996-tone RU, a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 2 x 996-tone RU (RU2x996) (see A channel BW of 80+80×2 MHz or 160 MHz may include 74 26-tone RUs, 32 52-tone RUs, 16 106-tone RUs, 8 242-tone RUs, 4 484-tone RUs, 2 996-tone RUs, and 1 2×996-tone RU. The 80+80 MHz or 160 MHz channel BW may not be able to support the 4×996-tone RU.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu as improved by Chen-1446 to incorporate the teachings of Chen-3456 to include SCS being 117.1875kHz and a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 2048 and an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 72 *26-tone RU, 32 *52-tone RU, 16 *106-tone RU, 8 *242-tone RU, 4 *484-tone RU and 2 *996-tone RU; a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 2 x 996-tone RU (RU2x996). Doing so would facilitate in achieving selecting a tone plan for transmission of the signal within higher channel bandwidth as suggested by Chen-3456 (see Col. 2, lines 36-49, e.g., The method may include identifying a transmission mode for a transmission of a signal, selecting a tone plan for transmission of the signal within a 320 MHz total channel bandwidth or a 240 MHz total channel bandwidth, where the tone plan includes a 256 point tone plan, a 512 point tone plan, a 1024 point tone plane, a 2048 point tone plan, a 4096 point tone plan). Regarding claim 5 and 15, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating in a contiguous 240MHz bandwidth of a 320MHz bandwidth with an 80MHz puncture (see ¶ [0251], e.g., when an 80 MHz channel in a 320 MHz channel is missing, a 240 MHz channel is formed, and the formed 240 MHz channel may be continuous or discontinuous in frequency domain. A punctured 2×EHT LTF sequence corresponding to 320 MHz bandwidth may be used as a sequence with 240 MHz bandwidth.), and wherein a (RU) allocation for the contiguous 240MHz bandwidth comprises: an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) tone plan comprising 108 *26-tone RU, 48 *52-tone RU, 24 *106-tone RU, 12 *242-tone RU, 6 *484-tone RU and 3 *996-tone RU; tone plan comprising 3 x 996-tone RU (RU3x996) (see [0124] - [0127], e.g., 240 MHz may be considered as direct splicing of three 80 MHz subcarriers in 802.11be … 80 MHz bandwidth in 802.11be includes 36 RU26s, or 16 RU52s, or eight RU106s, or four RU242s, or two RU484s and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers (that is, two RU489s, where each RU489 includes one RU484 and five direct current subcarriers/null subcarriers), or one RU996 and five direct current subcarriers.); and a tone plan of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11be 320MHz bandwidth (see ¶ [0126], e.g., In 802.11be, bandwidth is expanded from 160 MHz to 240 MHz and 320 MHz, … and 320 MHz may be considered as direct splicing of four 80 MHz subcarriers in 802.11be; see ¶ [0274], e.g., A possible 4×LTF sequence with 320 MHz bandwidth is denoted by 4×EHT_LTF_320M. 4×EHT_LTF_320M is constructed based on 4×EHT_LTF_160M), however, it does not explicitly teach wherein the SCS is 78.125kHz with a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nff,) of 4096; a non-OFDM tone plan comprising 3 x 996-tone RU (RU3x996). Chen-3456 teaches wherein the SCS is 78.125kHz with a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nff,) of 4096. (see Col. 2, lines 36-49, e.g., the tone plan includes a 256 point tone plan, a 512 point tone plan, a 1024 point tone plane, a 2048 point tone plan, a 4096 point tone plan; Also see claim 15, the tone plan being associated with a 256 point fast Fourier transform (FFT) size, a 512 point FFT size, a 1024 point FFT size, a 2048 point FFT size, or a 4096 point FFT size, the tone plan comprising a 320 MHz tone plan, a 240 MHz tone plan, a 160 MHz tone plan, or an 80 MHz tone plan; Note that SCS can be calculated using 4096 FFT as 320,000 KHz/ 4096-FFT = 78.125kHz.); a non-OFDM tone (see Col. 17, lines 2-5, e.g., tone plans for SU communications may also be used for non-OFDMA communications such as multiuser MIMO communications.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication of Liu as improved by Chen-1446 to incorporate the teachings of Chen-3456 to include SCS is 78.125kHz with a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nff,) of 4096 and a non-OFDM tone plan. Doing so would facilitate in achieving selecting a tone plan for transmission of the signal within higher channel bandwidth as suggested by Chen-3456 (see Col. 2, lines 36-49, e.g., The method may include identifying a transmission mode for a transmission of a signal, selecting a tone plan for transmission of the signal within a 320 MHz total channel bandwidth or a 240 MHz total channel bandwidth, where the tone plan includes a 256 point tone plan, a 512 point tone plan, a 1024 point tone plane, a 2048 point tone plan, a 4096 point tone plan). Claim(s) 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu, in view of Chen-1446, CHUN and in further view of Chen et al., US 10863456 B2, (hereinafter Chen-3456). Regarding claim 8 and 18, Liu as combined with Chen-1446 teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and 11. Liu further teaches, wherein the communicating comprises communicating with the SCS being 156.25kHz (see ¶ [0157], e.g., an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes … 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.2×=20 MHz/128=156.25 kHz; (note that, scaling 20 MHz to 640 MHz is a factor of 24 (640 / 20 = 32). Therefore, 128 × 32 = 4096. Hence for 640 MHz SCS Calculation 2x mode: (640,000 kHz) /3072 = 156.25KHz)) and a plurality of parameters comprising: a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 6.400 s; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,short)of 0.400 s; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 0.800 s; a long GI duration (Tg,,ong) of 1.600 s; an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tg;a sampling frequency (Fs) of 640MHz; a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 4096 (see ¶ [0157], e.g., an LTF field needs to support 4×, 2×, and 1× modes … 20 MHz bandwidth is used as an example … a subcarrier spacing is Δ.sub.F.sup.2×=20 MHz/128=156.25 kHz; (note that, scaling 20 MHz to 640 MHz is a factor of 24 (640 / 20 = 32). Therefore, 128 × 32 = 4096.)); number of data-carrying subcarriers (Nsd) of 3920 (see ¶ [0248] - [0249], e.g., 2×EHT_LTF_320M range from −2036 to 2036. For example, 2×EHT_LTF_320M.sub.−2036:2036={−2×EHT_LTF_160M.sub.−1012:1012, 0.sub.23, 2×EHT_LTF_160M.sub.−1012:1012}; a number of pilot-tone subcarriers (Nsp) of 64 (see [0138], a RU996 is used in 80 MHz … a 320 MHz tone plan may be considered as four 80 MHz tone plans; see ¶ [0148], In the 80 MHz subcarrier design in FIG. 4, … 16 pilot subcarriers); and a number of guard tones left and right (Ngurd)= (12, 11) (see Fig. 4, element edge 12, edge 11). however, it does not explicitly teach 6400MHz bandwidth, a sampling frequency (Fs) of 640MHz; a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 6.400 s; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,shon)of 0.400 s; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 0.800 s; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 1.600 s; an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi; a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 4096; a number of direct-current (DC) tones (Ndc) of 23. Chen-1446 teaches, 640MHz bandwidth and a sampling frequency (Fs) of 480MHz (Col. 35, lines 54-60, In the uncompressed mode (for OFDMA transmission), if the PPDU bandwidth is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz, the EHT-SIG common field in each content channel may use one encoded block to encode all subfields; if the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz and above (such as 240 MHz, 320 MHz, 480 MHz, 640 MHz, among other examples)); an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi (see Col. 25, lines 59-67 - Col. 26, lines 45-61, e.g., For an SU PPDU, the additional signaling fields 1062 may include one or more of the following indicators: a guard interval and long training field size (GI+LTF, such as 2 bits)). CHUN teaches, a plurality of parameters comprising: a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 12.800 µs; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,short) of 0.800 µs; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 1.600 µs; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 3.200 µs (see ¶ [0221], e.g., The EHT-LTF may have first, second, and third types (i.e., 1×, 2×, 4× LTF). For example, the first/second/third type LTF may be generated based on an LTF sequence in which a non-zero coefficient is arranged with an interval of 4/2/1 subcarriers. The first/second/third type LTF may have a time length of 3.2/6.4/12.8 .Math.s. In addition, a GI (e.g., 0.8/1/6/3.2 .Math.s) having various lengths may be applied to the first/second/third type LTF.). Chen-3456 teaches a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 4096 (Col. 16, lines 5-10, e.g., new 4096-point tone plan designs for the 4096 FFT size); a number of direct-current (DC) tones (Ndc) of 23 (Col. 16, lines 55-67 - Col. 17, lines 1-5 e.g., The 20, 40, and 80 MHz tone plans in the 4× symbol duration may use at least 3 DC tones (20 MHz tone plans) and at most 5 DC tones (40 and 80 MHz tone plans) for single user (SU) communications and 5 or 7 DC tones for multiuser OFDMA); and a total number of subcarriers (Ns) of 4 *996 (see Claim 11. e.g., The method of claim 1, wherein the tone plan comprises at least one of a 26-, a 52-, a 106-, a 242-, a 484-, a 996-, a 2×996-, and a 4×996 tone resource unit). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified wireless communication and a plurality of parameters of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Chen-1446, CHUN and Chen-3456 to include 640MHz bandwidth, a sampling frequency (Fs) of 640 MHz, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) period (Tdf,) of 6.400 s; a short guard interval (GI) duration (Tgi,shon)of 0.400 s; a normal GI duration (Tg,normal) of 0.800 s; a long GI duration (Tg,,long) of 1.600 s; an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol duration (Tsym)=Td + Tgi; a number of fast Fourier transform (FFT) subcarriers (Nffm) of 4096; a number of direct-current (DC) tones (Ndc) of 23, a total number of subcarriers (Ns) of 4 *996. Doing so would facilitate in achieving signaling support for new wireless communication protocols including PPDU for higher bandwidth as suggested by Chen-1446 (see Col. 5, lines 4-22, e.g., Various implementations relate generally to signaling included in a physical layer preamble that supports new wireless communication protocols. Some implementations more specifically relate to preamble designs for a PPDU in a wireless channel having up to (and potentially more than) 320 MHz bandwidth.) and as suggested by CHUN (see ¶ [0017], e.g., According to an example of the present specification, an LTF signal for a 320 MHz band may be transmitted and received.). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20230344690 A1, issued to YANG et al. US 20250088398 A1 issued to YANG et al. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to POONAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (571)272-6579. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru 8:30-5:30 pm, ET. 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, Kevin Bates can be reached at (571) 272-3980. 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. /POONAM SHARMA/Examiner, Art Unit 2472 /KEVIN T BATES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 08, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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