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 Objections
Claims 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 15 recite "said at least one MAC address" without having antecedent basis.
Appropriate correction(s) is/are required.
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) 1-5 and 7-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang (US PG PUB 20200351648), hereinafter "Fang", in views of Harjanto et al. (US PG PUB 20140181317), hereinafter "Harjanto".
Regarding Claim 1, Fang discloses:
A method for communication between a first device and a second device, implemented by said first device (i.e. method performed by STA 251 [i.e. a first device] for dynamically changing MAC address of a station for subsequent transmissions/communication with AP 252 [i.e. second device]) (Abstract, Fig. 2, Fig. 3A and ¶ 0002 - 0003), comprising:
establishing a first secure connection between said first device and said second device, via a first communication interface of said first device (i.e. STA 251 [i.e. said first device] and the AP 252 [i.e. said second device] may perform handshaking and security negotiation specified by IEEE802.11ai in order to establish an encrypted communication session [i.e. a first secure connection] between them; communication session is established via the communication interface of the STA 251 [i.e. a first communication interface of said first device]) (Fig. 2, ¶ 0007, ¶ 0025 and ¶ 0064 - 0066),
transmitting, using said first secure connection, a message comprising at least one encrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address, associated or capable of being associated with said first interface and used to communicate with
However, Fang does not explicitly disclose:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol.
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Harjanto teaches:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol (i.e. secure communications links [i.e. said first secure connection], e.g. HTTPS transfers [i.e. a secure application protocol], are used to transport MAC addresses to avoid discovery by unauthorized devices of MAC addresses of routers) (¶ 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method/system of Feng to include the feature said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol as taught by Harjanto so that secure application layer protocol such as HTTPs may be used in associating MAC addresses with authorized device and avoiding discovery by unauthorized devices (¶ 0053).
Regarding Claim 2, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
Wherein said at least one MAC address comprised a current MAC address associated with said first interface and used to communicate with or via said second device or said intermediate device (i.e. MAC address change request message comprises MAC address, i.e. STA-Addr2 [i.e. a current MAC address], of the interface of STA 351 [i.e. said first interface] for communicating with AP [i.e. said second device]) (Fig. 3A and ¶ 0075), and
said first device implements receiving, using said first secure connection, a message verifying absence of conflict in a use of said current MAC address (i.e. AP 352 verifies that the MAC address, STA-Addr2 [i.e. said current MAC address], is not being used by other STAs [i.e. verifying absence of conflict in a use of said current MAC address], and in response to the verification, AP 352 may send, via the established encrypted communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], MAC address change response [i.e. a message verifying absence of conflict in a use of said current MAC address] to the STA 351 [i.e. said first device implements receiving]; Note that the presence of the STA-Addr2 in the response message verifies the absence of conflict] to the STA 351 [i.e. said first device]) (Fig. 3A and ¶ 0078).
Regarding Claim 3, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
wherein said at least one MAC address comprises at least one candidate MAC address capable of being associated with said first interface and used to communicate with or via said second device or said intermediate device (i.e. MAC address change request message comprises MAC address, i.e. STA-Addr2 [i.e. at least one candidate MAC address], of the interface of STA 351 [i.e. said first interface] for communicating with AP [i.e. said second device]) (Fig. 3A and ¶ 0075), and
said first device implements receiving using said first secure connection, a message verifying absence of conflict in a use of at least one of said candidate MAC addresses (i.e. in response to verifying STA-Addr2 not being used by other STAs [i.e. verifying absence of conflict], AP 352 may send, via the encrypted communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], MAC address change response [i.e. a message verifying absence of conflict in a use of said candidate MAC address] to the STA 351 [i.e. said first device implements receiving]; Note that the presence of the STA-Addr2 in the response message verifies the absence of conflict] to the STA 351 [i.e. said first device]) (305 - Fig. 3A and ¶ 0078), and
in absence of conflict an association of said candidate MAC addresses with a verified candidate MAC address (i.e. The AP 352 shall replace the STA-Addr1 with the STA-Addr2 in the MAC frame header of MPDU in future transmissions with the STA 351 [i.e. an association of said candidate MAC addresses with a verified candidate MAC address]) (¶ 0078).
Regarding Claim 4, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
receiving using said first secure connection, a security key generated by said second device (i.e. via secure communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], STA 251 may negotiate and receive Key generated by AP 252 [i.e. said second device]) (Fig. 2 and ¶ 0050).
Regarding Claim 5, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
wherein a temporary IP address is allocated to said first device for transmitting said message (i.e. DHCP allocates an IP address [i.e. a temporary IP address] to STA 251 for establishing the communication session the MAC address change request is transmitted) (Fig. 2, Fig. 3A, ¶ 0065 and ¶ 0075), and
said method implements an allocation of a new IP address to said first device after validation, by said second device, of said at least one MAC address (i.e. an IP address is allocated by AP 252 [i.e. said second device] after authentication process [i.e. validation] based on a MAC address [ said at least one MAC address) (Fig. 2, ¶ 0057 and ¶ 0065).
Regarding Claim 7, Fang discloses:
A method for communication between a first device and a second device, implemented by said second device (i.e. method performed by STA 251 [i.e. a first device] for dynamically changing MAC address of a station for subsequent transmissions/communication with AP 252 [i.e. second device]) (Abstract, Fig. 2, Fig. 3A and ¶ 0002 - 0003), comprising:
establishing a first secure connection between said first device and said second device, via a first communication interface of said first device (i.e. STA 251 [i.e. said first device] and the AP 252 [i.e. said second device] may perform handshaking and security negotiation specified by IEEE802.11ai in order to establish an encrypted communication session [i.e. a first secure connection] between them; communication session is established via the communication interface of the STA 251 [i.e. a first communication interface of said first device]) (Fig. 2, ¶ 0007, ¶ 0025 and ¶ 0064 - 0066),
receiving, using said first secure connection, a message comprising at least one encrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address, associated or capable of being associated with said first interface and used to communicate with associated with said first interface] in future communication [i.e. used to communicate with] with AP 352 [i.e. said second device]) (302 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0075); and
validating said at least one MAC address (i.e. in step 303, AP verifies/validates that the new MAC address is not used by other STAs) (303 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0076).
However, Fang does not explicitly disclose:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol.
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Harjanto teaches:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol (i.e. secure communications links [i.e. said first secure connection], e.g. HTTPS transfers [i.e. a secure application protocol], are used to transport MAC addresses to avoid discovery by unauthorized devices of MAC addresses of routers) (¶ 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method/system of Feng to include the feature said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol as taught by Harjanto so that secure application layer protocol such as HTTPs may be used in associating MAC addresses with authorized device and avoiding discovery by unauthorized devices (¶ 0053).
Regarding Claim 8, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
wherein said validation implements verification of an absence of conflict in use of said at least one MAC address (i.e. in step 303, AP verifies/validates that the new MAC address is not used [i.e. verification of an absence of conflict in use of said at least one MAC address] by other STAs) (303 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0076) and,
if no conflicted is detected, transmitting to said first device a message verifying the absence of use conflict address (i.e. AP 352 verifies that the MAC address is not being used by other STAs [i.e. verifying absence of conflict in a use of address], and in response to the verification, AP 352 may send, via the established encrypted communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], MAC address change response [i.e. a message verifying absence of conflict in a use of said current MAC address] to the STA 351 [i.e. said first device implements receiving]; Note that the presence of the STA-Addr2 in the response message verifies the absence of conflict] to the STA 351 [i.e. said first device]) (Fig. 3A and ¶ 0078).
Regarding Claim 9, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
wherein said validation implements a verification of a security context between said first device and said second device associated with said at least one MAC address (i.e. in response to AP verifying that new MAC address is not used, the method/system may perform re-authentication [i.e. a verification of a security context] between STA 351 [i.e. said first device] and AP 352 [i.e. said second device] with respect to STA-Addr2 [i.e. said at least one MAC address]) (303 & 304 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0076 – 0077).
Regarding Claim 10, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
creating or updating at least one filtering rule associated with said first device with said at least one MAC address (i.e. AP 452 may update its MAC address mapping and use condition [i.e. filtering rule] with respect to STA 451 [i.e. said first device] to STA-Addr2 [i.e. said at least one MAC address] for future communications) (405 – Fig. 4A and ¶ 0132 - 0134).
Regarding Claim 11, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
transmitting to said first device a security key, using said first secure connection between said first device and said second device (i.e. via secure communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], STA 251 may negotiate and receive Key generated by AP 252 [i.e. said second device]) (Fig. 2 and ¶ 0050).
Regarding Claim 12, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
wherein a temporary IP address is allocated to said first device for transmitting said message (i.e. DHCP allocates an IP address [i.e. a temporary IP address] to STA 251 for establishing the communication session the MAC address change request is transmitted) (Fig. 2, Fig. 3A, ¶ 0065 and ¶ 0075), and
said method implements an allocation of a new IP address to said first device after said validation (i.e. an IP address is allocated by AP 252 [i.e. said second device] after authentication process [i.e. validation] based on a MAC address [ said at least one MAC address) (Fig. 2, ¶ 0057 and ¶ 0065).
Regarding Claim 13, Fang and Harjanto disclose, in particular Fang teaches:
transmitting a proposal of at least one new MAC address capable of being associated with said first interface of said first device, using said first secure connection between said first device and said second device (i.e. in step 402, AP 452 may transmit, over the communication session [i.e. said first secure connection between said first device and said second device], a MAC address change request message [i.e. a proposal] identifying a new MAC address [i.e. a proposal of at least one new MAC address] to be associated with STA 451 [i.e. said first interface of said first device]) (402 - Fig. 4A and ¶ 0128).
Regarding Claim 14, Fang discloses:
A first device (i.e. STA 251) (Fig. 2 and ¶ 0056 – 0057), comprising at least one processor (i.e. processor 710) (Fig. 7 and ¶ 0175) configured to:
establish a first secure connection with a second device, via a first communication interface of said first device (i.e. STA 251 [i.e. said first device] and the AP 252 [i.e. said second device] may perform handshaking and security negotiation specified by IEEE802.11ai in order to establish an encrypted communication session [i.e. a first secure connection] between them; communication session is established via the communication interface of the STA 251 [i.e. a first communication interface of said first device]) (Fig. 2, ¶ 0007, ¶ 0025 and ¶ 0064 - 0066), and
transmit, using said first secure connection, a message comprising at least one encrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address, associated or capable of being associated with said first interface and used to communicate with or via said second device or an intermediate device located on a communication path between said first device and said second device (i.e. in step 302, SAT 351 [i.e. said first device] may transmit, via the established encrypted communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], MAC address change request [i.e. a message] comprising an encrypted new MAC address [i.e. encrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address] that will be used by the communication interface of the STA 351 [i.e. associated or capable of being associated with said first interface] in future communication [i.e. used to communicate with] with AP 352 [i.e. said second device]) (302 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0075).
However, Fang does not explicitly disclose:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol.
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Harjanto teaches:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol (i.e. secure communications links [i.e. said first secure connection], e.g. HTTPS transfers [i.e. a secure application protocol], are used to transport MAC addresses to avoid discovery by unauthorized devices of MAC addresses of routers) (¶ 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method/system of Feng to include the feature said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol as taught by Harjanto so that secure application layer protocol such as HTTPs may be used in associating MAC addresses with authorized device and avoiding discovery by unauthorized devices (¶ 0053).
Regarding Claim 15, Fang discloses:
A second device (i.e. AP 252) (Fig. 2 and ¶ 0057 – 0061), comprising at least one processor (i.e. processor 710) (Fig. 7 and ¶ 0175) configured to:
establish a first secure connection with a first device, via a first communication interface of said first device (i.e. STA 251 [i.e. said first device] and the AP 252 [i.e. said second device] may perform handshaking and security negotiation specified by IEEE802.11ai in order to establish an encrypted communication session [i.e. a first secure connection] between them; communication session is established via the communication interface of the STA 251 [i.e. a first communication interface of said first device]) (Fig. 2, ¶ 0007, ¶ 0025 and ¶ 0064 - 0066),
receive, using said first secure connection, a message comprising at least one encrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address, associated or capable of being associated with said first interface and used to communicate with or via said second device or an intermediate device located on a communication path between said first device and said second device (i.e. in step 302, AP 352 [i.e. said second device] may receive, via the established encrypted communication session [i.e. said first secure connection], MAC address change request [i.e. a message] comprising an encrypted new MAC address [i.e. encrypted Media Access Control (MAC) address] that will be used by the communication interface of the STA 351 [i.e. associated or capable of being associated with said first interface] in future communication [i.e. used to communicate with] with AP 352 [i.e. said second device]) (302 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0075); and
validate said at least one MAC address (i.e. in step 303, AP verifies/validates that the new MAC address is not used by other STAs) (303 – Fig. 3A and ¶ 0076).
However, Fang does not explicitly disclose:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol.
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Harjanto teaches:
said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol (i.e. secure communications links [i.e. said first secure connection], e.g. HTTPS transfers [i.e. a secure application protocol], are used to transport MAC addresses to avoid discovery by unauthorized devices of MAC addresses of routers) (¶ 0053).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method/system of Feng to include the feature said first secure connection being based on a secure transport protocol or on a secure application protocol as taught by Harjanto so that secure application layer protocol such as HTTPs may be used in associating MAC addresses with authorized device and avoiding discovery by unauthorized devices (¶ 0053).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fang in views of Harjanto as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Baphna et al. (US PG PUB 20140025821), hereinafter "Baphna".
Regarding Claim 6, Fang and Harjanto disclose all the features with respect to Claim 1 as described above.
However, the combination of Fang and Harjanto does not explicitly disclose:
receiving a request to generate at least one new MAC address capable of being associated with said first interface.
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Baphna teaches:
receiving a request to generate at least one new MAC address capable of being associated with said first interface (i.e. the method/system may receive MAC address generation request [i.e. a request to generate at least one new MAC address] to generate MAC address that will be allocated to devices [i.e. said interface]) (Abstract, 502 – Fig. 5 and ¶ 0024).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method/system of Feng and Harjanto to include the feature for receiving a request to generate at least one new MAC address capable of being associated with said first interface as taught by Baphna so that MAC addresses may be selected from polls of MAC addresses and dynamically allocated to the devices (Abstract and ¶ 0024).
Conclusion
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/Soe Hlaing/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2451
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