DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 6-14 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-9 of U.S. Patent No. 12,120,743 (hereinafter Pat-743). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Regarding claim 6 for instance, as shown in the following table, claim 1 of Pat-743 recites all the claimed limitations of the claim 6.
Pat-743 Language
Claims / App Language
1. A wireless communication device comprising:
a controller configured to read first information on correspondence between MAC (Media Access Control) addresses and AIDs (Association Identifiers) for one or more target terminals from a first hardware storage including second information on correspondence between MAC addresses and AIDs for a plurality of terminals, the first information being part of the second information, and store the first information in a second hardware storage,
a transmitter configured to transmit a first frame containing information for specifying communication resources allocated to the one or more target terminals;
a receiver configured to receive one or more second frames transmitted in response to the first frame via one of the communication resources in Uplink Multi-User (UL-MU) transmission from at least one of the one or more target terminals, the one or more second frames including MAC addresses of the at least one of the one or more target terminals which have transmitted the one or more second frames;
wherein the controller is configured to specify the received MAC addresses included in the one or more second frames, access the second hardware storage to read the first information and obtain AIDs corresponding to the specified MAC addresses which are AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit a third frame including sets of the AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals and acknowledgement information indicating success or failure of reception of the one or more second frames from the at least one of the one or more target terminals.
6. A wireless communication device comprising:
a controller configured to read first information on correspondence between Media Access Control (MAC) addresses and Association Identifiers (AIDs) for one or more target terminals from a first storage device, the first storage device including second information on correspondence between MAC addresses and AIDs for a plurality of terminals, the controller configured to store the first information in a second storage device;
a transmitter configured to transmit a first frame containing information for specifying communication resources allocated to the one or more target terminals;
a receiver configured to receive one or more second frames transmitted in response to the first frame via one of the communication resources in Uplink Multi-User (UL-MU) transmission from at least one of the one or more target terminals, the one or more second frames including MAC addresses of the at least one of the one or more target terminals which have transmitted the one or more second frames;
wherein the controller is configured to specify the received MAC addresses included in the one or more second frames, access the second storage device to read the first information and obtain AIDs corresponding to the specified MAC addresses which are AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit a third frame including sets of the AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals and acknowledgement information, the acknowledgement information indicating whether or not the one or more second frames were successfully received from the at least one of the one or more target terminals.
Claims 6-14 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-9 of U.S. Patent No. 11,641,670 (hereinafter Pat-670). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Regarding claim 6 for instance, as shown in the following table, claim 1 of Pat-670 recites all the claimed limitations of the claim 6.
Pat-670 Language
Claims / App Language
1. A wireless communication device comprising:
a controller configured to read first information on correspondence between MAC (Media Access Control) addresses and AIDs (Association Identifiers) for one or more target terminals from a first hardware storage including second information on correspondence between MAC addresses and AIDs for a plurality of terminals, the first information being part of the second information, and store the first information in a second hardware storage,
a transmitter configured to transmit a first frame containing information for specifying resource units allocated to the one or more target terminals;
a receiver configured to receive one or more second frames transmitted in response to the first frame via one of the resource units in Uplink OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) from at least one of the one or more target terminals, the one or more second frames including MAC addresses of the at least one of the one or more target terminals which have transmitted the one or more second frames;
wherein the controller is configured to specify the received MAC addresses included in the one or more second frames, access the second hardware storage to read the first information and obtain AIDs corresponding to the specified MAC addresses which are AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit a third frame including sets of the AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals and acknowledgement information indicating success or failure of reception of the one or more seconds from the at least one of the one or more target terminals.
6. A wireless communication device comprising:
a controller configured to read first information on correspondence between Media Access Control (MAC) addresses and Association Identifiers (AIDs) for one or more target terminals from a first storage device, the first storage device including second information on correspondence between MAC addresses and AIDs for a plurality of terminals, the controller configured to store the first information in a second storage device;
a transmitter configured to transmit a first frame containing information for specifying communication resources allocated to the one or more target terminals;
a receiver configured to receive one or more second frames transmitted in response to the first frame via one of the communication resources in Uplink Multi-User (UL-MU) transmission from at least one of the one or more target terminals, the one or more second frames including MAC addresses of the at least one of the one or more target terminals which have transmitted the one or more second frames;
wherein the controller is configured to specify the received MAC addresses included in the one or more second frames, access the second storage device to read the first information and obtain AIDs corresponding to the specified MAC addresses which are AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals, and the transmitter is configured to transmit a third frame including sets of the AIDs of the at least one of the one or more target terminals and acknowledgement information, the acknowledgement information indicating whether or not the one or more second frames were successfully received from the at least one of the one or more target terminals.
Note the various dependent claims are anticipated by/obvious in view of the conflicting patent.
Tentative Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-14 are rejected but would be allowable if overcoming nonstatutorydouble patenting as indicated above rejection. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Prior art of record taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations which the Applicants claim in claims 6-14 in a manner which would warrant a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102 or 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Claims 6 and 14 are directed to a wireless AP-side device that efficiently manages MAC address to AID lookups for UL-MU acknowledgments by staging only a relevant subset of terminals identity data into a fast-access memory rather than searching a full device table each time.
The invention solves a specific technical problem in Wi-Fi UL-MU (uplink multi-use) communication: when an access point receives simultaneous uplink data frames from multiple terminals, it must quickly translate each terminal’s MAC address into its shorter Association Identifier (AID) to build a compact acknowledgment frame. Rather than searching the entire MAC-address / AID table for every terminal ever associated with the AP, the claimed device pre-fetches only the subset of correspondence data relevant to the specific terminals being triggered and stages that subset into a second, presumably faster-access, storage device before the acknowledgment must be generated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Harry H. Kim whose telephone number and email address are as follows; 571-272-5009, harry.kim2@uspto.gov.
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/HARRY H KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
Prosecution Insights