DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, anycorrection of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground ofrejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would bethe same under either status.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter 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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1, 4 and 7 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Choudhury et al. teach a method performed by a station (STA) in a wireless LAN (local area network) system, comprising (Figs. 1-2, [0186], functional block diagram, illustrating an example wireless terminal device 100a, according to an example embodiment of the invention. The example wireless terminal device 100a may include a processor 134 that may include a dual or multi-core central processing unit CPU_1 and CPU_2, a RAM memory, a ROM memory, and an interface for a keypad, display, and other input/output devices. The example wireless terminal device 100a may include a protocol stack, including the transceiver 128 and IEEE 802.11 MAC 142, which may be based, for example, on the IEEE 802.11 ah WLAN standard. The protocol stack may also include a network layer 140, a transport layer 138, and an application program 136,
Choudhury et al. teach receiving, from an access point (AP), a first frame to notify that downlink (DL) data is ready to be received (Figs. 1A, [0088, 0122], a wireless access point device managing the network, transmits downlink to a group of wireless terminal devices in the network, a beacon frame including a group parameter set indicating a plurality of restricted access windows, each restricted access window allocated for a different group of wireless terminal devices associated to the wireless network. A Traffic Indication Map (TIM) is a field transmitted in beacon frame(s) (i.e. first frame), used to inform associated wireless terminal devices that the access point has buffered data waiting to be transmitted to them (i.e. downlink data). Access points buffer frames of data for wireless terminal devices while they are sleeping in a low-power state. The traffic indication map (TIM) contains a bitmap, with each bit relating to a specific association identifier (AID). When data is buffered in the access point for a particular association identifier (AID), the bit is "1". If no data is buffered, the bit for the association identifier (AID) is "0"),
Choudhury et al. teach transmitting, to the AP, a second frame to request uplink (UL) resources after receiving the first frame (Figs. 1 A-F, [0090-0091, ], a response message (i.e. second frame), such as a power save-poll packet, is transmitted uplink to the access point by a first one of the four wireless terminal devices that has won the contention for a time slot in the restricted access window. The response packet transmitted uplink by the first wireless terminal devices, occupies the first time slot and a portion of the second time slot (i.e. time slot is a resource for uplink transmission. A Clear to Send packet is transmitted downlink by the access point at the beginning of each idle time slot in the restricted access window).
Choudhury et al. teach wherein the second frame includes information on uplink data size (Figs. 1 A-F, [0141], a plurality of wireless terminal devices in a group may receive the downlink beacon frame that includes the group parameter set and the traffic indication map. The traffic indication map indicates that a subset of the wireless terminal devices in the group have buffered data waiting to be accessed in the access point, and thus they each contend with the other wireless terminal devices in the group, for access to a limited number of time slots in the restricted access window used by the group),
Choudhury et al. teach receiving, from the AP, information on uplink resource allocation (Figs. 1 A-F, [0055, 0088, 0130, 0158], wherein the second message is one of a Clear to Send frame received in a beginning portion of a time slot of a plurality of time slots within the restricted access window or an acknowledgement frame received at a time within a time slot of a plurality of time slots within the restricted access window and wherein the first message comprises information that the time slot is allocated to the wireless terminal device. Each restricted access window comprises multiple time slots and each time slot is allocated to wireless terminal devices paged in the traffic indication map (TIM). Uplink data transmissions, such as PS-polling operations, may be facilitated by transmitting the packet in a time slot in an uplink restricted access window.) A wireless access point device managing the network, transmits downlink to a group of wireless terminal devices in the network, a beacon frame including a group parameter set indicating a plurality of restricted access windows, each restricted access window allocated for a different group of wireless terminal devices associated to the wireless network. Each of the restricted access windows may include multiple time slots, each time slot serving as a communications channel. The wireless terminal device determines its channel access slot assigned by the access point. (Note: time slots (i.e. resources) are allocated by the access point to the wireless terminal for uplink transmission),
Choudhury et al. teach and transmitting uplink data based on the information on the uplink resource allocation (Figs. 1 A-F, [0090, 0130], wherein a response message, such as a power save-poll packet, is transmitted uplink to the access point by a first one of the four wireless terminal devices that has won the contention for a time slot in the restricted access window. Uplink data transmissions, such as PS-polling operations, may be facilitated by transmitting the packet in a time slot in an uplink restricted access window.
Choudhury et al. teach that the AP and the UE notifying information before the transmission of downlink and uplink data. Choudhury et al., however, fail to expressly disclose that the UE informs the AP of the uplink data size, in the buffer, for needed sources. (Emphasis added).
Regarding claim 1, Damnjanovic et al. teach wherein the second frame includes information on uplink data size (Figs. 1and 3, [0048, 0050], UE 102 can include an uplink transmission buffer component 202 that receives data for transmission over uplink communications resources, a BSR generating component 204 that can create a BSR related to data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, a BSR transmitting component 206 that can provide the BSR to one or more eNBs, a resource allocation receiving component 302 that can obtain an uplink resource allocation from one or more eNBs (e.g., in response to the BSR). The UE 102 can generate data to send to the eNB 104, and the data can be queued in the uplink transmission buffer component 202. Upon data entering the uplink transmission buffer component 202, BSR generating component 204 can create a BSR (Note: the buffer status report is the second frame) related to the data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, which the BSR transmitting component 206 can transmit to the eNB 104. As described, the BSR can comprise information regarding size of the data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, such as an actual size, a size range, and/or the like).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. by incorporating the features as taught by Damnjanovic et al. in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of indicating the uplink data size with second frame includes information. The motivation is to support an improved method for transmitting buffer status reports (see [0003]).
Claim 2 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1) as applied to claims 1 above, and further in view of Seok (US 20150057008 A1).
Choudhury et al. and Damnjanovic et al. disclose the claimed limitations as described in paragraph 5 above. Choudhury et al. and Damnjanovic et al. do not expressly disclose the following features: regarding claim 2, wherein, in case that all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP, setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains.
Regarding claim 2, Seok teaches wherein, in case that all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP, setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains (Figs. 1, 22 A-C and 23, [0023, 0229-0230, 232], STA configured to perform channel access at a target awake time (TAT) switches the awake state and the transmits the NDP PS-Poll frame within the target awake time (TAT) interval. The AP having received the NDP PS-Poll frame may determine whether the AP must answer the NDP PS-Poll frame through the BSSID (or PBSSID) subfield contained in the SIG field. As a response to the NDP PS-Poll frame, the AP may transmit the ACK frame or may transmit the buffered data frame for the corresponding STA. The case in which the AP transmits the ACK frame may indicate an exemplary case in which the buffered data for the corresponding STA is not present or it is difficult to immediately transmit the data frame after lapse of SIFS upon receiving the NDP PS-Poll frame irrespective of the presence or absence of the buffered data. If the buffered data for the STA is not present, the More Data (MD) bit of the frame control field of the ACK frame transmitted from the AP to the STA may be set to zero 0. Alternatively, when using the case in which the ACK frame is transmitted irrespective of the presence or absence of buffered data for the STA, the MD bit may be set to 1). A first STA (e.g., AP) may provide a second STA (e.g., non-AP STA) with configuration information regarding one or more slots (or one or more TAT intervals). The configuration information of the at least one slot may include information for allocating the channel access duration allowed to a STA group including the STA on a slot basis. (Note: the time slot allocated by the AP as downlink and uplink resources).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. with Damnjanovic et al. by incorporating the features as taught by Seok in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains, when all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP. The motivation is to support an improved method for performing channel access in a wireless LAN system (see [0001]).
Claim 3 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1) and Seok (US 20150057008 A1). as applied to claims 1 above, and further in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 2014/0010211 A1).
Choudhury et al., Damnjanovic et al. and Seok disclose the claimed limitations as described in paragraph 5 above. Choudhury et al., Damnjanovic et al. and Seok do not expressly disclose the following features: regarding claim 3, wherein, in case that the MD bit is set by the AP, further receiving downlink data after receiving information on additional resource allocation.
Regarding claim 3, Asterjadhi et al. teach wherein, in case that the MD bit is set by the AP, further receiving downlink data after receiving information on additional resource allocation (Figs. 1 and 3, [0042, 0050], the reverse direction grant request can be indicated by a "more data" bit. During transmission of downlink data from an AP 104 to a STA 106, data may be transmitted from the AP 104 to the STA 106 during a transmission opportunity of the access point. The AP 104 may indicate in one or more data transmissions to the STA 106 that it is granting the STA 104 a reverse direction grant. This reverse direction grant is not provided in response to a request by the STA 104, but instead is provided independently by the AP 104 to allow the STA 104 to send an acknowledgement message for one or more data messages sent to the STA 104 by the AP 104 during the transmission opportunity of the AP 104. By allowing acknowledgement messages to be sent during the transmission opportunity of the AP 104, downlink data may be sent by the AP 104 during the transmission opportunity without providing a separate transmission opportunity to the STA 106 to acknowledge the data. This may improve throughput and data communication medium utilization).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. with Damnjanovic et al. and Seok by incorporating the features as taught by Asterjadhi et al. in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of receiving downlink data after receiving information on additional resource allocation after the MD bit is set by the AP. The motivation is to support an improved method for allocating a wireless transmission medium between a first and a second wireless device (see [0003]).
Regarding claim 4, Choudhury et al. teach a method performed by an access point (AP) in a wireless LAN (local area network) system, comprising (Figs. 1-2, [0186], functional block diagram, illustrating an example wireless terminal device 100a, according to an example embodiment of the invention. The example wireless terminal device 100a may include a processor 134 that may include a dual or multi-core central processing unit CPU_1 and CPU_2, a RAM memory, a ROM memory, and an interface for a keypad, display, and other input/output devices. The example wireless terminal device 100a may include a protocol stack, including the transceiver 128 and IEEE 802.11 MAC 142, which may be based, for example, on the IEEE 802.11 ah WLAN standard. The protocol stack may also include a network layer 140, a transport layer 138, and an application program 136. (Note: WLAN also includes WLAN radio 102 but not described)),
Choudhury et al. teach transmitting, to a station (STA), a first frame to notify that downlink (DL) data is ready to be transmitted; receiving, from the STA (Figs. 1A, [0088, 0122], a wireless access point device managing the network, transmits downlink to a group of wireless terminal devices in the network, a beacon frame including a group parameter set indicating a plurality of restricted access windows, each restricted access window allocated for a different group of wireless terminal devices associated to the wireless network. A Traffic Indication Map (TIM) is a field transmitted in beacon frame(s) (i.e. first frame), used to inform associated wireless terminal devices that the access point has buffered data waiting to be transmitted to them (i.e. downlink data). Access points buffer frames of data for wireless terminal devices while they are sleeping in a low-power state. The traffic indication map (TIM) contains a bitmap, with each bit relating to a specific association identifier (AID). When data is buffered in the access point for a particular association identifier (AID), the bit is "1". If no data is buffered, the bit for the association identifier (AID) is "0"),
Choudhury et al. teach a second frame in response to transmitting the first frame and allocating uplink resources based on the second frame (Figs. 1 A-F, [0090-0091, ], a response message (i.e. second frame), such as a power save-poll packet, is transmitted uplink to the access point by a first one of the four wireless terminal devices that has won the contention for a time slot in the restricted access window. The response packet transmitted uplink by the first wireless terminal devices, occupies the first time slot and a portion of the second time slot (i.e. time slot is a resource for uplink transmission. A Clear to Send packet is transmitted downlink by the access point at the beginning of each idle time slot in the restricted access window).
Choudhury et al. teach wherein the second frame includes information on uplink data size (Figs. 1 A-F, [0141], a plurality of wireless terminal devices in a group may receive the downlink beacon frame that includes the group parameter set and the traffic indication map. The traffic indication map indicates that a subset of the wireless terminal devices in the group have buffered data waiting to be accessed in the access point, and thus they each contend with the other wireless terminal devices in the group, for access to a limited number of time slots in the restricted access window used by the group),
Choudhury et al. teach transmitting, to the STA, information on uplink resource allocation (Figs. 1 A-F, [0055, 0088, 0130, 0158], wherein the second message is one of a Clear to Send frame received in a beginning portion of a time slot of a plurality of time slots within the restricted access window or an acknowledgement frame received at a time within a time slot of a plurality of time slots within the restricted access window and wherein the first message comprises information that the time slot is allocated to the wireless terminal device. Each restricted access window comprises multiple time slots and each time slot is allocated to wireless terminal devices paged in the traffic indication map (TIM). Uplink data transmissions, such as PS-polling operations, may be facilitated by transmitting the packet in a time slot in an uplink restricted access window.) A wireless access point device managing the network, transmits downlink to a group of wireless terminal devices in the network, a beacon frame including a group parameter set indicating a plurality of restricted access windows, each restricted access window allocated for a different group of wireless terminal devices associated to the wireless network. Each of the restricted access windows may include multiple time slots, each time slot serving as a communications channel. The wireless terminal device determines its channel access slot assigned by the access point. (Note: time slots (i.e. resources) are allocated by the access point to the wireless terminal for uplink transmission),
Choudhury et al. teach receiving, from the STA, uplink data based on the information on the uplink resource allocation (Figs. 1 A-F, [0090, 0130], wherein a response message, such as a power save-poll packet, is transmitted uplink to the access point by a first one of the four wireless terminal devices that has won the contention for a time slot in the restricted access window. Uplink data transmissions, such as PS-polling operations, may be facilitated by transmitting the packet in a time slot in an uplink restricted access window.
Choudhury et al. teach that the AP and the UE notifying information before the transmission of downlink and uplink data. Choudhury et al., however, fail to expressly disclose that the UE informs the AP of the uplink data size, in the buffer, for needed sources. (Emphasis added).
Regarding claim 4, Damnjanovic et al. teach wherein the second frame includes information on uplink data size (Figs. 1and 3, [0048, 0050], UE 102 can include an uplink transmission buffer component 202 that receives data for transmission over uplink communications resources, a BSR generating component 204 that can create a BSR related to data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, a BSR transmitting component 206 that can provide the BSR to one or more eNBs, a resource allocation receiving component 302 that can obtain an uplink resource allocation from one or more eNBs (e.g., in response to the BSR). The UE 102 can generate data to send to the eNB 104, and the data can be queued in the uplink transmission buffer component 202. Upon data entering the uplink transmission buffer component 202, BSR generating component 204 can create a BSR (Note: the buffer status report is the second frame) related to the data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, which the BSR transmitting component 206 can transmit to the eNB 104. As described, the BSR can comprise information regarding size of the data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, such as an actual size, a size range, and/or the like).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. by incorporating the features as taught by Damnjanovic et al. in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of indicating the uplink data size with second frame includes information. The motivation is to support an improved method for transmitting buffer status reports (see [0003]).
Claim 5 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1) as applied to claims 4 above, and further in view of Seok (US 20150057008 A1).
Choudhury et al. and Damnjanovic et al. disclose the claimed limitations as described in paragraph 5 above. Choudhury et al. and Damnjanovic et al. do not expressly disclose the following features: regarding claim 5, wherein, in case that all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP, setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains.
Regarding claim 5, Seok teaches wherein, in case that all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP, setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains (Figs. 1, 22 A-C and 23, [0023, 0229-0230, 232], STA configured to perform channel access at a target awake time (TAT) switches the awake state and the transmits the NDP PS-Poll frame within the target awake time (TAT) interval. The AP having received the NDP PS-Poll frame may determine whether the AP must answer the NDP PS-Poll frame through the BSSID (or PBSSID) subfield contained in the SIG field. As a response to the NDP PS-Poll frame, the AP may transmit the ACK frame or may transmit the buffered data frame for the corresponding STA. The case in which the AP transmits the ACK frame may indicate an exemplary case in which the buffered data for the corresponding STA is not present or it is difficult to immediately transmit the data frame after lapse of SIFS upon receiving the NDP PS-Poll frame irrespective of the presence or absence of the buffered data. If the buffered data for the STA is not present, the More Data (MD) bit of the frame control field of the ACK frame transmitted from the AP to the STA may be set to zero 0. Alternatively, when using the case in which the ACK frame is transmitted irrespective of the presence or absence of buffered data for the STA, the MD bit may be set to 1). A first STA (e.g., AP) may provide a second STA (e.g., non-AP STA) with configuration information regarding one or more slots (or one or more TAT intervals). The configuration information of the at least one slot may include information for allocating the channel access duration allowed to a STA group including the STA on a slot basis. (Note: the time slot allocated by the AP as downlink and uplink resources).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. with Damnjanovic et al. by incorporating the features as taught by Seok in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains, when all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP. The motivation is to support an improved method for performing channel access in a wireless LAN system (see [0001]).
Claim 6 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1) and Seok (US 20150057008 A1). as applied to claims 4 above, and further in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 2014/0010211 A1).
Choudhury et al., Damnjanovic et al. and Seok disclose the claimed limitations as described in paragraph 5 above. Choudhury et al., Damnjanovic et al. and Seok do not expressly disclose the following features: regarding claim 6, wherein, in case that the MD bit is set by the AP, further transmitting downlink data after transmitting information on additional resource allocation.
Regarding claim 6, Asterjadhi et al. teach wherein, in case that the MD bit is set by the AP, further transmitting downlink data after transmitting information on additional resource allocation (Figs. 1 and 3, [0042, 0050], the reverse direction grant request can be indicated by a "more data" bit. During transmission of downlink data from an AP 104 to a STA 106, data may be transmitted from the AP 104 to the STA 106 during a transmission opportunity of the access point. The AP 104 may indicate in one or more data transmissions to the STA 106 that it is granting the STA 104 a reverse direction grant. This reverse direction grant is not provided in response to a request by the STA 104, but instead is provided independently by the AP 104 to allow the STA 104 to send an acknowledgement message for one or more data messages sent to the STA 104 by the AP 104 during the transmission opportunity of the AP 104. By allowing acknowledgement messages to be sent during the transmission opportunity of the AP 104, downlink data may be sent by the AP 104 during the transmission opportunity without providing a separate transmission opportunity to the STA 106 to acknowledge the data. This may improve throughput and data communication medium utilization).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. with Damnjanovic et al. and Seok by incorporating the features as taught by Asterjadhi et al. in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of receiving downlink data after receiving information on additional resource allocation after the MD bit is set by the AP. The motivation is to support an improved method for allocating a wireless transmission medium between a first and a second wireless device (see [0003]).
Regarding claim 7, Choudhury et al. teach a station (STA) in a wireless LAN system, comprising: a receiver; a transmitter; and a processor operatively connected to the receiver and the transmitter, wherein the processor is configured to (Figs. 1-2, [0186], functional block diagram, illustrating an example wireless terminal device 100a, according to an example embodiment of the invention. The example wireless terminal device 100a may include a processor 134 that may include a dual or multi-core central processing unit CPU_1 and CPU_2, a RAM memory, a ROM memory, and an interface for a keypad, display, and other input/output devices. The example wireless terminal device 100a may include a protocol stack, including the transceiver 128 and IEEE 802.11 MAC 142, which may be based, for example, on the IEEE 802.11 ah WLAN standard. The protocol stack may also include a network layer 140, a transport layer 138, and an application program 136. (Note: WLAN also includes WLAN radio 102 but not described)),
Choudhury et al. teach receive, from an access point (AP), a first frame to notify that downlink (DL) data is ready to be received (Figs. 1A, [0088, 0122], a wireless access point device managing the network, transmits downlink to a group of wireless terminal devices in the network, a beacon frame including a group parameter set indicating a plurality of restricted access windows, each restricted access window allocated for a different group of wireless terminal devices associated to the wireless network. A Traffic Indication Map (TIM) is a field transmitted in beacon frame(s) (i.e. first frame), used to inform associated wireless terminal devices that the access point has buffered data waiting to be transmitted to them (i.e. downlink data). Access points buffer frames of data for wireless terminal devices while they are sleeping in a low-power state. The traffic indication map (TIM) contains a bitmap, with each bit relating to a specific association identifier (AID). When data is buffered in the access point for a particular association identifier (AID), the bit is "1". If no data is buffered, the bit for the association identifier (AID) is "0"),
Choudhury et al. teach transmits, to the AP, a second frame to request uplink (UL) resources after receiving the first frame (Figs. 1 A-F, [0090-0091, ], a response message (i.e. second frame), such as a power save-poll packet, is transmitted uplink to the access point by a first one of the four wireless terminal devices that has won the contention for a time slot in the restricted access window. The response packet transmitted uplink by the first wireless terminal devices, occupies the first time slot and a portion of the second time slot (i.e. time slot is a resource for uplink transmission. A Clear to Send packet is transmitted downlink by the access point at the beginning of each idle time slot in the restricted access window).
Choudhury et al. teach wherein the second frame includes information on uplink data size (Figs. 1 A-F, [0141], a plurality of wireless terminal devices in a group may receive the downlink beacon frame that includes the group parameter set and the traffic indication map. The traffic indication map indicates that a subset of the wireless terminal devices in the group have buffered data waiting to be accessed in the access point, and thus they each contend with the other wireless terminal devices in the group, for access to a limited number of time slots in the restricted access window used by the group),
Choudhury et al. teach receive, from the AP, information on uplink resource allocation (Figs. 1 A-F, [0055, 0088, 0130, 0158], wherein the second message is one of a Clear to Send frame received in a beginning portion of a time slot of a plurality of time slots within the restricted access window or an acknowledgement frame received at a time within a time slot of a plurality of time slots within the restricted access window and wherein the first message comprises information that the time slot is allocated to the wireless terminal device. Each restricted access window comprises multiple time slots and each time slot is allocated to wireless terminal devices paged in the traffic indication map (TIM). Uplink data transmissions, such as PS-polling operations, may be facilitated by transmitting the packet in a time slot in an uplink restricted access window.) A wireless access point device managing the network, transmits downlink to a group of wireless terminal devices in the network, a beacon frame including a group parameter set indicating a plurality of restricted access windows, each restricted access window allocated for a different group of wireless terminal devices associated to the wireless network. Each of the restricted access windows may include multiple time slots, each time slot serving as a communications channel. The wireless terminal device determines its channel access slot assigned by the access point),
Choudhury et al. teach and transmits uplink data based on the information on the uplink resource allocation (Figs. 1 A-F, [0090, 0130], wherein a response message, such as a power save-poll packet, is transmitted uplink to the access point by a first one of the four wireless terminal devices that has won the contention for a time slot in the restricted access window. Uplink data transmissions, such as PS-polling operations, may be facilitated by transmitting the packet in a time slot in an uplink restricted access window.
Choudhury et al. teach that the AP and the UE notifying information before the transmission of downlink and uplink data. Choudhury et al., however, fail to expressly disclose that the UE informs the AP of the uplink data size, in the buffer, for needed sources. (Emphasis added).
Regarding claim 7, Damnjanovic et al. teach wherein the second frame includes information on uplink data size (Figs. 1and 3, [0048, 0050], UE 102 can include an uplink transmission buffer component 202 that receives data for transmission over uplink communications resources, a BSR generating component 204 that can create a BSR related to data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, a BSR transmitting component 206 that can provide the BSR to one or more eNBs, a resource allocation receiving component 302 that can obtain an uplink resource allocation from one or more eNBs (e.g., in response to the BSR). The UE 102 can generate data to send to the eNB 104, and the data can be queued in the uplink transmission buffer component 202. Upon data entering the uplink transmission buffer component 202, BSR generating component 204 can create a BSR (Note: the buffer status report is the second frame) related to the data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, which the BSR transmitting component 206 can transmit to the eNB 104. As described, the BSR can comprise information regarding size of the data in the uplink transmission buffer component 202, such as an actual size, a size range, and/or the like).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. by incorporating the features as taught by Damnjanovic et al. in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of indicating the uplink data size with second frame includes information. The motivation is to support an improved method for transmitting buffer status reports (see [0003]).
Claim 8 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1) as applied to claims 7 above, and further in view of Seok (US 20150057008 A1).
Choudhury et al. and Damnjanovic et al. disclose the claimed limitations as described in paragraph 5 above. Choudhury et al. and Damnjanovic et al. do not expressly disclose the following features: regarding claim 8, wherein, in case that all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP, setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains.
Regarding claim 8, Seok teaches wherein, in case that all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP, setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains (Figs. 1, 22 A-C and 23, [0023, 0229-0230, 232], STA configured to perform channel access at a target awake time (TAT) switches the awake state and the transmits the NDP PS-Poll frame within the target awake time (TAT) interval. The AP having received the NDP PS-Poll frame may determine whether the AP must answer the NDP PS-Poll frame through the BSSID (or PBSSID) subfield contained in the SIG field. As a response to the NDP PS-Poll frame, the AP may transmit the ACK frame or may transmit the buffered data frame for the corresponding STA. The case in which the AP transmits the ACK frame may indicate an exemplary case in which the buffered data for the corresponding STA is not present or it is difficult to immediately transmit the data frame after lapse of SIFS upon receiving the NDP PS-Poll frame irrespective of the presence or absence of the buffered data. If the buffered data for the STA is not present, the More Data (MD) bit of the frame control field of the ACK frame transmitted from the AP to the STA may be set to zero 0. Alternatively, when using the case in which the ACK frame is transmitted irrespective of the presence or absence of buffered data for the STA, the MD bit may be set to 1). A first STA (e.g., AP) may provide a second STA (e.g., non-AP STA) with configuration information regarding one or more slots (or one or more TAT intervals). The configuration information of the at least one slot may include information for allocating the channel access duration allowed to a STA group including the STA on a slot basis. (Note: the time slot allocated by the AP as downlink and uplink resources).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. with Damnjanovic et al. by incorporating the features as taught by Seok in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of setting, by the AP, a More Data (MD) bit to indicate to the STA that additional data remains, when all data is not transmitted based on downlink resources allocated by the AP. The motivation is to support an improved method for performing channel access in a wireless LAN system (see [0001]).
Claim 9 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Choudhury et al. (US 2014/0003414 A1) in view of Damnjanovic et al. (US 20100070814 A1) and Seok (US 20150057008 A1). as applied to claims 7 above, and further in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 2014/0010211 A1).
Choudhury et al., Damnjanovic et al. and Seok disclose the claimed limitations as described in paragraph 5 above. Choudhury et al., Damnjanovic et al. and Seok do not expressly disclose the following features: regarding claim 9, wherein, in case that the MD bit is set by the AP, further transmitting downlink data after transmitting information on additional resource allocation.
Regarding claim 9, Asterjadhi et al. teach wherein, in case that the MD bit is set by the AP, further transmitting downlink data after transmitting information on additional resource allocation (Figs. 1 and 3, [0042, 0050], the reverse direction grant request can be indicated by a "more data" bit. During transmission of downlink data from an AP 104 to a STA 106, data may be transmitted from the AP 104 to the STA 106 during a transmission opportunity of the access point. The AP 104 may indicate in one or more data transmissions to the STA 106 that it is granting the STA 104 a reverse direction grant. This reverse direction grant is not provided in response to a request by the STA 104, but instead is provided independently by the AP 104 to allow the STA 104 to send an acknowledgement message for one or more data messages sent to the STA 104 by the AP 104 during the transmission opportunity of the AP 104. By allowing acknowledgement messages to be sent during the transmission opportunity of the AP 104, downlink data may be sent by the AP 104 during the transmission opportunity without providing a separate transmission opportunity to the STA 106 to acknowledge the data. This may improve throughput and data communication medium utilization).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Choudhury et al. with Damnjanovic et al. and Seok by incorporating the features as taught by Asterjadhi et al. in order to provide a more effective and efficient system that is capable of receiving downlink data after receiving information on additional resource allocation after the MD bit is set by the AP. The motivation is to support an improved method for allocating a wireless transmission medium between a first and a second wireless device (see [0003]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED M BOKHARI whose telephone number is (571)270-3115. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday.
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, Kwang B Yao can be reached at 5712723182. 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.
/SYED M BOKHARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2473 9/18/2026
/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473
Prosecution Insights