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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 09/25/2024.
Claims 21-40 are currently pending.
Claims 1-20 are canceled in a preliminary amendment.
Claims 21-40 are rejected.
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).
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Claims 21-40 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 13-14, 16, 18-20 of Patent No. US 12237923 B2 (hereinafter “Wang”) in view of Rojan Chitrakar et al (US 20230011167 A1).
For Claim 21, Claim 13 of Wang teaches all of the claimed subject matter (see claim 13) with the exception of receiving, from a multi-link device (MLD) over multiple links, group addressed frame (GAF) data including a first frame and a second frame that share a sequence number space (SNS).
However, Chitrakar, in the analogous art, discloses receiving, from a multi-link device (MLD) over multiple links, group addressed frame (GAF) data including a first frame and a second frame (Chitrakar teaches, in ¶ 0081, lines 1-3, that the frames received in each link are parsed by the Rx Parsers 1414, 1424, 1434. Chitrakar teaches, in ¶ 0089, lines 28-30, that Here L1-RA and L2-RA refers to the MAC address of the affiliated STAs of the Recipient MLD operating on Link-1 and Link-2 respectively) that share a sequence number space (SNS) (Chitrakar teaches, in ¶ 0084, lines 9-11, that Even further, sequence numbers may be assigned from a common sequence number space shared across multiple links of a MLD).
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 flooding-attack detection taught in Wang with the common Transmit buffer taught in Chitrakar. The motivation is enabling flexible re-transmissions across links and to prevent receive reordering buffer overruns at the recipient MLD [Chitrakar: ¶ 0089, lines 8-10].
Regarding the remaining claims, the table below maps the claims in the instant applications to corresponding claims which have substantially the same limitations [up to and including limitations of parent and intervening claims] in Patent No. US 12237923 B2.
Table 1: Claim Mapping to Patent No. US 12237923 B2
Claim # in Instant Application
(18895510)
Claim # in Patent No. US 12237923 B2
21. (New) An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform operations for wireless communication, the operations comprising: receiving, from a multi-link device (MLD) over multiple links, group addressed frame (GAF) data including a first frame and a second frame that share a sequence number space (SNS), wherein the first frame is associated with a first concealment address and wherein the second frame is associated with a second concealment address; processing the first frame and the second frame to identify whether the first frame and second frame are duplicates of one another, wherein the first frame and the second frame are considered to not be duplicates of one another when the first concealment address is different from the second concealment address; and outputting the first frame and the second frame to a packet number (PN) check and decryption block when the first frame and second frame are not duplicates of one another.
13. An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising: identifying a first frame and a second frame; processing the first frame and the second frame to identify: (a) whether the first frame and second frame are duplicates of one another; and (b) whether the first frame and second frame each have a respective sequence number (SN) that is in accordance with a pre-identified order; and outputting the first frame and the second frame to a packet number (PN) check and decryption block when the first frame and second frame are not duplicates of one another and have respective SNs that are in accordance with the pre-identified order.
23. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, the operations further comprising: determining whether the first frame and second frame each have a respective sequence number (SN) that is in accordance with a pre-identified order; and outputting the first frame and the second frame to the PN when the first frame and second frame have respective SNs that are in accordance with the pre-identified order.
13. An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising: identifying a first frame and a second frame; processing the first frame and the second frame to identify: (a) whether the first frame and second frame are duplicates of one another; and (b) whether the first frame and second frame each have a respective sequence number (SN) that is in accordance with a pre-identified order; and outputting the first frame and the second frame to a packet number (PN) check and decryption block when the first frame and second frame are not duplicates of one another and have respective SNs that are in accordance with the pre-identified order.
24. (New) The apparatus of claim 23, the operations further comprising: identifying that the first frame and second frame each have a respective SN that is in accordance with the pre-identified order when there is no missing frame with a smaller SN than the first frame or second frame.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, the operations further comprising: identifying that the first frame and second frame each have a respective SN that is in accordance with the pre-identified order when there is no missing frame with a smaller SN than the first frame or second frame.
25. (New) The apparatus of claim 23, the operations further comprising: identifying that the first frame and second frame each have a respective SN that is in accordance with a pre-identified order when the one or more processors have received a frame with higher SN that the first frame or second frame on all links from which the one or more processors receive the first frame and the second frame.
18. The apparatus of claim 13, the operations further comprising: identifying that the first frame and second frame each have a respective SN that is in accordance with the pre-identified order when the one or more processors have received a frame with higher SN that the first frame or second frame on all links from which it receives the first frame and the second frame.
26. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, the operations further comprising: determining, based on a SN associated with group frames associated with a particular AP, that one or more frames associated with the particular AP are lost and not being transmitted by the particular AP after the group frames associated with the SN.
16. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising determining, based on a SN associated with group frames associated with a particular AP, that one or more frames associated with the particular AP are lost and not being transmitted by the particular AP after the group frames associated with the SN.
27. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, the operations further comprising: outputting the first frame and the second frame when the one or more processors are unable to store a received third frame in a group frames and reorder buffer.
19. The apparatus of claim 13, the operations further comprising: outputting the first frame and the second frame when the one or more processors are unable to store a received third frame in a group frames and reorder buffer.
28. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first frame is related to one or more of groupcast data (G-Data) for quality of service (QoS), groupcast with retry (GCR) data, G-Data not requiring QoS, groupcast management data generated at a multilink (ML) level, groupcast management data, unicast management data generated at a ML level, and unicast management data.
20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first frame is related to one or more of groupcast data (G-Data) for quality of service (QOS), groupcast with retry (GCR) data, G-Data not requiring QoS, groupcast management data generated at a multilink (ML) level, groupcast management data, unicast management data generated at a ML level, and unicast management data.
30
13
32
13
33
14
34
18
35
16
36
19
37
20
39
13
Claims 22, 29, 31, 38, 40 are rejected for depending from rejected base claims.
Claims 21-40 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 11-12, 16-18 of Patent No. US 11777656 B2 (hereinafter “Liu”) in view of Rojan Chitrakar et al (US 20230011167 A1).
For Claim 21, Claim 11 of Liu teaches all of the claimed subject matter (see claim 11) with the exception of receiving a first frame and a second frame that share a sequence number space (SNS).
However, Chitrakar, in the analogous art, discloses receiving a first frame and a second frame (Chitrakar teaches, in ¶ 0081, lines 1-3, that the frames received in each link are parsed by the Rx Parsers 1414, 1424, 1434. Chitrakar teaches, in ¶ 0089, lines 28-30, that Here L1-RA and L2-RA refers to the MAC address of the affiliated STAs of the Recipient MLD operating on Link-1 and Link-2 respectively) that share a sequence number space (SNS) (Chitrakar teaches, in ¶ 0084, lines 9-11, that Even further, sequence numbers may be assigned from a common sequence number space shared across multiple links of a MLD).
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 flooding-attack detection taught in Liu with the common Transmit buffer taught in Chitrakar. The motivation is enable flexible re-transmissions across links and to prevent receive reordering buffer overruns at the recipient MLD [Chitrakar: ¶ 0089, lines 8-10].
Regarding the remaining claims, the table below maps the claims in the instant applications to corresponding claims which have substantially the same limitations [up to and including limitations of parent and intervening claims] in Patent No. US 11777656 B2.
Table 1: Claim Mapping to Patent No. US 11777656 B2
Claim # in Instant Application
(18895510)
Claim # in Patent No. US 11777656 B2
21. (New) An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform operations for wireless communication, the operations comprising: receiving, from a multi-link device (MLD) over multiple links, group addressed frame (GAF) data including a first frame and a second frame that share a sequence number space (SNS), wherein the first frame is associated with a first concealment address and wherein the second frame is associated with a second concealment address; processing the first frame and the second frame to identify whether the first frame and second frame are duplicates of one another, wherein the first frame and the second frame are considered to not be duplicates of one another when the first concealment address is different from the second concealment address; and outputting the first frame and the second frame to a packet number (PN) check and decryption block when the first frame and second frame are not duplicates of one another.
11. A computer-implemented method comprising: identifying, by a non-access point (AP) multilink device (MLD) in a wireless network, a first frame received on a first link and a second frame received on a second link; processing, by a group frames and reorder buffer of the non-AP MLD, the first frame and the second frame to identify: (a) whether the first frame and second frame are duplicates of one another; and (b) whether the first frame and second frame have a sequence number (SN) that is in accordance with a pre-identified order; and outputting, by the group frames and reorder buffer of the non-AP MLD, the first frame and the second frame to a PN check and decryption block when the first frame and second frame are not duplicates of one another and have respective SNs that are in accordance with the pre-identified order.
23. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, the operations further comprising: determining whether the first frame and second frame each have a respective sequence number (SN) that is in accordance with a pre-identified order; and outputting the first frame and the second frame to the PN when the first frame and second frame have respective SNs that are in accordance with the pre-identified order.
11. A computer-implemented method comprising: identifying, by a non-access point (AP) multilink device (MLD) in a wireless network, a first frame received on a first link and a second frame received on a second link; processing, by a group frames and reorder buffer of the non-AP MLD, the first frame and the second frame to identify: (a) whether the first frame and second frame are duplicates of one another; and (b) whether the first frame and second frame have a sequence number (SN) that is in accordance with a pre-identified order; and outputting, by the group frames and reorder buffer of the non-AP MLD, the first frame and the second frame to a PN check and decryption block when the first frame and second frame are not duplicates of one another and have respective SNs that are in accordance with the pre-identified order.
24. (New) The apparatus of claim 23, the operations further comprising: identifying that the first frame and second frame each have a respective SN that is in accordance with the pre-identified order when there is no missing frame with a smaller SN than the first frame or second frame.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the group frames and reorder buffer identifies that the first frame and second frame have a SN that are in accordance with the pre-identified order when there is no missing frame with a smaller SN than the first frame or second frame.
25. (New) The apparatus of claim 23, the operations further comprising: identifying that the first frame and second frame each have a respective SN that is in accordance with a pre-identified order when the one or more processors have received a frame with higher SN that the first frame or second frame on all links from which the one or more processors receive the first frame and the second frame.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the group frames and reorder buffer identifies that the first frame and second frame have respective SNs that are each in accordance with the pre-identified order when the non-AP MLD has received a frame with higher SN that the first frame or second frame on all links from which it receives the first frame and the second frame.
27. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, the operations further comprising: outputting the first frame and the second frame when the one or more processors are unable to store a received third frame in a group frames and reorder buffer.
17. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises outputting, by the group frames and reorder buffer of the non-AP MLD, the first frame and the second frame when the non-AP MLD is unable to store a received third frame in the group frames and reorder buffer.
28. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first frame is related to one or more of groupcast data (G-Data) for quality of service (QoS), groupcast with retry (GCR) data, G-Data not requiring QoS, groupcast management data generated at a multilink (ML) level, groupcast management data, unicast management data generated at a ML level, and unicast management data.
18. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the first frame is related to one or more of groupcast data (G-Data) for quality of service (QoS), groupcast with retry (GCR) data, G-Data not requiring QoS, groupcast management data generated at the multilink (ML) level, groupcast management data generated by the first AP, unicast management data generated at a ML level, and unicast management data generated by the AP and is intended for the non-AP MLD.
30
11
32
11
33
12
34
16
36
17
37
18
39
11
Claims 22, 26, 29, 31, 35, 38, 40 are rejected for depending from rejected base claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. DONG et al (US 20230247699 A1) teaches A method for communication on multiple links, includes: determining a first message frame; and sending the first message frame, wherein the first message frame includes parameter information of the communication on the multiple links.
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/MOHAMED A KAMARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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