Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/18/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/24/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 18 states “the third time period, with a duration of zero”. The claims are not clear as to how a duration can last for no time. Electrical communications typically require a sequence of bits, and a QAM map generating multiple bits for one signal. A system that skips bits is functionally the same as the same system that the bits never existed for. Even a list of 0s, is different from a null response. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 7 states “the fourth time period, with a duration of zero”. The claims are not clear as to how a duration can last for no time. Electrical communications typically require a sequence of bits, and a QAM map generating multiple bits for one signal. A system that skips bits is functionally the same as the same system that the bits never existed for. Even a list of 0s, is different from a null response. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 29 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 18 states “the third time period, with a duration of zero”. The claims are not clear as to how a duration can last for no time. Electrical communications typically require a sequence of bits, and a QAM map generating multiple bits for one signal. A system that skips bits is functionally the same as the same system that the bits never existed for. Even a list of 0s, is different from a null response. Appropriate correction is 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) 4-13 and 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (Pub. No.: US 20210127307 A1, hereafter “Huang”) in view of Memisoglu (Pub. No.: US 20260197053 A1, hereafter “Memisoglu”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 9, and Claim 15
Huang teaches a Method comprising
receiving (Huang Fig. 6: 606), by a first station (Huang Fig. 6: 130) from an access point (Huang Fig. 6: 110), a first frame (Huang Fig. 7: 710) comprising: a first time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736), of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) (Huang Fig. 7: 782), allocated to the first station (Huang ¶0094: TXOP duration setting; Huang teaches a frame containing a sub-section with a TXOP for an associated station, see Fig. 6, Fig. 7, and ¶0094);
a first indication (Huang ¶0093: 724) indicating that the first time period and the second time period are for a transmission (Huang ¶0093: length of data frame, e.g. for the incoming transmission and can include the source and destination network addresses) between the access point and the second station via the first station (Huang ¶0093: source and destination addresses; Huang teaches a frame header containing the length of the incoming data, e.g. for the incoming transmission, and the source and destination addresses, see ¶0093); and a second indication (Huang ¶0087: TXOP duration limit) indicating that the transmission is: a downlink transmission (Huang ¶0087: for downlink transmissions the second AP may use the TXOP duration); or an uplink transmission (Huang ¶0087: the second AP can control access of the wireless channel for triggered uplink transmissions using the TXOP duration limit; Huang teaches the TXOP duration limit is for downlink transmissions and its use case for uplink transmissions, see ¶0087); and receiving (Huang ¶0093: to the second AP), by the first station (Huang ¶0093: from the first AP) and based on the first frame (Huang ¶0093: frame check sequence (FCS), containing CRC, see Fig. 7: 726), a second frame (Huang Fig. 7: 726, e.g. a FCS containing a CRC; Huang teaches a frame check sequence from the first AP to the second AP, which the FCS contains a CRC, e.g. data correction, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
Huang does not explicitly teach
a second time period, of the TXOP, allocated to a second station;
However, Memisoglu teaches
a second time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS), of the TXOP (Memisoglu ¶0033: upon reception considered obtained a TXOP), allocated to a second station (Memisoglu ¶0033: for STA wishing to transmit; Memisoglu teaches an STA wishing to transmit monitoring a channel for SIFS, wherein the reception is considered the TXOP, see ¶0033);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches an STA wishing to transmit monitoring a channel for SIFS, wherein the reception is considered the TXOP, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Claim 9 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Huang teaches
a first frame comprising: a first time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736), of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) (Huang Fig. 7: 782), allocated to the access point (Huang ¶0094: TXOP duration setting; Huang teaches a frame containing a sub-section with a TXOP for an associated station, see Fig. 6, Fig. 7, and ¶0094);
receiving (Huang ¶0093: 724), by the first station (Huang ¶0093: to the first AP) from the access point (Huang ¶0093: from the second AP), a second frame (Huang Fig. 7: 726) during the first time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736; Huang teaches receiving from the second AP to the first AP, a second frame during the first time period, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093);
Regarding Claim 2 and Claim 16
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Memisoglu further teaches
sending (Memisoglu Fig. 2: 206), by the first station to the second station (Memisoglu Fig. 2: 202 to 203), a third frame (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits an RTS packet) during the second time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS; Memisoglu teaches an STA transmitting to an AP an RTS packet while monitoring the channel for an SIFS, see Fig. 2 and ¶0033).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches an STA transmitting to an AP an RTS packet while monitoring the channel for an SIFS, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Regarding Claim 3
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Huang further teaches
sending (Huang Fig. 7: 700), by the first station to the access point (Huang Fig. 6: 110), a third frame (Huang Fig. 7: 760) during the first time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736; Huang teaches sending another frame during the first time period, see Fig. 6 and Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 4 and Claim 10
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Huang teaches
sending (Huang Fig. 6: 606), by the first station to the second station (Huang Fig. 6: 130 to 110), a third frame (Huang Fig. 7: 760) during the first time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736; Huang teaches sending another frame during the first time period, see Fig. 6 and Fig. 7);
Huang does not explicitly teach
and sending, by the first station to the second station, the third frame after sending an acknowledgement (ACK) frame or a clear-to-send (CTS) frame to the access point.
However, Memisoglu teaches
and sending (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits), by the first station to the second station (Memisoglu ¶0033: receiving station), the third frame after sending an acknowledgement (ACK) frame (Memisoglu ¶0033: ACK) or a clear-to-send (CTS) frame (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) to the access point (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits data; Memisoglu teaches transmitting to the receiving station, an ACK in response, see ¶0033).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches transmitting to the receiving station, an ACK in response, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Regarding Claim 5
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Huang further teaches
the first frame (Huang Fig. 7: 710) further comprises a third time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736), of the TXOP (Huang Fig. 7: 782), allocated to a third station (Huang ¶0093: multi-AP controller; Huang teaches the frame body containing another field with it, containing a TXOP setting, for a multi-AP controller, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093);
and the third time period is configured for a reception (Huang Fig. 7: 732), by the second station and from the third station (Huang ¶0093: second AP to a multi-AP controller), of a fourth frame (Huang Fig. 7: 738; Huang teaches a reception from the second AP to a multi-AP controller that contains information elements, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
However, Huang does not explicitly teach
the third time period is before the second time period;
However, Memisoglu teaches
the third time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: AIFS) is before the second time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS; Memisoglu teaches having a time period before the monitoring period, see ¶0033);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches having a time period before the monitoring period, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Regarding Claim 6 and Claim 12
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Huang further teaches
the first frame further comprises a third time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736), of the TXOP (Huang Fig. 7: 782), allocated to a third station (Huang ¶0093: multi-AP controller; Huang teaches a time period with the TXOP for a multi-AP controller, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093); the third time period is after the second time period (Huang ¶0093: 724); the third time period, with a duration of zero, indicates that the third station is a destination station of the transmission (Huang ¶0093: 724 may include source and destination network addresses); and the second time period is configured for a reception (Huang Fig. 7: 732), by the third station and from the second station (Huang ¶0093: second AP to a multi-AP controller), of a fourth frame (Huang Fig. 7: 738; Huang teaches a reception from the second AP to a multi-AP controller that contains information elements, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
Regarding Claim 7
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Huang further teaches
the second indication indicates that the transmission is a downlink transmission (Huang ¶0087: for downlink transmissions the second AP may use the TXOP duration); and a first user info field comprising the first time period precedes (Huang Fig. 7: 772), in the first frame (Huang Fig. 7: 710), a second user info field (Huang ¶0093: management frame) comprising the second time period (Huang Fig. 7: 732; Huang teaches the first frame containing relationship information and the second time period containing a management frame, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
Regarding Claim 8
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Huang further teaches
the second indication indicates that the transmission is an uplink transmission (Huang ¶0087: the second AP can control access of the wireless channel for triggered uplink transmissions using the TXOP duration limit); and a first user info field comprising the first time period (Huang Fig. 7: 772) follows in the first frame a second user info field (Huang ¶0093: management frame) comprising the second time period (Huang Fig. 7: 732; Huang teaches the first frame containing relationship information and the second time period containing a management frame, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
Regarding Claim 11 and Claim 18
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 9. Memisoglu further teaches
wherein the second time period is a short inter-frame space (SIFS) (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS) after the first time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors; Memisoglu teaches monitoring the channel for the SIFS, see ¶0033).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches having a time period before the monitoring period, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Claim 18 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Memisoglu teaches
sending (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits), by the access point to the first station (Memisoglu ¶0033: a station), a third frame before the first time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits an RTS packet); and wherein: the first time period is before the second time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS; Memisoglu teaches an STA transmitting an RTS packet before monitoring the channel for an SIFS, see ¶0033);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches an STA transmitting an RTS packet before monitoring the channel for an SIFS, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Regarding Claim 13
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 9. Huang further teaches
the first frame (Huang Fig. 7: 710) further comprises a third time period (Huang Fig. 7: 736), of the TXOP (Huang Fig. 7: 782), allocated to the second station (Huang Fig. 6: 120; Huang teaches a frame comprising a time period comprising a TXOP for another station, see Fig. 6 and Fig. 7); the first frame further comprises a fourth time period (Huang Fig. 7: 738), of the TXOP, allocated (Huang ¶0093: policy configuration message) to a third station (Huang ¶0093: multi-AP controller); the fourth time period is after the third time period (Huang Fig. 7: 738 is after 736); the fourth time period, with a duration of zero, indicates that the third station is a destination station of the transmission (Huang ¶0093: multi-AP protocol message); and the third time period is configured for a reception (Huang ¶0093: second AP to a multi-AP controller), by the third station and from the second station (Huang Fig. 6: 120), of a fourth frame (Huang Fig. 7: 738; Huang teaches a multi-AP controller being configured with information elements).
Regarding Claim 17
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 16. Huang further teaches
the first frame further comprises a third time period (Huang Fig. 7: 732), of the TXOP, allocated to a third station (Huang ¶0093: multi-AP controller; Huang teaches a third time period for sending information to a multi-AP controller, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093);
and the third time period is configured for a reception (Huang Fig. 7: 732), by the second station and from the third station (Huang ¶0093: second AP to a multi-AP controller), of a fourth frame (Huang Fig. 7: 738; Huang teaches a reception from the second AP to a multi-AP controller that contains information elements, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
Memisoglu further teaches
the third time period is before the second time period (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS; Memisoglu teaches having a time period before the monitoring period, see ¶0033);
the second time period is configured for a reception (Memisoglu ¶0033: monitors the channel for SIFS), by the first station and from the second station (Memisoglu ¶0033: a STA wishing to transmit in a backhaul situation), of a third frame (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits an RTS packet); the second frame is based on the third frame (Memisoglu ¶0033: transmits an RTS packet; Memisoglu teaches a station in a backhaul situation wishing to transmit an RTS and monitoring during the SIFS time, see ¶0033);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang by way of Memisoglu, to include an element that teaches having a time period before the monitoring period and a station in a backhaul situation wishing to transmit an RTS and monitoring during the SIFS time, as taught by Memisoglu in ¶0033, to improve communication systems by combining two known elements to generate a predictable outcome and enable more rapid communication by allowing a yielding system to enable a rapid transmission.
Regarding Claim 19
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 15. Huang further teaches
the first frame further comprises a third time period (Huang Fig. 7: 732), of the TXOP, allocated to a third station (Huang ¶0093: multi-AP controller;); the third time period is after the second time period (Huang ¶0093: 724;); the third time period with a duration of zero indicates that the third station is a destination station of the transmission (Huang ¶0093: 724 may include source and destination network addresses); and the second time period is configured for a reception (Huang Fig. 7: 732), by the third station and from the second station (Huang ¶0093: second AP to a multi-AP controller), of a fourth frame (Huang Fig. 7: 738; Huang teaches a reception from the second AP to a multi-AP controller that contains information elements, see Fig. 7 and ¶0093).
Claim(s) 14 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (Pub. No.: US 20210127307 A1, hereafter “Huang”) in view of Memisoglu (Pub. No.: US 20260197053 A1, hereafter “Memisoglu”), further in view of Kim (Pub. No.: US 20230262766 A1, hereafter “Kim”).
Regarding Claim 14 and Claim 20
Huang in view of Memisoglu teaches the method as explained above in Claim 12. Huang in view of Memisoglu does not explicitly teach
the first frame comprises a multi-user request-to-send triggered TXOP sharing (MU-RTS TXS) trigger (MRTT) frame; and the first indication is provided in a TXS mode subfield of the MRTT frame.
However, Kim teaches
the first frame (Kim Fig. 10: 1020) comprises a multi-user request-to-send triggered TXOP (Kim ¶0117: TXS procedure) sharing (MU-RTS TXS) trigger (MRTT) frame (Kim Fig. 10: 1020); and the first indication is provided in a TXS mode subfield (Kim ¶0117: Mode = 1) of the MRTT frame (Fig. 10: 1020; Kim teaches a frame containing a TXS procedure for a MRTT message including a mode specification).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang in view of Memisoglu by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches a frame containing a TXS procedure for a MRTT message including a mode specification, as taught by Y in Fig. 10 and ¶0117, to enable an improvement on the known system with another known system by replacing one element with the other and improving the responsiveness and productivity of backhaul link communication systems.
Claim 20 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Kim teaches
the first indication is provided by a triggered TXOP sharing (TXS) mode (Kim ¶0117: TXS procedure) indicated by the first frame (Kim Fig. 10: 1020; Kim teaches the TXS mode being triggered by a first frame);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Huang in view of Memisoglu by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches the TXS mode being triggered by a first frame, as taught by Y in ¶0117, to enable an improvement on the known system with another known system by replacing one element with the other and improving the responsiveness and productivity of backhaul link communication systems.
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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