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 .
Claims 21-22, 24-30, and 32-36 are pending.
Claims 1-20, 23, and 31 have been cancelled.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 07/28/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. 11129163, U.S. Patent No. 11700597, and U.S. Patent No. 12150105 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 07/28/2026 have been considered but they are not persuasive and they are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Applicant argues, (pages 7-14), that neither Huang nor Choudhury discloses, teaches or suggests “not to set an Intra-BSS Network Allocation Vector (NAV) by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed”.
The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner submits that the combination Huang and Choudhury discloses “not to set an Intra-BSS Network Allocation Vector (NAV) by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed”.
Huang discloses not to set an Intra-BSS Network Allocation Vector (NAV) ([0086, 0089, 00104, 0113]).
It is disclosed in paragraphs ([0086, 0089, 0104, 0113]) in Huang as follows:
[0086] In some embodiments, the frame is a trigger frame or a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame from the master station of the home BSS. The HEW device 104 may respond to the trigger frame or the MU-RTS frame if the second NAV is not set and the Intra-BSS NAV is set or the Intra-BSS NAV is not set, and if the trigger frame or the MU-RTS indicates the station is to respond to the trigger frame or MU-RTS frame. In some embodiments the HEW station 104 does not respond to the trigger frame or the MU-RTS if the second NAV is set.
[0089] In some embodiments, the HEW station 104 may enter a sleep state if the HEW station 104 is not to participate in a TXOP indicated by the trigger frame or MU-RTS frame. In some embodiments, the HEW station 104 enters a sleep state until the time when the wireless device is to receive or transmit in a TXOP indicated by a trigger frame or MU-RTS. In some embodiments, the HEW station 104 may contend for the wireless medium if the second NAV and Intra-BSS NAV is not set.
[0104] In Example 5, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-4 can optionally include where the frame is a trigger frame or a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame from the master station, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: respond to the trigger frame or the MU-RTS frame if the second NAV is not set and the Intra-BSS NAV is set or the Intra-BSS NAV is not set, and if the trigger frame or the MU-RTS indicates the station is to respond to the trigger frame or MU-RTS frame.
[0113] In Example 14, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-13 can optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: if the second NAV and Intra-BSS NAV is not set, contend for the wireless medium.
Choudhury discloses by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed ([0040,0041, 0043]).
It is disclosed in paragraphs ([0040,0041, 0043]) in Choudhury as follows:
[0040] In order to be implemented in 802.11 ah, this approach may require an amendment to the 802.11 standard. Such an amendment may be (for example) as follows:
[0041] "If a valid SIGA parity bit is indicated, and the UPLINK bit is 1 and the ID field value matches the PBSSID of the BSS of which the STA is a member or the UPLINK bit is 0 and the COLOR field value matches the COLOR indicated by the AP to which the STA is associated or the Low Power Bit is set to 1, then the S1G PHY shall maintain PHYCCA. indication (BUSY, channel-list) for the predicted duration of the transmitted PPDU, as defined by RXTIME in Equation (24-62), for all supported modes, unsupported modes, Reserved S1G-SIG-A Indication, invalid S1G-SIG-A CRC and invalid SIG-A Length field value."
[0043] In a third exemplary variant, the COLOR field concept can be generalized to achieve the functionality of both the low power indicator and the COLOR field as defined by 802.11ah. For example, the first three bits of the COLOR bit can be used to set the basic service set identification (BSS ID) and the fourth bit can be used as a low power/high interference indicator. To take a more general view, the fourth bit may be seen simply as an indicator defining channel access. It can be set or cleared based on whatever appropriate criteria are desired, and may constitute a command to defer or allow access to a channel, not a specific indicator of device characteristics. It will be recognized, however, that the bit can be set for a low power device or a device causing or experiencing high interference so that it actually does serve as an indicator of device capability and network capacity can be defined to indicate network conditions or device characteristics. In addition or as an alternative, reserved values may be used for the entire 4-bit field. For example, 1111 may be used for low power devices or 0000 may be used for high interference devices. Every STA that could successfully decode these values could be required to defer channel access. The following table shows the functionality of the combined COLOR bit and low power indicator.
PNG
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172
479
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Greyscale
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media_image2.png
205
447
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Greyscale
For the above reasons, the combination Huang and Choudhury discloses “not to set an Intra-BSS Network Allocation Vector (NAV) by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed”.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 21, 24, 26-29, 32, and 34-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (Pub. No.: US 20170006541 A1), hereinafter Huang, in view of Choudhury et al. (Pub. No.: US 20150264617 A1), hereinafter Choudhury, and further in of Zhou et al. (Pub. No.: US 20160345258 A1), hereinafter Zhou.
With respect to claim 21, Huang teaches A wireless communication terminal communicating wirelessly, the wireless communication terminal comprising ([0090], a HEW device):
a transceiver ([0090], transceiver); and
a processor ([0092], processor),
wherein the processor is configured to receive a signaling information from a base wireless communication terminal to which the wireless communication terminal is associated (figure 7, [0046-0047], HEW station receives a frame from a master station, the frame comprises signaling information),
receive a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) by using the transceiver ([0090], transceiver of the HEW station receives a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU)),
and not to set an Intra-BSS Network Allocation Vector (NAV) ([0086, 0089, 0104, 0113], the Intra-BSS NAV is not set),
wherein the signaling information is set according (figure 7, [0046-0047], the frame comprises signaling information, the signaling information is set according)
wherein the BSS color is an identifier of a BSS ([0079, 0102], a BSS color or BSS identity (BSSID)),
wherein the Intra-BSS NAV is different from a Basic NAV (figure 12, [0080, 0090], the Intra-BSS NAV is different from a Basic NAV (i.e. second NAV)) and is a NAV which is set based on an Intra-BSS PPDU (figure 12, [0083-0084, 0090], a NAV which is set if the frame is not the intra-BSS frame), and
wherein the Basic NAV is set based on an Inter-BSS PPDU (figure 12, [0083-0084, 0090], the Basic NAV is set if the frame an Inter-BSS PPDU frame).
Huang does not explicitly teach by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed.
However, Choudhury teaches by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed ([0040, 0041, 0043], the COLOR field concept can be generalized to achieve the functionality of both the low power indicator and the COLOR field as defined by 802.11ah; In addition or as an alternative, reserved values may be used for the entire 4-bit field. For example, 1111 may be used for low power devices or 0000 may be used for high interference devices; STA in different BSS (different COLOR field from receiving STA), 1, Limit Access).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Choudhury, by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed, into the teachings of Huang, in order to control the operation of at least one monitoring wireless networking station so that the wireless networking station limits transmission when needed to allow fair channel access by at least one transmitting station outside of the basic service set of the at least one wireless networking station (Choudhury, [0003]).
The combination of Huang and Choudhury does not explicitly teach to a determination that a BSS color collision has occurred and the BSS color collision represents that different BSSs correspond to one BSS color.
However, Zhou teaches to a determination that a BSS color collision has occurred and the BSS color collision represents that different BSSs correspond to one BSS color ([0049], A color collision may refer to the scenario in which a node in a first BSS detects a frame from a node in a second BSS that has the same value of color bits as the first BSS; [0052], the BSS associated with AP 105-b may cause a color collision with the BSS associated with AP 105-a by selecting and using the same color bits as AP 105-a; [0006], the node may detect the collision via color-use information conveyed via a broadcast from one of the BSSs. In some examples the node may detect the collision by determining that two received frames use the same colors but originate from different BSSs; see Provisional Application 62165782, [0051, 0053, 0004]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou, to a determination that a BSS color collision has occurred and the BSS color collision represents that different BSSs correspond to one BSS color, into the teachings of Huang and Choudhury, in order to resolve the detected collision by triggering a change from the same value of the reduced version of the BSSID for one or both of the involved BSSs (Zhou, [0044]).
With respect to claim 24, the combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou teaches the wireless communication terminal of claim 21. The combination of Huang, and Choudhury does not explicitly teach the determination that BSS color collision has occurred is determined based on address fields of a medium access control (MAC) frame.
However, Zhou teaches the determination that BSS color collision has occurred is determined based on address fields of a medium access control (MAC) frame ([0070], A collision may occur when AP 105-i and AP 105-r use a same value for identification reduced version of BSSIDs. For example, AP 105-r may transmit frames over communication link 110-k that include the same color bits as frames sent from AP 105-i over communication link 110-h. A node (e.g., STA 115-f) may detect a color collision by receiving frames from different BSSs with the same color bits. The frames may be received via broadcast, multi-cast, or uncast transmissions. For example, STA 115-f may receive frames from AP 105-i (e.g., via communication link 110-h) and STA 115-g (e.g., via direct wireless link 120-b) that have identical color values. STA 115-f may determine that the frames are from different BSSs by decoding and comparing the MAC addresses included in the frames; see Provisional Application 62165782, [0072]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou, the determination that BSS color collision has occurred is determined based on address fields of a medium access control (MAC) frame, into the teachings of Huang and Choudhury, in order to resolve the detected collision by triggering a change from the same value of the reduced version of the BSSID for one or both of the involved BSSs (Zhou, [0044]).
With respect to claim 26, the combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou teaches the wireless communication terminal of claim 21. Huang does not explicitly teach wherein the processor is configured not to perform a spatial reuse operation when the BSS color indicated by the signaling field of the PPDU is a predetermined value.
However, Choudhury teaches wherein the processor is configured not to perform a spatial reuse operation when the BSS color indicated by the signaling field of the PPDU is a predetermined value ([0042], STA sets the low-power bit to 1, re-use of the channel will be limited--by inhibiting use of the channel).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Choudhury, wherein the processor is configured not to perform a spatial reuse operation when the BSS color indicated by the signaling field of the PPDU is a predetermined value, into the teachings of Huang, in order to control the operation of at least one monitoring wireless networking station so that the wireless networking station limits transmission when needed to allow fair channel access by at least one transmitting station outside of the basic service set of the at least one wireless networking station (Choudhury, [0003]).
With respect to claim 27, the combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou teaches the wireless communication terminal of claim 26. Huang does not explicitly teach wherein the predetermined value is 0.
However, Choudhury teaches wherein the predetermined value is 0 ([0042-0043], the predetermined value is 0 (i.e. 0)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Choudhury, wherein the predetermined value is 0, into the teachings of Huang, in order to control the operation of at least one monitoring wireless networking station so that the wireless networking station limits transmission when needed to allow fair channel access by at least one transmitting station outside of the basic service set of the at least one wireless networking station (Choudhury, [0003]).
With respect to claim 28, the combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou teaches the wireless communication terminal of claim 26. Huang does not explicitly teach the processor is configured not to perform a spatial reuse operation when the signaling information indicates that the operation based on the BSS color is not allowed.
However, Choudhury teaches the processor is configured not to perform a spatial reuse operation when the signaling information indicates that the operation based on the BSS color is not allowed ([0042-0043], not to perform a channel reuse operation when the signaling information indicates that the operation based on the BSS color is not allowed).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Choudhury, the processor is configured not to perform a spatial reuse operation when the signaling information indicates that the operation based on the BSS color is not allowed, into the teachings of Huang, in order to control the operation of at least one monitoring wireless networking station so that the wireless networking station limits transmission when needed to allow fair channel access by at least one transmitting station outside of the basic service set of the at least one wireless networking station (Choudhury, [0003]).
With respect to claim 29, Huang teaches A method of operating a wireless communication terminal communicating wirelessly, the method comprising (figure 12, [0075], a method of HEW station):
receiving a signaling information from a base wireless communication terminal to which the wireless communication terminal is associated (figure 7, [0046-0047], HEW station receives a frame from a master station, the frame comprises signaling information),
receiving a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) ([0090], transceiver of the HEW station receives a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU));
not set an Intra-BSS Network Allocation Vector (NAV) ([0086, 0089, 0104, 0113], the Intra-BSS NAV is not set),
wherein the signaling information is set according (figure 7, [0046-0047], the frame comprises signaling information, the signaling information is set according),
wherein the BSS color is an identifier of a BSS ([0079, 0102], a BSS color or BSS identity (BSSID)),
wherein the Intra-BSS NAV is different from a Basic NAV (figure 12, [0080, 0090], the Intra-BSS NAV is different from a Basic NAV (i.e. second NAV)) and is a NAV which is set based on an Intra-BSS PPDU (figure 12, [0083-0084, 0090], a NAV which is set if the frame is not the intra-BSS frame), and
wherein the Basic NAV is set based on an Inter-BSS PPDU (figure 12, [0083-0084, 0090], the Basic NAV is set if the frame an Inter-BSS PPDU frame).
Huang does not explicitly teach by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed.
However, Choudhury teaches by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed ([0040, 0041, 0043], the COLOR field concept can be generalized to achieve the functionality of both the low power indicator and the COLOR field as defined by 802.11ah; In addition or as an alternative, reserved values may be used for the entire 4-bit field. For example, 1111 may be used for low power devices or 0000 may be used for high interference devices; STA in different BSS (different COLOR field from receiving STA), 1, Limit Access).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Choudhury, by using a Basic Service Set (BSS) color indicated by a signaling field of the PPDU when the signaling information indicates that an operation based on the BSS color is not allowed, into the teachings of Huang, in order to control the operation of at least one monitoring wireless networking station so that the wireless networking station limits transmission when needed to allow fair channel access by at least one transmitting station outside of the basic service set of the at least one wireless networking station (Choudhury, [0003]).
The combination of Huang and Choudhury does not explicitly teach to a determination that a BSS color collision has occurred and the BSS color collision represents that different BSSs correspond to one BSS color.
However, Zhou teaches to a determination that a BSS color collision has occurred and the BSS color collision represents that different BSSs correspond to one BSS color ([0049], A color collision may refer to the scenario in which a node in a first BSS detects a frame from a node in a second BSS that has the same value of color bits as the first BSS; [0052], the BSS associated with AP 105-b may cause a color collision with the BSS associated with AP 105-a by selecting and using the same color bits as AP 105-a; [0006], the node may detect the collision via color-use information conveyed via a broadcast from one of the BSSs. In some examples the node may detect the collision by determining that two received frames use the same colors but originate from different BSSs; see Provisional Application 62165782, [0051, 0053, 0004]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou, to a determination that a BSS color collision has occurred and the BSS color collision represents that different BSSs correspond to one BSS color, into the teachings of Huang and Choudhury, in order to resolve the detected collision by triggering a change from the same value of the reduced version of the BSSID for one or both of the involved BSSs (Zhou, [0044]).
With respect to claim 32, this claim recites the wireless communication terminal of claim 24, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 34, this claim recites the wireless communication terminal of claim 26, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 35, this claim recites the wireless communication terminal of claim 27, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 36, this claim recites the wireless communication terminal of claim 28, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
Claims 22 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang, in view of Choudhury, in view of Zhou, and further in of CHUN et al. (Pub. No.: US 20170367078 A1), hereinafter CHUN.
With respect to claim 22, the combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou teaches the wireless communication terminal of claim 21. Huang teaches wherein the PPDU includes a transmission opportunity (TXOP) Duration field in the signaling field of the PPDU (figure 11, [0073, 0094], TXOP Duration field in the signaling field of the PPDU), wherein the TXOP Duration field indicates information used for setting the Intra-BSS NAV and the Basic NAV ([0073, 0075-0076], TXOP Duration field indicates information used for setting the Intra-BSS NAV and the Basic NAV), wherein a duration field which is included in a signaling field of a medium access control (MAC) frame indicates information used for setting the Intra-BSS NAV and the Basic NAV ([0047, 0073, 0090], a duration field which is included in a signaling field of a medium access control (MAC) frame indicates information used for setting the Intra-BSS NAV and the Basic NAV).
The combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou does not explicitly teach wherein the processor is configured not to use the TXOP Duration field for setting the Intra-BSS NAV or the Basic NAV when the wireless communication terminal determines that the signaling field of the MAC frame is valid.
However, CHUN teaches wherein the processor is configured not to use the TXOP Duration field for setting the Intra-BSS NAV or the Basic NAV when the wireless communication terminal determines that the signaling field of the MAC frame is valid ([0408], If a trigger frame is transmitted in the MAC frame format of a legacy system, a legacy STA may read the duration field of a MAC header within the trigger frame and perform NAV setting).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of CHUN, wherein the processor is configured not to use the TXOP Duration field for setting the Intra-BSS NAV or the Basic NAV when the wireless communication terminal determines that the signaling field of the MAC frame is valid, into the teachings of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou, in order for transmitting data for supporting a data transmission of multi-user and a device for supporting the same (CHUN, [0001]).
With respect to claim 30, this claim recites the wireless communication terminal of claim 22, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
Claims 25 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang, in view of Choudhury, in view of Zhou, and further in view of OTERI et al. (Pub. No.: US 20190021106 A1), hereinafter OTERI.
With respect to claim 25, the combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou teaches the wireless communication terminal of claim 21. The combination of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou does not explicitly teach wherein the operation based on the BSS color includes entering a doze state of a power save operation based on a BSS color indicated by the signaling field of the PPDU, wherein the power save operation is an operation for the wireless communication terminal to enter the doze state until an end of a received PPDU which is an Intra-BSS PPDU.
However, OTERI teaches wherein the operation based on the BSS color includes entering a doze state of a power save operation based on a BSS color indicated by the signaling field of the PPDU ([0072], The HE non-AP STA enters the doze state until the end of the HE DL MU PPDU if the PPDU's BSS Color field is equal to the BSS color of its BSS, also see [0072] of Provisional Application No. US 62278558), wherein the power save operation is an operation for the wireless communication terminal to enter the doze state until an end of a received PPDU which is an Intra-BSS PPDU ([0072], The HE non-AP STA enters the doze state until the end of the HE DL MU PPDU if the PPDU's BSS Color field is equal to the BSS color of its BSS, also see [0072] of Provisional Application No. US 62278558),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of OTERI, wherein the operation based on the BSS color includes entering a doze state of a power save operation based on a BSS color indicated by the signaling field of the PPDU, wherein the power save operation is an operation for the wireless communication terminal to enter the doze state until an end of a received PPDU which is an Intra-BSS PPDU, into the teachings of Huang, Choudhury, and Zhou, in order to enhance the quality of service (QoS) experienced by wireless users in many usage scenarios, such as high-density deployments of APs and STAs (OTERI, [0063]).
With respect to claim 33, this claim recites the wireless communication terminal of claim 25, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIET TANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7193. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IAN MOORE can be reached on (571) 272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KIET TANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights