DETAILED ACTION
The instant application having Application No. 18/907873 filed on 10/07/2024 is presented for examination by the examiner.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection.
Priority
As required by M.P.E.P. 201.14(c), acknowledgement is made of applicant's claim for priority based on application filed on CHINA CN202210369283.1 (04/08/2022). Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19 are objected to because of the following informality:
In this case, claims 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19 each recites limitation for performing certain step(s) only if a specific condition is satisfied (Conditional Statement). Such limitations are considered as optional limitations since they are not performed until specific conditions are met. Applicant should change the word “when” to “responsive to determining that…..” in order to alter an optional limitation to a required limitation. For the purpose of examination, claimed limitations will be considered as optional limitations since they are not performed until specific conditions are met.
Allowable Subject Matters
Claims 1-4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20-22 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance.
Claims 1, 21, 22 are allowed over the prior art of record because the Examiner found neither prior art cited in its entirety, nor based on the prior art found any motivation to combine any of the said prior art reference which teach the limitation “wherein a lowest frequency of the first frequency band is higher than a highest frequency of the second frequency band, wherein the first channel comprises 2M first fundamental channels, wherein the second channel comprises 2M second fundamental channels, wherein a first bandwidth of the 2M first fundamental channels is a first minimum channel bandwidth supported in the first frequency band, wherein a second bandwidth of the 2M second fundamental channels channel is a second minimum channel bandwidth supported in the second frequency band, wherein the first bandwidth is greater than the second bandwidth, and wherein M is a first integer greater than or equal to 0” with respect to the additional claimed subject matter and in particular the specific boundaries as recited in the claim. It is noted that the closest prior art, Azizi et al. (US 2016/0165598 A1) discloses [(par. 0023, Fig. 4, 5B and 6B)), a HEW frame may be configurable to have the same bandwidth and the bandwidth may be one of a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz contiguous bandwidth or an 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) non-contiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, 78.125 KHz may be used for the subcarrier spacing, which may provide 256 subcarriers or tones for a 20 MHz bandwidth. In some embodiments, bandwidths of 20 MHz (256 tones), 2.03125 MHz (26 tones), 4.0625 MHz (52 tones), 8.125 MHz (104 tones), and 18.90625 (242 tones), or a combination thereof, may also be used. In some embodiments, the bandwidths may vary depending on how many tones are used. In some embodiments, different bandwidths are used that may be smaller than 320 MHz. For example, only 102 data tones out of 104 tones may be used, and some of the leftover tones may be used for pilots; for example, 4, 5, or 6 tones may be used for pilots. Then, in example embodiments, the exact bandwidth would be 102 data+4 pilots=106×78.125 KHz=8.28125 MHz; 102 data+5 pilots=107×78.125 KHz=8.359375 MHz; and 102 data+6 pilots=108×78.125 KHz=8.4375 MHz. A HEW frame may be configured for transmitting a number of spatial streams.
However, Azizi fails to disclose at least the claim limitations “wherein a lowest frequency of the first frequency band is higher than a highest frequency of the second frequency band, wherein the first channel comprises 2M first fundamental channels, wherein the second channel comprises 2M second fundamental channels, wherein a first bandwidth of the 2M first fundamental channels is a first minimum channel bandwidth supported in the first frequency band, wherein a second bandwidth of the 2M second fundamental channels channel is a second minimum channel bandwidth supported in the second frequency band, wherein the first bandwidth is greater than the second bandwidth, and wherein M is a first integer greater than or equal to 0”. Thus, Azizi does not disclose or render obvious the above underlined limitations as claimed. Claims 2-4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20 are also allowed since they depend on claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Publications:
Vermani et al. (US 2012/0213214 A1) [(par. 0079), FIG. 6 illustrates a table of physical layer (PHY) parameters for yet another alternative IEEE 802.11af-compatible transmission as a down-clocked version of an IEEE 802.11ac-compliant transmission using a factor of ten. According to this example, a constant down-clocking factor of ten (10) may be used for transmissions of different bandwidths. While the cyclic prefixes and symbol duration for all bandwidths remain constant, 8 .mu.seconds and 40 .mu.seconds, respectively, the number of sub-carriers (tones) is varied depending on the bandwidth sought. For instance, in this example, an IEEE 802.11ac-compliant 40 MHz transmission may be downclocked by a factor of ten (10) while using 128 sub-carriers (tones). Similarly, an IEEE 802.11ac-compliant 80 MHz transmission may be downclocked by a factor of ten (10) while using 256 sub-carriers (tones). Likewise, an IEEE 802.11ac-compliant 160 MHz transmission may be downclocked by a factor of ten (10) while using 512 sub-carriers.]
Vu et al. (US 2013/0136075 A1) [(par. 0037), Moreover, in the case of the IEEE 802.11ac system, a bandwidth is extended to 2.times., 4.times. and 8.times. bandwidths by adopting the minimum unit bandwidth of 20 MHz as a basic unit to support bandwidths of 40 MHz, 80 MHz and 160 MHz, such that OFDM subcarrier intervals in corresponding bandwidth modes become the same, thereby maintaining an OFDM symbol length and ensuring compatibility. That is to say, in the IEEE 802.11ac system, 512 subcarriers are used in 160 MHz as the maximum bandwidth, 256 subcarriers are used in 80 MHz, 128 subcarriers are used in 40 MHz, and 64 subcarriers are used in 20 MHz as the basic bandwidth. Also, in the IEEE 802.11ac system, in the case where signals are generated to be divided into a primary channel and a secondary channel in an extended bandwidth, the primary channel is caused to be always included such that bandwidth extension is implemented on the basis of the primary channel. In this regard, in a situation where it is necessary to support a bandwidth lower than an existing bandwidth, an approach different from that of the IEEE 802.11ac system is needed.]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANG HANG YEUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-7319. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached on (571) 270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG HANG YEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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