DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
2. Claims 3, 11-13, 15 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 3, depending on claim 2, recites ‘the computer-readable recording medium…..’ instead of ‘the non-transitory machine-readable recording medium……’. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 11-13, 15 and 16 recite this underlined acronym ‘AP’ that needs to be written in full.
Double Patenting
3. 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).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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4. Claims 1-17 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1-17 of Patent No.: US 12,160,378 B2 to Guo, Yuchen. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the instant claims limitation are transparently found in the claims of the above mentioned patented claims. Applicant’s incorporate underlined limitations to the independent claims of this instant application below so as broaden the patented application. Thus, both set of claims are obvious variant of each other. See table and claim mapping below:
Applicant’s merely broadens the independent claims of this instant application by adding some limitations to arrive at the limitations of the instant claims. Thus, both set of claims are obvious variant of each other. See table and claim mapping below:
Patent No.: US 12,160,378 B2
Instant Application 18/926,942
Claim 1: A spatial reuse method, comprising:
receiving, by a second access point (AP), a radio frame sent by a first AP, wherein the radio frame comprises identification information and a spatial reuse parameter (SRP) used by the second AP to determine a transmit power of a downlink frame;
determining, by the second AP based on the identification information and the SRP, that the first AP configures a spatial reuse opportunity for the second AP to perform data transmission; and
sending, by the second AP, a downlink frame to at least one second station (STA) associated with the second AP during an uplink data transmission performed by at least one first STA associated with the first AP.
Claim 1: A non-transitory machine-readable recording medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving a radio frame sent by a first access point (AP), wherein the radio frame comprises identification information and a spatial reuse parameter (SRP) used by the second AP to determine a transmit power of a downlink frame;
determining, based on the identification information and the SRP, that the first AP configures a spatial reuse opportunity for the second AP to perform data transmission; and
sending a downlink frame to at least one second station (STA) associated with the second AP during an uplink data transmission performed by at least one first STA associated with the first AP.
The patent application discloses virtually all the limitations of the instant application with the exception of ‘a non-transitory machine-readable recording medium’ implementing the claim limitation(s). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to provide ‘non-transitory machine-readable recording medium’ as disclosed by the instant claim into the patented claim so as to effectively implement spatial reuse technology in wireless communication system.
Claim 2: Wherein the downlink frame is a second trigger frame used to trigger the at least one second STA to send an uplink frame to the second AP; and wherein the SRP further used by the at least one second STA to determine a first maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 2: Wherein the downlink frame is a second trigger frame used to trigger the at least one second STA to send an uplink frame to the second AP; and wherein the SRP further used by the at least one second STA to determine a first maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 3: Wherein the second trigger frame comprises a transmit power at which the second AP sends the second trigger frame and a target receive power of the second AP, and wherein the transmit power of the second trigger frame is used by the at least one second STA to determine a second maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 3: Wherein the second trigger frame comprises a transmit power at which the second AP sends the second trigger frame and a target receive power of the second AP, and wherein the transmit power of the second trigger frame is used by the at least one second STA to determine a second maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 4: Wherein when the first maximum transmit power is greater than or equal to the second maximum transmit power, the method further comprises: receiving, by the second AP, the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the second maximum transmit power; and when the first maximum transmit power is less than the second maximum transmit power, the method further comprises: receiving, by the second AP, the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the first maximum transmit power.
Claim 4: Wherein when the first maximum transmit power is greater than or equal to the second maximum transmit power, the operations further comprise: receiving the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the second maximum transmit power; and when the first maximum transmit power is less than the second maximum transmit power, the operations further comprise: receiving the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the first maximum transmit power.
Claim 5: Wherein when the second AP is a fronthaul AP of a second multi-AP device, the first AP is a fronthaul AP of a first multi-AP device, the first multi-AP device is a parent node of the second multi-AP device, the at least one second STA is a backhaul STA of the second multi-AP device, and the backhaul STA is associated with the first AP, the identification information is an association identifier (AID) of the backhaul STA.
Claim 5: Wherein when the second AP is a fronthaul AP of a second multi-AP device, the first AP is a fronthaul AP of a first multi-AP device, the first multi-AP device is a parent node of the second multi-AP device, the at least one second STA is a backhaul STA of the second multi-AP device, and the backhaul STA is associated with the first AP, the identification information is an association identifier (AID) of the backhaul STA.
Claim 6: Wherein the identification information is an association identifier of the second AP, or a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP, or an identifier (ID) of the second AP.
Claim 6: Wherein the identification information is an association identifier of the second AP, or a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP, or an identifier (ID) of the second AP.
Claim 7: Wherein the radio frame further comprises resource allocation information used to indicate a resource unit that carries the downlink frame.
Claim 7: Wherein the radio frame further comprises resource allocation information used to indicate a resource unit that carries the downlink frame.
Claim 8: A spatial reuse method, comprising:
generating, by a first access point (AP), a radio frame that comprises identification information and a spatial reuse parameter (SRP) used by a second AP to determine a transmit power of a downlink frame, wherein the identification information configures a spatial reuse transmission opportunity for the second AP to perform data transmission, and enables the second AP to send a downlink frame to at least one second station (STA) associated with the second AP during an uplink data transmission performed by at least one first station associated with the first AP; and
sending, by the first AP, the radio frame to the second AP.
Claim 8: A non-transitory machine-readable recording medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
generating a radio frame that comprises identification information and a spatial reuse parameter (SRP) used by the second access point (AP) to determine a transmit power of a downlink frame, wherein the identification information configures a spatial reuse transmission opportunity for a second AP to perform data transmission, and enables the second AP to send a downlink frame to at least one second station (STA) associated with the second AP during an uplink data transmission performed by at least one first station associated with the first AP; and
sending the radio frame to the second AP.
The patent application discloses virtually all the limitations of the instant application with the exception of ‘non-transitory machine-readable recording medium’ implementing the claim limitation(s). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to provide ‘non-transitory machine-readable recording medium’ as disclosed by the instant claim into the patented claim so as to effectively implement spatial reuse technology in wireless communication system..
Claim 9: Wherein when the second AP is a fronthaul AP of a second multi-AP device, the first AP is a fronthaul AP of a first multi-AP device, the first multi-AP device is a parent node of the second multi-AP device, the at least one second STA is a backhaul STA in the second multi-AP device, and the backhaul STA is associated with the first AP, the identification information is an association identifier (AID) of the backhaul STA.
Claim 9: Wherein when the second AP is a fronthaul AP of a second multi-AP device, the first AP is a fronthaul AP of a first multi-AP device, the first multi-AP device is a parent node of the second multi-AP device, the at least one second STA is a backhaul STA in the second multi-AP device, and the backhaul STA is associated with the first AP, the identification information is an association identifier (AID) of the backhaul STA.
Claim 10: Wherein the identification information is an association identifier of the second AP, or a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP, or an identifier (ID) of the second AP.
Claim 10: Wherein the identification information is an association identifier of the second AP, or a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP, or an identifier (ID) of the second AP.
Claim 11: An electronic device operating as a second access point (AP), comprising:
a processor, and
a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving a radio frame sent by a first AP, wherein the radio frame comprises identification information and a spatial reuse parameter (SRP) used by the second AP to determine a transmit power of a downlink frame;
determining, based on the identification information and the SRP, that the first AP configures a spatial reuse opportunity for the second AP to perform data transmission; and
sending a downlink frame to at least one second station (STA) associated with the second AP during an uplink data transmission performed by at least one first STA associated with the first AP.
Claim 11: A program which makes a computer to execute a method, the method comprising:
receiving a radio frame sent by a first AP, wherein the radio frame comprises identification information and a spatial reuse parameter (SRP) used by the second AP to determine a transmit power of a downlink frame;
determining, based on the identification information and the SRP, that the first AP configures a spatial reuse opportunity for the second AP to perform data transmission; and
sending a downlink frame to at least one second station (STA) associated with the second AP during an uplink data transmission performed by at least one first STA associated with the first AP.
The patent application discloses virtually all the limitations of the instant application with the exception of ‘a method’ implementing the claim limitation(s). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to provide ‘a method’ as disclosed by the instant claim into the patented claim so as to effectively implement spatial reuse technology in wireless communication system.
Claim 12: Wherein the downlink frame is a second trigger frame used to trigger the at least one second STA to send an uplink frame to the second AP; and wherein the SRP further used by the at least one second STA to determine a first maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 12: Wherein the downlink frame is a second trigger frame used to trigger the at least one second STA to send an uplink frame to the second AP; and wherein the SRP further used by the at least one second STA to determine a first maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 13: Wherein the second trigger frame comprises a transmit power at which the second AP sends the second trigger frame and a target receive power of the second AP, and wherein the transmit power of the second trigger frame is used by the at least one second STA to determine a second maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 13: Wherein the second trigger frame comprises a transmit power at which the second AP sends the second trigger frame and a target receive power of the second AP, and wherein the transmit power of the second trigger frame is used by the at least one second STA to determine a second maximum transmit power of the at least one second STA.
Claim 14: Wherein when the first maximum transmit power is greater than or equal to the second maximum transmit power, the operations further comprise: receiving the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the second maximum transmit power; and when the first maximum transmit power is less than the second maximum transmit power, the operations further comprise: receiving the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the first maximum transmit power.
Claim 14: Wherein when the first maximum transmit power is greater than or equal to the second maximum transmit power, the method further comprises: receiving the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the second maximum transmit power; and when the first maximum transmit power is less than the second maximum transmit power, the method further comprises: receiving the uplink frame sent by the at least one second STA by using the first maximum transmit power.
Claim 15: Wherein when the second AP is a fronthaul AP of a second multi-AP device, the first AP is a fronthaul AP of a first multi-AP device, the first multi-AP device is a parent node of the second multi-AP device, the at least one second STA is a backhaul STA of the second multi-AP device, and the backhaul STA is associated with the first AP, the identification information is an association identifier (AID) of the backhaul STA.
Claim 15: Wherein when the second AP is a fronthaul AP of a second multi-AP device, the first AP is a fronthaul AP of a first multi-AP device, the first multi-AP device is a parent node of the second multi-AP device, the at least one second STA is a backhaul STA of the second multi-AP device, and the backhaul STA is associated with the first AP, the identification information is an association identifier (AID) of the backhaul STA.
Claim 16: Wherein the identification information is an association identifier of the second AP, or a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP, or an identifier (ID) of the second AP.
Claim 16: Wherein the identification information is an association identifier of the second AP, or a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP, or an identifier (ID) of the second AP.
Claim 17: Wherein the radio frame further comprises resource allocation information used to indicate a resource unit that carries the downlink frame.
Claim 17: Wherein the radio frame further comprises resource allocation information used to indicate a resource unit that carries the downlink frame.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GBEMILEKE J ONAMUTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5619. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/GBEMILEKE J ONAMUTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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