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 .
Status of Claims
This communication is in response to the application filed on 10/28/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application, with 1, 11, 15, and 20 being independent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 11, 15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fuchs (Pub.: No.: US 20240422818 A1, hereafter “Fuchs”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 15, and Claim 20
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising
a first device (Fuchs Fig. 4: STA 1, examiner’s note any STA may be an AP STA or a non-AP STA, see ¶0063) of a wireless network (Fuchs Fig. 4: C1 and C2) granted a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for transmissions during a TXOP period (Fuchs ¶0063: bidirectional TXOP; Fuchs teaches an AP STA in communication with another device for the purpose of a bidirectional TXOP, see Fig. 4 and ¶0063), the first device configured to: identify (Fuchs Fig. 15: 101) a first portion (Fuchs ¶0101: a first channel) of the TXOP period (Fuchs ¶0101: TXOP) for one or more transmissions (Fuchs ¶0101: TXOP is split) of the first device over the wireless network (Fuchs ¶0101: a first channel used for transmission of data from the first communication device; Fuchs teaches a TXOP split for use with a first communication device, see Fig. 15 and ¶0101); determine (Fuchs ¶0101: TXOP from the first communication device to second communication device) that a remaining portion (Fuchs ¶0101: second channel) of the TXOP period subsequent to the first portion (Fuchs ¶0101: a TXOP is split) is available for data transmissions (Fuchs ¶0101: reception of data) of one or more other devices of the wireless network (Fuchs ¶0101: second communication device; Fuchs teaches from the first communication device it determines for the second communication device, the TXOP split for a second channel with the reception of data, see ¶0101); transmit (Fuchs ¶0101: bidirectional transmit opportunity (TXOP) is initiated by transmitting), via the wireless network, to the one or more other devices (Fuchs ¶0101: second communication device), an indication (Fuchs ¶0101: a TXOP indicator) of availability (Fuchs ¶0101: bidirectional transmit opportunity) of the remaining portion (Fuchs ¶0101: TXOP is split into two channels) of the TXOP period for data transmissions (Fuchs ¶0101: a second channel is primarily to be used for transmission of data from the second communication device to the first communication device; Fuchs teaches transmitting an indication that a wideband TXOP is using a bidirectional split for a second communication device to communicate in a previously allocated area to the first communication device, see ¶0101); allocate (Fuchs ¶0102: a first channel is primarily to be used for transmission of data from the first communication device to the second communication device), responsive (Fuchs Fig. 16: 201, receive TXOP indicator) to one or more responses (Fuchs ¶0102: TXOP indicator) to the indication from the one or more other devices (Fuchs ¶0102: a TXOP indicator is received to initiate a bidirectional transmit opportunity (TXOP)), the remaining portion of the TXOP period to a second device of the one or more other devices to transmit data (Fuchs ¶0102: a second channel is primarily to be used for transmission of data) of the second device (Fuchs ¶0102: a second channel is primarily to be used for transmission of data from the second communication device) during the remaining portion of the TXOP period (Fuchs ¶0102: bidirectional transmit opportunity (TXOP); Fuchs teaches a communication device receiving the bidirectional TXOP for splitting the TXOP into two channels for two separate devices, see Fig. 16 and ¶0102).
Claim 20 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Fuchs teaches
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions (Fuchs ¶0165: semiconductor memory) that, when executed by at least one processor (Fuchs ¶0166: microprocessors) of a first device a wireless local area network (WLAN) that is granted a transmission opportunity (TXOP) for transmissions during a TXOP period, cause the at least one processor to (Fuchs ¶0166: executing software; Fuchs teaches memory coupled with a processor for executing software, see 0165-0166):
Regarding Claim 11
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Fuchs further discloses
the first device comprises a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) device (Fuchs ¶0063: Any STA may be an AP STA) and the second device comprises a client device associated with the WLAN AP device (Fuchs ¶0063: STA 2 is the responder; Fuchs teaches an AP STA communicating with an STA 2 as the responder, see ¶0063).
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) 2-6 and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fuchs (Pub.: No.: US 20240422818 A1, hereafter “Fuchs”) in view of Ciochina (Pub. No.: US 20220174725 A1, hereafter “Ciochina”).
Regarding Claim 2 and Claim 16
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Fuchs does not explicitly teach
schedule a transmission of data of the first device during the first portion of the TXOP period; and determine, responsive to a determination that the scheduled transmission occupying the first portion of the TXOP period is to be completed prior to a start of the remaining portion, that the remaining portion of the TXOP period is available for the one or more other devices to transmit low latency data during the remaining portion.
However, Ciochina teaches
schedule a transmission of data of the first device during the first portion of the TXOP period (Ciochina ¶0094: TXOP splitting when STA is requesting traffic); and determine, responsive to a determination that the scheduled transmission occupying the first portion of the TXOP period is to be completed prior to a start of the remaining portion (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2 has higher traffic priority), that the remaining portion of the TXOP period is available for the one or more other devices to transmit low latency data during the remaining portion (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA interrupts current data transfer to nSTA 1 and serve nSTA 2; Ciochina teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, see ¶0094).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Ciochina, to include an element that teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, e.g. more stringent latency requirements, as taught by Ciochina in ¶0094, to use a known element in combination with a known element for an expected result by implementing a priority system within a split TXOP.
Regarding Claim 3 and Claim 17
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Ciochina teaches
determine, based on a response of the one or more responses of the second device, that the data of the second device is low latency data (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2 has higher traffic priority (more stringent latency requirements)); and allocate, responsive to the data of the second device being low latency data, the remaining portion to the second device (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA interrupts current data transfer to nSTA 1 and serve nSTA 2; Ciochina teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, e.g. more stringent latency requirements, see ¶0094).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Ciochina, to include an element that teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, e.g. more stringent latency requirements, as taught by Ciochina in ¶0094, to use a known element in combination with a known element for an expected result by implementing a priority system within a split TXOP.
Regarding Claim 4 and Claim 18
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Ciochina teaches
identify that a first data of the one or more transmissions of the first device is of a first priority (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2 has higher traffic priority); identify that a second data of a second one or more transmissions to be transmitted by the first device is of a second priority lower than the first priority (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2 has higher traffic priority than nSTA 1); and determine, responsive to the second data being of the second priority, to transmit the indication of availability (Ciochina ¶0094: AP decides to interrupt current data transfer to nSTA1 and serve nSTA2; Ciochina teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, see ¶0094).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Ciochina, to include an element that teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, as taught by Ciochina in ¶0094, to use a known element in combination with a known element for an expected result by implementing a priority system within a split TXOP.
Regarding Claim 5 and Claim 19
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Ciochina teaches
schedule, for the second device, a transmission of the data of the second device that is low latency data (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2 has higher traffic priority (more stringent latency requirements) than nSTA 1), for at least a first part of the remaining portion of the TXOP period (Ciochina ¶0094: AP decides to interrupt current data transfer to nSTA1 and serve nSTA2; Ciochina teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, see ¶0094).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Ciochina, to include an element that teaches a split TXOP situation where an STA interrupts the data flow for another STA with higher priority, as taught by Ciochina in ¶0094, to use a known element in combination with a known element for an expected result by implementing a priority system within a split TXOP.
Regarding Claim 6
Fuchs in view of Ciochina teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 5. Ciochina teaches
schedule, for a third device of the one or more other devices of the wireless network (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2), a transmission of a data of the third device that is low latency data for at least a second part of the remaining portion of the TXOP period (Ciochina ¶0094: nSTA 2 has higher traffic priority (more stringent latency requirements) than nSTA 1), the second part following the first part (Ciochina ¶0094: interrupt data transfer to nSTA 1; Ciochina teaches another STA having a higher traffic priority due to its latency requirements interrupting a data transfer from another STA, see ¶0094).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Ciochina, to include an element that teaches another STA having a higher traffic priority due to its latency requirements interrupting a data transfer from another STA, as taught by Ciochina in ¶0094, to use a known element in combination with a known element for an expected result by implementing a priority system within a split TXOP.
Claim(s) 7, 10, and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fuchs (Pub.: No.: US 20240422818 A1, hereafter “Fuchs”) in view of Kim (Pub. No.: US 20240114552 A1, hereafter “Kim”).
Regarding Claim 7
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Fuchs does not explicitly teach
transmit the indication to the one or more other devices via one or more physical protocol data units (PPDUs); receive, from the one or more other devices, one or more block acknowledgements (BAs) responsive to the one or more PPDUs, the one or more BAs comprising the one or more responses indicated using one or more bits of one or more fields of the one or more BAs; and select, based on the one or more bits of the one or more fields of the one or more BAs, the second device.
However, Kim teaches
transmit the indication to the one or more other devices via one or more physical protocol data units (PPDUs) (Kim Fig. 17: 1710); receive, from the one or more other devices (Kim Fig. 17: STA1 and STA2), one or more block acknowledgements (BAs) responsive to the one or more PPDUs (Kim Fig. 17: 1712 and 1714), the one or more BAs comprising the one or more responses indicated using one or more bits of one or more fields of the one or more BAs (Kim ¶0156: traffic identifier (TID) subfield); and select, based on the one or more bits of the one or more fields of the one or more BAs (Kim Fig. 17: 1308), the second device (Kim ¶0157: allocated time portion of the TXOP; Kim teaches an AP receiving BAs from one or more STAs including a traffic identifier (TID) subfield and the AP responding to allocate part of the TXOP, see Fig. 17 and ¶0156-¶0157).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches an AP receiving BAs from one or more STAs including a traffic identifier (TID) subfield and the AP responding to allocate part of the TXOP, as taught by Kim in Fig. 17 and ¶0156-¶0157, to improve communication standards by applying a known element with another known element for an expected result, by sending communication messages in specific and recognizable elements and allowing pre-existing devices to enable the invention.
Regarding Claim 10
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Kim teaches
determine that the second device has completed a transmission of the data of the second device during a first part of the remaining portion of the TXOP period (Kim ¶0156: queue size (QS) subfield); and determine to transmit a second one or more transmissions of the first device over the wireless network during a second part of the remaining portion of the TXOP period (Kim ¶0157: allocated time portion of the TXOP), the second part following the first part (Kim ¶0157: STA1 and STA2 based on (e.g. respond to) MRTT frame; Kim teaches the allocated time of the TXOP being based on the queue size subfield of the receiving STAs, see ¶0156-¶0157).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches the allocated time of the TXOP being based on the queue size subfield of the receiving STAs, as taught by Kim in ¶0156-¶0157, to improve communication standards by applying a known element with another known element for an expected result, by sending communication messages in specific and recognizable elements and allowing pre-existing devices to enable the invention.
Regarding Claim 12
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Fuchs further discloses
wherein the first device comprises a client device of a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) device (Fuchs ¶0063: Any STA may be an AP STA) and the second device comprises the WLAN AP device (Fuchs ¶0063: Any STA may be an AP STA; Fuchs teaches both devices being an AP device, see ¶0063), and wherein the first device is further configured to:
Kim teaches
identify uplink data of the first device to transmit to the second device (Kim ¶0157: AP may send (e.g. transmit) a MRTT frame 1308 based on receiving TB PPDUs 1712 and 1714); and determine, based on the uplink data, to allocate the remaining portion of the TXOP period (Kim ¶0156: allocated time portion of the TXOP) to the second device for the second device to transmit downlink data to the first device (Kim ¶0156: queue size (QS) subfield; Kim teaches an MRTT frame being transmitted in response to the queue size subfield for the allocated time portion of the TXOP, see ¶0156-¶0157).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches an MRTT frame being transmitted in response to the queue size subfield for the allocated time portion of the TXOP, as taught by Kim in ¶0156-¶0157, to improve communication standards by applying a known element with another known element for an expected result, by sending communication messages in specific and recognizable elements and allowing pre-existing devices to enable the invention.
Regarding Claim 13
Fuchs in view of Kim teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 12. Kim further teaches
wherein the first device is configured to determine to allocate the remaining portion of the TXOP period to the second device (Kim ¶0156: allocated time portion of the TXOP) based on an amount of the uplink data satisfying a threshold (Kim 0156: queue size (QS) subfield; Kim teaches the queue size subfield for the allocated time portion of the TXOP for an STA, see ¶0156).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches the queue size subfield for the allocated time portion of the TXOP for an STA, as taught by Kim in ¶0156, to improve communication standards by applying a known element with another known element for an expected result, by sending communication messages in specific and recognizable elements and allowing pre-existing devices to enable the invention.
Regarding Claim 14
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Fuchs further discloses
wherein the first device comprises a first client device associated with a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) device (Fuchs ¶0063: Any STA may be an AP STA) and the second device comprises a second client device associated with the WLAN AP device (Fuchs ¶0063: Any STA may be an AP STA; Fuchs teaches both devices being an AP device, see ¶0063) and wherein the first device is further configured to
Kim teaches
allocate the remaining portion of the TXOP period to the second device for peer to peer communications (Kim ¶0139: an index associated with STA4 (e.g., order of P2P connection of the peer STA with the STA); Kim teaches the response to the MRTT frame response can include a P2P connection between STAs, see ¶0139).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Kim, to include an element that teaches the response to the MRTT frame response can include a P2P connection between STAs, as taught by Kim in ¶0139, to improve communication standards by applying a known element with another known element for an expected result, by sending communication messages in specific and recognizable elements and allowing pre-existing devices to enable the invention.
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fuchs (Pub.: No.: US 20240422818 A1, hereafter “Fuchs”) in view of Le Houerou (Pub. No.: US 20240040621 A1, hereafter “Le Houerou”).
Regarding Claim 8
Fuchs teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Fuchs does not explicitly teach
identify, for a plurality of the one or more other devices, a corresponding plurality of random delays within the TXOP period, each random delay of the plurality of random delays for each device of the one or more other devices different from each other random delay of the plurality of delays of each other device of the one or more other devices; select, from the one or more other devices, the second device based on a respective random delay of the second device; and allocate the remaining portion of the TXOP period to the second device in response to the selection.
However, Le Houerou teaches
identify, for a plurality of the one or more other devices, a corresponding plurality of random delays within the TXOP period (Le Houerou ¶0176: transmit LLRS data traffic in a shorter delay), each random delay of the plurality of random delays (Le Houerou ¶0175: LLRS capable station 105 can therefore EDCA-access the wireless medium 100 substantially earlier (lower delay)) for each device of the one or more other devices different from each other random delay of the plurality of delays of each other device of the one or more other devices (Le Houerou Fig. 8: 105 and 106; Le Houerou teaches transmitting data with a shorter delay based on the capability of the type of station, i.e. a type of station, see Fig. 8 and ¶0175-¶0176); select, from the one or more other devices, the second device based on a respective random delay of the second device (Le Houerou Fig. 8: 813); and allocate the remaining portion of the TXOP period to the second device in response to the selection (Le Houerou ¶0176: split in two (or more) parts 810, 820 during different TXOPs; Le Houerou teaches the TXOP period being split in two or more parts during the delay, see Fig. 8 and ¶0176).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Le Houerou, to include an element that teaches transmitting data with a shorter delay based on the capability of the type of station, i.e. a type of station and that the TXOP period being split in two or more parts during the delay, as taught by Le Houerou in Fig. 8 and ¶0175-¶0176, to improve communication systems by adding a known system with another known system for an expected result, by allowing for more dynamic system allocation with pre-known elements with delays in mind.
Regarding Claim 9
Fuchs in view of Le Houerou teaches a system, method, and medium comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 8. Le Houerou further teaches
the plurality of random delays corresponds to a timing for transmitting a respective response of the one or more responses by a respective device of the one or more other devices (Le Houerou ¶0175: LLRS capable station 105 can therefore EDCA-access the wireless medium 100 substantially earlier (lower delay)), and wherein the selection of the second device is based on a respective timing of the random delay of the second device such that the response (Le Houerou ¶0175: LLRS capable station 105 can therefore EDCA-access the wireless medium 100 substantially earlier (lower delay)) from the second device is received by the first device before other respective responses of other respective remaining devices (Le Houerou ¶0176: their data transmission is performed in two (or more) times; Le Houerou teaches the delay selection process splits the TXOP communication based on the station’s capabilities and the data continues through the delay, see ¶0175-¶0176).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Fuchs by way of Le Houerou, to include an element that teaches the delay selection process splits the TXOP communication based on the station’s capabilities and the data continues through the delay, as taught by Le Houerou in Fig. 8 and ¶0175-¶0176, to improve communication systems by adding a known system with another known system for an expected result, by allowing for more dynamic system allocation with pre-known elements with delays in mind.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER whose telephone number is (703)756-4763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 4:00pm.
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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