DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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) 1 and 2 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naim et al. (US 2021/0287398, “Naim”) in view of Salem et al. (US 2018/0279315, “Salem”) and further in view of Tillinger et al. (US 2024/0333419, “Tillinger”).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Naim unless otherwise mentioned.
Naim comprises the following features:
Regarding claim 1, a communication system comprising:
a communication system for transmitting data between multiple communication nodes in a network, comprising:
a plurality of communication nodes configured to operate in at least one mode selected from a group consisting of point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-point, and multipoint-to-multipoint modes, wherein each communication node is capable of acting as a transmitter, a receiver, or both ([0076] “Herein the term ‘headend’ can refer to cable modem network equipment, or cable TV network equipment such as digital TV broadcast equipment, but also LTE and WiFi type OFDMA base stations, and any other such communications equipment that communicates with one or more user devices using a shared downlink.” “The user device 1010 transmits back to the headend system 1005 via an uplink channel.” See Fig. 15. Note that the shared downlink from the headend to multiple user devices supplies the point-to-multipoint alternative. The uplink and downlink provide the transmitting and receiving roles.);
a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) selection module in each communication node configured to dynamically adapt modulation schemes and coding rates based on channel conditions between the transmitting and receiving nodes to achieve a target transmission error rate (Note that Naim discloses channel-quality-based constellation selection but does not expressly disclose the complete recited target-error-rate feedback arrangement. Salem teaches: [Salem, 0190] “A base station may compare the average residual BLER (average reliability) to a target BLER (target reliability) of the application/service to which the uplink grant-free session belongs in order to determine if an adjustment to a UE's grant-free uplink MCS level is warranted.” “For example, a base station may decide that a decrease/increase/no-change MCS command, e.g., {−1, +1, 0} is warranted based on a gap or a ratio between the target BLER and the estimated residual BLERs.” For the channel-condition basis: ([Salem, 0188] “A physical layer (PHY) abstraction Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio to BLER (SINR-to-BLER) mapping may be employed to map combined SINR to residual BLER for each TB.” For the corresponding adaptation at both communicating nodes: [Salem, 0194] “In response to receiving an MCS command, a UE updates its current MCS level based on the received MCS command and the indicated step, if any” [Salem, 0196]` “The base station also applies the MCS update command to the current expected MCS level of the UE (similar to the UE's side update to its current MCS level) to determine an updated expected MCS level for the UE.” Note that in the modified system, the transmitting node updates the MCS used for transmission and the receiving node updates the corresponding expected MCS used for reception. The nodes thus implement coordinated MCS adaptation based on the link-performance feedback. The claim does not require each node to independently originate the MCS decision.);
a shared modulation constellation scheme configured to enable the transmission of data streams for at least two users with different MCS indexes by grouping their data into a single shared modulation symbol ([0029] “Consider an example where a first mobile unit in an LTE system has a weak channel and is assigned a 4-QAM constellation and where a second mobile unit has a stronger channel and is assigned a 64-QAM constellation.” “A tiled-building-block constellation can then be formed by mapping, during each symbol interval on each data tone, two coded bits associated with the first mobile onto a 4-QAM tiling constellation and two additional coded bits associated with the second mobile unit onto a 4-QAM building block constellation whose intra-building-block constellation point spacing matches the spacing of the LTE 64-QAM constellation.” For indexed MCS operation: [Salem, 0291] “The method of Example Embodiment 1, wherein the command indicates an adjustment in terms of an MCS level index, each MCS level index being mapped to a respective MCS level.” Note that applying Salem’s indexed MCS control to Naim’s users having different modulation orders associates the respective modulation-and-coding assignments with different MCS levels and their corresponding indexes, while Naim’s mapper combines their coded bits into the shared symbol.);
the shared modulation constellation scheme comprises a subset of constellation points derived from a higher-order standard modulation constellation associated with a higher MCS index user ([0038] “If the tiling constellation is 4-QAM or 16-QAM, the resulting tiled building-block-coded constellation can be made to be a sparsely populated subset of the 256-QAM constellation.” “In these examples, a first mobile unit with a weak channel is configured to receive the tiling code on a 4-QAM, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM tiling constellation and a second mobile unit with access to the 256-QAM quality channel would then additionally receive a set of building block encoded bits.”), and
the subset of constellation points is selected based on the Euclidean distance to standard constellation points associated with a lower MCS index user to maximize signal separation (Note that Naim supplies the lower-order reference-point relationship: [0061] “Let C1 be a 4-QAM constellation that employs constellation points formed using coordinates {+a,−a} along each of the I and Q dimensions” and “The value of y is selected very close to c and the value of x, which is very close to a, is then chosen to maintain the same average energy”. See Fig. 9. Naim supplies selection of the corresponding higher-order standard-constellation subset: [0064] “The values of x and y can be chosen so that the resulting 16-QAM constellation in FIG. 9 would be formed using a subset of the constellation points of the 64-QAM or 256-QAM constellation.” Note that Tillinger supplies the distance-maximization criterion: [Tillinger, 0097] “The network entity 105-b may determine the subsets of the constellation points associated with each level of the hierarchy to maximize (e.g., increase above a threshold value) the smallest Euclidian distance 420 associated with each level of the hierarchy in the presence of noise.” See Fig. 4. Note that the modification retains Naim’s geometric relationship to the lower-order constellation and its restriction to points of the underlying standard constellation, while applying Tillinger’s minimum-distance criterion to the permissible subsets. The candidate points are evaluated subject to their lower-order reference-point relationship and the performance and energy constraints of Naim’s shared constellation. This is the combined modification, not an assertion that Tillinger alone discloses a lower-MCS user’s standard constellation.);
wherein the shared modulation constellation scheme enables simultaneous transmission of data for multiple users with distinct channel conditions ([0046] “The tiled-building-block encoded constellation simultaneously passes in parallel through a weak downlink channel 610 and a strong downlink channel 615.” See Fig. 6.), reducing power per bit ([0061] “Next select m2′=2 bits of stream d2 to be transmitted along with m1=2 bits of stream d1 each symbol interval using the constellation shown in FIG. 9.” “The value of y is selected very close to c and the value of x, which is very close to a, is then chosen to maintain the same average energy” Note that for comparable symbol durations, carrying four coded bits at the same average symbol energy used for the lower stream’s two bits reduces energy per transmitted coded bit. For an information-bit comparison, the corresponding coding rates are taken into account.), and increasing data throughput over the network ([0029] “The resulting coded tiled-building-block constellation will thus carry four bits instead of two bits per data tone.”).
Naim already selects constellation size according to channel quality and permits coding-rate adjustment to achieve the desired performance: as described in [0065] “In embodiments where enough streams are used so that the performance degradation is significant, coding rates of those degraded streams can optionally be adjusted to achieve the desired performance.”).
Salem supplies a concrete feedback criterion for making and updating such adjustments: comparing measured residual BLER with a target BLER. The modification uses that criterion to update the users’ modulation-and-coding assignments before the shared-symbol mapping is performed. Corresponding receiver settings are updated so that the communicating nodes use consistent MCS assignments.
Therefore, it is obvious to a PHOSITA to incorporate Salem’s target-BLER-based MCS feedback control into Naim’s shared-constellation system in order to maintain the required transmission reliability as channel conditions change such that “the MCS used by the UE for uplink transmission without grant is adjusted by the UE dynamically, in a closed-loop configuration” ([Salem, 0044]).
A PHOSITA would have a reason to make this modification because adding streams to a shared constellation can affect the streams’ error performance, a condition Naim expressly recognizes through its coding-rate adjustment teaching. Salem provides a measurable criterion for determining when to increase, decrease, or retain the MCS, instead of relying solely on an initial channel-quality assignment.
The expected result is an updated modulation-and-coding configuration directed toward the target error rate. The combination uses Salem’s feedback-control teaching, not its entire grant-free resource arrangement. For Naim’s downlink embodiment, the receiver’s performance information would be supplied to the entity controlling the downlink assignments; the link direction does not change the function of comparing a measured error metric with a target and adjusting the MCS.
Naim’s constellation geometry is already adjustable as described in [0054] “The dimensions of the constellation Cj′ and the spacing between copies of Cj′ can be adjusted to achieve the expected performance of steams di and dj.”).
Tillinger provides a known criterion for determining subsets under noise: maximizing their smallest Euclidean distance. The modification applies that criterion to the candidates permitted by Naim’s lower-order reference-point arrangement, standard-constellation membership, and energy constraints.
Therefore, it is obvious to a PHOSITA to apply Tillinger’s minimum-Euclidean-distance criterion to Naim’s constellation-subset selection in order to improve distinguishability of the shared signals under noise while retaining the lower-order user’s constellation relationship such that “the respective subset of constellation points associated with each level of the hierarchy may be chosen to increase a Euclidian distance between nearest points in the subset” ([Tillinger, 0003]).
Regarding claim 2, a method for transmitting data in a communication network comprising multiple communication nodes, each configured as a transmitter, receiver, or both, wherein the method comprises:
operating the communication network in one or more of the following modes: point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-point, or multipoint-to-multipoint ([0076] “Herein the term ‘headend’ can refer to cable modem network equipment, or cable TV network equipment such as digital TV broadcast equipment, but also LTE and WiFi type OFDMA base stations, and any other such communications equipment that communicates with one or more user devices using a shared downlink.” “The user device 1010 transmits back to the headend system 1005 via an uplink channel.” See Fig. 15. Note that the shared downlink to multiple user devices supplies the point-to-multipoint alternative.);
selecting an MCS for each transmitting node based on real-time channel conditions between the transmitting node and receiving node to meet a target error rate ([Salem, 0190]` “A base station may compare the average residual BLER (average reliability) to a target BLER (target reliability) of the application/service to which the uplink grant-free session belongs in order to determine if an adjustment to a UE's grant-free uplink MCS level is warranted.” Note that for adaptation to changing channel conditions: [Salem, 0255] “Meanwhile, the UEs receive fine tuning DCLLA MCS commands over any of the previously described channels to cope with short-term channel variations and mobility in accordance with the first mechanism described above.” Note that the modification applies Salem’s per-link target-error-rate feedback control to the transmitting-node MCS assignments in Naim’s system.);
grouping data streams from a plurality of users, wherein each user is associated with a different MCS and modulation order ([0029] “Consider an example where a first mobile unit in an LTE system has a weak channel and is assigned a 4-QAM constellation and where a second mobile unit has a stronger channel and is assigned a 64-QAM constellation.” Note that Naim supplies the different modulation orders; Salem’s MCS-control technique supplies the corresponding modulation-and-coding assignments in the modified system.), by:
creating a shared modulation constellation symbol that includes a subset of constellation points from a higher-order modulation constellation associated with a higher MCS user ([0038] “If the tiling constellation is 4-QAM or 16-QAM, the resulting tiled building-block-coded constellation can be made to be a sparsely populated subset of the 256-QAM constellation.” “In these examples, a first mobile unit with a weak channel is configured to receive the tiling code on a 4-QAM, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM tiling constellation and a second mobile unit with access to the 256-QAM quality channel would then additionally receive a set of building block encoded bits.”), and
selecting said subset based on the Euclidean distance from points in a lower-order modulation constellation associated with a lower MCS user, ensuring optimal separation of constellation points ([0061] “Let C1 be a 4-QAM constellation that employs constellation points formed using coordinates {+a,−a} along each of the I and Q dimensions” and “The value of y is selected very close to c and the value of x, which is very close to a, is then chosen to maintain the same average energy”. Note that for the optimization criterion: ([Tillinger, 0097]` “The network entity 105-b may determine the subsets of the constellation points associated with each level of the hierarchy to maximize (e.g., increase above a threshold value) the smallest Euclidian distance 420 associated with each level of the hierarchy in the presence of noise.” Note that the modified selection preserves Naim’s lower-order reference-point relationship while optimizing the minimum separation of permissible constellation subsets. “Optimal separation” is applied within the constellation, energy, and link-performance constraints of the selection, rather than by replacing the lower-order arrangement with an unrelated partition.);
transmitting the shared modulation constellation symbol from a transmitter to one or more receivers, wherein the shared modulation constellation symbol carries distinct data streams for each user based on their respective MCS ([0044] “A multi-resolution tiled-building-block transmitter 605 is used to encode at least some resource blocks with coded data bits from at least a first stream whose destination is a first mobile unit associated with a weak channel and also with coded data bits from a second stream whose destination is a second mobile unit associated with a strong channel.” See Fig. 6.);
decoding the shared modulation constellation symbol at each receiving node to retrieve the corresponding data for each user ([0046] “The receiver 620 can be configured to extract bit metrics from the tiling constellation and to decode the tiling code using the tile code decoder 630.” “The receiver 625 will thus be configured to extract bit metrics from the building-block bits (low intra-block MSED bits of the lower level of multi-level code) of the higher order QAM constellation and to decode the building-block code using the building-block decoder 635.” See Fig. 6.),
thereby achieving enhanced data throughput and power efficiency in the communication network (Note that for throughput: ([0029] “The resulting coded tiled-building-block constellation will thus carry four bits instead of two bits per data tone.” For the energy basis: ([0061] “Next select m2′=2 bits of stream d2 to be transmitted along with m1=2 bits of stream d1 each symbol interval using the constellation shown in FIG. 9.” “The value of y is selected very close to c and the value of x, which is very close to a, is then chosen to maintain the same average energy”. For comparable symbol duration and coding conditions, additional coded bits at the same average symbol energy provide the recited throughput and energy-per-bit efficiency improvements.).
Naim already selects constellation size according to channel quality and permits coding-rate adjustment to achieve the desired performance: as described in [0065] “In embodiments where enough streams are used so that the performance degradation is significant, coding rates of those degraded streams can optionally be adjusted to achieve the desired performance.”).
Salem supplies a concrete feedback criterion for making and updating such adjustments: comparing measured residual BLER with a target BLER. The modification uses that criterion to update the users’ modulation-and-coding assignments before the shared-symbol mapping is performed. Corresponding receiver settings are updated so that the communicating nodes use consistent MCS assignments.
Therefore, it is obvious to a PHOSITA to incorporate Salem’s target-BLER-based MCS feedback control into Naim’s shared-constellation system in order to maintain the required transmission reliability as channel conditions change such that “the MCS used by the UE for uplink transmission without grant is adjusted by the UE dynamically, in a closed-loop configuration” ([Salem, 0044]).
A PHOSITA would have a reason to make this modification because adding streams to a shared constellation can affect the streams’ error performance, a condition Naim expressly recognizes through its coding-rate adjustment teaching. Salem provides a measurable criterion for determining when to increase, decrease, or retain the MCS, instead of relying solely on an initial channel-quality assignment.
The expected result is an updated modulation-and-coding configuration directed toward the target error rate. The combination uses Salem’s feedback-control teaching, not its entire grant-free resource arrangement. For Naim’s downlink embodiment, the receiver’s performance information would be supplied to the entity controlling the downlink assignments; the link direction does not change the function of comparing a measured error metric with a target and adjusting the MCS.
Naim’s constellation geometry is already adjustable as described in [0054] “The dimensions of the constellation Cj′ and the spacing between copies of Cj′ can be adjusted to achieve the expected performance of steams di and dj.”).
Tillinger provides a known criterion for determining subsets under noise: maximizing their smallest Euclidean distance. The modification applies that criterion to the candidates permitted by Naim’s lower-order reference-point arrangement, standard-constellation membership, and energy constraints.
Therefore, it is obvious to a PHOSITA to apply Tillinger’s minimum-Euclidean-distance criterion to Naim’s constellation-subset selection in order to improve distinguishability of the shared signals under noise while retaining the lower-order user’s constellation relationship such that “the respective subset of constellation points associated with each level of the hierarchy may be chosen to increase a Euclidian distance between nearest points in the subset” ([Tillinger, 0003]).
Claim(s) 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naim et al. (US 2021/0287398, “Naim”) in view of Salem et al. (US 2018/0279315, “Salem”) and further in view of Tillinger et al. (US 2024/0333419, “Tillinger”) and Sparr et al. (US 2002/0181427, “Sparr”).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Naim unless otherwise mentioned.
Naim comprises the following features:
Regarding claim 3, a digital communication device capable of transmitting and receiving data in a shared modulation constellation format, comprising ([0078] “Both the headend 1005 and the user device 1010 are usually implemented with digital processing logic which includes one or more processors coupled to respective memories and/or shared memories.” “The encoder and decoder operate at a DSP coding sub layer.”):
a transceiver operable in point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-point, and multipoint-to-multipoint modes within a communication network ([Sparr, 0032] “It should be understood that nodes 102 or NAPs 101 may be configured for any of or some combination of broadcasting, point-to-point communication and multicasting.” “By multicasting, it is meant transmitting with singling out a plurality of particular target recipients among a potential audience of recipients.” Note that for bidirectional communications among the nodes: [Sparr, 0034] “NAPs 101 and nodes 102 communicate with one another and with each other by sending and receiving information during short time slots referenced to the beginning of a frame.” Note that for execution through the node’s transceiver: [Sparr, 0062] “Real-time controller 246 executes transmit and receive slots 191, 190 (shown in FIGS. 6B and 6A, respectively), including direct control of transceiver 235 and antennas 244, according to processor 250's schedule.” See Figs. 2 and 4–6B. Note that the node can transmit to multiple selected recipients, receive transmissions from other nodes, and participate in bidirectional communications among multiple mesh nodes. These functions supply point-to-multipoint transmission, multipoint-to-point reception, and participation in multipoint-to-multipoint communications, respectively, using the node’s scheduled transceiver. This is a functional mapping of the disclosed operation; Sparr does not expressly enumerate the three claimed mode names.);
a modulation selection unit configured to adjust modulation schemes in real-time based on channel conditions to meet a predefined target error rate, wherein the modulation scheme is selected from a group including BPSK, QAM, and PSK ([Salem, 0190] “A base station may compare the average residual BLER (average reliability) to a target BLER (target reliability) of the application/service to which the uplink grant-free session belongs in order to determine if an adjustment to a UE's grant-free uplink MCS level is warranted.” Note that for real-time adaptation: ([Salem, 0255] “Meanwhile, the UEs receive fine tuning DCLLA MCS commands over any of the previously described channels to cope with short-term channel variations and mobility in accordance with the first mechanism described above.” Note that for the QAM alternative:[0027] “The signal constellation selected for use with a given resource block(s) sent to a particular mobile unit is selected based upon the downlink channel quality at the receiver of the particular mobile unit.” Note that the modified device applies the error-rate feedback to its QAM modulation-and-coding configuration. Selecting QAM satisfies the selected-member aspect of the recited group; BPSK, QAM, and PSK are not treated as simultaneously required modulation schemes.);
a shared modulation module configured to:
aggregate data streams from multiple users with differing MCS indexes into a single shared modulation symbol ([0037] “The outputs of the building block encoder 105 and the tile encoder 205 are coupled to the inputs of a signal mapper 310.” “This allows the coded bits from the encoders 105 and 205 to be mapped by the signal mapper 310 to a tiled-building-block coded constellation.” See Fig. 3. Note that for indexed MCS assignments: ([Salem, 0291] “The method of Example Embodiment 1, wherein the command indicates an adjustment in terms of an MCS level index, each MCS level index being mapped to a respective MCS level.” In the modified device, the users’ differing modulation-and-coding assignments are represented by their respective MCS indexes, and the coded streams are combined by Naim’s mapper.),
determine an optimal subset of higher-order constellation points based on proximity to a lower-order constellation associated with a user of lower MCS ([0061] “Let C1 be a 4-QAM constellation that employs constellation points formed using coordinates {+a,−a} along each of the I and Q dimensions” and “The value of y is selected very close to c and the value of x, which is very close to a, is then chosen to maintain the same average energy”. Note that for the higher-order subset: ([0064] “The values of x and y can be chosen so that the resulting 16-QAM constellation in FIG. 9 would be formed using a subset of the constellation points of the 64-QAM or 256-QAM constellation.” For the optimization criterion: ([Tillinger, 0097] “The network entity 105-b may determine the subsets of the constellation points associated with each level of the hierarchy to maximize (e.g., increase above a threshold value) the smallest Euclidian distance 420 associated with each level of the hierarchy in the presence of noise.” The device selects among permissible higher-order subsets using the lower-order proximity relationship and the minimum-distance criterion, subject to the applicable energy and stream-performance constraints.), and
assign each user in the shared modulation symbol with a unique subset of bits, such that each bit subset corresponds to a distinct portion of the constellation symbol ([0057] “In this example, the mapping has been selected to transmit the bit position 1 (MSB) of the 32-QAM constellation from channel 1, bit positions 2 and 3 from channel 2, bit position 4 from channel 3 and the bit position 5 from channel 4.” See Fig. 8. These are distinct bit-position allocations for the respective streams. Their use for different users is supported by Naim’s explanation: [0059] “In general, when a tiled building block constellation is used to transmit multiple channels during each interval, if any channel transmits multiple bits during each interval, those multiple bits can come from multiple users that are assigned to the same channel level.”); and
a decoding module configured to decode each received shared modulation symbol, separating the bits for each user and applying respective coding schemes to retrieve the data streams ([0037] “Referring to FIG. 3, a tiled-building-block encoder and signal mapper 105, 205, 310 is shown for transmitting a modulated signal into a channel that is then received by a demodulator 315 and decoded by separate decoders 320 and 325.” See Fig. 3. For the ability of a strong-channel receiver to recover the lower-order information: [0028] “The present invention observes that mobile units with strong channels will also be able to decode the resource blocks associated with the weak channels, but will see the received signal constellation associated with those resource blocks through the (high resolution) lens of a strong channel.” The device implementation uses Naim’s demodulator and the respective tile and building-block decoders in the node’s digital processing chain. A receiver capable of resolving the shared higher-order constellation can form the metrics for the respective coded portions and apply the corresponding decoders, rather than processing only the portion intended for a single destination. This implementation combines Naim’s general two-decoder signal chain with its strong-channel receiver capability. It is not attributed to an express statement that every receiver in Naim’s usual multi-user deployment decodes every user’s stream. The reason for implementing both decoding paths at a common processing node is to separate and recover the constituent streams before their respective local delivery or forwarding; the user-to-bit mapping and the respective coding schemes remain unchanged.);
wherein the shared modulation symbol improves data throughput, minimizes power consumption, and optimizes spectral efficiency in the communication network (For increased bit loading: [0029]` “The resulting coded tiled-building-block constellation will thus carry four bits instead of two bits per data tone.”. For reduced transmitted energy in a disclosed shared-constellation configuration: [0057] “Comparing with the standard 256-QAM constellation which uses 85d2 along each of its I and Q 1-dimensional PAM components, the constellation in FIG. 8 uses slightly a lower transmitted energy.” The shared symbol carries bits for multiple streams in the same symbol resource, while Naim’s disclosed configuration uses lower transmitted energy than the compared standard constellation. Together with the target-error-rate control and constrained distance optimization, these teachings are relied upon for the recited throughput, power-efficiency, and spectral-utilization results. Note that for this draft, “minimizes” and “optimizes” are treated as operating objectives achieved within the selected link-performance and constellation constraints, not as proof of an absolute global minimum or optimum over every conceivable communication configuration.
The Salem and Tillinger modifications described above are applied to the device’s modulation-control and constellation-selection functions. They do not depend on claim 3 being a dependent claim.
Salem supplies the feedback criterion for updating the modulation-and-coding configuration toward the target error rate. Tillinger supplies the minimum-distance criterion for evaluating permissible constellation subsets. Naim supplies the shared-symbol mapper, constituent bit allocations, and corresponding decoding paths.
The modification preserves the division of functions: MCS control determines the current coding/modulation assignments; the shared-symbol mapper combines the coded streams; subset optimization evaluates permissible geometry; and the receiver applies the corresponding demapping and decoding settings.
Naim expressly contemplates peer-to-peer operation as described in [0079] “Another type of embodiment replaces the headend system 1005 with another user device 1010 in which case direct peer-to-peer communications is enabled.”).
Sparr supplies a concrete node architecture for communicating with multiple neighboring nodes, including multicast transmission and scheduled reception through the same controlled transceiver.
Therefore, it is obvious to a PHOSITA to implement Naim’s shared-constellation processing in a node having Sparr’s multicast and scheduled transmit/receive capabilities in order to support communication with multiple peer nodes through the node’s transceiver such that “the network nodes are arranged in network neighborhoods” ([Sparr, 0009])
A PHOSITA would have a reason to make this modification because Naim’s peer operation can be extended beyond a single peer by using Sparr’s disclosed node connectivity and slot control. Sparr supplies the architecture for selecting multiple transmission recipients and scheduling the node’s transmission and reception; Naim supplies the information mapping carried by those transmissions.
There is a reasonable expectation of success for a compatible WiFi implementation. Naim expressly permits a 64-QAM underlying constellation as described in [0038] “In alternative embodiments, the signal mapper 310 can be configured to map the encoded bits onto a 64-QAM underlying constellation or other sized constellations as opposed to the 256-QAM constellation.”
Sparr expressly permits an IEEE 802.11a physical/link-layer implementation: ([Sparr, 0033] “More particularly, IEEE 802.11a physical and link layer standards may be employed for communication in a range of 9 to 54 megabits per second (Mbits/s).”).
The proposed combination therefore uses a compatible underlying modulation implementation while adding Sparr’s peer/slot-control capability. It does not assume that every Sparr radio natively supports Naim’s 256-QAM example, nor does it require that multicast, multipoint reception, and mesh communication occur simultaneously. Sparr’s control function continues to schedule transmission and reception, and Naim’s processing continues to map and recover the constituent coded streams.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Harry H. Kim whose telephone number and email address are as follows; 571-272-5009, harry.kim2@uspto.gov.
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/HARRY H KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
