DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is a response to an application filed on October 31, 2024, and to the two preliminary amendment filed respectively on January 10, 2025 (“1st Pre-Amendment”) and on May 12, 2025 (“2nd Pre-Amendment”). Prior to the preliminary amendments, claims 1-17 were pending. By the 1st Pre-Amendment, all then pending claims 1-17 were canceled, and claims 18-34 were newly added. By the 2nd Pre-Amendment, claims 18, 22, and 30-34 were amended, and no claim was canceled or newly added. Accordingly, claims 18-34 are currently pending and ready for examination.
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 17/624, 131 filed on December 30, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The three information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on December 2, 2024 and on October 17, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claim 30 is objected to because of the following informalities:
٠ line 17 “the third wireless signal is transmitted” should read “the third wireless signal is received.”
٠ Line 20, there is an extraneous comma after “transmits,” which appear to be a typographical error.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted structural cooperative relationships are:
Claim 30 is directed to a communication control device, and recites:
“the first wireless communication device transmits, [sic] a fourth wireless signal to a second wireless communication device different from the first wireless communication device, the fourth wireless signal is transmitted in a second frequency band, the fourth wireless signal includes information indicating a second MCS for wireless signal reception in the second frequency band, and a first timing associated with the reception of the third wireless signal corresponds to a second timing associated with the transmission of the fourth wireless signal.” (“AP limitation”).
None of the above recited limitation is related to the claimed apparatus, i.e., the communication control device, but is exclusively related to the first wireless communication device. Even the last portion of the above limitation, namely, “a first timing associated with the reception of the third wireless signal corresponds to a second timing associated with the transmission of the fourth wireless signal,” because each of the third wireless signal and the fourth wireless signals are received by the claimed communication control device, the timing of these signal transmissions are set by the first wireless communication device, i.e., an access point (AP) . That is, the above AP limitation does not limit the scope of the claimed communication control device.
Accordingly, while for the sole purpose of “compact prosecution,” in the substantive prior based rejection of this claim 30 below, the above AP limitation is addressed, the AP limitation is not accorded any patentable weight.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 18-20, 22 and 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cariou et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2017/0311325)(“ Cariou”).
Regarding claim 18, Cariou discloses a communication control device (See, Fig. 3, #350; and ¶[0006], “ an access point (AP)”.), comprising:
a control circuitry (See, Fig. 3, #356 and #358; ¶[0033], “The AP 350 may also include processing circuitry 356 and memory 358 arranged to perform the operations described herein.”) configured to control a wireless communication circuitry (See, Fig. 3, #352 and #355; ¶[0033], “The AP 350 may include physical layer circuitry 352 and a transceiver 355, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from components such as the STA 103 (FIG. 1)”.) to:
transmit a first wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #420; Fig. 8, #840; ¶[0054], “the AP 102 may transmit one or more NDPs …concurrently on the primary and secondary channel(s) to enable separate sounding measurements for the primary and secondary channel(s);” and ¶[0079], “The AP 102 may transmit an NDP 840, 842, 844 concurrently on the channels 810, 820, 825.”) in a first frequency band (See, Fig. 8, #810; and ¶[0045], “the primary channel may be in a first frequency band and at least one secondary channel may be in a second frequency band”.);
transmit a second wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #420; Fig. 8, #844; ¶[0054], “the AP 102 may transmit one or more NDPs …concurrently on the primary and secondary channel(s);” and ¶[0079], “The AP 102 may transmit an NDP 840, 842, 844 concurrently on the channels 810, 820, 825.”) in a second frequency band (See, Fig. 8, #825; and ¶[0045], “the primary channel may be in a first frequency band and at least one secondary channel may be in a second frequency band.”);
receive a third wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #425; ¶[0055], “At operation 425, the AP 102 may receive one or more beamforming feedback (BF) frames;” Fig. 8, #850; and ¶[0080], “The STA 103 may transmit a beamforming feedback frame 850, 852, 854 concurrently on the channels 810, 820, 825”) in response to the transmitted first wireless signal (See, e.g., ¶[0040], “The AP 102 may decode one or more beamforming feedback (BF) frames that include the sounding measurements for the primary and secondary channels. The sounding measurements may be based on the training symbols of the NDPs” i.e., the first wireless signal, NDP 840.);
receive a fourth wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #425; ¶[0055], “At operation 425, the AP 102 may receive one or more beamforming feedback (BF) frames;” Fig. 8, #854; and ¶[0080], “The STA 103 may transmit a beamforming feedback frame 850, 852, 854 concurrently on the channels 810, 820, 825”) in response to the transmitted second wireless signal (See, e.g., ¶[0040], “The AP 102 may decode one or more beamforming feedback (BF) frames that include the sounding measurements for the primary and secondary channels. The sounding measurements may be based on the training symbols of the NDPs” i.e., the second wireless signal, NDP 844.);
determine, based on the third wireless signal (See above, the third wireless signal corresponds to the beamforming feedback frame 850. See, also, ¶[0040], “beamforming feedback (BF) frames that include the sounding measurements), a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for wireless signal transmission in the first frequency band (See, Fig. 4, #430; ¶[0058], “At operation 430, the AP 102 may select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) to be used for downlink communication with an STA 103 …The MCS(s) may be selected based at least partly on the sounding measurements;” ¶[0059], “the AP 102 may select different MCSs for at least some of the channels. For instance, the AP 102 may select a first MCS for the primary channel and may select a second MCS for one of the secondary channels.”);
determine, based on the fourth wireless signal (See above, the fourth wireless signal corresponds to the beamforming feedback frame 854. See, also, ¶[0040], “beamforming feedback (BF) frames that include the sounding measurements), a second MCS for wireless signal transmission in the second frequency band (See, Fig. 4, #430; ¶[0058], “At operation 430, the AP 102 may select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) to be used for downlink communication with an STA 103 …The MCS(s) may be selected based at least partly on the sounding measurements;” ¶[0059], “the AP 102 may select different MCSs for at least some of the channels. For instance, the AP 102 may select a first MCS for the primary channel and may select a second MCS for one of the secondary channels.”);
transmit a fifth wireless signal in the first frequency band (See, Fig. 4, #440; and ¶[0061], “At operation 440, the AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s)”.), wherein the fifth wireless signal includes first information of the first MCS (See, Fig. 4, #435; ¶[0064], “The first PPDU may be encoded based on a first MCS (selected for the primary channel) for transmission on the primary channel;” ¶[0065], “PPDUs encoded for transmission on the channels of the bonded channel may include physical layer (PHY) headers that include control information related to the frequency bands of the primary channel and the secondary channel(s);” ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted;” and ¶[0086], “the MCS and other PHY related parameters of a specific band/channel are defined in the PHY preamble of the band/channel and the content of PHY preamble from different bonded channels/band can be different.”); and
transmit a sixth wireless signal in the second frequency band (See, Fig. 4, #440; and ¶[0061], “At operation 440, the AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s)”.), wherein the sixth wireless signal includes second information of the second MCS (See, Fig. 4, #435; ¶[0064], “The second PPDU may be encoded based on a second MCS (selected for the secondary channel) for transmission on the secondary channel;” ¶[0065], “PPDUs encoded for transmission on the channels of the bonded channel may include physical layer (PHY) headers that include control information related to the frequency bands of the primary channel and the secondary channel(s);” ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted;” and ¶[0086], “the MCS and other PHY related parameters of a specific band/channel are defined in the PHY preamble of the band/channel and the content of PHY preamble from different bonded channels/band can be different.”), and a first timing associated with the transmission of the fifth wireless signal corresponds to a second timing associated with the transmission of the sixth wireless signal (See, e.g., ¶[0061], “At operation 440, the AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s) of the bonded channel. …the PPDUs may be transmitted concurrently within the TXOP.”).
Regarding claim 19/18, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the fifth wireless signal (i.e., the PPDU transmitted over the primary channel. See, Fig. 9, #640; and ¶[0009], “FIG. 6 illustrates example physical layer convergence procedure protocol data units (PPDUs)”) and includes a first data frame (See, Fig. 9, #668; ¶[0072], “data 668;” and ¶[0062], “a data payload may be encoded to generate modulated symbols, which may be included in multiple PPDUs. “), and the sixth wireless signal (See, Fig. 9, #670.) includes a second data frame (See, Fig. 9, #688.).
Regarding claim 20/19, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to:
transmit the fifth wireless signal based on the first MCS (See, Fig. 4, #435; and ¶[0064], “The first PPDU may be encoded based on a first MCS (selected for the primary channel) for transmission on the primary channel.”); and
transmit the sixth wireless signal based on the second MCS (See, Fig. 4, #435; and ¶[0064], “The second PPDU may be encoded based on a second MCS (selected for the secondary channel) for transmission on the secondary channel.”).
Regarding claim 22/18, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to:
receive a seventh wireless signal that includes an acknowledgement for the fifth wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #445; ¶[0066], “At operation 445, the AP 102 may receive one or more ACK frames. … The ACK frame(s) may include information (such as ACK bits and/or indicators of whether reception of PPDU(s) is successful) related to the PPDUs transmitted at operation 440;” Fig. 9, #935: and ¶[0093], “At operation 935, the STA 103 may transmit one or more ACK frames on the primary and secondary channels.”); and
receive an eighth wireless signal that includes an acknowledgement for the sixth wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #445; ¶[0066], “At operation 445, the AP 102 may receive one or more ACK frames. … The ACK frame(s) may include information (such as ACK bits and/or indicators of whether reception of PPDU(s) is successful) related to the PPDUs transmitted at operation 440;” Fig. 9, #935: and ¶[0093], “At operation 935, the STA 103 may transmit one or more ACK frames on the primary and secondary channels.”), wherein a third timing associated with the reception of the seventh wireless signal corresponds to a fourth timing associated with the reception of the eighth wireless signal (See, ¶[0061], “the PPDUs may be transmitted concurrently within the TXOP;” and ¶[0066], “The ACK frame(s) may include information (such as ACK bits and/or indicators of whether reception of PPDU(s) is successful)”. Since the ACK frames are transmitted to indicate the successful reception of the PPDUs that are received concurrently, the ACK frames are also received concurrently by the AP.).
Regarding claim 23/22, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 22 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to simultaneously receive the seventh wireless signal and the eighth wireless signal (See, ¶[0061], “the PPDUs may be transmitted concurrently within the TXOP;” and ¶[0066], “The ACK frame(s) may include information (such as ACK bits and/or indicators of whether reception of PPDU(s) is successful)”. Since the ACK frames are transmitted to indicate the successful reception of the PPDUs that are received concurrently, the ACK frames are also received concurrently by the AP.).
Regarding claim 24/23, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 23 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to simultaneously transmit the fifth wireless signal and the sixth wireless signal (See, ¶[0061], “the PPDUs may be transmitted concurrently within the TXOP”.).
Regarding claim 25/18, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the fifth wireless signal includes the first information associated with a first group of subcarriers (See, ¶[0063], “the PPDU(s) may be transmitted in one or more downlink signals. … the downlink signal may be transmitted in channel resources that include multiple sub-carriers of a predetermined sub-carrier bandwidth;” ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted;” and ¶[0086], “the MCS and other PHY related parameters of a specific band/channel are defined in the PHY preamble of the band/channel and the content of PHY preamble from different bonded channels/band can be different.” The PPDU (i.e., the claimed fifth wireless signal) includes the MCS “associated” with the “multiple sub-carriers” on which the PPDU is transmitted.).
Regarding claim 26/25, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 25 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the fifth wireless signal further includes third information of a third MCS, and the third information is associated with a second group of subcarriers (See, ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted. Various arrangements are possible, including but not limited to the following. In a non-limiting example, the PHY headers may be duplicated in all channels in all bands and the PHY headers may include an indication of the channels that are used for the PPDU transmission (such as a list of channels in different bands, total bandwidth per band, a bitmap of the channels that are known as being the operating channels from the AP 102 and/or other). In another non-limiting example, the PHY headers may be different in different bands, and may include per-band specific information.” Cariou thus discloses that the header of the PPDU (transmitted on the primary channel) including information of other channels/bands, e.g., the secondary channel, which as discussed above includes the MCS for encoding the PPDU being transmitted on the multiple sub-carriers in the secondary channel band.).
Regarding claim 27/18, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou further discloses that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to:
transmit a first notification signal (See, Fig. 8, #830) in the first frequency band (See, Fig. 8, 810; Fig. 4, #415; and ¶[0053] “At operation 415, the AP 102 may transmit a null data packet (NDP) announcement (NDPA). … the NDP-A may be transmitted concurrently on the primary and secondary channel(s) of the bonded channel.”), wherein the transmission of the first notification signal is prior to the transmission of the first wireless signal (See, Fig. 8 showing the NDPA 830 being transmitted prior to the transmission of the NDP 840, which corresponds to the claimed first wireless signal), and the first notification signal notifies the transmission of the first wireless signal (See, ¶[0053], “the NDP-A may be transmitted to indicate, to one or more STAs 103, that an NDP is to be transmitted by the AP 102.”); and
transmit a second notification signal (See, Fig. 8, #834) in the second frequency band (See, Fig. 8, #825; Fig. 4, #415; and ¶[0053] “At operation 415, the AP 102 may transmit a null data packet (NDP) announcement (NDPA). … the NDP-A may be transmitted concurrently on the primary and secondary channel(s) of the bonded channel.”), wherein the transmission of the second notification signal is prior to the transmission of the second wireless signal (See, Fig. 8 showing the NDPA 834 being transmitted prior to the transmission of the NDP 844, which corresponds to the claimed second wireless signal), and the second notification signal notifies the transmission of the second wireless signal (See, ¶[0053], “the NDP-A may be transmitted to indicate, to one or more STAs 103, that an NDP is to be transmitted by the AP 102.”).
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.
Claims 21, 28 and 30-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cariou in view of Nair et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2017/0290045)(“Nair”).
Regarding claim 21/18, Cariou discloses a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou further teaches the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to:
transmit the fifth wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #440; ¶[0061], “At operation 440, the AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s);” and ¶[0064], “The first PPDU may be encoded based on a first MCS (selected for the primary channel) for transmission on the primary channel.”) to a first wireless communication apparatus (See, Fig. 8, #103 “STA”).
Cariou, while teaching the application of its teaching, i.e., the band specific MCS and transmission of PPDUs over multiple bands, to multiuser MIMO (see, e.g., ¶¶[0106] and [0107]), fails to teach explicitly transmitting the sixth wireless signal (i.e., a downlink PPDU) to a second wireless communication apparatus different from the first wireless communication apparatus.
Nair teaches transmitting the sixth wireless signal (See, Figs. 7A and 7B, #726) to a second wireless communication apparatus different from the first wireless communication apparatus (See, Figs. 7A and 7B, “STA 1” and “STA2;” Fig. 5, #521 (“20MHz Primary”) and #522 (“20MHz Secondary”); and ¶[0095], “The AP 110 may use the determined steering matrix to transmit MU-MIMO data 726 to stations STA1 and STA2 on the primary 20 MHz channel 521 and the secondary 20 MHz channel 522.” The claimed second wireless communication apparatus corresponding to the STA that receives the PPDU on the secondary channel.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above teachings of Cariou to incorporate the above teaching of Nair, i.e., the DL PPDU transmission for multiuser MIMO environment over a primary and a secondary bands, in order to enhance data throughput while remaining backwards compatible (See, e.g., Nair, ¶[0031]).
Regarding claim 28/27, Cariou teaches a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 27 as discussed above.
Cariou, while teaching that “the NDPA may include NDP transmission information for the primary and secondary channel(s),” see ¶[0053], fails to teach explicitly that the first notification signal includes at least one of a transmission time or a transmission order of the first wireless signal, and the second notification signal includes at least one of a transmission time or a transmission order of the second wireless signal.
Nair teaches that the first notification signal (See, e.g., Fig. 7A, #722; and ¶[0092], “both the primary 20 MHz channel 521 and the secondary 20 MHz channel 522 are idle during the PIFS interval 713. Thus, at time t2, the AP 110 gains access to the wireless medium for the TXOP 720, and transmits the NDPA 722 using the selected bandwidth of 40 MHz.” The first notification signal corresponds to the NDPA sent over the primary channel.) includes at least one of a transmission time (See, e.g., Fig. 7A, “SIFS;” and ¶[0093] Then, after a short interframe space (SIFS) interval, the AP 110 may transmit the NDP 723 to STA1 and STA2 using the selected bandwidth of 40 MHz.” In other words, the transmittal of the NDPA itself indicates the timing of the transmittal of the NDP, i.e., an SIFS after the transmittal of the NDPA.) a transmission order of the first wireless signal (i.e., the NDP sent over the primary channel), and the second notification signal (i.e., the NDPA sent over the secondary channel.) includes at least one of a transmission time (i.e., the SIFS after the transmittal of the NDPA) or a transmission order of the second wireless signal (i.e., the NDP sent over the secondary channel).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above teachings of Cariou to incorporate the above teaching of Nair, i.e., the NDP transmission at a timing SIFS after the transmission of the NDPA, as such timing would have been recognized by a person having an ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) as a well-known sounding frame exchange scheme. See, e.g., MPEP §2144.I.
Regarding claim 30, Cariou teaches a communication control device (See, Fig. 3, #300; and ¶[0006], “a station (STA)”.), comprising:
a control circuitry (See, Fig. 3, #306 and #308; ¶[0032], “The STA 300 may also include processing circuitry 306 and memory 308 arranged to perform the operations described herein.”) configured to control a wireless communication circuitry (See, Fig. 3, #302 and #305; ¶[0032], “The STA 300 may include physical layer circuitry 302 and a transceiver 305, one or both of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from components such as the AP 102 (FIG. 1)”.) to:
receive, from a first wireless communication device (Fig. 8, #102 (“AP”)), a first wireless signal (See, Fig. 9, #915; Fig. 8, #840; ¶[0092], “At operation 915, the STA 103 may receive an NDP concurrently on the primary and secondary channels within the TXOP;” and ¶[0079], “The AP 102 may transmit an NDP 840, 842, 844 concurrently on the channels 810, 820, 825.”) in a first frequency band (See, Fig. 8, #810; and ¶[0045], “the primary channel may be in a first frequency band and at least one secondary channel may be in a second frequency band”.);
transmit, to the first wireless communication device, a second wireless signal (See, Fig. 9, #920; ¶[0055], “At operation 920, the STA 103 may transmit one or more beamforming frames (BFs) that include sounding measurements for the primary and secondary channels.;” Fig. 8, #850; and ¶[0080], “The STA 103 may transmit a beamforming feedback frame 850, 852, 854 concurrently on the channels 810, 820, 825”) based on the received first wireless signal (See, ¶[0055], “one or more beamforming frames (BFs) that include sounding measurements for the primary and secondary channels;” and ¶[0040], “The sounding measurements may be based on the training symbols of the NDPs”);
receive, from the first wireless communication device a third wireless signal (See, Fig. 9, #925; and ¶[0093], “At operation 925, the STA 103 may receive one or more PPDUs on the primary and/or secondary channels.”) including information indicating a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (See, Fig. 4, #435; ¶[0064], “The first PPDU may be encoded based on a first MCS (selected for the primary channel) for transmission on the primary channel;” ¶[0065], “PPDUs encoded for transmission on the channels of the bonded channel may include physical layer (PHY) headers that include control information related to the frequency bands of the primary channel and the secondary channel(s);” ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted;” and ¶[0086], “the MCS and other PHY related parameters of a specific band/channel are defined in the PHY preamble of the band/channel and the content of PHY preamble from different bonded channels/band can be different.”) based on the transmitted second wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #430; and ¶[0058], “The MCS(s) may be selected based at least partly on the sounding measurements”.), wherein the first MCS is for wireless signal reception in the first frequency band (See, ¶[0059], “the AP 102 may select different MCSs for at least some of the channels. For instance, the AP 102 may select a first MCS for the primary channel and may select a second MCS for one of the secondary channels.”), the third wireless signal is transmitted in the first frequency band (See, ¶[0093], “the STA 103 may receive one or more PPDUs on the primary and/or secondary channels.”),
the first wireless communication device transmits, [sic] a fourth wireless signal (See, Fig. 4, #440; and ¶[0061], “At operation 440, the AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s)”.), the fourth wireless signal is transmitted in a second frequency band (See, Fig. 4, #440; ¶[0061], “AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s);” and ¶[0045], “the primary channel may be in a first frequency band and at least one secondary channel may be in a second frequency band”.), the fourth wireless signal includes information indicating a second MCS for wireless signal reception in the second frequency band (See, Fig. 4, #435; ¶[0064], “The second PPDU may be encoded based on a second MCS (selected for the secondary channel) for transmission on the secondary channel;” ¶[0065], “PPDUs encoded for transmission on the channels of the bonded channel may include physical layer (PHY) headers that include control information related to the frequency bands of the primary channel and the secondary channel(s);” ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted;” and ¶[0086], “the MCS and other PHY related parameters of a specific band/channel are defined in the PHY preamble of the band/channel and the content of PHY preamble from different bonded channels/band can be different.”), and a first timing associated with the reception of the third wireless signal corresponds to a second timing associated with the transmission of the fourth wireless signal (See, e.g., ¶[0061], “At operation 440, the AP 102 may transmit the one or more PPDUs on the primary channel and the secondary channel(s) of the bonded channel. …the PPDUs may be transmitted concurrently within the TXOP.”).
Cariou, while teaching the application of its teaching, i.e., the band specific MCS and transmission of PPDUs over multiple bands, to multiuser MIMO (see, e.g., ¶¶[0106] and [0107]), fails to teach explicitly transmitting the fourth wireless signal (i.e., a downlink PPDU) to a second wireless communication apparatus different from the first wireless communication apparatus.
Nair teaches transmitting the fourth wireless signal (See, Figs. 7A and 7B, #726) to a second wireless communication apparatus different from the first wireless communication apparatus (See, Figs. 7A and 7B, “STA 1” and “STA2;” Fig. 5, #521 (“20MHz Primary”) and #522 (“20MHz Secondary”); and ¶[0095], “The AP 110 may use the determined steering matrix to transmit MU-MIMO data 726 to stations STA1 and STA2 on the primary 20 MHz channel 521 and the secondary 20 MHz channel 522.” The claimed second wireless communication apparatus corresponding to the STA that receives the PPDU on the secondary channel.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above teachings of Cariou to incorporate the above teaching of Nair, i.e., the DL PPDU transmission for multiuser MIMO environment over a primary and a secondary bands, in order to enhance data throughput while remaining backwards compatible (See, e.g., Nair, ¶[0031]).
Regarding claim 31/30, Cariou in view of Nair teach a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 30 as discussed above.
Cariou further teaches that the third wireless signal includes a data frame (See, Fig. 9, #668; and ¶[0072], “data 668”and ¶[0062], “a data payload may be encoded to generate modulated symbols, which may be included in multiple PPDUs.”).
Regarding claim 32/30, Cariou in view of Nair teach a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 30 as discussed above.
Cariou further teaches that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to receive, from the first wireless communication device, the third wireless signal based on the first MCS (See, ¶[0064], “The first PPDU may be encoded based on a first MCS (selected for the primary channel) for transmission on the primary channel.”).
Regarding claim 33/30, Cariou in view of Nair teach a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 30 as discussed above.
Cariou further teaches that the control circuitry is further configured to control the wireless communication circuitry to transmit a fifth wireless signal to the first wireless communication device, and the fifth wireless signal includes an acknowledgement for the third wireless signal ( See, Fig. 9, #935; ¶[0093], “At operation 935, the STA 103 may transmit one or more ACK frames on the primary and secondary channels;” and ¶[0093], “At operation 935, the STA 103 may transmit one or more ACK frames on the primary and secondary channels;” and ¶[0066], “The ACK frame(s) may include information (such as ACK bits and/or indicators of whether reception of PPDU(s) is successful) related to the PPDUs transmitted”.).
Regarding claim 34/30, Cariou in view of Nair teach a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 30 as discussed above.
Cariou further teaches that the third wireless signal includes the information associated with a group of subcarriers (See, ¶[0063], “the PPDU(s) may be transmitted in one or more downlink signals. … the downlink signal may be transmitted in channel resources that include multiple sub-carriers of a predetermined sub-carrier bandwidth;” ¶[0082], “at the beginning of a PPDU transmission, the PHY headers may include the information about the channels on which the PPDU is transmitted;” and ¶[0082], “the PHY headers …may include per-band specific information. For instance, per-band channel allocation information may be included.”).
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cariou in view of Tian et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 20160119453)(“Tian”).
Regarding claim 29/18, Cariou teaches a communication control device comprising all elements recited in claim 18 as discussed above.
Cariou, while teaching a PPDU frame including a field “HE LTF” having a variable duration, see, Fig. 6, fails to teach explicitly that the control circuitry is further configured to:
dynamically change a length of the first wireless signal to estimate a signal quality of a part of the first frequency band; and
dynamically change a length of the second wireless signal to estimate a signal quality of a part of the second frequency band.
Tian teaches dynamically changing a length of the first wireless signal to estimate a signal quality of a part of the first frequency band (See, e.g., ¶[0117], the L-STF 422 is 8 μs (i.e., two 1× symbols) long, the L-LTF 424 is 8 μs (i.e., two 1× symbols) long, the L-SIG 426 is 4 μs (i.e., one 1× symbol) long, the HE-SIG0 815 is 4 μs (i.e., one 1× symbol) long, and the HE-SIG1 820 is 4 μs (i.e., one 1× symbol) long. … the HE-LTF can be a variable length, which can be dependent on the number of spatial streams (NSS) used for transmission of the payload 830”. The NSS (max NSS = 8) indicates the number of the station antennas receiving the PPDU from the AP. When the NSS is less than the maximum allowed, it means only a part of the full bandwidth is being used and estimated. The HE-LTF filed size varies depending on the number of receiving antennas, thus the overall size of the PPDU frame. Accordingly, the length of the PPDU frame changes dynamically as the number of the stations communicating with AP changes.); and
dynamically changing a length of the second wireless signal to estimate a signal quality of a part of the second frequency band (The above discussion with respect to the first frequency band equally applies to the second frequency band.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above teachings of Cariou to incorporate the above teaching of Tian, i.e., the variable length of the HE-LTF in a transmission frame, as such would have been recognized by a person having an ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) as a well-known high efficiency IEE802.11 device PPDU/sounding frame protocol. See, e.g., MPEP §2144.I.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
1) Park et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 20220322348) teaches various aspects pertinent to the claimed invention, including per-band MCS (See, e.g., Fig. 4, Tables 3 and 4, and ¶[0124]);
2) Kwon et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2018/0279337) teaches various aspects pertinent to the claimed invention (See, e.g., Fig. 8, and the descriptions thereof);
3) Huang et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2018/0167177) teaches various aspects pertinent to the claimed invention (See, e.g., Fig. 10, and the descriptions thereof);
4) Bhat et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2017/0005708) teaches various aspects pertinent to the claimed invention (See, e.g., Fig. 4, and the descriptions thereof);
5) Kwon et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2020/0267741) teaches various aspects pertinent to the claimed invention (See, e.g., Fig. 4, and the descriptions thereof); and
6) Seok et al. (US Published Patent Application No. US 2019/0215037) teaches various aspects pertinent to the claimed invention (See, e.g., Figs. 5B & 6A, and the descriptions thereof).
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/K.S.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2418 September 17, 2026
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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