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 .
This Office Action is in response to communications filed on 11/08/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending and rejected.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/08/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-11, 13-14 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao et al (US 20230370859 A1) (hereinafter “Cao859”) and further in view of Lim et al (US 20260247430 A1) (hereinafter “Lim”).
Regarding claim 1, Cao859 discloses a method performed by a source node to activate relay functionality of a relay node on a per-physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) basis (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN) comprising:
generating a PPDU that includes a first set of preamble fields (see Fig. 2A (260, 262-266), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes first set of preambles),
followed by a relay-on field indicating that the relay node should relay the PPDU (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal),
followed by a second set of preamble fields (see Fig. 2A (260, 272-276), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes second fields),
followed by a data field that includes a frame intended for a destination node (see Fig. 2A (260, 278), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes data portion),
wherein the first set of preamble fields includes a first legacy short training field (L-STF) field (see Fig. 2A (260,262), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy short training field (L-STF)),
a first legacy long training field (L-LTF) field (see Fig. 2A (260,264), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy long training field (L-LTF)), and
a first legacy signal (L-SIG) field (see Fig. 2A (260,266), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy signal field (L-SIG)),
wherein the second set of preamble fields includes a second L-STF field (see Fig. 2A (260, 272), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy short training field (VHT-STF)), a
second L-LTF field (see Fig. 2A (260,274), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy long training field (VHT-LTF)), and
a second L-SIG field (see Fig. 2A (260,276), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy signal field (VHT-SIG)); and
transmitting the PPDU (see para. [0059]-[0059] discloses the devices are configured to transmit and receive various WLAN standard compliant messages).
Although Cao859 discloses the relay-on indicator, Lim is provided here for clarification. Lim teaches followed by a relay-on field indicating that the relay node should relay the PPDU (see Fig. 9 (S910), Fig. 10 (S1010), Fig. 11 (Relay Operation Parameter), para. [0156];[0168] discloses information of TXOP may be indicated by control field related to a schedule of the relay operation included in first PPDU; AP may generate TXOP information for the first STA to transmit the second PPDU, including the corresponding data to at least one STA).
Cao859 and Lim are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao859 to include the relay on-field indication as described by Lim.
The motivation to combine both references would come from reducing delay and improving throughput.
Regarding claim 3, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the first set of preamble fields further includes a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG) field (see Fig. 2A (280, 288), para. [0051] discloses the PPDU 280 includes preamble having Repeated Legacy Signal Field (RL-SIG)).
Regarding claim 4, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the PPDU is transmitted during a relay operation period during which relay operations are allowed (see Fig. 3, para. [0058] discloses WLAN including source device, relay device, wireless connected and configured to transmit and receive WLAN messages).
Regarding claim 5, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN) teaches further comprising:
during the relay operation period, transmitting a second PPDU that does not include a relay-on field and that is not to be relayed (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal).
Regarding claim 6, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN) wherein the first L-SIG field is used to spoof relay operations as data to legacy wireless devices that do not support per-PPDU relay activation (see para. [0052] discloses PPDU is designed to be backward compatible with earlier generations, legacy data formats implicitly signal their PPDU version by the L-SIG and L-SIG length field).
Regarding claim 8, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN) wherein the relay-on field is modulated such that the relay-on field can be auto-detected by a relay node (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal).
Regarding claim 9, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN) wherein the relay-on field includes a first symbol and a second symbol, wherein the first symbol is modulated using a quadrature binary phase shift keying (Q-BPSK) modulation scheme and the second symbol is modulated using a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme (see Fig. 2A (260, 268 (BPSK), 270 (Q-BPSK)).
Regarding claim 10, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the relay-on field is transmitted as a L-STF field (see para. [0087]-[0088] discloses the relay device decides to relay the signal if certain content criteria are met (e.g. Wi-Fi STF is detected)).
Regarding claim 11, Cao859 discloses a method performed by a relay node to activate relay functionality on a per-physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) basis (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), the method comprising:
receiving a PPDU transmitted by a source node (see Fig. 3, para. [0058] discloses WLAN including source device, relay device, wireless connected and configured to transmit and receive WLAN messages); determining whether the PPDU includes a relay-on field that comes after a first set of preamble fields (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal),
wherein the first set of preamble fields includes a first legacy short training field (L-STF) field (see Fig. 2A (260,262), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy short training field (L-STF)),
a first legacy long training field (L-LTF) field (see Fig. 2A (260,264), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy long training field (L-LTF)), and
a first legacy signal (L-SIG) field (see Fig. 2A (260,266), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy signal field (L-SIG)); and
responsive to determining that the PPDU includes the relay-on field that comes after the first set of preamble fields (see Fig. 2A (260,262-266), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes first set of preambles),
activating relay functionality of the relay node and relaying a remainder of the PPDU to a destination node (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal),
wherein the remainder of the PPDU includes a second set of preamble fields and a data field that includes a frame (see Fig. 2A (260,272-276), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes first set of preambles),
wherein the second set of preamble fields includes a second L-STF field (see Fig. 2A (260,272), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy short training field (L-STF)),
a second L-LTF field, and a second L-SIG field (see Fig. 2A (260,274), para. [0050] discloses PPDU includes a preamble with legacy long training field (L-LTF)).
Although Cao859 discloses the relay-on indicator, Lim is provided here for clarification. Lim teaches determining whether the PPDU includes a relay-on field that comes after a first set of preamble fields (see Fig. 9 (S910), Fig. 10 (S1010), Fig. 11 (Relay Operation Parameter), para. [0156];[0168] discloses information of TXOP may be indicated by control field related to a schedule of the relay operation included in first PPDU; AP may generate TXOP information for the first STA to transmit the second PPDU, including the corresponding data to at least one STA).
Cao859 and Lim are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao2 to include the relay on-field indication as described by Lim.
The motivation to combine both references would come from reducing delay and improving throughput.
Regarding claim 13, Cao859 teaches a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the first set of preamble fields further includes a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG) field (see Fig. 2A (280, 288), para. [0051] discloses the PPDU 280 includes preamble having Repeated Legacy Signal Field (RL-SIG)).
Regarding claim 14, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the PPDU is transmitted during a relay operation period during which relay operations are allowed (see Fig. 3, para. [0058] discloses WLAN including source device, relay device, wireless connected and configured to transmit and receive WLAN messages.
Regarding claim 17, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the determination that the PPDU includes the relay-on field is based on auto-detecting the relay-on field (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal).
Regarding claim 18, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the auto-detection of the relay-on field is based on determining that a first symbol included in the relay-on field is modulated using a quadrature binary phase shift keying (Q-BPSK) modulation scheme and a second symbol included in the relay-on field is modulated using a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme (see Fig. 2A (260, 268 (BPSK), 270 (Q-BPSK), para. [0083] discloses since WLAN PPDU have unique RF signal profiles (e.g. BPSK, QPSK, and etc.), the content-based attribute could be a signal feature of the WLAN message signal).
Regarding claim 19, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the determination that the PPDU includes the relay-on field is based on detecting a L-STF field that comes after the first set of preamble fields, wherein the detected L-STF field is considered as being the relay-on field (see para. [0087]-[0088] discloses the relay device decides to relay the signal if certain content criteria are met (e.g. WiFi STF is detected)).
Regarding claim 20, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), wherein the remainder of the PPDU is relayed using an amplify and forward (AF) relay mechanism (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal).
Claims 2, 7, 12 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao et al (US 20230370859 A1) (hereinafter “Cao859”) and further in view of Lim et al (US 20260247430 A1) (hereinafter “Lim”) as applied to claim 1 and 11 above and further in view of Cao et al (US 20230362996 A1) (hereinafter “Cao996”)
Regarding claim 2, Cao859 teaches a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN).
Cao859 does not clearly disclose but Cao996 teaches, wherein the PPDU includes a guard time between the relay-on field and the second set of preamble fields (see Fig. 8 (800), para. [0070] discloses aggregated PPDU includes a first PPDU-1 with preambles Preamble-1 and second PPDU-2 with preambles Preamble-2. The first PPDU and second PPDU with a PPDU gap, is signaled as one PPDU).
Cao859 and Cao996 are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao859 to include the guard time described by Cao996.
The motivation to combine both references would come from allowing time for proper triggering of the relay.
Regarding claim 7, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN).
Cao859 fails to disclose but Cao996 teaches further comprising:
receiving an acknowledgement (ACK) frame that corresponds to the frame included in the data field, wherein the ACK frame was transmitted by the destination node and relayed by the relay node to the source node (see para. [0073],[0074] discloses end to end block acknowledgment (BA) feedback is provided from the destination device to the source device).
Cao859 and Cao996 are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao859 to include the acknowledgement frame as described by Cao996.
The motivation to combine both references would come from improving reliability of relay communication.
Regarding claim 12, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN).
Cao859 fails to disclose but Cao996 teaches, wherein the PPDU includes a guard time between the relay-on field and the second set of preamble fields (see Fig. 8 (800), para. [0070] discloses aggregated PPDU includes a first PPDU-1 with preambles Preamble-1 and second PPDU-2 with preambles Preamble-2. The first PPDU and second PPDU with a PPDU gap, is signaled as one PPDU).
Cao859 and Cao996 are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao859 to include the guard time described by Cao996.
The motivation to combine both references would come from allowing time for proper triggering of the relay.
Regarding claim 15, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN), further comprising:
wherein the third set of preamble fields includes a third L-STF field (see Fig. 8 (280, 294 HE-STF)), a third L-LTF field (see Fig. 8 (280, 294 HE-LTF)), and a third L-SIG field (see Fig. 8 (280, 294 HE-SIG1)); and
responsive to determining that the second PPDU does not include the second relay-on field that comes after the third set of preamble fields (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal), refraining from relaying the PPDU (see para. [0016] discloses relay detects existence of, but not a content, a WLAN message signal preamble to decide whether to amplify and forward the WLAN message signal).
Cao859 fails to disclose but Lim teaches determining whether the second PPDU includes a second relay-on field that comes after a third set of preamble fields (see para. [0157] discloses the information related to TXOP may include third information whether the second PPDU is a single-user or multi-user transmission).
Cao859 and Lim are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao859 to include the relay on-field indication as described by Lim.
The motivation to combine both references would come from reducing delay and improving throughput on relay systems.
Lim fails to disclose but Cao996 teaches during the relay operation period, receiving a second PPDU (see Fig. 8 (PPDU 2), para. [0070] discloses second PPDU, PPDU-2).
Lim and Cao996 are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lim to include the second PPDU as described by Cao996.
The motivation to combine both references would come from improving relaying signaling.
Regarding claim 16, Cao859 discloses a method (see Fig. 3 (300), Fig. 6A (600), para. [0002] discloses system, methods, apparatuses and devices for relaying WLAN).
Cao859 fails to disclose but Cao996 teaches, further comprising: relaying an acknowledgement (ACK) frame, which was transmitted by the destination node and corresponds to the frame included in the data field, to the source node (see para. [0073],[0074] discloses end to end block acknowledgment (BA) feedback is provided from the destination device to the source device).
Cao859 and Cao996 are considered to be analogous to the claim invention because both are in the same field of wireless communications, methods, devices and WLAN relay.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cao859 to include the acknowledgement frame as described by Cao996.
The motivation to combine both references would come from improving reliability of relay communication.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS GUILLERMO LEMA LEMOS whose telephone number is (571)-272-5710. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nishant Divecha can be reached at 571-270-3125. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LUIS GUILLERMO LEMA LEMOS/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
Prosecution Insights