12/5/DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application: Claims 1-20 are present for examination at this time.
Claims 1-3, 8-9, 11-12, 15-17, and 19 are rejected.
Claims 4-7, 10, 13-14, 18, and 20 are objected to.
Please refer to Forms 892 of record in this application and/or submitted Ides to resolve any possible discrepancies in the listed reference numbers, titles, and/or author or inventor names.
Applicant is reminded that claim mapping is provided as a courtesy to the applicant, but applicant should consider a reference as a whole, as the entire reference gives context to mapped sections.
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
Applicant’s claim for foreign/domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. 119/120 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) submitted on 12/5/2024 and 6/22/2026 has/have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 10, 13-14, 18, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections 35 U.S.C. 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 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.
Claims 1-2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (2) as being anticipated by “Fast Basic Service Set Transition For Multi-Link Operation” by Ho US2022/0022033A1 (“Ho”).
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.
With respect to Claims 1 and 15, Ho discloses a method for a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) and (related non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) arranged to initiate a link-level roaming )to roam among a serving AP MLD and a target AP MLD of a roaming domain (Ho at ¶4 “There is an ongoing need to provide improved support for MLDs, including support for mobility, such as non-AP MLD roaming between AP MLDs, from an AP MLD to a non-MLO-capable AP, or from a non-MLO-capable AP to an AP MLD.” And ¶38),
wherein links are initially set up from the non-AP to the serving AP MLD, the method comprising:
initiating, by the non-AP MLD affiliated with the roaming domain, a link-level roaming by setting up a link to the target AP MLD, wherein respective links are set up from the non-AP MLD to the serving AP MLD and target AP MLD (Ho at ¶55);
announcing, by the non-AP MLD, a type of the links from the non-AP MLD to the serving AP MLD and target AP MLD (Ho at ¶¶56, 57, and 58 where keys for the appropriate link are shared by the non-AP MLD);
and terminating, by the non-AP MLD, all one or more links between the non-AP MLD and the serving AP MLD, wherein the non-AP MLD has links set up only with the target AP MLD to complete the link level roaming (Ho at ¶83 element 948 where the non-AP MLD is now only communicating with the second AP MLD and no longer communicates for a user flow with AP MLD #1).
With respect to Claim 2, Ho discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the non-AP MLD is not able to perform link-level roaming when the type of links is a non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) pair, a multi-link single radio (MLSR) pair, or an enhanced MLSR (eMLSR) pair.
This limitation has no patentable weight. It is not a step taken in the method. It is a description of an environment wherein the method is not capable of working as this is a know limitation of such a system. Evidence of this can be found in Adaptive Simultaneous Multilink Operational Framework by Nagarajan et al., US2023/0247696 A1 (“Nagarajan”). at ¶38 “In various embodiments, the MLD AP 205 may include multiple radios which may respectively support different links, configured with required isolation precautions to achieve medium efficiency. MLD STA 210, however, may be limited in the number of radios and chip size. Moreover, in some examples, MLD STA 210 may roam between APs, leading to a change in link parameters in multiple links dynamically. The link parameters may also depend on the presence of interference from other radios (e.g., Bluetooth radios). The above problems cannot be addressed using STR-ML and EMLSR modes individually.” Thus they cannot be non-simultaneous, i.e., operated individually for the system to work.)
With respect to Claim 11, Huang discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting by the non-AP MLD a link configuration request to the roaming domain and receiving a response to the link configuration request to set up the link(s) to the target AP MLD (Huang at ¶¶6, 76, 77 where the request for roaming is made and receiving a response to that request); and optionally terminating one or multiple links to the serving AP MLD, and then establishing a distributed system mapping change for the link to the target AP MLD through another action request/response frame handshake (as this step is optional it need not occur).
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 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. All obviousness rationales stated below are rationales that would have been obvious prior to the earliest effective filing date of the application.
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 3 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ho in over Ho in view of “Adaptive Simultaneous Multilink Operational Framework” by Nagarajan et al., US2023/0247696 A1 (“Nagarajan”).
With respect to Claims 3 and 16, while Ho discloses the method of claim 1, Ho does not explicitly state that which is known in the art as taught by Nagarajan. Nagarajan discloses wherein the type of links announced is a non-simultaneous transmit receive (NSTR) pair, a multi-link single radio (MLSR) pair, or an enhanced MLSR (eMLSR) pair announced in an action frame (Nagarajan at ¶38 “In various embodiments, the MLD AP 205 may include multiple radios which may respectively support different links, configured with required isolation precautions to achieve medium efficiency. MLD STA 210, however, may be limited in the number of radios and chip size. Moreover, in some examples, MLD STA 210 may roam between APs, leading to a change in link parameters in multiple links dynamically. The link parameters may also depend on the presence of interference from other radios (e.g., Bluetooth radios). The above problems cannot be addressed using STR-ML and EMLSR modes individually.” Thus they cannot be non-simultaneous, i.e., operated individually for the system to work in battling interference.)
Reasons to Combine/Modify:
Ho and Nagarajan are analogous to the claimed invention as they are from the same field of endeavor: facilitating roaming across AP MLDs by Non-AP MLDs. Nagarajan states at ¶38 that when STR-ML and eMSLR are used with roaming for a non-AP MLD within and AP MLD system it must be simultaneous and not individual in order to work effectively against interference.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date herein, who would want to make the system of Ho work with eMSLR or STL-ML to make sure that interference is minimized to announce a non-individual usage of each, thus combining teachings from Nagarajan with Ho.
Claims 8-9, 12, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ho in view of “Multi-Link Tentative Association Method and Related Apparatus” by Huang WO2021/238823A1 (“Huang”).
With respect to Claim 8, . Ho discloses the method of claim 1, Ho does not explicitly state that which is known in the art as taught by Huang. Huang discloses: further comprising determining, by the roaming domain, that the non-AP MLD is to transmit uplink frames during the link-level roaming to the target AP MLD after a distributed mapping change. (Huang states “S105: The Non-AP MLD sends an indication message to the target AP MLD for triggering the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between the station and the access point in the distribution system (distribution system, DS).
In an example, after step S104, it further includes step S108: the target AP MLD sends the DS-STA-Notify.request primitive to the distributed system. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive carries the mapping information between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD, or the association relationship between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive is used to inform the STA-AP Mapping information of the distributed system. This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.
In the embodiment of this application, the Non-AP MLD disconnects part of the link with the currently associated AP MLD (that is, the first AP MLD), and then uses the STA whose link status is disconnected to send to one or more second APs. MLD sends a multi-link association request frame to request multi-link tentative association with the one or more second AP MLD; one or more second AP MLD returns a multi-link association response frame to the Non-AP MLD; if The multi-link association response frame indicates that the multi-link tentative association is agreed to, and the Non-AP MLD can perform 802.1X authentication and the four-way handshake key exchange process with one or more second AP MLDs; in the four-way handshake exchange After the secret key is completed, Non-AP MLD selects a target from one or more second AP MLD according to whether the association is successful, the capabilities of each second AP MLD, and the link quality between the Non-AP MLD and each second AP MLD AP MLD, and triggers the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between stations and access points in the distributed system through an indication message. It can reduce the interruption time of data transmission when the multi-link device is roaming. Ideally, there is no data transmission interruption during the roaming process, that is, at any time, there is always an available link for data transmission.” , thus the system doesn’t start exchanging data frames until after the non-AP MLD is properly set up based on the map.) (Emphasis added)
Reasons to Combine/Modify:
Ho and Huang are analogous to the claimed invention as they are from the same field of endeavor: facilitating roaming across AP MLDs by Non-AP MLDs. Huang states that such an update is needed prior to completely effectuating a successful roaming as “ This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date herein, who would want to make the system of Ho work when the system map changes to combine Ho with Huang.
With respect to Claim 9, while Ho discloses the method of claim 1, Ho does not explicitly state that which is known in the art as taught by Huang. Huang discloses: further comprising transmitting, by only the target AP MLD, downlink frames to the non-AP MLD during the link-level roaming after a distributed mapping change.. (Huang states “S105: The Non-AP MLD sends an indication message to the target AP MLD for triggering the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between the station and the access point in the distribution system (distribution system, DS).
In an example, after step S104, it further includes step S108: the target AP MLD sends the DS-STA-Notify.request primitive to the distributed system. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive carries the mapping information between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD, or the association relationship between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive is used to inform the STA-AP Mapping information of the distributed system. This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.
In the embodiment of this application, the Non-AP MLD disconnects part of the link with the currently associated AP MLD (that is, the first AP MLD), and then uses the STA whose link status is disconnected to send to one or more second APs. MLD sends a multi-link association request frame to request multi-link tentative association with the one or more second AP MLD; one or more second AP MLD returns a multi-link association response frame to the Non-AP MLD; if The multi-link association response frame indicates that the multi-link tentative association is agreed to, and the Non-AP MLD can perform 802.1X authentication and the four-way handshake key exchange process with one or more second AP MLDs; in the four-way handshake exchange After the secret key is completed, Non-AP MLD selects a target from one or more second AP MLD according to whether the association is successful, the capabilities of each second AP MLD, and the link quality between the Non-AP MLD and each second AP MLD AP MLD, and triggers the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between stations and access points in the distributed system through an indication message. It can reduce the interruption time of data transmission when the multi-link device is roaming. Ideally, there is no data transmission interruption during the roaming process, that is, at any time, there is always an available link for data transmission.” , thus the system doesn’t start exchanging data frames until after the non-AP MLD is properly set up based on the map.) (Emphasis added)
Reasons to Combine/Modify:
Ho and Huang are analogous to the claimed invention as they are from the same field of endeavor: facilitating roaming across AP MLDs by Non-AP MLDs. Huang states that such an update is needed prior to completely effectuating a successful roaming as “ This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date herein, who would want to make the system of Ho work when the system map changes to combine Ho with Huang.
With respect to Claim 12, while Ho discloses the method of claim 1, Ho does not explicitly state that which is known in the art as taught by Huang. Huang discloses: further comprising transmitting and receiving frames between only the non-AP MLD and target AP MLD during the link-level roaming after a frame exchange context is provided by the serving AP MLD to the target AP MLD and distributed system mapping change. (Huang states “S105: The Non-AP MLD sends an indication message to the target AP MLD for triggering the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between the station and the access point in the distribution system (distribution system, DS).
In an example, after step S104, it further includes step S108: the target AP MLD sends the DS-STA-Notify.request primitive to the distributed system. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive carries the mapping information between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD, or the association relationship between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive is used to inform the STA-AP Mapping information of the distributed system. This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.
In the embodiment of this application, the Non-AP MLD disconnects part of the link with the currently associated AP MLD (that is, the first AP MLD), and then uses the STA whose link status is disconnected to send to one or more second APs. MLD sends a multi-link association request frame to request multi-link tentative association with the one or more second AP MLD; one or more second AP MLD returns a multi-link association response frame to the Non-AP MLD; if The multi-link association response frame indicates that the multi-link tentative association is agreed to, and the Non-AP MLD can perform 802.1X authentication and the four-way handshake key exchange process with one or more second AP MLDs; in the four-way handshake exchange After the secret key is completed, Non-AP MLD selects a target from one or more second AP MLD according to whether the association is successful, the capabilities of each second AP MLD, and the link quality between the Non-AP MLD and each second AP MLD AP MLD, and triggers the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between stations and access points in the distributed system through an indication message. It can reduce the interruption time of data transmission when the multi-link device is roaming. Ideally, there is no data transmission interruption during the roaming process, that is, at any time, there is always an available link for data transmission.” , thus the system doesn’t start exchanging data frames until after the non-AP MLD is properly set up based on the map.) (Emphasis added)
Reasons to Combine/Modify:
Ho and Huang are analogous to the claimed invention as they are from the same field of endeavor: facilitating roaming across AP MLDs by Non-AP MLDs. Huang states that such an update is needed prior to completely effectuating a successful roaming as “ This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date herein, who would want to make the system of Ho work when the system map changes to combine Ho with Huang.
With respect to Claim 17, while Ho discloses the non-AP MLD of claim 15, Ho does not explicitly state that which is known in the art as taught by Huang. Huang discloses: wherein the non-AP MLD is further arranged to receive downlink frames from only the target AP MLD during the link-level roaming after a distributed mapping change. (Huang states:
“S105: The Non-AP MLD sends an indication message to the target AP MLD for triggering the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between the station and the access point in the distribution system (distribution system, DS).
In an example, after step S104, it further includes step S108: the target AP MLD sends the DS-STA-Notify.request primitive to the distributed system. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive carries the mapping information between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD, or the association relationship between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive is used to inform the STA-AP Mapping information of the distributed system. This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.
In the embodiment of this application, the Non-AP MLD disconnects part of the link with the currently associated AP MLD (that is, the first AP MLD), and then uses the STA whose link status is disconnected to send to one or more second APs. MLD sends a multi-link association request frame to request multi-link tentative association with the one or more second AP MLD; one or more second AP MLD returns a multi-link association response frame to the Non-AP MLD; if The multi-link association response frame indicates that the multi-link tentative association is agreed to, and the Non-AP MLD can perform 802.1X authentication and the four-way handshake key exchange process with one or more second AP MLDs; in the four-way handshake exchange After the secret key is completed, Non-AP MLD selects a target from one or more second AP MLD according to whether the association is successful, the capabilities of each second AP MLD, and the link quality between the Non-AP MLD and each second AP MLD AP MLD, and triggers the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between stations and access points in the distributed system through an indication message. It can reduce the interruption time of data transmission when the multi-link device is roaming. Ideally, there is no data transmission interruption during the roaming process, that is, at any time, there is always an available link for data transmission.” , thus the system doesn’t start exchanging data frames until after the non-AP MLD is properly set up based on the map.) (Emphasis added)
Reasons to Combine/Modify:
Ho and Huang are analogous to the claimed invention as they are from the same field of endeavor: facilitating roaming across AP MLDs by Non-AP MLDs. Huang states that such an update is needed prior to completely effectuating a successful roaming as “ This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date herein, who would want to make the system of Ho work when the system map changes to combine Ho with Huang.
With respect to Claim 19, while Ho discloses the non-AP MLD of claim 15, Ho does not explicitly state that which is known in the art as taught by Huang. Huang discloses: wherein a frame exchange between only the non-AP MLD and target AP MLD is performed after a distributed system mapping change and frame exchange context is established. (Huang states:
“S105: The Non-AP MLD sends an indication message to the target AP MLD for triggering the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between the station and the access point in the distribution system (distribution system, DS).
In an example, after step S104, it further includes step S108: the target AP MLD sends the DS-STA-Notify.request primitive to the distributed system. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive carries the mapping information between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD, or the association relationship between the target AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD. The DS-STA-Notify.request primitive is used to inform the STA-AP Mapping information of the distributed system. This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.
In the embodiment of this application, the Non-AP MLD disconnects part of the link with the currently associated AP MLD (that is, the first AP MLD), and then uses the STA whose link status is disconnected to send to one or more second APs. MLD sends a multi-link association request frame to request multi-link tentative association with the one or more second AP MLD; one or more second AP MLD returns a multi-link association response frame to the Non-AP MLD; if The multi-link association response frame indicates that the multi-link tentative association is agreed to, and the Non-AP MLD can perform 802.1X authentication and the four-way handshake key exchange process with one or more second AP MLDs; in the four-way handshake exchange After the secret key is completed, Non-AP MLD selects a target from one or more second AP MLD according to whether the association is successful, the capabilities of each second AP MLD, and the link quality between the Non-AP MLD and each second AP MLD AP MLD, and triggers the target AP MLD to update the mapping relationship between stations and access points in the distributed system through an indication message. It can reduce the interruption time of data transmission when the multi-link device is roaming. Ideally, there is no data transmission interruption during the roaming process, that is, at any time, there is always an available link for data transmission.” , thus the system doesn’t start exchanging data frames until after the non-AP MLD is properly set up based on the map.) (Emphasis added)
Reasons to Combine/Modify:
Ho and Huang are analogous to the claimed invention as they are from the same field of endeavor: facilitating roaming across AP MLDs by Non-AP MLDs. Huang states that such an update is needed prior to completely effectuating a successful roaming as “ This is because each Non-AP MLD can only be associated with one AP MLD, and the distributed system must know which AP MLD serves the Non-AP MLD, and then deliver the data packet whose destination address is the MAC address of the Non-AP MLD to the corresponding AP MLD.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date herein, who would want to make the system of Ho work when the system map changes to combine Ho with Huang.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA L SCHWARTZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7494. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10a-6p.
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/JOSHUA L SCHWARTZ/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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