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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 12/16/2025 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Xia et al. (US 2022/0174732 A1, hereinafter Xia-32).
Regarding claim 1, Xia-32 discloses a first wireless communication device (see e.g., Fig. 13, STA3 and/or “STA3 will be generally considered the non-AP TXOP holder STA”, [0175]) comprising:
one or more processors (see e.g., Fig. 12, CPU 398, and/or “390 of a non-AP STA hardware setup, with external I/O 394 into circuitry 392 having a CPU 398 and RAM 400 for executing a program(s)”, [0167]) configured to:
generate a first frame indicating to a wireless communication node that the first wireless communication device is to share a transmission opportunity (TXOP) with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or a second wireless communication device (see e.g., “The exchange of RTS-share and CTS-share between the sharing STA and the AP announce that the coming TXOP can be shared according to the agreed-on configuration. The figure depicts a STA performing a TXOP sharing announcement 1964, which in this example is depicted with TXOP holder STA3 sending an RTS-share 1952 to the AP, and the AP sending a CTS-share 1954 to STA3”, Fig. 55, [0402]), wherein each of the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device is not a wireless communication node (see e.g., “Once other STAs or the AP that are willing to join the following shared TXOP receive the RTS-share or the CTS-share which indicates the TXOP is to be shared and knowing that they are included in the sharing configuration, then in the TXOP sharing phase 1966 these STAs and the AP can determine when to access the channel and how long (duration) that they should transmit”, Fig. 55, [0403]); and
wirelessly transmit, via a transmitter, the generated first frame to the wireless communication node in a wireless local area network (WLAN) (see e.g., “The figure depicts a STA performing a TXOP sharing announcement 1964, which in this example is depicted with TXOP holder STA3 sending an RTS-share 1952 to the AP”, Fig. 55, [0402] and/or “a wireless communication circuit, as a wireless station (STA), configured for wirelessly communicating over at least one channel with other wireless stations (STAs) on a local area network (WLAN); (b)…within a station configured for operating on the WLAN as a station configured to support communicating using a shared Transmit Opportunity (TXOP) protocol”, [0562]).
Regarding claim 11, Xia-32 discloses a method, comprising:
a first wireless communication device (see e.g., Fig. 13, STA3 and/or “STA3 will be generally considered the non-AP TXOP holder STA”, [0175]) comprising:
one or more processors (see e.g., Fig. 12, CPU 398, and/or “390 of a non-AP STA hardware setup, with external I/O 394 into circuitry 392 having a CPU 398 and RAM 400 for executing a program(s)”, [0167]) configured to:
generating, by one or more processor of a first wireless communication device (see e.g., Fig. 13, STA3 and/or “STA3 will be generally considered the non-AP TXOP holder STA”, [0175] and/or Fig. 12, CPU 398, and/or “390 of a non-AP STA hardware setup, with external I/O 394 into circuitry 392 having a CPU 398 and RAM 400 for executing a program(s)”, [0167]), a first frame indicating to a wireless communication node that the first wireless communication device is to share a transmission opportunity (TXOP) with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or a second wireless communication device (see e.g., “The exchange of RTS-share and CTS-share between the sharing STA and the AP announce that the coming TXOP can be shared according to the agreed-on configuration. The figure depicts a STA performing a TXOP sharing announcement 1964, which in this example is depicted with TXOP holder STA3 sending an RTS-share 1952 to the AP, and the AP sending a CTS-share 1954 to STA3”, Fig. 55, [0402]), wherein each of the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device is not a wireless communication node (see e.g., “Once other STAs or the AP that are willing to join the following shared TXOP receive the RTS-share or the CTS-share which indicates the TXOP is to be shared and knowing that they are included in the sharing configuration, then in the TXOP sharing phase 1966 these STAs and the AP can determine when to access the channel and how long (duration) that they should transmit”, Fig. 55, [0403]); and
wirelessly transmit, by the one or more processor via a transmitter (see e.g., “a mmW modem 402 is coupled to at least one radio-frequency (RF) circuit 404 which connects to a plurality of antennas 406a, 406b, 406c through 406n (e.g., antenna array) to transmit and receive frames with neighboring STAs”, Fig. 12, [0169]), the generated first frame to the wireless communication node in a wireless local area network (WLAN) (see e.g., “The figure depicts a STA performing a TXOP sharing announcement 1964, which in this example is depicted with TXOP holder STA3 sending an RTS-share 1952 to the AP”, Fig. 55, [0402] and/or “a wireless communication circuit, as a wireless station (STA), configured for wirelessly communicating over at least one channel with other wireless stations (STAs) on a local area network (WLAN); (b)…within a station configured for operating on the WLAN as a station configured to support communicating using a shared Transmit Opportunity (TXOP) protocol”, [0562]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 2-6 and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Xia-32, in view of, XIN et al. (WO 2023/017340 A1, hereinafter Xin).
Regarding claim 2, Xia-32 discloses, the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are associated with the wireless communication node (see e.g., “the TXOP holder is a non-AP STA. The stations that will join the shared TXOP and use a portion of the TXOP transmit are shared TXOP participants, and may comprise AP and/or non-AP STAs, which are denoted as AP and non-AP shared TXOP participant STAs”, [0174]),
Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose the first wireless communication device is paired or tethered to the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses, the first wireless communication device is paired or tethered to the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “…Soft AP MLD is a MLD that consists of one or more affiliated STAs, which are operated as APs.”, [0111] and/or “The soft AP is used in different scenarios including Wi-Fi hotspots and tethering”, [0112]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 3, Xia-32 disclose, wherein the first frame comprises: at least one of an association ID field, an address field, the association ID field set to an association ID of the second wireless communication device, the address field set to an address of the second wireless communication device, (see e.g., “A Frame Control field indicates the type of frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame. A TA field contains the address of the STA that transmitted the frame”, Fig. 4, [0138] and/or “A Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame”, Fig. 4, [0139]).
Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose, wherein the first frame comprises: a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; at least quality of service (QoS) information element (IE), the QoS IE set to a set of QoS parameters of a traffic stream between the wireless communication node and the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses, wherein the first frame comprises: a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2. After STA2 sends a CTS frame 378 in response to the MU-RTS TXS frame, it starts to transmit P2P PPDlls 380 and 384 of SCS3 to STA1 ”, [0289] and/or “A Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame”, Fig. 4, [0139]); at least quality of service (QoS) information element (IE), the QoS IE set to a set of QoS parameters of a traffic stream between the wireless communication node and the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “After STA2 finishes the P2P transmission, it sends a QoS Null frame 388 with EOSP set to a second state (e.g., "0") to indicate the end of the triggered TXOP sharing; however, STA2 has additional frames of the scheduled traffic streams of R-TWT2 to transmit during the current R-TWT2 SP”, [0289] and/or “Since there is scheduled P2P traffic stream of R-TWT2, AP1 uses MU-RTS TXS frame to start the triggered TXOP sharing”, [0291] and/or “The R-TWT scheduling AP and R-TWT scheduled STA can embed the QoS control field as shown in FIG. 27 in the QoS data or QoS Null frame”, [0171]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 4, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first frame is one of an association response, a reassociation response, a probe response, or an action frame.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses wherein the first frame is one of an association response, a reassociation response, a probe response, or an action frame (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2”, [0289] and/or “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 5, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein: the first frame is an action frame including a category field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are paired, and the action frame comprises: a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; a second field set to a value indicating whether the first wireless communication device allows QoS configuration of the second wireless communication device, and at least one of an association ID field or an address field, the association ID field set to an association ID of the second wireless communication device, the address field set to an address of the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses wherein: the first frame is an action frame including a category field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are paired (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2”, [0289] and/or “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]), and the action frame comprises:
a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “AP1 then sends another Mll-RTS TXS frame 394 to start another triggered TXOP sharing for the UL transmission of SCS6. After this STA2 sends a CTS 396 and then a UL PPDU 398 of SCS6 with EOSP set to a first state (e.g., "1") which indicates that STA2 finished all the frame transmission of its scheduled UL and P2P traffic streams of R-TWT2 during the current R-TWT2 SP. This EOSP is set to a first state (e.g., "1") which also indicates the end of the triggered TXOP sharing time. AP1 acknowledges receipt with BA 400”, [0290]);
a second field set to a value indicating whether the first wireless communication device allows QoS configuration of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “After STA2 finishes the P2P transmission, it sends a QoS Null frame 388 with EOSP set to a second state (e.g., "0") to indicate the end of the triggered TXOP sharing; however, STA2 has additional frames of the scheduled traffic streams of R-TWT2 to transmit during the current R-TWT2 SP”, 0289]), and at least one of an association ID field or an address field, the association ID field set to an association ID of the second wireless communication device, the address field set to an address of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame. The Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. The Address 1 field contains the address of frame recipient. The Address 2 field contains the address of the STA that transmitted the frame. The Address 3 field contains the BSSID of the STA that is the recipient of the frame. The sequence control field indicates the sequence number of the frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 6, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein: the first frame comprises a capabilities information element (IE) relating to capabilities of the first wireless communication device, and the capabilities IE comprises: a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; and a second field set to a value indicating whether a QoS information element (IE) is supported.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses wherein: the first frame comprises a capabilities information element (IE) relating to capabilities of the first wireless communication device (see e.g., “an R-TWT scheduling AP, is an EHT AP that supports restricted TWT operation and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a "1"”, [0089]), and the capabilities IE comprises:
a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “ A restricted TWT R-TWT scheduled STA, referred to as an R-TWT scheduled STA, is a non-AP EHT STA that supports restricted TWT operations and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a "1"”, [0090] and/or “a non-AP Extremely High Throughput (EHT) STA that supports restricted TWT operation and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a first state (e.g., "1"). If a non-AP EHT STA does not support restricted TWT operation, it is not a R-TWT scheduled STA and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a second state (e.g., "0"). It should be noted that a non-AP EHT STA transmits the EHT Capabilities element to its associated AP to indicate the EHT capabilities of the non-AP EHT STA. Therefore, a R-TWT scheduling AP can identify whether its associated EHT STA is a restricted TWT (R-TWT) scheduled STA or not, according to the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities element received from that EHT STA”, [0142]); and a second field set to a value indicating whether a QoS information element (IE) is supported (see e.g., “ A restricted TWT R-TWT scheduled STA, referred to as an R-TWT scheduled STA, is a non-AP EHT STA that supports restricted TWT operations and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a "1"”, [0090] and/or “a non-AP Extremely High Throughput (EHT) STA that supports restricted TWT operation and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a first state (e.g., "1"). If a non-AP EHT STA does not support restricted TWT operation, it is not a R-TWT scheduled STA and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a second state (e.g., "0"). It should be noted that a non-AP EHT STA transmits the EHT Capabilities element to its associated AP to indicate the EHT capabilities of the non-AP EHT STA. Therefore, a R-TWT scheduling AP can identify whether its associated EHT STA is a restricted TWT (R-TWT) scheduled STA or not, according to the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities element received from that EHT STA”, [0142]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 12, Xia-32 discloses, the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are associated with the wireless communication node (see e.g., “the TXOP holder is a non-AP STA. The stations that will join the shared TXOP and use a portion of the TXOP transmit are shared TXOP participants, and may comprise AP and/or non-AP STAs, which are denoted as AP and non-AP shared TXOP participant STAs”, [0174]),
Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose the first wireless communication device is paired or tethered to the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses, the first wireless communication device is paired or tethered to the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “…Soft AP MLD is a MLD that consists of one or more affiliated STAs, which are operated as APs.”, [0111] and/or “The soft AP is used in different scenarios including Wi-Fi hotspots and tethering”, [0112]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113])
Regarding claim 13, Xia-32 disclose, wherein generating the first frame (see e.g., “The exchange of RTS-share and CTS-share between the sharing STA and the AP announce that the coming TXOP can be shared according to the agreed-on configuration. The figure depicts a STA performing a TXOP sharing announcement 1964, which in this example is depicted with TXOP holder STA3 sending an RTS-share 1952 to the AP, and the AP sending a CTS-share 1954 to STA3”, Fig. 55, [0402]) comprises:
the first frame comprises at least one of an association ID field, an address field (see e.g., “A Frame Control field indicates the type of frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame. A TA field contains the address of the STA that transmitted the frame”, Fig. 4, [0138] and/or “A Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame”, Fig. 4, [0139]);
generating the first frame further comprises: setting the association ID field to an association ID of the second wireless communication device, setting the address field to an address of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “A Frame Control field indicates the type of frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame. A TA field contains the address of the STA that transmitted the frame”, Fig. 4, [0138] and/or “A Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame”, Fig. 4, [0139]),
Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose, wherein generating first frame comprises: setting a first field of the first frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication; setting quality of service (QoS) information element (IE), setting the QoS IE set to a set of QoS parameters of a traffic stream between the wireless communication node and the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses, setting a first field of the first frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2. After STA2 sends a CTS frame 378 in response to the MU-RTS TXS frame, it starts to transmit P2P PPDlls 380 and 384 of SCS3 to STA1 ”, [0289] and/or “A Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame. A Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. An RA field contains an address for the recipient of the frame”, Fig. 4, [0139]); at least quality of service (QoS) information element (IE), setting quality of service (QoS) information element (IE), setting the QoS IE set to a set of QoS parameters of a traffic stream between the wireless communication node and the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “After STA2 finishes the P2P transmission, it sends a QoS Null frame 388 with EOSP set to a second state (e.g., "0") to indicate the end of the triggered TXOP sharing; however, STA2 has additional frames of the scheduled traffic streams of R-TWT2 to transmit during the current R-TWT2 SP”, [0289] and/or “Since there is scheduled P2P traffic stream of R-TWT2, AP1 uses MU-RTS TXS frame to start the triggered TXOP sharing”, [0291] and/or “The R-TWT scheduling AP and R-TWT scheduled STA can embed the QoS control field as shown in FIG. 27 in the QoS data or QoS Null frame”, [0171]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 14, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first frame is one of an association response, a reassociation response, a probe response, or an action frame.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses wherein the first frame is one of an association response, a reassociation response, a probe response, or an action frame (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2”, [0289] and/or “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 15, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein: the first frame is an action frame including a category field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are paired, the action frame comprises a first field, a second field, and at least one of an association ID field or an address field, and generating the first frame comprises: setting the first field of the action frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; setting the second field of the action frame to a value indicating whether the first wireless communication device allows QoS configuration of the second wireless communication device, and setting the association ID field of the action frame to an association ID of the second wireless communication device, or setting the address field of the action frame to an address of the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses the first frame is an action frame including a category field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device are paired (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2”, [0289] and/or “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]), and the action frame comprises:
a first field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “AP1 then sends another Mll-RTS TXS frame 394 to start another triggered TXOP sharing for the UL transmission of SCS6. After this STA2 sends a CTS 396 and then a UL PPDU 398 of SCS6 with EOSP set to a first state (e.g., "1") which indicates that STA2 finished all the frame transmission of its scheduled UL and P2P traffic streams of R-TWT2 during the current R-TWT2 SP. This EOSP is set to a first state (e.g., "1") which also indicates the end of the triggered TXOP sharing time. AP1 acknowledges receipt with BA 400”, [0290]), the action frame comprises a first field, a second field, and at least one of an association ID field or an address field (see e.g., , and generating the first frame comprises:
setting the first field of the action frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “AP1 can send a Mll-RTS TXS frame 376 as defined in IEEE 802.11 be to share some TXOP time with STA2”, [0289] and/or “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]);
setting the second field of the action frame to a value indicating whether the first wireless communication device allows QoS configuration of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “After STA2 finishes the P2P transmission, it sends a QoS Null frame 388 with EOSP set to a second state (e.g., "0") to indicate the end of the triggered TXOP sharing; however, STA2 has additional frames of the scheduled traffic streams of R-TWT2 to transmit during the current R-TWT2 SP”, 0289]), and setting the association ID field of the action frame to an association ID of the second wireless communication device, or setting the address field of the action frame to an address of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “The Frame Control field indicates the type of the frame, and can indicate that this is an action frame. The Duration field contains NAV information used for CSMA/CA channel access. The Address 1 field contains the address of frame recipient. The Address 2 field contains the address of the STA that transmitted the frame. The Address 3 field contains the BSSID of the STA that is the recipient of the frame. The sequence control field indicates the sequence number of the frame”, Fig. 16, [0093]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Regarding claim 16, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein: the first frame comprises a capabilities information element (IE) relating to capabilities of the first wireless communication device, and generating the first frame comprises: setting a first field of the capabilities IE to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; and setting a second field of the capabilities IE to a value indicating whether a QoS information element (IE) is supported.
In the same field of endeavor, Xin discloses wherein: the first frame comprises a capabilities information element (IE) relating to capabilities of the first wireless communication device (see e.g., “an R-TWT scheduling AP, is an EHT AP that supports restricted TWT operation and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a "1"”, [0089]), and the capabilities IE comprises:
setting a first field of the capabilities IE to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device(see e.g., “ A restricted TWT R-TWT scheduled STA, referred to as an R-TWT scheduled STA, is a non-AP EHT STA that supports restricted TWT operations and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a "1"”, [0090] and/or “a non-AP Extremely High Throughput (EHT) STA that supports restricted TWT operation and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a first state (e.g., "1"). If a non-AP EHT STA does not support restricted TWT operation, it is not a R-TWT scheduled STA and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a second state (e.g., "0"). It should be noted that a non-AP EHT STA transmits the EHT Capabilities element to its associated AP to indicate the EHT capabilities of the non-AP EHT STA. Therefore, a R-TWT scheduling AP can identify whether its associated EHT STA is a restricted TWT (R-TWT) scheduled STA or not, according to the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities element received from that EHT STA”, [0142]); and setting a second field of the capabilities IE to a value indicating whether a QoS information element (IE) is supported (see e.g., “ A restricted TWT R-TWT scheduled STA, referred to as an R-TWT scheduled STA, is a non-AP EHT STA that supports restricted TWT operations and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a "1"”, [0090] and/or “a non-AP Extremely High Throughput (EHT) STA that supports restricted TWT operation and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a first state (e.g., "1"). If a non-AP EHT STA does not support restricted TWT operation, it is not a R-TWT scheduled STA and sets the Restricted TWT Support subfield in transmitted EHT Capabilities elements to a second state (e.g., "0"). It should be noted that a non-AP EHT STA transmits the EHT Capabilities element to its associated AP to indicate the EHT capabilities of the non-AP EHT STA. Therefore, a R-TWT scheduling AP can identify whether its associated EHT STA is a restricted TWT (R-TWT) scheduled STA or not, according to the Restricted TWT Support subfield in the transmitted EHT Capabilities element received from that EHT STA”, [0142]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xin, in order to distribute tasks and collect information from, each affiliated station to which it is connected, through to STA and the sharing of information between affiliated STAs (please see Xin, [0113]).
Claims 9-10 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Xia-32, in view of, Xia et al. (US 20210410163 A1, hereinafter Xia-63).
Regarding claim 9, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein: the first frame is a trigger frame, and the trigger frame comprises: a triggered TXOP sharing mode field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; and an association ID field set to an association ID of the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xia-63 discloses wherein: the first frame is a trigger frame (see e.g., “A Trigger Type subfield of the Common Info field identifies the Trigger frame variant. In at least one embodiment if these bits are set to 3 and the TXOP share subfield (B63) is set to 1, then this indicates it is a MU-RTS-share frame…A More TF subfield indicates whether or not a subsequent Trigger frame is scheduled for transmission.”, [0424], and the trigger frame comprises:
a triggered TXOP sharing mode field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “A Doppler subfield is set to a first state (e.g., 1) to indicate that a midamble is present in the HE TB PPDU and otherwise set to a second state (e.g., 0). A UL HE-SIG-A2 Reserved subfield carries the value to be included in the Reserved field in the HE-SIG-A2 subfield of the solicited HE TB PPDUs. A TXOP share subfield of the Common Info field set to a first state (e.g., 1) indicates that the sender is willing to share the TXOP with other non-AP STAs; otherwise it is set to a second state (e.g., 0). A Trigger Dependent Common Info subfield is optionally present based on the value of the Trigger Type field”, [0425]); and
an association ID field set to an association ID of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “and showing User Info 1, User Info 2 through to User Info n fields, each of which having subfields depicted in the middle of the figure as follows. The User Info field contains the assigned RU information for a specific STA. An AID12 subfield of the User Info field is used to allocate the fixed RU to a specific STA, whose AID is equal to the value in the AID12 subfield”, [0426]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xia-63, in order to provide high throughput and low latency using WLAN networks (please see Xia-63, [0006]).
Regarding claim 10, Xia-32 and Xia-63 combined disclose, wherein: the trigger frame is a multiuser (MU) request-to-send (RTS) TXOP sharing (TXS) trigger frame (see Xia-62 e.g., “the non-AP TXOP holder STA gains channel access and announces it is willing to share its TXOP with other non-AP STAs, such as for example by broadcasting a MU-RTS-share frame to the potential TXOP participant STAs to indicate the TXOP is shareable”, [0170] and/or “the non-AP TXOP holder STA sends a multiple-user request-to-send (MU-RTS)-share frame 214 to the potential non-AP shared TXOP participant STAs, with indicated bandwidth (BW) for each specified non-AP STA. Once the non-AP STAs receive this MU-RTS-share frame then they respond with a CTS-share frame 216, 218 to the non-AP TXOP holder STA using the BW as indicated in the received MU-RTS-share frame if they are willing to join the following shared TXOP”, [0190]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xia-63, in order to provide high throughput and low latency using WLAN networks (please see Xia-63, [0006]).
Regarding claim 19, Xia-32 fails to explicitly disclose wherein: the first frame is a trigger frame, and generating the first frame comprises: setting a triggered TXOP sharing mode field of the trigger frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device; and setting an association ID field of the trigger frame to an association ID of the second wireless communication device.
In the same field of endeavor, Xia-63 discloses wherein: the first frame is a trigger frame (see e.g., “A Trigger Type subfield of the Common Info field identifies the Trigger frame variant. In at least one embodiment if these bits are set to 3 and the TXOP share subfield (B63) is set to 1, then this indicates it is a MU-RTS-share frame…A More TF subfield indicates whether or not a subsequent Trigger frame is scheduled for transmission.”, [0424], and generating the first frame comprises:
setting a triggered TXOP sharing mode field of the trigger frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “A Doppler subfield is set to a first state (e.g., 1) to indicate that a midamble is present in the HE TB PPDU and otherwise set to a second state (e.g., 0). A UL HE-SIG-A2 Reserved subfield carries the value to be included in the Reserved field in the HE-SIG-A2 subfield of the solicited HE TB PPDUs. A TXOP share subfield of the Common Info field set to a first state (e.g., 1) indicates that the sender is willing to share the TXOP with other non-AP STAs; otherwise it is set to a second state (e.g., 0). A Trigger Dependent Common Info subfield is optionally present based on the value of the Trigger Type field”, [0425]); and
setting an association ID field of the trigger frame to an association ID of the second wireless communication device (see e.g., “and showing User Info 1, User Info 2 through to User Info n fields, each of which having subfields depicted in the middle of the figure as follows. The User Info field contains the assigned RU information for a specific STA. An AID12 subfield of the User Info field is used to allocate the fixed RU to a specific STA, whose AID is equal to the value in the AID12 subfield”, [0426]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xia-63, in order to provide high throughput and low latency using WLAN networks (please see Xia-63, [0006]).
Regarding claim 20, Xia-32 and Xia-63 combined disclose, wherein: the trigger frame is a multiuser (MU) request-to-send (RTS) TXOP sharing (TXS) trigger frame (see Xia-62 e.g., “the non-AP TXOP holder STA gains channel access and announces it is willing to share its TXOP with other non-AP STAs, such as for example by broadcasting a MU-RTS-share frame to the potential TXOP participant STAs to indicate the TXOP is shareable”, [0170] and/or “the non-AP TXOP holder STA sends a multiple-user request-to-send (MU-RTS)-share frame 214 to the potential non-AP shared TXOP participant STAs, with indicated bandwidth (BW) for each specified non-AP STA. Once the non-AP STAs receive this MU-RTS-share frame then they respond with a CTS-share frame 216, 218 to the non-AP TXOP holder STA using the BW as indicated in the received MU-RTS-share frame if they are willing to join the following shared TXOP”, [0190]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Xia-32 with Xia-63, in order to provide high throughput and low latency using WLAN networks (please see Xia-63, [0006]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 8 , 17 and 18 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.
As to claim 7, the prior arts fail to teach, wherein: the first frame comprises a control field associated with a control ID indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device, and the control field comprises:
a duration field set to a value indicating a remaining duration of the TXOP shared with the wireless communication node;
a first field set to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the first wireless communication device; and
a second field set to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the second wireless communication device.
As to claim 8, the prior arts fail to teach, wherein: the first frame is a control frame, and the control frame comprises: a subtype field set to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device;
a duration field set to a value indicating a remaining duration of the TXOP shared with the wireless communication node;
a first field set to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the first wireless communication device; and
a second field set to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the second wireless communication device.
As to claim 17, the prior arts fail to teach, wherein: the first frame comprises a control field associated with a control ID indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device, and generating the first frame comprises:
setting a duration field of the control field to a value indicating a remaining duration of the TXOP shared with the wireless communication node;
setting a first field of the control field to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the first wireless communication device; and
setting a second field of the control field to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the second wireless communication device.
As to claim 18, the prior arts fail to teach, wherein: the first frame is a control frame, and generating the first frame comprises:
setting a subtype field of the control frame to a value indicating that the first wireless communication device is to share the TXOP with the wireless communication node to deliver traffic to the first wireless communication device or the second wireless communication device;
setting a duration field of the control frame to a value indicating a remaining duration of the TXOP shared with the wireless communication node;
setting a first field of the control frame to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the first wireless communication device; and
setting a second field of the control frame to a value indicating whether the wireless communication node uses the shared TXOP to serve downlink data to the second wireless communication device.
Conclusion
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/FARID SEYEDVOSOGHI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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