DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 24-29, 31-32, and 36-54 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of: This application is a CON of 17/409,845 filed 08/24/2021 now PAT 12212972, 17/409,845 is a CON of PCT/JP2020/004218 filed 02/05/2020 and FOREIGN APPLICATIONS JAPAN 2019-036408 filed 02/28/2019.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/18/2024, 4/20/2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 24-29, 31-32, and 36-54 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 24 recites in lines 1-2, “An access point apparatus that performs communication compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard…”, without providing any documentation stating/disclosing specific release/version. Since applicant is referring to the standard in their disclosure and claiming the feature, it is considered as “essential material” to satisfy enablement or written description requirement under 112 (a).
Amended claim 24 recites, “controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame”. Neither the claim nor the specification further describe, “controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame”. Paragraph 0030 of instant application disclose, “The wireless LAN control unit 301 is configured to include circuits that transmit/receive radio signals to/from another wireless LAN device (for example, another AP or STA), and programs configured to control these. The wireless LAN control unit 301 executes communication control of wireless LAN such as transmission of a frame generated by the frame generation unit 302 and reception of a radio frame from another wireless LAN device in accordance with the IEEE802.11 standard series. The frame generation unit 302 generates a radio frame to be transmitted by the wireless LAN control unit 301 based on, for example, data that is received from another AP and should be transmitted to an STA. In addition, the frame generation unit 302 generates, for example, a radio frame including data that another AP should transmit to an STA or a trigger frame (JTX TF) for instructing the timing of transmitting the radio frame including the data to the STA.” The claims and the specification of the instant application does not describe the method/step, “controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame”.
Therefore claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement
The subject matter was not described in the specification (see paragraph 0003, 0030, 0046, 0049) in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and /or use the invention.
Claims 36, 37, 40, 51 and 52 are also rejected for the same reason as set forth above for claim 24.
Claims 25-29, 31-32, 36-39, 41-50, 52 and 54 are also rejected since they are dependent on the respective independent claims 24, 40, 51 and 53, respectively as set forth above.
Claim 50 recites, “wherein the operations further comprise decoding the information included in the preamble of the received frame”. Neither the claim nor the specification further describe, “decoding the information included in the preamble of the received frame”. Paragraph 0038 of instant application disclose, “The L-STF 401 is used for detection of a physical layer (PHY) frame, AGC (Automatic Gain Control), timing detection, or the like. The L-LTF 402 is used for highly accurate frequency/time synchronization, obtainment of propagation channel information (CSI: Channel State Information), or the like. The L-SIG 403 is used for transmitting control information including information such as a data transmission rate and a PHY frame length. A legacy device complying with the IEEE802.11a/b/g/n/ax standards can decode the above-described various kinds of legacy fields.” The claims and the specification of the instant application does not describe the method/step, “decoding the information included in the preamble of the received frame”.
Therefore claim 50 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement
The subject matter was not described in the specification (see paragraph 0038, Table 2, Table 4) in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and /or use the invention.
Claims 52 and 54 are also rejected for the same reason as set forth above for claim 24.
Claims 24-29, 31-32, and 36-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 24 broadly recites in lines 1-2, “An access point apparatus that performs communication compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard…”, without reciting any specific release/version. Hence, the claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), since it is unclear which version/release of 802.11 the claim is referring.
Claims 36, 37, 40, 51 and 52 are also rejected for the same reason as set forth above for claim 24.
Claims 25-29, 31-32, 36-39, 41-50, 52 and 54 are also rejected since they are dependent on the respective independent claims 24, 40, 51 and 53, respectively as set forth above.
For purpose of examination, the examiner interprets the limitation as best understood.
Notice re prior art available under both pre-AIA and AIA
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 24, 26-27, 31, 36-46, 48-49, 51 and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US Pub. No.: 2016/0366637), and further in view of Oteri et al. (JP2018506219A).
As per claim 24, Barriac disclose An access point device (see Fig.1, Fig.2, Fig.6, An AP A 210) that performs communication compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard (see Fig.1, para. 0025, 0026, 0030, 0031, the wireless communication system 100 operate pursuant to a wireless standard, for example the IEEE 802.11 standard, the wireless communication system 100 includes an AP 104, which communicates with STAs (e.g., STAs 112, 114, 116, and 118), see Fig.2, AP 210) comprising:
at least one memory that stores a set of instructions (see Fig.6, Memory 606, see para. 0077-0078); and
at least one processor (a processor 604, see para. 0077-0078) that executes the instructions, the instructions, when executed, causing the access point apparatus (see Fig. 6, para. 0078-0080, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processing system to perform the various functions described herein) to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from another access point apparatus, a trigger frame (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0048-0052, the AP A 210, receiving a trigger frame / a beacon frame from the neighboring APs (e.g., beacon frames from the AP B 220, the AP C 230, and the AP E 250 / another access point apparatus);
controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0048-0052, controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame, see also para. 0053-0060, see para. 0056, "the AP A 210 negotiate with a neighbor access point (i.e., the AP A 210, the AP a 220, the AP C 230, or the AP E 250) to determine whether to defer to the OBSSs associated with the neighbor access point. For example, through negotiation, the AP A 210 may estimate the interference it causes to the access point and the stations" and on para. 0065, "The STA A 215 may receive, from the AP A 210, a management frame with the ass indications IE 322. The ass indications IE 322 may include an indication instructing the STA A 215 to defer to BSS A, 211,BSS C 231, BSS D 241, and BSS E 251"); and
transmitting a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation (see Fig.2, Fig.3, para. 0046-0049, the management frame 310 is an association response frame, the management frame 310 is a beacon frame, the AP A 210 includes the indications in each beacon frame sent by the AP A 210 for the BSS A 211, the AP A 210 includes the indications in a selected subset of beacon frames of all beacon frames sent by the AP A 210 for the BSS A 211, the AP A 210 includes the indications in one beacon frame of every N beacon frames, N being an integer greater than 1, the MAC header 312 include the indications, the indications included in a physical header (e.g., in a color field of a PHY header 340 in a preamble of a frame) that is separate from the MAC header 312 / information related to the cooperative operation), and
the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of the other access point apparatus (see Fig.2, Fig.3, para. 0046-0049, the MAC header 312 include the indications, the indications included in a physical header (e.g., in a color field of a PHY header 340 in a preamble of a frame) that is separate from the MAC header 312. As described below in more detail, the indications may include one or more colors 332 and/or one or more BSSIDs 334. The colors 332 correspond to colors to which a device is expected to defer communications and/or colors to which a device is not expected to defer communications and if the indications are color information (e.g., a 6-bit identifier), then the access points determine to use the same color for all BSSIDs associated with the same access point).
Although Barriac disclose transmitting a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation, and the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of other access point apparatus;
Barriac however does not explicitly disclose wirelessly transmitting a frame related to the cooperative operation.
Oteri however disclose wirelessly transmitting a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170 describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and transmits wirelessly with preambles and data fields, and when the AP finds that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS when a new BSS is newly started, the AP selects a new BSS color value through AP-to-AP cooperation when notified by those STAs that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS), and the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of other access point apparatus (see para. 0169, 0170, when a new BSS starts new BSS, the AP has a new BSs, the new BSS color value is selected through the AP pair, also IEEE 802.11 device (eg, an IEEE 802.11 AP in a BSS) uses a beacon frame to announce the presence of a WLAN network, an AP, such as AP 102, wirelessly transmit a beacon on a channel, eg, a fixed channel such as a primary channel, also the AP uses the color announcement frame change to announce the BSS color change, which is a beacon, a short beacon, or as a (sub) element in any part of management, control, extension, see also para. 0046, 0145-0146, 0168-0172, Fig.22, Fig.24).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality to wirelessly transmitting a frame related to the cooperative operation, as taught by Oteri, in the system of Barriac, so as to improve the performance of high density WLAN deployments by using an enhanced BSS color format, see Oteri, page 1.
As per claim 26, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
Oteri further disclose wherein the access point apparatus wirelessly transmits the frame using a frequency band that is at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, and a 6 GHz band (see para. 0030, the access point apparatus wirelessly transmits the frame using a frequency band that is at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band).
As per claim 27, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
Oteri further disclose wherein the access point apparatus wirelessly transmits the frame via Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) communication using a plurality of antennas(see para. 0019, the access point apparatus wirelessly transmits the frame via Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) communication using a plurality of antennas, see also para. 0045).
As per claim 31, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
Oteri further disclose wherein a role related to the cooperative operation is decided by communication performed between the access point apparatus and the other access point apparatus (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170, describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and a role related to the cooperative operation is decided by communication performed between the access point apparatus and the other access point apparatus).
As per claim 38, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
Barriac further disclose wherein the access point apparatus causes, based on reception of the trigger frame, a timing of transmission of the frame by the access point apparatus to be synchronized with a timing of transmission of a frame by the other access point apparatus (see para. 0036, a timing of transmission of the frame by the access point apparatus to be synchronized with a timing of transmission of a frame by the other access point apparatus).
As per claim 39, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
Barriac further disclose wherein the trigger frame includes second information identifying a station apparatus to which the access point apparatus is to transmit the frame (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0040-0044, 0046-0048, the indications may include one or more colors 332 and/or one or more BSSIDs 334. The colors 332 may correspond to colors to which a device is expected to defer communications and/or colors to which a device is not expected to defer communications, the management frame 310 may be an association response frame. Prior to joining the BSS A 211, the STA A 215 may send an association request to the AP A 210 to request to be associated with the BSS A 211. Upon deciding to accept the association request of the STA A 215, the AP A 210 sends an association response frame to the STA A 215. In one aspect, the frame body 316 of the association response frame may include the indications of the BSSIDs whose packets must be deferred to or the BSSIDs whose packets the STA A 215 need not defer to).
As per claim 36, claim 36 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
As per claim 37, claim 37 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
As per claim 40, Barriac disclose A station apparatus (see Fig.1, STA 114, Fig.2, STA A 215, Fig.6, the wireless device 602 implemented as a station, see para. 0086) that performs communication compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard (see Fig.1, para. 0025, 0026, 0030, 0031, the wireless communication system 100 operate pursuant to a wireless standard, for example the IEEE 802.11 standard, the wireless communication system 100 includes an AP 104, which communicates with STAs (e.g., STAs 112, 114, 116, and 118), comprising:
at least one memory (see Fig.6, Memory 606) that stores a set of instructions; and at least one processor (see Fig.6, Processor 604) that executes the instructions, the instructions, when executed, causing the station apparatus to perform operations (see para. 0011, 0014, 0077-0081, the processor 604 typically performs logical and arithmetic operations based on program instructions stored within the memory 606, the instructions in the memory 606 is executable (by the processor 604) to implement the methods described herein) comprising:
receiving, from an access point apparatus, a frame including a preamble and a data field (see Fig.2, Fig.3, para. 0009-0011, 0013-0014, 0030-0032, 0036-0037, an indication is transmitted (receiving at STA) to the one or more stations in an association response, in a management frame, or in a beacon frame, and per Fig.3, para. 0045-0048, the frame includes a preamble and a data field, see also para. 0039-0044, 0052-0053, 0058-0060),
wherein the access point apparatus receives, from another access point apparatus different from the access point apparatus, a trigger frame (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0048-0052, the AP A 210, receiving a trigger frame / a beacon frame from the neighboring APs (e.g., beacon frames from the AP B 220, the AP C 230, and the AP E 250 / another access point apparatus), and performs, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame(see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0048-0052, controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame (see also para. 0053-0060, see para. 0056, "the AP A 210 negotiate with a neighbor access point (i.e., the AP A 210, the AP a 220, the AP C 230, or the AP E 250) to determine whether to defer to the OBSSs associated with the neighbor access point. For example, through negotiation, the AP A 210 may estimate the interference it causes to the access point and the stations" and on para. 0065, "The STA A 215 may receive, from the AP A 210, a management frame with the ass indications IE 322. The ass indications IE 322 may include an indication instructing the STA A 215 to defer to BSS A, 211,BSS C 231, BSS D 241, and BSS E 251"),
wherein the preamble of the frame includes information related to the cooperative operation (see Fig.2, Fig.3, para. 0046-0049, the management frame 310 is an association response frame, the management frame 310 is a beacon frame, the AP A 210 includes the indications in each beacon frame sent by the AP A 210 for the BSS A 211, the AP A 210 includes the indications in a selected subset of beacon frames of all beacon frames sent by the AP A 210 for the BSS A 211, the AP A 210 includes the indications in one beacon frame of every N beacon frames, N being an integer greater than 1, the MAC header 312 include the indications, the indications included in a physical header (e.g., in a color field of a PHY header 340 in a preamble of a frame) that is separate from the MAC header 312 / information related to the cooperative operation), and
the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of the other access point apparatus (Fig.2, Fig.3, see para. 0039-0044, para. 0046-0049, the MAC header 312 include the indications, the indications included in a physical header (e.g., in a color field of a PHY header 340 in a preamble of a frame) that is separate from the MAC header 312. As described below in more detail, the indications may include one or more colors 332 and/or one or more BSSIDs 334. The colors 332 correspond to colors to which a device is expected to defer communications and/or colors to which a device is not expected to defer communications and if the indications are color information (e.g., a 6-bit identifier), then the access points determine to use the same color for all BSSIDs associated with the same access point).
Although Barriac disclose receiving a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation, and the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of other access point apparatus;
Barriac however does not explicitly disclose wirelessly receiving, from an access point apparatus, a frame including a preamble and a data field.
Oteri however disclose wirelessly receiving a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170 describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and transmits wirelessly with preambles and data fields, and when the AP finds that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS when a new BSS is newly started, the AP selects a new BSS color value through AP-to-AP cooperation when notified by those STAs that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS), and the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of other access point apparatus (see para. 0169, 0170, when a new BSS starts new BSS, the AP has a new BSs, the new BSS color value is selected through the AP pair, also IEEE 802.11 device (eg, an IEEE 802.11 AP in a BSS) uses a beacon frame to announce the presence of a WLAN network, an AP, such as AP 102, wirelessly transmit a beacon on a channel, eg, a fixed channel such as a primary channel, also the AP uses the color announcement frame change to announce the BSS color change, which is a beacon, a short beacon, or as a (sub) element in any part of management, control, extension, see also para. 0046, 0145-0146, 0168-0172, Fig.22, Fig.24).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality to wirelessly receiving, from an access point apparatus, a frame including a preamble and a data field, as taught by Oteri, in the system of Barriac, so as to improve the performance of high density WLAN deployments by using an enhanced BSS color format, see Oteri, page 1.
As per claim 41, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Oteri further disclose wherein the cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard is a cooperative operation related to Multi-AP Coordination defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170, describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and the cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard is a cooperative operation related to Multi-AP Coordination defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard).
As per claim 42, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Oteri further disclose wherein the station apparatus wirelessly receives the frame using a frequency band that is at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, and a 6 GHz band (see para. 0030, the access point apparatus wirelessly transmits the frame using a frequency band that is at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band).
As per claim 43, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Oteri further disclose wherein the station apparatus wirelessly receives the frame via Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) communication using a plurality of antennas (see para. 0019, the access point apparatus wirelessly transmits the frame via Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) communication using a plurality of antennas, see also para. 0045).
As per claim 44, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Oteri further disclose wherein the preamble of the frame includes the information that is received by the access point apparatus from the other access point apparatus and that indicates the BSS color of the other access point apparatus (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170 describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and transmits wirelessly with preambles and data fields, and when the AP finds that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS when a new BSS is newly started, the AP selects a new BSS color value through AP-to-AP cooperation when notified by those STAs that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS).
As per claim 45, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 44.
Oteri further disclose wherein the information is received by the access point apparatus from the other access point apparatus via wireless communication using at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, and a 6 GHz band (see para. 0030, the access point apparatus obtains the information using at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band).
As per claim 46, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Oteri further disclose wherein a role related to the cooperative operation is decided by communication performed between the access point apparatus and the other access point apparatus (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170, describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and a role related to the cooperative operation is decided by communication performed between the access point apparatus and the other access point apparatus).
As per claim 48, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Barriac further disclose wherein the frame to be received in the receiving is transmitted at a timing that is synchronized, by the access point apparatus based on reception of the trigger frame, with a timing of transmission of a frame by the other access point apparatus (see para. 0036, a timing of transmission of the frame by the access point apparatus to be synchronized with a timing of transmission of a frame by the other access point apparatus).
As per claim 49, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
Barriac further disclose wherein the trigger frame includes second information identifying, as a station apparatus to which the access point apparatus is to transmit the frame, the station apparatus (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0040-0044, 0046-0048, the indications may include one or more colors 332 and/or one or more BSSIDs 334. The colors 332 may correspond to colors to which a device is expected to defer communications and/or colors to which a device is not expected to defer communications, the management frame 310 may be an association response frame. Prior to joining the BSS A 211, the STA A 215 may send an association request to the AP A 210 to request to be associated with the BSS A 211. Upon deciding to accept the association request of the STA A 215, the AP A 210 sends an association response frame to the STA A 215. In one aspect, the frame body 316 of the association response frame may include the indications of the BSSIDs whose packets must be deferred to or the BSSIDs whose packets the STA A 215 need not defer to).
As per claim 51, claim 51 is rejected the same way as claim 40.
As per claim 53, claim 53 is rejected the same way as claim 40.
Claims 25, 28, 29, 32 and 47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US Pub. No.: 2016/0366637, in view of Oteri et al. (JP2018506219A) and further in view of Vermani et al. (US Pub. No.:2019/0045366).
As per claim 25, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
The combination of Barriac and Oteri however does not explicitly disclose wherein the cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard is a cooperative operation related to Multi-AP Coordination defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard.
Vermani however disclose wherein a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard is a cooperative operation related to Multi-AP Coordination defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard (see Fig.6A-C, Fig.7A-C, Fig. 8A-B, para. 0094-0096, 0098, Fig.9, para. 0100-0106, a cooperative operation related to Multi-AP Coordination defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality wherein a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard is a cooperative operation related to Multi-AP Coordination defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard, so as to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point (AP) or multiple APs by sharing the channel resources while achieving high data throughputs, see Vermani, para. 0003-0005, 0010-0015.
As per claim 28, the combination of Barriac, Oteri and Vermani disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 25.
Oteri further disclose wherein the operations further comprise obtaining the information via wireless communication from the other access point apparatus (see para. 0003,0146,0169,0170 describe that the IEEE802. 11 performs cooperative operation and transmits wirelessly with preambles and data fields, and when the AP finds that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS when a new BSS is newly started, the AP selects a new BSS color value through AP-to-AP cooperation when notified by those STAs that the OBSS can use the same color value as the current BSS).
As per claim 29, the combination of Barriac, Oteri and Vermani disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 28.
Oteri further disclose wherein the access point apparatus obtains the information using at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, and a 6 GHz band (see para. 0030, the access point apparatus obtains the information using at least one of a sub-GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band).
As per claim 32, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the access point apparatus according to claim 24.
The combination of Barriac and Oteri however does not explicitly disclose wherein the access point apparatus determines a timing when the frame is to be transmitted based on the trigger frame.
Vermani however disclose wherein an access point apparatus determines a timing when a frame is to be transmitted based on a trigger frame (see Fig.6A-C, Fig.7A-C, para. 0086-0089, an access point apparatus determines a timing when a frame is to be transmitted based on a trigger frame).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality wherein an access point apparatus determines a timing when a frame is to be transmitted based on a trigger frame, in the system of Barriac and Oteri, so as to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point (AP) or multiple APs by sharing the channel resources while achieving high data throughputs, see Vermani, para. 0003-0005, 0010-0015.
As per claim 47, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
The combination of Barriac and Oteri however does not explicitly disclose wherein the frame to be received in the receiving is transmitted at a timing determined by the access point apparatus based on the trigger frame.
Vermani however disclose wherein the frame to be received in the receiving is transmitted at a timing determined by the access point apparatus based on the trigger frame (see Fig.6A-C, Fig.7A-C, para. 0086-0089, an access point apparatus determines a timing when a frame is to be transmitted based on a trigger frame).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality wherein the frame to be received in the receiving is transmitted at a timing determined by the access point apparatus based on the trigger frame, as taught by Vermani, in the system of Barriac and Oteri, so as to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with a single access point (AP) or multiple APs by sharing the channel resources while achieving high data throughputs, see Vermani, para. 0003-0005, 0010-0015.
Claims 50, 52 and 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US Pub. No.: 2016/0366637, in view of Oteri et al. (JP2018506219A) and further in view of Patil et al. (US Pub. No.:2018/0184285).
As per claim 50, the combination of Barriac and Oteri disclose the station apparatus according to claim 40.
The combination of Barriac and Oteri however does not explicitly disclose wherein the operations further comprise decoding the information included in the preamble of the received frame.
Patil however disclose wherein an operation further comprise decoding information included in a preamble of a received frame (see Fig.1, para. 0121, 0127, 0138, having a device (e.g., a STA) decode more of or a whole frame / decoding information included in a preamble of a received frame, see also para. 0144, 0194).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of an operation further comprise decoding information included in a preamble of a received frame, as taught by Patil, in the system of Barriac and Oteri, so as to support BSS attribute collision detection and resolution and identifying a first attribute value associated with a first AP, receiving a second attribute value, and determining that the first attribute value associated with the first AP is the same as the received second attribute value, the second attribute value is associated with a second AP, the first attribute value, the second attribute value, or both may be a BSS color, an attribute value is an n-bit value, where n is an integer, the n-bit value may identify a BSS color, see Patil, para. 0003, 0005-0010.
As per claim 52, claim 52 is rejected the same way as claim 50.
As per claim 54, claim 54 is rejected the same way as claim 50.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Second Rejection:
Claims 24, 36-37, 40, 51 and 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barriac et al. (US Pub. No.: 2016/0366637), and further in view of Park et al. (IEEE 802.11-18 - Overview of PHY Features for EHT, 11-2018).
As per claim 24, Barriac disclose An access point device (see Fig.1, Fig.2, Fig.6, An AP A 210) that performs communication compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard (see Fig.1, para. 0025, 0026, 0030, 0031, the wireless communication system 100 operate pursuant to a wireless standard, for example the IEEE 802.11 standard, the wireless communication system 100 includes an AP 104, which communicates with STAs (e.g., STAs 112, 114, 116, and 118), see Fig.2, AP 210) comprising:
at least one memory that stores a set of instructions (see Fig.6, Memory 606, see para. 0077-0078); and
at least one processor (a processor 604, see para. 0077-0078) that executes the instructions, the instructions, when executed, causing the access point apparatus (see Fig. 6, para. 0078-0080, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processing system to perform the various functions described herein) to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from another access point apparatus, a trigger frame (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0048-0052, the AP A 210, receiving a trigger frame / a beacon frame from the neighboring APs (e.g., beacon frames from the AP B 220, the AP C 230, and the AP E 250 / another access point apparatus);
controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame (see Fig.2, Fig.3, 0048-0052, controlling to perform, with the other access point apparatus, a cooperative operation compliant with IEEE 802.11 standard based on the trigger frame, see also para. 0053-0060, see para. 0056, "the AP A 210 negotiate with a neighbor access point (i.e., the AP A 210, the AP a 220, the AP C 230, or the AP E 250) to determine whether to defer to the OBSSs associated with the neighbor access point. For example, through negotiation, the AP A 210 may estimate the interference it causes to the access point and the stations" and on para. 0065, "The STA A 215 may receive, from the AP A 210, a management frame with the ass indications IE 322. The ass indications IE 322 may include an indication instructing the STA A 215 to defer to BSS A, 211,BSS C 231, BSS D 241, and BSS E 251"); and
transmitting a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation (see Fig.2, Fig.3, para. 0046-0049, the management frame 310 is an association response frame, the management frame 310 is a beacon frame, the AP A 210 includes the indications in each beacon frame sent by the AP A 210 for the BSS A 211, the AP A 210 includes the indications in a selected subset of beacon frames of all beacon frames sent by the AP A 210 for the BSS A 211, the AP A 210 includes the indications in one beacon frame of every N beacon frames, N being an integer greater than 1, the MAC header 312 include the indications, the indications included in a physical header (e.g., in a color field of a PHY header 340 in a preamble of a frame) that is separate from the MAC header 312 / information related to the cooperative operation), and
the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of the other access point apparatus (see Fig.2, Fig.3, para. 0046-0049, the MAC header 312 include the indications, the indications included in a physical header (e.g., in a color field of a PHY header 340 in a preamble of a frame) that is separate from the MAC header 312. As described below in more detail, the indications may include one or more colors 332 and/or one or more BSSIDs 334. The colors 332 correspond to colors to which a device is expected to defer communications and/or colors to which a device is not expected to defer communications and if the indications are color information (e.g., a 6-bit identifier), then the access points determine to use the same color for all BSSIDs associated with the same access point).
Although Barriac disclose transmitting a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation, and the information indicates a Basic Service Set (BSS) color of other access point apparatus;
Barriac however does not explicitly disclose wirelessly transmitting a frame related to the cooperative operation.
Park however disclose wirelessly transmitting a frame including a preamble and a data field, wherein the preamble includes information related to the cooperative operation (see slides 14-15, "PHY Features for Multi-AP Coordination -Impairments and Requirements• We focus on the joint transmission, i.e., distributed (MU) MIMO where channel information and data sharing is required among APs- Although the joint transmission is a quite complex method, it can effectively achieve the objectives of EHT, i.e., enhancing the throughput and efficiency compared to other coordination methods such as Multi-AP scheduling, interference nulling, dynamic AP
selection, etc.• For a reliable performance of the joint transmission, there are several factors to
be considered such as sampling frequency offset, carrier frequency offset, phase drift and
transmission timing• Under these impairments, performance should be evaluated and consequently the
hardware requirement needs to be specified• Also, due to the implementation complexity, we can also
consider restricting the maximum number of APs participating in the joint transmission. To enable the joint transmission, AP selection rule and noble sounding procedure need to be designed• One possible procedure is proposed in [21] There are one master AP and several slave APs which participate in the joint transmission- Master AP manages the joint transmission- Channel reciprocity can be used for precoding matrix computation in the joint transmission", shows that multi-AP scheduling and joint transmission are practiced in an EHT based network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of when the access point device and the other access point device cooperatively transmit a radio frame addressed to a common station, as taught by Park, in the system of Barriac, so as to increase throughput and improve efficiency, see Park, slides 6 and 7.
As per claim 36, claim 36 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
As per claim 37, claim 36 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
As per claim 40, claim 40 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
As per claim 51, claim 51 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
As per claim 53, claim 53 is rejected the same way as claim 24.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Itagaki (US Pub. No.:2017/0257817) – see Fig.7, para. 0146-0156, “In the case where there is no information indicating the BSSID in the MAC header, or if the BSSID is the same as the BSSID of the BSS in question (step S822), step S827 is subsequently performed. When the information indicating the BSSID exists in the MAC header and the BSSID is different from the BSSID of the BSS in question (step S822), the control unit 240 determines whether the packet is a beacon frame or not (step S823). In the case where the packet is a beacon frame (step S823), the control unit 240 determines whether the COLOR information in the payload in the beacon frame is the same as the COLOR of the BSS in question (step S824)”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR whose telephone number is (571)272-1335. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7 am - 4 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached on 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
