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 .
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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claims 1-20 are rejected in the Instant Application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-5, 7, 15-16, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horn et al. (US20190037392A1) hereinafter Horn in view of Tsujimaru (US20230155791A1) hereinafter Tsujimaru
Regarding claim 1. Horn teaches a method (¶0102 a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus) comprising:
beginning, by a client device, a first connection with an Access Point (AP) (¶0075 see initiate the LTE and WLAN interworking procedures, such as the UE sending the authentication request in step 4), wherein the client device is a multi-Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) capable device (¶0049 see As seen in FIG. 5, the UE 110 sends the flows corresponding to some bearers via the 3GPP access (as indicated as flow 502) and other bearers via the Wi-Fi AP (as indicated as flow 504).);
generating, by the client device, a Multi-Wi-Fi Device Identifier (MWDI) (¶0061 see identifiers for the UE 110 used in WLAN (such as IEEE 48 bit MAC ID) are different from the identifiers used by the UE 110 in, for example, LTE (e.g., Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier/Identification (C-RNTI) or Global Unique Temporary Identifier/Identification (GUTI)) [MWDI]);
sending, by the client device, the MWDI to the AP during a four-way handshake for the first connection (¶0061 see send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used.¶0069 see when the UE requests access in RRC, via NAS, or as part of the WLAN association procedures [handshake], the UE request may include an identifier of the UE);
beginning, by the client device, a second connection with the AP after establishing the first connection (¶0008 see first set of one or more identifiers in a wide area wireless network (WWAN) <first connection> and by a second set of one or more identifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN) <second connection> ); and
sending, by the client device, the MWDI to the AP during a four-way handshake for the second connection (¶0061 see the UE 110 may need to either send the eNB 122 the WLAN MAC address or equivalent to be used or send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used <both connections utilize global identifier> sent by UE)
Horn teaches the MWDI however does not explicitly teach wherein the AP is configured to determine, based on the MWDI, that both the first connection and the second connection are originating from a same client device and apply a policy applied to the first connection also to the second connection in response to determining that both the first connection and the second connection are originating from the same client device
Tsujimaru however in the same field of computer networking teaches wherein the AP is configured to determine, based on the identifier, that both the first connection and the second connection are originating from a same client device and apply a policy applied to the first connection also to the second connection in response to determining that both the first connection and the second connection are originating from the same client device (¶0030 see if the communication apparatus 102 creates a plurality of networks, the BSSIDs of the respective networks are the same. Note that BSSID is an acronym for Basic Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying a network. The communication apparatus 102 sets a common SSID as an SSID indicated in each network [policy]. Note that SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying an access point. In this embodiment, even if the communication apparatus 102 establishes a plurality of connections, one SSID is used. A communication apparatus 103 is a communication apparatus functioning as a station (STA), and joins the network 101 created by the communication apparatus 102 to communicate with the communication apparatus 102)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of computer networking at the effective filing date of the claimed invention given the multiple connections of Horn and the teachings of Tsujimaru for identifying communication from the same device and applying a policy to combine the teachings such that Horn utilizes the teachings of Tsujimaru to identity and apply policy to network traffic. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the results of the combination are predictable because each element in the combination is merely performing the same function it would perform separately. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because doing so will control communication for collectively controlling communication in a plurality of radio links (Tsujimaru ¶0006)
Regarding claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first connection operates in a first frequency band and the second connection operates in a second frequency band, the second frequency band being different from the first frequency band (Horn ¶0082 see WLAN APs may be identified as target identifier, i.e., corresponding to a specific WLAN AP, or a group of WLAN APs, and target frequency, i.e., corresponding to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band).
Regarding claim 3. The already combined references teach wherein the first connection is formed using a first network stack and the second connection is formed using a second network stack (Horn ¶0038 see UE 110 may be able to receive packet-switched (PS) data services from LTE network 102 and may camp on the LTE network while in the idle mode. LTE network 102 may have limited or no support for voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP), which may often be the case for early deployments of LTE networks. Due to the limited VoIP support, UE 110 may be transferred to another wireless network of another RAT for voice calls)
Regarding claim 4. The already combined references teach the method of claim 1, sending the MWDI to the AP during the four-way handshake for the first connection comprises sending the MWDI to the AP in a fourth message of the four-way handshake for the first connection (Horn Fig 10 elements 4a-5b).
Regarding claim 5. The already combined references teach wherein the four-way handshake comprises an Extensible Authentication Protocol over Local Area Network (LAN) (EAPOL) handshake (Horn ¶0069 see security procedures such as integrity protection may be used to confirm the UE's identity matches in the other access, e.g., through the use of the EAPOL signalling in WLAN as part of the association procedure)
Regarding claim 7. The already combined references teach the method of claim 1, wherein the first connection is associated with a first network and the second connection is associated with a second network, the second network being different from the first network (Horn ¶0085 see operations may be performed, for example, by a UE. The operations 1200 begin, at 1202, by establishing communications with a wide area wireless network (WWAN) and a wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN and by a second set of one or more identifiers in the WLAN).
Regarding claim 15. Horn teaches a method comprising:
establishing, by a client device, a first connection with an Access Point (AP) (¶0075 see initiate the LTE and WLAN interworking procedures, such as the UE sending the authentication request in step 4), wherein the client device is a multi-Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) capable device (¶0049 see As seen in FIG. 5, the UE 110 sends the flows corresponding to some bearers via the 3GPP access (as indicated as flow 502) and other bearers via the Wi-Fi AP (as indicated as flow 504).);
beginning, by the client device, a second connection with the AP after establishing the first connection (¶0008 see first set of one or more identifiers in a wide area wireless network (WWAN) <first connection> and by a second set of one or more identifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN) <second connection>);
generating, by the client device, a multi-Wi-Fi Device Identifier (MWDI) comprising a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the first connection (¶0061 see identifiers for the UE 110 used in WLAN (such as IEEE 48 bit MAC ID) are different from the identifiers used by the UE 110 in, for example, LTE (e.g., Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier/Identification (C-RNTI) or Global Unique Temporary Identifier/Identification (GUTI)) [MWDI]); and
Horn teaches sending, by the client device, the MWDI to the AP during a four-way handshake for the second connection (¶0061 see the UE 110 may need to either send the eNB 122 the WLAN MAC address or equivalent to be used or send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used <both connections utilize global identifier> sent by UE), Horn further teaches MWDI however does not explicitly teach wherein the AP is configured to determine, based on the identifier, that both the first connection and the second connection are originating from a same client device and apply a policy applied to the first connection also to the second connection
Tsujimaru however in the same field of computer networking teaches wherein the AP is configured to determine, based on the identifier, that both the first connection and the second connection are originating from a same client device and apply a policy applied to the first connection also to the second connection (¶0030 see if the communication apparatus 102 creates a plurality of networks, the BSSIDs of the respective networks are the same. Note that BSSID is an acronym for Basic Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying a network. The communication apparatus 102 sets a common SSID as an SSID indicated in each network [policy]. Note that SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying an access point. In this embodiment, even if the communication apparatus 102 establishes a plurality of connections, one SSID is used. A communication apparatus 103 is a communication apparatus functioning as a station (STA), and joins the network 101 created by the communication apparatus 102 to communicate with the communication apparatus 102)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of computer networking at the effective filing date of the claimed invention given the multiple connections of Horn and the teachings of Tsujimaru for identifying communication from the same device and applying a policy to combine the teachings such that Horn utilizes the teachings of Tsujimaru to identity and apply policy to network traffic. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the results of the combination are predictable because each element in the combination is merely performing the same function it would perform separately. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because doing so will control communication for collectively controlling communication in a plurality of radio links (Tsujimaru ¶0006)
Regarding claim 16. The already combined references teach the method of claim 15, wherein sending the MWDI to the AP during the four-way handshake for the second connection comprises sending the MWDI to the AP in a fourth message of the four-way handshake for the second connection (Horn Fig 10 elements 4a-5b).
Regarding claim 18. The already combined references teach the method of claim 15, wherein the first connection operates in a first frequency band and the second connection operates in a second frequency band, the second frequency band being different from the first frequency band (Horn ¶0082 see WLAN APs may be identified as target identifier, i.e., corresponding to a specific WLAN AP, or a group of WLAN APs, and target frequency, i.e., corresponding to a specific WLAN channel or a WLAN band).
Regarding claim 19. The already combined references teach the method of claim 15, wherein the first connection is associated with a first network and the second connection is associated with a second network, the second network being different from the first network (Horn ¶0085 see operations may be performed, for example, by a UE. The operations 1200 begin, at 1202, by establishing communications with a wide area wireless network (WWAN) and a wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN and by a second set of one or more identifiers in the WLAN).
Regarding claim 20. The already combined references teach the method of claim 15,
Horn does not explicitly teach wherein the policy comprises Quality of Service (QoS) parameters
Tsujimaru however in the same field of computer networking teaches wherein the policy comprises Quality of Service (QoS) parameters (Tsujimaru ¶0068 see A-MSDU Supported is information indicating whether the STA supports A-MSDU at the time of transmitting a QoS Data frame in Block Ack communication.. Block Ack Policy is information indicating whether Block Ack communication to be used)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of computer networking at the effective filing date of the claimed invention given the parameters of Horn and the teachings of Tsujimaru for utilizing QoS policy to combine the teachings such that Horn utilizes the QoS policy. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the results of the combination are predictable because each element in the combination is merely performing the same function it would perform separately. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because doing so will control communication for collectively controlling communication in a plurality of radio links (Tsujimaru ¶0006)
Claims 8-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsujimaru (US20230155791A1) hereinafter Tsujimaru in view of Horn et al. (US20190037392A1) hereinafter Horn
Regarding claim 8. Tsujimaru teaches a method (¶0088 see method can be applied to multi-band communication using more frequency bands) comprising:
receiving, by an Access Point (AP) from a client device, multi-Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) capability information of the client device in a first association request for a first connection (Tsujimaru Fig 4 element S404 see ADDBA response….¶0069 see ADDBA Extension field 711 stores ADDBA Capabilities information);
generating, by the AP, a Multi-Wi-Fi Device Identifier (MWDI) for the client device in response to the multi-Wi-Fi capability information indicating that the client device is a multi-Wi-Fi capable device in the first association request (¶0030 see The communication apparatus 102 sets a common SSID as an SSID indicated in each network. Note that SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifie);
sending, by the AP, the MWDI to the client device during a four-way handshake for the first connection (¶0057 see the communication apparatus 102 notifies the communication apparatus 103 of the frequency bands to be used for Block Ack communication);
receiving, by the AP, the response from the client device during the four-way handshake for the first connection as an acknowledgement (Fig 4 see 4way handshake..¶0057 see information concerning the frequency bands to be used for Block Ack communication (S402, step S503). In this embodiment, the communication apparatus 102 makes a notification of the information concerning the frequency bands to be used for Block Ack communication using an ADDBA Request frame);
receiving, by the AP from the client device, the multi-Wi-Fi capability information of the client device in a second association request for a second connection after establishing the first connection (¶0030 see if the communication apparatus 102 creates a plurality of networks, the BSSIDs of the respective networks are the same. Note that BSSID is an acronym for Basic Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying a network. The communication apparatus 102 sets a common SSID as an SSID indicated in each network [policy]. Note that SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying an access point. In this embodiment, even if the communication apparatus 102 establishes a plurality of connections, one SSID is used. A communication apparatus 103 is a communication apparatus functioning as a station (STA), and joins the network 101 created by the communication apparatus 102 to communicate with the communication apparatus 102);
generating, by the AP, another MWDI for the client device in response to determining that the client device is a multi-Wi-Fi capable device from the multi-Wi-Fi information in the second association request (¶0058 see the communication apparatus 102 transmits, to the communication apparatus 103, the ADDBA Request frame including the information concerning the 5-GHz band as the information concerning the frequency band to be used for Block Ack communication.. the frequency band to be used for Block Ack communication in the ADDBA Request frame may include information concerning the frequency band in which the ADDBA Request frame is transmitted); and
sending, by the AP, the another MWDI to the client device during a four-way handshake for the second connection, wherein the client device is configured to determine whether to use the another MWDI for the second connection (Fig 4 elements S402-405 ..¶0030 see Note that SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying an access point. In this embodiment, even if the communication apparatus 102 establishes a plurality of connections, one SSID is used. A communication apparatus 103 is a communication apparatus functioning as a station (STA), and joins the network 101 created by the communication apparatus 102 to communicate with the communication apparatus 102).
Tsujimaru teaches receiving by the client information from the AP however does not explicitly teach receiving, by the AP, the response from the client device
Horn however in the same field of computer networking teaches receiving, by the AP, the MWDI from the client device (¶0061 see send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used.¶0069 see when the UE requests access in RRC, via NAS, or as part of the WLAN association [handshake] procedures, the UE request may include an identifier of the UE)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of computer networking at the effective filing date of the claimed invention given the AP and device communication of Tsujimaru and the teachings of Horn for the device to send communication id to combine the teachings such that Tsujimaru utilizes the ID of Horn. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the results of the combination are predictable because each element in the combination is merely performing the same function it would perform separately. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because doing so will allow for devices to communicate over multiple networks (Horn ¶0004)
Regarding claim 9. The already combined references teach the method of claim 8, wherein the client device being configured to determine whether to use the another MWDI for the second connection comprises the client device being configured to update a local data base with if the another MWDI when the MWDI is not available at the client device (Tsujimaru ¶0051 see radio control frame generated by the frame generation unit 302 can be generated based on settings stored in the storage unit 201 ¶0056 see select a frequency band in which Block Ack communication with the communication apparatus 103 can be executed [settings are stored locally and utilized to identify which frequency to send on]).
Regarding claim 10. The already combined references teach the method of claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, by the AP, the MWDI from the client device during the four-way
handshake for the second connection (Tsujimaru ¶0061 see the communication apparatus 102 can transmit an acknowledgement (Ack) (S405). Then, communication parameters to be used for Block Ack communication between the communication apparatuses 102 and 103 are confirmed).
Regarding claim 11. The already combined references teach the method of claim 10, further comprising:
determining, by the AP, that the second connection is also originating from a same client device as the first connection based on the MWDI received in during the four-way handshake for the second connection (Tsujimaru ¶0030 see the communication apparatus 102 creates a plurality of networks, the BSSIDs of the respective networks are the same. Note that BSSID is an acronym for Basic Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying a network); and
applying, by the AP, a policy applied to the first connection also to the second connection in response to determining that the second connection is also originating from the same client device as the first connection (Tsujimaru ¶0030 The communication apparatus 102 sets a common SSID as an SSID indicated in each network. Note that SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier, and is an identifier for identifying an access point. In this embodiment, even if the communication apparatus 102 establishes a plurality of connections, one SSID is used [policy]).
Regarding claim 12. The already combined references teach the method of claim 10, wherein receiving the MWDI from the client device during the four-way handshake for the second connection comprises receiving the MWDI from the client device in a fourth message of the four-way handshake for the second connection (Horn Fig 10 elements 4a-5b).
Regarding claim 13. The already combined references teach the method of claim 8, wherein the first connection operates in a first frequency band and the second connection operates in a second frequency band, the second frequency band being different from the first frequency band (Tsujimaru ¶0033 see the communication apparatus 102 can establish, with the communication apparatus 103, the first connection using the first frequency channel in the 2.4-GHz band and the second connection using the second frequency channel in the 5-GHz band, thereby executing communication via the first connection and the second connection).
Regarding claim 14. The already combined references teach the method of claim 8, wherein:
sending the MWDI to the client device during the four-way handshake for the first connection comprises sending the MWDI to the client device in a third message of the four-way handshake for the first connection (Tsujimaru ¶0057 see communication apparatus 102 transmits, to the communication apparatus 103 in the frequency band decided in step S502, information concerning the frequency bands to be used for Block Ack communication (S402, step S503). In this embodiment, the communication apparatus 102 makes a notification of the information concerning the frequency bands to be used for Block Ack communication using an ADDBA Request frame [Request]); and
receiving the MWDI from the client device during the four-way handshake for the first connection comprises receiving the MWDI from the client device in a fourth message of the four-way handshake for the first connection (Horn¶0061 see send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used.¶0069 see when the UE requests access in RRC, via NAS, or as part of the WLAN association [handshake] procedures, the UE request may include an identifier of the UE.. Fig 10 elements 4a-5b)
Claims 6, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horn-Tsujimaru further in view of Radpour (US20130103939A1) hereinafter Radpour
Regarding claim 6. Horn-Tsujimaru teaches the method of claim 1, wherein sending the MWDI to the AP during the four-way handshake for the first connection comprises sending the MWDI in an send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used.¶0069 see when the UE requests access in RRC, via NAS, or as part of the WLAN association procedures [handshake], the UE request may include an identifier of the UE .. Horn Fig 10 elements 4a-5b)
Horn-Tsujimaru does not explicitly teach encrypted information element during a four-way handshake
Radpour however in the same field of computer networking teaches encrypted information element during a four-way handshake (¶0076 see MD 1110 and AP 1210 can perform a four-way handshake utilizing the encryption key)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of computer networking at the effective filing date of the claimed invention given the four way handshake of Horn and the teachings of Radpour for encrypted communications for the four way handshake to combine the teachings such that Horn utilizes the encrypted handshakes. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the results of the combination are predictable because each element in the combination is merely performing the same function it would perform separately. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because doing so will provide secure wireless communications between the mobile device and the at least one wireless access point (Radpour ¶0019)
Regarding claim 17. Horn-Tsujimaru teaches the method of claim 15, wherein sending the MWDI to the AP during the four-way handshake for the second connection comprises sending the MWDI send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI or equivalent to be used.¶0069 see when the UE requests access in RRC, via NAS, or as part of the WLAN association procedures [handshake], the UE request may include an identifier of the UE .. Horn Fig 10 elements 4a-5b)
Horn-Tsujimaru does not explicitly teach encrypted information element during a four-way handshake
Radpour however in the same field of computer networking teaches encrypted information element during a four-way handshake (¶0076 see MD 1110 and AP 1210 can perform a four-way handshake utilizing the encryption key)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of computer networking at the effective filing date of the claimed invention given the four way handshake of Horn and the teachings of Radpour for encrypted communications for the four way handshake to combine the teachings such that Horn utilizes the encrypted handshakes. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the results of the combination are predictable because each element in the combination is merely performing the same function it would perform separately. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because doing so will provide secure wireless communications between the mobile device and the at least one wireless access point (Radpour ¶0019)
Conclusion
References are cited not only for their quoted language but for all that they teach.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Atta Khan whose telephone number is 571-270-7364. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 09:00-6:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Srivastava can be reached on (571) 272-7304. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ATTA KHAN/
Examiner, Art Unit 2449
Prosecution Insights