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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-16, 19, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
1. (Proposed Amendment) An access point (AP), comprising:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, individually or collectively, perform an operation comprising:
transmitting a public media access control (MAC) address to a station (STA) for communicating with the AP as the STA associates with the AP;
responsive to the STA associating with the AP, transmitting a private MAC address to the STA, such that the STA communicates with the AP using the private MAC address instead of the public MAC address; and
rotating the private MAC address to a new private MAC address, wherein the STA remains associated with the AP while the private MAC address is rotated to the new private MAC address.
4. (Proposed Amendment) The AP of claim 1, wherein the STA is one of a plurality of STAs associated with the AP and wherein the operation further comprises:
prior to rotating the private MAC address, transmitting a first trigger frame to each of the plurality of STAs indicating that the private MAC address will rotate to a new private MAC address, wherein the first trigger frame comprises the new private MAC address;
receiving responses from each STA in a subset of STAs of the plurality of STAs acknowledging that each STA in the subset of the STAs received the first trigger frame; and
responsive to receiving the response from the subset of the STAs, transmitting a second trigger frame informing the subset of the STAs to use the new private MAC address instead of the private MAC address.
7. (Proposed Amendment) The AP of claim 6, wherein transmitting the vector of the MAC addresses comprises:
transmitting an algorithm for computing the new private MAC address from the vector of the MAC addresses and a rotation timing, wherein the STA is communicated with the AP through the new private MAC address determined from the algorithm and the rotation timing.
9. (Proposed Amendment) A method, comprising:
transmitting, by an access point (AP), a public media access control (MAC) address to a station (STA) for communicating with the AP as the STA associates with the AP;
responsive to the STA associating with the AP, transmitting a private MAC address to the STA, such that the STA communicates with the AP using the private MAC address instead of the public MAC address; and
rotating the private MAC address to a new private MAC address, wherein the STA remains associated with the AP while the private MAC address is rotated to the new private MAC address.
12. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 9, wherein the STA is one of a plurality of STAs associated with the AP and further comprises:
prior to rotating the private MAC address, transmitting a first trigger frame to each of the plurality of STAs indicating that the private MAC address will rotate to a new private MAC address, wherein the first trigger frame comprises the new private MAC address;
receiving responses from each STA in a subset of STAs of the plurality of STAs acknowledging that each STA in the subset of the STAs received the first trigger frame; and
responsive to receiving the response from the subset of the STAs, transmitting a second trigger frame informing the subset of the STAs to use the new private MAC address instead of the private MAC address.
14. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 9, wherein the STA is one of a plurality of STAs associated with the AP and further comprises:
prior to rotating the private MAC address, transmitting a vector of MAC addresses; and
wherein rotating to the new private MAC address comprises sequentially rotating the private MAC address to a next one of the MAC addresses in the vector of the MAC addresses.
15. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the vector of the MAC addresses comprises:
transmitting an algorithm for computing the new private MAC address from the vector of the MAC addresses and a rotation timing, wherein the STA is communicated with the AP through the new private MAC address determined from the algorithm and the rotation timing.
19. (Proposed Amendment) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise[[s]]:
prior to rotating the private MAC address, transmitting a first trigger frame to the STA indicating that the private MAC address will rotate to a new address, wherein the first trigger frame comprises the new private MAC address;
receiving a response from the STA acknowledging that the STA received the first trigger frame; and
responsive to receiving the response from the STA, transmitting a second trigger frame informing the STA to use the new private MAC address instead of the private MAC address.
20. (Proposed Amendment) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the STA is one of a plurality of STAs associated with the AP and wherein the operations further comprise[[s]]:
prior to rotating the private MAC address, transmitting a first trigger frame to each of the plurality of STAs indicating that the private MAC address will rotate to a new address, wherein the first trigger frame comprises the new private MAC address;
receiving responses from each STA in a subset of STAs of the plurality of STAs acknowledging that each STA in the subset of the STAs received the first trigger frame; and
responsive to receiving the response from the subset of the STAs, transmitting a second trigger frame informing the subset of the STAs to use the new private MAC address instead of the private MAC address.
Claims 2, 3, 5, and 8 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 1, therefore they are also objected.
Claims 10, 11, 13, and 16 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 9, therefore they are also objected.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-5, 11-13, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 depends on claim 1, claim 11 depends on claim 9, and claim 19 depends on claim 17. However, the phrase “a new address” recited in claims 3 and 19, and the phrase “a new private MAC address” recited in claim 11 are vague and indefinite because each of the independent claims 1, 9, and 17 already recited “a new private MAC address”. Without the clarification of the differences, cause the phrase “the new private MAC address” recited in claim 3 (lines 4 and 8), claim 4 (lines 5-6 and 10), claim 11 (lines 4 and 8), claim 12 (lines 5-6 and 10), claim 19 (lines 5 and 9), and claim 20 (lines 6 and 10) lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 5 depends on claim 4, therefore it is also rejected.
Claim 13 depends on claim 12, therefore it is also rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 9, 10, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barton (US 2023/0319943 A1), hereinafter “Barton”.
Barton illustrates a wireless AP 106 in FIG. 1 that rotates its AP MAC address/BSSID (i.e., perform “AP RCM”) while maintaining association continuity with one or more associated STAs 108.
FIG. 9 illustrates a hardware block diagram of a computing device 900 that may perform functions associated with operations discussed herein in connection with the techniques depicted in FIGS. 1-8 in various embodiments, a computing device or apparatus, such as computing device 900 or any combination of computing devices 900, may be configured as any entity/entities as discussed for the techniques depicted in connection with FIGS. 1-8 in order to perform operations of the various techniques discussed herein. For example, computing device 900 may represent AP 106 and/or each of STAs 110. See paragraph [0072].
As shown in FIG. 9, the computing device 900 may be any apparatus that may include one or more processor(s) 902, one or more memory element(s) 904, storage 906, a bus 908, one or more network processor unit(s) 910 interconnected with one or more network input/output (I/O) interface(s) 912, one or more I/O interface(s) 914, and control logic 920. In various embodiments, instructions associated with logic for computing device 900 can overlap in any manner and are not limited to the specific allocation of instructions and/or operations described herein. See paragraph [0073].
Barton teaches that the AP 106 rotates its MAC address (which may be a natural result for mobile APs and virtual APs, for example), which is instantiated on STAs that were associated to the AP prior to the rotation. The embodiments allow the AP to rotate its MAC address without losing association continuity to the STAs. For example, one embodiment uses an initial or first trigger frame transmitted from the AP to the STAs informing the STAs (i) that an AP MAC rotation is about to occur, and (ii) which (new) AP MAC address/BSSID to use. A second trigger frame informs all of the STAs of the moment that the AP MAC address/BSSID has changed, allowing continuity of association for all of the STAs. See paragraph [0019].
Barton also teaches that the AP may perform AP RCM. That is, the AP 106 may rotate its current BSSID (i.e., AP MAC address) to a new BSSID that is configured on the AP. As described above, conventional AP RCM is disruptive. That is, when the AP 106 rotates from the current BSSID to the new BSSID, the current association/connection of the STA(1) to the AP based on the current BSSID is torn down or cleared, thus forcing the AP and the STA to repeat exchanges 200 to reestablish the association and secure connection with the AP based on the new BSSID. See paragraph [0023].
Barton also teaches that the AP 106 may perform AP RCM to rotate from its current BSSID to a new BSSID, while maintaining association/connection continuity with one or more associated STAs. In this way, the AP 106 and the associated STAs fully bypass re-authentication, reassociation, and the repeated 4-way handshake, and simply begin communicating with each other using the new BSSID after the AP RCM. The embodiments provide a seamless handoff for the associated STAs from the current or original BSSID to the new BSSID without losing connectivity to the AP. See paragraph [0024].
Barton further teaches that an AP rotates its MAC address (which may be a natural result for mobile APs and virtual APs, for example), which is instantiated on STAs that were associated to the AP prior to the rotation. The embodiments allow the AP to rotate its MAC address without losing association continuity to the STAs. For example, one embodiment uses an initial or first trigger frame transmitted from the AP to the STAs informing the STAs (i) that an AP MAC rotation is about to occur, and (ii) which (new) AP MAC address/BSSID to use. A second trigger frame informs all of the STAs of the moment that the AP MAC address/BSSID has changed, allowing continuity of association for all of the STAs. See paragraph [0071].
Regarding claim 1, Barton illustrates an access point (AP 106 in FIG. 1), comprising: one or more memories (one or more memory elements 904 in FIG. 9); and one or more processors (one or more processors 902 in FIG. 9) communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, individually or collectively, perform an operation comprising: transmitting a public media access control (MAC) address to a station (STA) for communicating with the AP as the STA associates with the AP (AP 106 communicating with an STA 108 that the initial MAC address used during standard association acts as a public identifier); responsive to the STA associating with the AP, transmitting a private MAC address to the STA, such that the STA communicates with the AP using the private MAC address instead of the public MAC address (the AP 106 uses trigger frames to assign and inform the STA of the MAC address/BSSID to use for ongoing communication); and rotating the private MAC address to a new private MAC address, wherein the STA remains associated with the AP while the private MAC address is rotated to the new private MAC address (the AP 106 rotates its MAC address/BSSID (performing “AP RCM”) while maintaining association continuity with the associated STAs 108. It specifically details the mechanism: a first trigger frame warns of the upcoming rotation and provides the new address, and a second trigger frame establishes the exact moment of change, ensuring zero loss of association continuity).
Although Barton does not explicitly label the initial address as “public,” an AP must broadcast a globally unique or public-facing identifier (BSSID) in beacons/probe responses for an STA to find and associate with it. Further, Barton does not explicitly call the MAC address/BSSID “private,” it is a well-known industry practice (such as in standard Wi-Fi Privacy/RCM protocols) to transition an associated STA to a designated private/randomized BSSID to prevent tracking. The first trigger frame serves this exact functional purpose of designating the specific MAC address that the STA must use.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to utilize a public-facing MAC address for initial discovery/association and subsequently transition to a private or restricted MAC address for continuing sessions to enhance network privacy and mitigate tracking attacks. Combining this standard privacy practice with Barton’s explicit teachings of rotating active AP MAC addresses via trigger frames achieves the exact claimed limitation of rotating addresses while maintaining seamless connection continuity.
Regarding claims 9 and 17, claim 9 is a method claim and claim 17 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium claim. The features recited in claims 9 and 17 correspond to the features of apparatus claim 1. Therefore, claims 9 and 17 are also rejected for the same reasons discussed with respect to claim 1.
Regarding claims 2, 10, and 18, Barton teaches AP-side Randomized and Changing MAC (AP RCM) where the AP informs the Stations (STAs) of its new address. The dependent claims introduce a “private MAC address” being transmitted to the AP. In other word, the claimed subject matter of “wherein the private MAC address is transmitted in an encoded signal to the AP” is both well-known in the art and inherent to standard wireless network communication protocols like IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi). In any wireless network (such as Wi-Fi/802.11), data cannot travel over the air as raw digital 1s and 0s. All information, including MAC addresses, frame headers, and payloads must be modulated, digitized, and converted into physical radio frequency (RF) waveforms.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8, 12-16, 10, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the objection(s) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 3-5, 11-13, 19, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wu et al. relates to a method comprising: allocating a private MAC address to a port number of the MPLS packet interface board, and establishing a correlation between the private MAC address and the public MAC address; obtaining the private MAC address and the port number corresponding to a destination public MAC address of the MPLS packet according to the correlation; substituting the private MAC address for the public MAC address in the MPLS packet; forwarding the MPLS packet to the corresponding port according to the private MAC address. The device comprises: an MPLS packet interface board arranged in an ether switching device, for providing a dedicated interface for MPLS packet forwarding; and a MAC address converting module, for converting between the public MAC address in the MPLS packet and the private MAC address in the ether switching device.
Gluck relates to a system and method of locking media access control (MAC) address of each entity to the entity's identity for formation of a secure peer group is disclosed. The identity of each entity includes at least the public key from the public-private key pair from public key infrastructure (PKI) and the entities' MAC address. Using the unique identifying features a security server links and locks the MAC address of the entity to its identity so that no other entity can identify itself as the owner of that MAC address to the secure server. A group of such entities and secure server with locked MAC addresses form a qualified and verifiable secure peer group enabled to establish a secure LAN.
REMAKER relates to a wireless access point may be configured to generate a random (or pseudo-random) MAC address to use on a wireless-side interface (and SSID broadcast), rather than using the burned-in MAC address. The wireless access point may be further configured to periodically change the wireless-side MAC address with a newly generated one whenever user-configurable triggering conditions are satisfied. As a result, a MAC address learned by a wi-fi sniffing device becomes obsolete shortly after being learned and cannot be used to correlate the actual location of the access point with the MAC address for any significant period of time.
Maruti et al. relates to a registration process where a user device is registering for access to a network, a public/private key pair may be generated based on a media access control (MAC) address of a user device. The generated public/private key pair may be transmitted to the user device for future access to the network. In some embodiments, where a user device is requesting access to a network, a MAC address embedded in a public key may be utilized to determine whether access to the network should be granted.
STAGG relates to an exemplary method relates to associating diverse devices each including a unique public media access control address (Public MAC address). In this exemplary embodiment, the method includes providing a plurality of devices with a shared private media access control address (Shared Private MAC address) such that the Shared Private MAC address is known to each of the devices and usable for initiating a learning interchange during which the devices exchange their unique Public MAC addresses with each other and are thereby associated with each other; and/or using a shared private media access control address (Shared Private MAC address) known to each of a plurality of devices to initiate a learning interchange that includes the devices exchanging their unique Public MAC addresses with each other and thereby associating the devices with each other.
MCCANN et al. relates to a method of changing a MAC address of a WLAN affiliated STA of a multi-link device (MLD) and related system, device and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. A new MAC address is generated for an affiliated non-AP STA of a non-AP MLD. A request to change the MAC address of the affiliated non-AP STA to the new MAC address is sent from the non-AP MLD to an AP MLD. An acknowledgement that the new MAC address for the affiliated non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD has been successfully applied by the AP MLD is received by the non-AP MLD from the AP MLD. The MAC address for the affiliated non-AP STA of the non-AP MLD is changed to the new MAC address in response to the acknowledgment.
YANG et al. relates to a method includes: sending, by the STA device, a first frame by a randomized media access control MAC address that is encrypted or signed to the AP device. The first frame is configured to carry a first sequence number, the first sequence number is configured to obtain a MAC address identity recognition key of the STA device by the AP device, and the MAC address identity recognition key is configured to verify the randomized MAC address. Alternatively, the method includes: sending, by a STA device, a first message to an AP device. The first message includes a list of candidate MAC addresses encrypted by a public key of the AP device, and the list of candidate MAC addresses includes at least one randomized MAC address generated by the STA device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Young T. Tse whose telephone number is (571)272-3051. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10:30am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh M Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Young T. Tse/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
