DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/3/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5, 7-9, 11-12, 14, and 17-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 20240056839 A1).
Considering claim 1, Kim teaches a method for multi-link reconfiguration, wherein at least one setup link exists between a first multi-link device (MLD) and a second MILD, the method comprising:
determining, by the first MLD ([0175] each link between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD is determined through (re)Association frame exchange during a multi-link setup process), whether to transmit to the second MLD a reconfiguration request frame (efficient frame exchange (e.g. load balancing, interference avoiding, etc.) for requesting to add one or more links to be added to the at least one setup link ([0178] each of APs 1 and 2 of the AP MLD is connected to Links 1 and 2 for two STAs 1 and 2 of the non-AP MLD through multi-link setup, [0179]), based on whether a link capability of the one or more links to be added is compatible with a link common capability of the least one setup link between the first MLD and the second MLD (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179] the AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change (e.g. Link add/Link delete/Link switching), [0184]), wherein
the link common capability refers to a capability common to the at least one setup link (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179] multi-link setup process, depending on the situation, you want more efficient frame exchange (e.g. load balancing, interference avoiding, etc.) or in various cases (e.g. STA turn off, etc.), the AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change (e.g. Link add/Link delete/Link switching), [0184]); and
transmitting, by the first MLD ([0175] frame exchange), the reconfiguration request frame to the second MILD, when the link capability of the one or more links to be added is compatible with the link common capability (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179] depending on the situation, you want more efficient frame exchange (e.g. load balancing, interference avoiding, etc.), the AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change (e.g. Link add/Link delete/Link switching), [0184]).
Considering claim 22, Kim teaches a multi-link device (MLD)
a memory storing computer readable programs which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
determine whether to transmit to the second MLD a reconfiguration request frame for requesting to add one or more links to be added to the at least one setup link ([0175] frame exchange during a multi-link setup process, [0179] AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change, [0184]), based on whether a link capability of one or more links to be added is compatible with a link common capability of the at least one setup link between the first MLD and the second MLD (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179] the AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change (e.g. Link add/Link delete/Link switching), [0184] ML Re-configuration is defined as adding/delete/modifying (i.e., switching) a link by an STA);
wherein the link common capability refers to a capability common to the at least one setup link (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179] multi-link setup process, depending on the situation, you want more efficient frame exchange (e.g. load balancing, interference avoiding, etc.) or in various cases (e.g. STA turn off, etc.), the AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change (e.g. Link add/Link delete/Link switching), [0184]); and
cause the first MLD to transmit the reconfiguration request frame to the second MLD, when the link capability of the one or more links to be added is compatible with the link common capability (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179] depending on the situation, you want more efficient frame exchange (e.g. load balancing, interference avoiding, etc.), the AP MLD or non-AP MLD may request a link configuration status change (e.g. Link add/Link delete/Link switching), [0184]).
Considering claim 2, Kim teaches wherein the link common capability comprises at least one of: a robust security network (RSN) capability common to the at least one setup link ([0085]); a robust security network element (RSNE) capability common to the at least one setup link; an extended RSNE capability common to the at least one setup link; or an RSN extended element capability common to the at least one setup link.
Considering claim 3, wherein whether the link capability of the one or more links to be added is compatible with the link common capability is determined based on:
Considering claim 4, Kim teaches wherein before the determining whether to transmit the reconfiguration request frame
Considering claim 5, Kim teaches wherein the STA information of the at least one second affiliated STA is carried in a probe response frame (Fig.3, [0082]).
Considering claim 7, Kim teaches wherein transmitting, by the first MLD, the reconfigurationone of: transmitting, by the first MLD, the reconfiguration request frame on one of the at least one setup link (Fig.13-14, [0177]-[0179], [0184]); or transmitting, by the first MLD, the reconfiguration
Considering claim 8, Kim teaches wherein the reconfiguration request frame comprises a first multi-link element, and the first multi-link element comprises at least one of: a first common information field indicating information that is common to the at least one link to be added and the at least one setup link; or a first link information field indicating at least one of: link information of the at least one link to be added (Fig.21, [0238] New Link ID field), or link information of at least one first setup link, wherein the at least one first setup link is a link associated with the at least one link to be added in the at least one setup link.
Considering claim 9, Kim teaches wherein the first common information field contains at least one of: MLD medium access control (MAC) address information of the first MLD; first common capability information indicating a capability that is common to the at least one setup link and the at least one link to be added; or first common operational information indicating an operation that is common to the at least one setup link and the at least one link to be added (Fig.13-14, 21, [0179], [0184], [0238] New Link ID).
Considering claim 11, Kim teaches wherein the first link information field contains STA information of an affiliated STA of the first MLD associated with each of the at least one link to be added (Fig.13-14, 21, [0179], [0184], [0238] New Link ID).
Considering claim 12, Kim teaches wherein the STA information is carried in a first per-STA profile subelement, and the first per-STA profile subelement comprises at least one of: a first subelement identity (ID) subfield indicating a subelement ID of the first per-STA profile subelement; a first length subfield indicating a length of the first per-STA profile subelement (Table 2, Fig.21); a first STA control subfield indicating STA control information; a first STA information subfield indicating STA information; or a first STA profile subfield indicating STA profile information.
Considering claim 14, Kim teaches wherein when the reconfigurationat least one setup link, the first multi-link element comprises the first common information field and the first link information field (Fig.13-14, 21, [0179], [0184], [0238] New Link ID); and for each of the at least one link to be added, link capability information and/or an operational parameter of the link to be added is carried in a first per-STA profile subelement of the link to be added in the first link information field (Fig.13-14, 21, [0179], [0184], [0238] New Link ID).
Considering claim 17, Kim teaches wherein in the at least one link to be added, link capability information of different links to be added is the same as common capability information of the at least one setup link, and/or operational parameters of different links to be added are the same as common operational information of the at least one setup link (Fig.17, [0209], [0238]-[0239] AP may accept a request for STA 3 to create a link with AP 3).
Considering claim 18, Kim teaches wherein the first multi-link element is a first addition reconfiguration multi-link element, and the first addition reconfiguration multi- link element is used for adding the at least one link to be added after completion of multi-link setup (Fig.13-14, 21, [0179], [0184], [0238] New Link ID).
Considering claim 19, Kim teaches whereinat least one of: a second common information field indicating information that is common to the at least one link to be added and the at least one setup link (Fig.13-14, 21, [0179], [0184], [0238]); or a second link information field indicating at least one of: link information of the at least one link to be added, or link information of at least one first setup link, wherein the first setup link is a link associated with the at least one link to be added in the at least one setup link.
Considering claim 20, Kim teaches wherein the second common information field comprises at least one of: MLD MAC address information of the second MLD (Fig.17, 21, [0209],[0238]-[0239]); second common capability information indicating a capability common to the at least one setup link and the at least one link to be added; second common operational information indicating an operation common to the at least one setup link and the at least one link to be added; a basic service set (BSS) parameter change count subfield used for counting a critical update to a BSS parameter; or a link ID indicating a link ID of a link for transmitting the first response frame.
Considering claim 21, Kim teaches wherein a link for transmitting the reconfiguration request frame is the same as a link for receiving a first response frame.
Considering claim 23, Kim teaches wherein a first-part transmission parameter applied to the at one or more links to be added
Considering claim 24, Kim teaches wherein the first-part parameter comprises at least one of: a pairwise transient key (PTK) or an association ID (AID) ([0087]).
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, 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.
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 20240056839 A1) in view of Kneckt et al. (US 20220418022 A1).
Considering claim 25, Kim do not clearly teach wherein the second-part parameter comprises at least one of: a group temporal key (GTK), an integrity group temporal key (IGTK), or a beacon integrity group temporal key (BIGTK).
Kneckt teaches wherein the second-part parameter comprises at least one of: a group temporal key (GTK), an integrity group temporal key (IGTK), or a beacon integrity group temporal key (BIGTK) ([0242]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filling date of the application to provide above teaching of Kneckt to Kim to reduced latency, reduced power consumption, and/or improved security.
Conclusion
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/KHAI M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641