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 .
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 § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 15-17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gan et al. (US 20220060280).
Regarding claim 1, Gan discloses, A first station (STA) (Par. 0081, fig. 2, plurality of STA and communication between STAs) comprising:
one or more processors (Par. 0042); and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (Par. 0042), cause the first STA to:
receive, from a second STA while transmitting a first frame to the second STA, a second frame indicating a payload unit, of the first frame, received in error by the second STA (Par. 0085, MPDU includes frame header, frame body and frame check sequence. Par. 0100, receiving end receiving the A-MPDU (i.e. while transmission end transmitting first frame that includes payload (MPDU)) sends acknowledgement feedback information to the transmit end to notify that MPDU (i.e. payload) in A-MPDU transmitted this time was unsuccessfully received, Par. 0087 mechanism of replying with a simple Ack (acknowledgment) frame is used, and whether to send the acknowledgment frame indicates whether the MPDU or the S-MPDU is successfully received; and for an A-MPDU including at least two MPDUs, a block acknowledgment (Block Ack) frame or a multi-station block acknowledgment (Multi-STA Block Ack) frame is used for a reply discloses i.e. in muti STA system while Transmit STA transmitting a frame that includes MPDU payload, it receives from receiving STA acknowledgment frame that indicates payload (i.e. MPDU) was not successfully received or it had error in receiving) ; and
transmit, to the second STA, an extension of the first frame comprising the payload unit received in error by the second STA (Par. 0286, retransmission MPDU that failed last time. Par. 0290. A-MPDU subframe that corresponds to the retransmitted MPDU, i.e. resending the first frame that was failed to be received by receiving STA. the A-MPDU subframe corresponding to the retransmitted MPDU is placed after the preamble of the existing PPDU and before a service field. Note: Fields included before and after the existing PPDU sequentially include the physical layer preamble, the service field, and the A-MPDU, and optionally further include a physical layer padding bit and a packet extension, i.e. transmit STA retransmit A-MPDU that corresponds to retransmitted MPDU (i.e. previously failed MPDU) that includes packet or frame extension. Packet extension = extra field added at end of the frame to give receiving STA extra processing time).
Regarding claim 2, The first STA of claim 1,
Gan further discloses, wherein the first frame comprises a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein the payload unit comprises a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU), and wherein the second frame comprises an acknowledgment frame (Par. 0083, transmit end generates (i.e. first frame that gets transmitted by transmit STA) MAC frame, encapsulates the MAC frame into a physical layer protocol data unit (PHY protocol data unit, PPDU). Par. 0095, A-MPDU, then adds a physical layer preamble (where the physical layer preamble usually includes a non-HT (non-high throughput) (legacy) preamble and a next-generation physical layer preamble) to form a PPDU, and sends the PPDU through an antenna of the transmit end. Par. 0087 mechanism of replying with a simple Ack (acknowledgment) frame is used, and whether to send the acknowledgment frame indicates whether the MPDU or the S-MPDU is successfully received).
Regarding claim 15, Gan meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Gan meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 17, The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,
Gan further discloses, wherein the extension is transmitted after a last field of the first frame, without an interframe spacing between the first frame and the extension (Par. 0241, fig. 11, is a schematic diagram of a PPDU. The PPDU includes a preamble and a data field, and optionally further includes a packet extension (packet extension, PE) field, fig. 11 shows packet extension (PE) field is a last field of the PPDU frame, i.e. packet extension is transmitted at part same PPDU frame that is retransmission without spacing between first frame and extension).
Regarding claim 18, The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17,
Gan further discloses, wherein the last field of the first frame comprises a packet extension (PE) field. Gan further discloses wherein the last field of the first frame comprises a packet extension (PE) field (Par. 0241, fig. 11, is a schematic diagram of a PPDU. The PPDU includes a preamble and a data field, and optionally further includes a packet extension (packet extension, PE) field, fig. 11 shows packet extension (PE) field is a last field of the PPDU frame).
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 3-5 and 8-12 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gan et al. (US 20220060280), in view of Sun et al. (US 20230199845).
Regarding claim 3, The first STA of claim 1,
Gan does not disclose, wherein the first frame and the extension are transmitted via a first link between the first STA and the second STA.
Sun discloses, wherein the first frame and the extension are transmitted via a first link between the first STA and the second STA (Par. 0042 PPDU (i.e. first frame) on first link and ack (i.e. acknowledgement from receiving device sending second frame) on second link. Sending long PPDU that contains padding (i.e. padding = adding extension to frame) for high priority such as for use in retransmissions).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Gan by teaching of sending the first frame and the extension are transmitted via a first link between the first STA and the second STA, as taught by Sun, to handle real time application traffic with reduced latency with use of a secondary link for receiving acknowledgement (Ack), as disclosed in Sun par. 0007 and 0009.
Regarding claim 4, The first STA of claim 3,
Gan further discloses, wherein the extension is transmitted after a last field of the first frame, without an interframe spacing between the first frame and the extension (Par. 0241, fig. 11, is a schematic diagram of a PPDU. The PPDU includes a preamble and a data field, and optionally further includes a packet extension (packet extension, PE) field, fig. 11 shows packet extension (PE) field is a last field of the PPDU frame, i.e. packet extension is transmitted at part same PPDU frame that is retransmission without spacing between first frame and extension).
Regarding claim 5, The first STA of claim 4,
Gan further discloses wherein the last field of the first frame comprises a packet extension (PE) field (Par. 0241, fig. 11, is a schematic diagram of a PPDU. The PPDU includes a preamble and a data field, and optionally further includes a packet extension (packet extension, PE) field, fig. 11 shows packet extension (PE) field is a last field of the PPDU frame).
Regarding claim 8, Gan discloses, A first station (STA) (Par. 0081, fig. 2, plurality of STA and communication between STAs, any STA can be transmitting STA or receiving STA) comprising:
one or more processors (Par. 0042); and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (Par. 0042), cause the first STA to:
detect, while receiving a first frame from a second STA, an error in a payload unit of the first frame (Par. 0085, MPDU includes frame header, frame body and frame check sequence. Par. 0100, receiving end receiving the A-MPDU (i.e. while transmission end transmitting first frame that includes payload (MPDU)) sends acknowledgement feedback information to the transmit end to notify that MPDU (i.e. payload) in A-MPDU transmitted this time was unsuccessfully received, Par. 0087 mechanism of replying with a simple Ack (acknowledgment) frame is used, and whether to send the acknowledgment frame indicates whether the MPDU or the S-MPDU is successfully received; and for an A-MPDU including at least two MPDUs, a block acknowledgment (Block Ack) frame or a multi-station block acknowledgment (Multi-STA Block Ack) frame is used for a reply discloses i.e. in muti STA system while Transmit STA transmitting a frame that includes MPDU payload, it receives from receiving STA acknowledgment frame that indicates payload (i.e. MPDU) was not successfully received or it had error in receiving) ;
transmit, to the second STA, a second frame indicating the payload unit in error (Par. 0085, MPDU includes frame header, frame body and frame check sequence. Par. 0100, receiving end receiving the A-MPDU (i.e. while transmission end transmitting first frame that includes payload (MPDU)) sends acknowledgement feedback information to the transmit end to notify that MPDU (i.e. payload) in A-MPDU transmitted this time was unsuccessfully received, Par. 0087 mechanism of replying with a simple Ack (acknowledgment) frame is used, and whether to send the acknowledgment frame indicates whether the MPDU or the S-MPDU is successfully received; and for an A-MPDU including at least two MPDUs, a block acknowledgment (Block Ack) frame or a multi-station block acknowledgment (Multi-STA Block Ack) frame is used for a reply discloses i.e. in muti STA system while Transmit STA transmitting a frame that includes MPDU payload, it receives from receiving STA acknowledgment frame that indicates payload (i.e. MPDU) was not successfully received or it had error in receiving); and
receive, from the second STA, an extension of the first frame comprising the payload unit in error (Par. 0286, retransmission MPDU that failed last time. Par. 0290. A-MPDU subframe that corresponds to the retransmitted MPDU, i.e. resending the first frame that was failed to be received by receiving STA. the A-MPDU subframe corresponding to the retransmitted MPDU is placed after the preamble of the existing PPDU and before a service field. Note: Fields included before and after the existing PPDU sequentially include the physical layer preamble, the service field, and the A-MPDU, and optionally further include a physical layer padding bit and a packet extension, i.e. transmit STA retransmit A-MPDU that corresponds to retransmitted MPDU (i.e. previously failed MPDU) that includes packet or frame extension. Packet extension = extra field added at end of the frame to give receiving STA extra processing time).
Gan discloses, first STA or receiving STA transmitting to transmitting STA or second STA, an acknowledgement frame or second frame indicating payload or MPDU unsuccessfully received. However Gan explicitly does not disclose, sending acknowledgement frame without waiting for an end of reception of the first frame.
Sun discloses, sending acknowledgement frame without waiting for an end of reception of the first frame (Par. 0183-0184, originator MLD (i.e. originator device) may transmit a long PPDU (i.e. Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit considered as a physical layer frame) on a first link. The long PPDU may consist of one or more AMPDUs to one or more recipient MLD or STAs. The recipient MLD may perform an ack by sending an acknowledgement frame on a second link before the transmission of the long PPDU on the first link is completed. This is denoted as a quick ack, i.e. sending ack frame before end of reception of PPDU or frame sent by originator).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Gan by teaching of sending acknowledgement frame or second frame without waiting for an end of reception of the first frame, as taught by Sun, to provide quick acknowledgements to speed up the retransmissions to reduce the latency, as disclosed in Sun par. 0010.
Regarding claim 9, the first STA of claim 8,
Gan further discloses, wherein the first frame comprises a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein the payload unit comprises a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) (Par. 0083, transmit end generates (i.e. first frame that gets transmitted by transmit STA) MAC frame, encapsulates the MAC frame into a physical layer protocol data unit (PHY protocol data unit, PPDU). Par. 0095, A-MPDU, then adds a physical layer preamble (where the physical layer preamble usually includes a non-HT (non-high throughput) (legacy) preamble and a next-generation physical layer preamble) to form a PPDU, and sends the PPDU through an antenna of the transmit end. Par. 0087 mechanism of replying with a simple Ack (acknowledgment) frame is used, and whether to send the acknowledgment frame indicates whether the MPDU or the S-MPDU is successfully received), and wherein the error in the payload unit of the first frame corresponds to an error in a Frame Check Sequence (FCS) associated with the MPDU (Par. 0085, the MPDU generally includes a frame header, a frame body (Frame Body), and a frame check sequence (Frame Check Sequence, FCS). The FCS is used to check whether the MPDU is correctly transmitted).
Regarding claim 10, The first STA of claim 9,
Gan in view of Sun further discloses, wherein transmitting the second frame comprises transmitting the second frame before an end of reception of a subsequent MPDU of the PPDU (Sun Par. 0183-0184, originator MLD (i.e. originator device) may may transmit a long PPDU (i.e. Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit considered as a physical layer frame) on a first link. The long PPDU may consist of one or more AMPDUs to one or more recipient MLD or STAs. The recipient MLD may perform an ack by sending an acknowledgement frame on a second link before the transmission of the long PPDU on the first link is completed. This is denoted as a quick ack, Sun Par. 0247, the quick ack information for an MPDU may be sent before the AMPDU finishes its transmission on the first link i.e. sending ack frame or second frame before end of reception of MPDU included in PPDU sent by originator).
Regarding claim 11, The first STA of claim 8,
Gan in view of Sun further discloses, wherein the first frame and the extension of the first frame are received via a first link between the first STA and the second STA (Sun Par. 0042 PPDU (i.e. first frame) on first link and ack (i.e. acknowledgement from receiving device sending second frame) on second link. Sending long PPDU that contains padding (i.e. padding = adding extension to frame) for high priority such as for use in retransmissions).
Regarding claim 12, The first STA of claim 11,
Gan further discloses, wherein the extension is received after a last field of the first frame, without an interframe spacing between the first frame and the extension (Par. 0241, fig. 11, is a schematic diagram of a PPDU. The PPDU includes a preamble and a data field, and optionally further includes a packet extension (packet extension, PE) field, fig. 11 shows packet extension (PE) field is a last field of the PPDU frame, i.e. packet extension is transmitted at part same PPDU frame that is retransmission without spacing between first frame and extension).
Claims 6 and 19 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gan et al. (US 20220060280), in view of Yu et al. (US 20240283494).
Regarding claim 6, The first STA of claim 1,
Gan does not disclose, wherein the extension of the first frame comprises an aggregated signal field (A-SIG) and a signaling field, and wherein the signaling field comprises one or more of:
a Universal Signal field (U-SIG),
an ultra-high reliability (UHR) Signal Field (UHR-SIG),
an UHR Short Training Field (UHR-STF) field,
a UHR Long Training field (UHR-LTF), and
a UHR Signal Field 2 (UHR-SIG 2).
Yu discloses, wherein the extension of the first frame comprises an aggregated signal field (A-SIG) and a signaling field (Par. 0251-0256, fig. 8a, discloses PPDU frame that includes preamble and a packet extension, preamble further includes a universal signal field (U-SIG), par. 0028 discloses PPDU includes a data field and a preamble PPDU includes the data field, in addition to the universal signal field and the extremely high throughput signal field, the aggregated control subfield of the data field may also be used as the first identifier field) , and wherein the signaling field comprises one or more of:
a Universal Signal field (U-SIG) (Par. 0251-0256, fig. 8a, discloses PPDU frame that includes preamble and a packet extension, preamble further includes a universal signal field (U-SIG)),
an ultra-high reliability (UHR) Signal Field (UHR-SIG),
an UHR Short Training Field (UHR-STF) field,
a UHR Long Training field (UHR-LTF), and
a UHR Signal Field 2 (UHR-SIG 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Gan by teaching of wherein the extension of the first frame comprises an aggregated signal field (A-SIG) and a signaling field comprises a Universal Signal field (U-SIG), as taught by Yu, to better handle complexity of wireless channels and future proofing the network.
Regarding claim 19, Gan in view of Yu meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 6.
Claims 7 and 20 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gan et al. (US 20220060280), in view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 20170181187).
Regarding claim 7, The first STA of claim 1,
Gan further discloses, wherein the extension of the first frame comprises a packet extension (PE) field (Par. 0286, retransmission MPDU that failed last time. Par. 0290. A-MPDU subframe that corresponds to the retransmitted MPDU, i.e. resending the first frame that was failed to be received by receiving STA. the A-MPDU subframe corresponding to the retransmitted MPDU is placed after the preamble of the existing PPDU and before a service field. Note: Fields included before and after the existing PPDU sequentially include the physical layer preamble, the service field, and the A-MPDU, and optionally further include a physical layer padding bit and a packet extension, i.e. transmit STA retransmit A-MPDU that corresponds to retransmitted MPDU (i.e. previously failed MPDU) that includes packet or frame extension. Packet extension = extra field added at end of the frame to give receiving STA an extra processing time).
Gan does not disclose, wherein the PE field indicates the extension to the second STA.
Asterjadhi discloses, wherein the PE field indicates the extension to the second STA (Par. 0102, The packet extension field 1414 can indicate whether a STA 120 has to account for or include packet extension (PE) symbols at the end of a response PPDU, or otherwise utilize a PE technique. In some embodiments, PE may allow for devices receiving packets to have additional processing time to accurately process the information contained in the packet. In some aspects, the packet extension field 1414 may indicate one or more of an a-factor, a LDPC extra symbol, or a PE duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Gan by teaching of wherein the PE field indicates the extension to the second STA, as taught by Asterjadhi, to allow for devices receiving packets to have additional processing time to accurately process the information contained in the packet, as disclosed in Asterjadhi par. 0102.
Regarding claim 20, Gan in view of Asterjadhi meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 7.
Claim 13 is rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gan et al. (US 20220060280), in view of Sun et al. (US 20230199845), in further view of Yu et al. (US 20240283494).
Regarding claim 13, The first STA of claim 8,
Gan in view of Sun does not disclose, wherein the extension of the first frame comprises an aggregated signal field (A-SIG)
and a signaling field, and wherein the signaling field comprises one or more of:
a Universal Signal field (U-SIG),
an UHR Signal Field (UHR-SIG),
an UHR Short Training Field (UHR-STF) field,
a UHR Long Training field (UHR-LTF), and
a UHR Signal Field 2 (UHR-SIG 2).
Yu discloses, wherein the extension of the first frame comprises an aggregated signal field (A-SIG) and a signaling field (Par. 0251-0256, fig. 8a, discloses PPDU frame that includes preamble and a packet extension, preamble further includes a universal signal field (U-SIG), par. 0028 discloses PPDU includes a data field and a preamble PPDU includes the data field, in addition to the universal signal field and the extremely high throughput signal field, the aggregated control subfield of the data field may also be used as the first identifier field) , and wherein the signaling field comprises one or more of:
a Universal Signal field (U-SIG) (Par. 0251-0256, fig. 8a, discloses PPDU frame that includes preamble and a packet extension, preamble further includes a universal signal field (U-SIG)),
an ultra-high reliability (UHR) Signal Field (UHR-SIG),
an UHR Short Training Field (UHR-STF) field,
a UHR Long Training field (UHR-LTF), and
a UHR Signal Field 2 (UHR-SIG 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Gan in view of Sun by teaching of wherein the extension of the first frame comprises an aggregated signal field (A-SIG) and a signaling field comprises a Universal Signal field (U-SIG), as taught by Yu, to better handle complexity of wireless channels and future proofing the network.
Claim 14 is rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gan et al. (US 20220060280), in view of Sun et al. (US 20230199845), in further view of Asterjadhi et al. (US 20170181187).
Regarding claim 14, The first STA of claim 8,
Gan further discloses, wherein the extension of the first frame comprises a packet extension (PE) field (Par. 0286, retransmission MPDU that failed last time. Par. 0290. A-MPDU subframe that corresponds to the retransmitted MPDU, i.e. resending the first frame that was failed to be received by receiving STA. the A-MPDU subframe corresponding to the retransmitted MPDU is placed after the preamble of the existing PPDU and before a service field. Note: Fields included before and after the existing PPDU sequentially include the physical layer preamble, the service field, and the A-MPDU, and optionally further include a physical layer padding bit and a packet extension, i.e. transmit STA retransmit A-MPDU that corresponds to retransmitted MPDU (i.e. previously failed MPDU) that includes packet or frame extension. Packet extension = extra field added at end of the frame to give receiving STA an extra processing time).
Gan in view of Sun does not disclose, wherein the PE field indicates the extension to the second STA.
Asterjadhi discloses, wherein the PE field indicates the extension to the second STA (Par. 0102, The packet extension field 1414 can indicate whether a STA 120 has to account for or include packet extension (PE) symbols at the end of a response PPDU, or otherwise utilize a PE technique. In some embodiments, PE may allow for devices receiving packets to have additional processing time to accurately process the information contained in the packet. In some aspects, the packet extension field 1414 may indicate one or more of an a-factor, a LDPC extra symbol, or a PE duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Gan in view of Sun by teaching of wherein the PE field indicates the extension to the second STA, as taught by Asterjadhi, to allow for devices receiving packets to have additional processing time to accurately process the information contained in the packet, as disclosed in Asterjadhi par. 0102.
Conclusion
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/A.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2422
/JOHN W MILLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2422
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