Prior art — US Patent 10687281

I have successfully retrieved the patent information for US Patent No. 10,687,281. The next step is to analyze the "References Cited" section of this patent to identify the prior art. I will then proceed to find the full citation and publication/filing dates for each cited reference. After that, I will analyze each reference to understand its technical disclosures and compare them to the claims of US 10,687,281 to determine potential anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102. I have sufficient information to proceed with the analysis.

Analysis of Prior Art for U.S. Patent No. 10,687,281

Date of Analysis: April 26, 2026

Patent Under Review:

Patent Number: 10,687,281 B2
Title: Wireless communication method and wireless communication terminal, which use discontinuous channel
Assignee: Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.
Filing Date: June 22, 2018
Issue Date: June 16, 2020

Key Claimed Invention: The patent generally describes a method and apparatus for a wireless communication terminal to receive and decode a wireless packet by obtaining and utilizing non-contiguous channel allocation information. This information can be signaled in various fields of the packet's preamble, such as the HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B fields, and can indicate which channels or resource units are being used or punctured. The invention aims to improve efficiency in high-density wireless environments.

Analysis of Cited Prior Art

The following documents are cited as prior art in the prosecution history of U.S. Patent No. 10,687,281. This analysis assesses their relevance and potential to anticipate the claims of the patent under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

1. U.S. Patent No. 9,693,293 B2 (Stacey et al.)

Full Citation: US 9,693,293 B2, "Signaling a Bandwidth of a Transmission," Robert J. Stacey et al., assigned to Intel IP Corporation.
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Filing Date: April 1, 2015
Brief Description: This patent discloses a method for signaling the bandwidth of a data transmission in a wireless local area network (WLAN). It describes a technique where a signal field in a physical layer (PHY) preamble can indicate a specific channel bandwidth. The receiving station uses this information to decode the subsequent data portion of the transmission.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference is relevant to the general concept of signaling bandwidth information in a wireless packet. It could potentially anticipate the broader aspects of claims related to receiving a packet and using information within the preamble to determine the transmission channel characteristics. Specifically, it may be argued to anticipate portions of claims that describe using a field in a preamble (similar to HE-SIG-A) to indicate the overall bandwidth of the transmission. However, the '281 patent's claims are more specific about signaling non-contiguous channel allocation and the use of both HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B fields for this purpose, which may not be explicitly disclosed in Stacey et al.

2. U.S. Patent No. 10,034,289 B2 (Merlin et al.)

Full Citation: US 10,034,289 B2, "Apparatus and Methods for Preamble Puncturing," Simone Merlin et al., assigned to Qualcomm Incorporated.
Publication Date: July 24, 2018
Filing Date: February 27, 2015
Brief Description: Merlin et al. describe a method for puncturing, or leaving unused, certain sub-channels within a wider communication channel to avoid interference. The preamble of a data packet contains information indicating which sub-channels are punctured. This allows for more flexible and efficient use of the spectrum, especially in environments with narrowband interference.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This is a highly relevant prior art reference. It directly addresses the concept of "puncturing" channels, which is a form of non-contiguous channel usage. The claims of the '281 patent that relate to indicating "channel information to be punctured" within a total bandwidth are likely anticipated by Merlin et al. For example, claims that specify signaling unassigned channel information in units of a certain bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) within a larger bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or 160 MHz) appear to be taught by this reference. The distinction may lie in the specific implementation details of how this information is encoded in the HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B fields, which would require a more detailed claim-by-claim analysis.

3. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0171891 A1 (Park et al.)

Full Citation: US 2017/0171891 A1, "Method and Apparatus for Transmitting and Receiving Data Unit in Wireless Local Area Network," Minyoung Park et al.
Publication Date: June 15, 2017
Filing Date: December 9, 2016
Brief Description: This patent application discloses a method for transmitting and receiving a data unit in a WLAN system. It describes the structure of a Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) and the signaling of various parameters within its preamble, including information related to multi-user transmissions and resource allocation.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: Park et al. is relevant to the overall structure and signaling mechanisms of modern WLAN standards, particularly those related to High-Efficiency WLAN (HEW), also known as Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax). It likely discloses the general structure of HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B fields and their role in conveying information about resource units (RUs). The claims in the '281 patent that describe obtaining non-contiguous channel allocation information from the HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B fields, and the specific fields within them (e.g., resource unit allocation field), may be anticipated by the general framework for resource allocation described in this application. The novelty of the '281 patent would depend on the specific and detailed methods of signaling non-contiguous channel usage that are not explicitly taught by Park et al.

4. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0265229 A1 (Liu et al.)

Full Citation: US 2017/0265229 A1, "Methods and Devices for Punctured Transmission," Ken Liu et al.
Publication Date: September 14, 2017
Filing Date: March 8, 2017
Brief Description: This application details methods for performing punctured transmissions in a wireless network. It describes how a transmitting device can identify and exclude certain sub-channels from a transmission to avoid interference and how this puncturing information is communicated to the receiving device.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: Similar to Merlin et al., this reference is highly pertinent to the concept of non-contiguous channel allocation. It strengthens the argument that the idea of puncturing sub-channels and signaling this information was known in the art prior to the '281 patent's priority date. The specific claims of the '281 patent that are broad enough to encompass any method of signaling punctured channels could be considered anticipated by this reference. A detailed analysis would be needed to determine if the specific signaling mechanisms claimed in the '281 patent (e.g., using a combination of bandwidth and resource unit allocation fields) are novel and non-obvious in light of Liu et al.

Summary of Analysis

The cited prior art, particularly US 10,034,289 B2 (Merlin et al.) and US 2017/0265229 A1 (Liu et al.), establishes that the concept of non-contiguous channel utilization through "puncturing" and signaling this information in the packet preamble was known in the field of wireless communications prior to the filing of the '281 patent. These references appear to anticipate the general inventive concept of the '281 patent.

U.S. Patent No. 9,693,293 B2 (Stacey et al.) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0171891 A1 (Park et al.) provide further context on the state of the art in WLAN signaling, including bandwidth indication and the structure of PPDU preambles in emerging standards.

A definitive determination of anticipation would require a detailed element-by-element comparison of each claim of US 10,687,281 against the disclosures of these prior art documents. However, based on this initial analysis, there appears to be a strong basis for challenging the novelty of at least the broader claims of the '281 patent. The patent's validity may hinge on the novelty and non-obviousness of the very specific combinations and interpretations of fields within the HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B for signaling non-contiguous channel allocations.