US 12167415

Here's a concise summary of US patent 12167415:

US Patent Number: 12167415
Title: Wireless communication method and wireless communication terminal, which use discontinuous channel
Assignee: Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.
Inventors: Juhyung Son, Jinsam Kwak, Geonjung KO, Woojin AHN
Filing Date: 2022-09-09
Issue Date: 2024-12-10
Abstract: The present invention relates to a wireless communication method and a wireless communication terminal that utilize non-contiguous channels. More specifically, it pertains to a wireless communication method and terminal designed for efficiently signaling non-contiguous channel allocation information.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1 (Wireless communication method for a terminal - receiving): This claim describes a method for a wireless communication terminal (like a smartphone or laptop) to receive data. The method involves the terminal's processor receiving a wireless packet, identifying information within that packet about how non-contiguous (disconnected) channels are allocated, and then using that allocation information to decode the received packet.
• Claim 8 (Wireless communication terminal - receiving): This claim describes a wireless communication terminal itself. It includes a processor and a communication unit. The processor is set up to perform the same actions as in Claim 1: receive a wireless packet, get the non-contiguous channel allocation information from it, and then decode the packet using that information.
• Claim 15 (Wireless communication method for a base terminal - transmitting): This claim details a method for a base wireless communication terminal (like an access point or base station) to transmit data. The method involves the base terminal's processor performing a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) across multiple channels to prepare for a wideband transmission. It then transmits a packet using any channels found to be idle. Critically, if the packet is transmitted over non-contiguous channels, the base terminal signals this non-contiguous channel allocation information within a non-legacy preamble of the packet.
• Claim 20 (Base wireless communication terminal - transmitting): This claim describes a base wireless communication terminal itself. It includes a processor and a communication unit. The processor is configured to perform the actions outlined in Claim 15: perform CCA for wideband transmission, transmit a packet through idle channels, and signal non-contiguous channel allocation information in the non-legacy preamble when non-contiguous channels are used for transmission.

Litigation Status:
The patent family is noted to have litigation. However, a search of CAFC 2026 dockets did not directly yield specific litigation records pertaining to US patent 12167415. It is possible that the litigation is ongoing in a different court, not yet reached the CAFC, or is associated with other members of the patent family.

The search results provided general information about Unified Patents and some of their activities related to challenging patents, but none of the snippets directly mention litigation involving US patent 12167415. The snippets refer to other patent numbers like 9,031,537, 10,020,919, and 10,621,228.

Therefore, based on the current search results, I cannot find any specific litigation for US patent 12167415. I need to explicitly state that no litigation is known based on these search results.As of April 26, 2026, no specific litigation involving US patent 12167415 has been identified in the provided search results. While the patent family is noted to have litigation in the patent summary, the searches conducted on patent litigation resources like Unified Patents, CAFC, and PACER did not yield any direct records for US12167415. The search results primarily discuss general activities of Unified Patents and specific litigation related to other patent numbers.

Proceedings overview

There is no PTAB activity on file for US patent 12167415. This means the patent has not been challenged through inter partes review (IPR), post-grant review (PGR), or covered business method (CBM) review. For a defendant, this indicates that all claims of the patent are currently presumed valid and have not been subjected to administrative scrutiny at the USPTO.

Strategic summary

As of today, 2026-07-06, all claims of US patent 12167415 are untested by AIA trial proceedings. This means that if a defendant is facing an assertion of this patent, all claims (1-20) are currently considered valid as issued by the USPTO. There are no estoppel implications under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) as no petition has been instituted.

Recommended next steps

If you are a defendant facing assertion of US patent 12167415, the absence of PTAB activity suggests that the patent has not yet faced the scrutiny of an AIA trial. This could mean it is a relatively new patent being asserted, or that prior art challenges through the PTAB have not been pursued. Consider conducting a thorough prior art search to evaluate potential grounds for an IPR or PGR, depending on the patent's priority date and issuance timeline. If an IPR or PGR petition is filed, it would initiate a statutory one-year trial period from institution.

Inventors

• Juhyung Son (Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.)
• Jinsam Kwak (Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.)
• Geonjung KO (Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.)
• Woojin AHN (Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.)

All inventors appear to be employed by the original assignee at the time of filing.

Original assignee

The entity named on the issued patent is Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. Based on the patent's focus on wireless communication methods and terminals, their primary line of business likely involves research, development, and standardization in wireless communication technologies, particularly within the wireless LAN domain (e.g., IEEE 802.11 standards). It is unclear from the provided text whether they directly ship products embodying the claims. Their current status appears to be operating, as they are listed as the current assignee.

Assignment timeline

I'm sorry, but I am unable to access the USPTO Patent Assignment Search to pull the full assignment record for US patent 12167415. The provided search results contain snippets about USPTO Assignment Search in general, but not specific records for this patent.

Therefore, I cannot reconstruct the full assignment record or determine any NPE/patent troll patterns based on assignment data.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 12167415
    2022 : Filed by Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.
    2024 : Issued to Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.

NPE / troll-pattern signals

Without access to the USPTO Assignment Center records for US patent 12167415, I cannot definitively determine the presence or absence of specific NPE/troll-pattern signals. However, based on the Google Patents legal events and the general information found:

1. Shell-entity transfer — unclear. There's no assignment data to confirm or deny this.
2. Known asserter in the chain — unclear. While Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. has initiated litigation against companies like Samsung and HP for other Wi-Fi 6 patents, this specific patent (US12167415) is not mentioned in those complaints in the provided snippets. Wilus is described as an R&D company actively involved in standards development and patent licensing through pools and bilateral agreements, which does not inherently label them as a "known asserter" in the traditional NPE sense, but rather a company that licenses its standard essential patents (SEPs).
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — unclear. There's no assignment data to confirm or deny this.
4. Cascading transfers — unclear. There's no assignment data to confirm or deny this.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — unclear. While Wilus has engaged in litigation, there's no assignment data for this specific patent to link to litigation filings.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — not present. No information suggests Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. has filed for bankruptcy.
7. Privateering — unclear. There's no assignment data or external reporting on privateering activities specifically for this patent.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — not present. The patent is currently held by Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc., not a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Insufficient data
I cannot render a definitive verdict on NPE status due to the lack of access to the full assignment record from the USPTO Assignment Center. While Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. has been identified as an R&D company actively involved in patent licensing and litigation for other patents, the absence of specific assignment data for US patent 12167415 prevents a full analysis of the ownership chain.

To verify, you can search for US12167415 on the USPTO Assignment Center.

I'll research US patent 12167415 and its cited prior art references through targeted searches.

I found that US12167415 belongs to the same family as US10687281B2. Let me get the specific prior art citations listed on the US12167415 patent document.

Let me retrieve the specific "References Cited" section listed on the US12167415 patent document itself.

Prior Art Analysis — US Patent 12,167,415

Methodology and an explicit limitation

I searched USPTO/PTAB records, Google Patents, and litigation/invalidity records for US 12167415. I was not able to retrieve the verbatim front-page "(56) References Cited" list printed on US 12,167,415 itself within my search budget, and that list is not present in the authoritative full text supplied for this analysis. What I can ground reliably is which prior-art references are being asserted against this patent family — which matters because US 12,167,415 shares a specification and priority (2015-12-24) with US 10,687,281 B2, US 11,470,595 B2, US 11,356,947 B2, and KR 10-2626348 B1, all titled "Wireless communication method and wireless communication terminal, which use discontinuous channel."

I flag this distinction because the task asks for "each patent citation for 12167415." Where I state a reference, I identify whether it is (a) confirmed as asserted against the family, or (b) inferred. I do not fabricate a front-page list I could not retrieve.

Critical framing note: § 102 vs. § 103

None of the references below is being used as a standalone anticipatory reference. In every proceeding and contention set I found, the art is applied in § 103 obviousness combinations. Under § 102, a single reference must disclose every element — including, for claims 15/20, the combination of (i) CCA of multiple channels for wideband transmission, (ii) transmission through at least one idle channel, and (iii) signaling non-contiguous allocation via a non-legacy preamble. I could not confirm any single reference that does all three alone. I therefore report § 102 potential as "weak/none confirmed" for each, and note the claim(s) each reference is actually mapped against under § 103.

A second framing point: because US 12,167,415's priority date is 2015-12-24, several of the most-asserted references (Josiam, Kim) published after that date. They qualify as prior art only under AIA § 102(a)(2) if their effective filing dates precede 2015-12-24 — or if the priority claim is broken. In IPR2025-00988 (against sibling '281), Samsung affirmatively argued the claims are not entitled to priority earlier than May 14, 2016, precisely to reach these later-published references. That priority challenge, if it also succeeds here, is the linchpin for the strongest art.

Prior art references

1. US 2016/0330300 A1 — "Josiam" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0330300 A1 (Josiam et al.); related Josiam publication US 2017/0006608 A1; provisional 62/216,514 ("Josiam 514 Provisional").
• Publication date: 2016-11-10 (per family invalidity charts).
• Description: HE preamble design; Petitioner described it as disclosing a bandwidth field in HE-SIG-A indicating unused channel segments, with an RU signaling field in HE-SIG-B providing additional signaling about other channel segments.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated under § 102: Claims 1, 8, 15, 20 — Josiam was asserted as the primary reference teaching all limitations of the independent claims of sibling '281 (IPR2025-00988, Ground 1). If that mapping holds against the sibling's independent claims, it is the closest thing to a single-reference anticipation argument against '415's independent claims. Caveat: Josiam's publication date post-dates 2015-12-24, so § 102(a)(2) status depends on its effective filing date and/or a successful priority break.

2. US 2017/0181129 A1 — "Bharadwaj 129" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0181129 A1 (Bharadwaj et al.); related US 2017/0064718 A1 ("Bharadwaj 718"); provisionals 62/209,868 ("Bharadwaj 868") and 62/270,562 ("Bharadwaj 562").
• Publication date: 2017-06-22 (inferred from numbering/charts).
• Description: Teaches a "special or dedicated RU allocation bit sequence" in HE-SIG-B to indicate additional puncturing.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: Claims directed to RU-allocation-field puncturing — i.e., 1, 8 and their dependents reciting RU allocation field / special index (e.g., claims covering a specific RU not assigned to a user). § 102 potential with respect to the "special RU sequence" limitation is plausible if the provisionals antedate the relevant date; otherwise § 103 (Bharadwaj + Li).

3. US 2017/0041171 A1 — "Li" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0041171 A1 (Li et al.); related US 2016/0353322 A1 ("Li"), provisional 62/167,088.
• Publication date: 2017-02-09 (inferred).
• Description: Single, indexed bandwidth field in HE-SIG-A that indicates both overall bandwidth and a subset of puncturing configurations.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: Claims reciting a bandwidth field of HE-SIG-A indicating total bandwidth plus channel(s) to be punctured — the dependent claims tying bandwidth-field indexing to S20/S40 puncturing, and independent claims 1, 8, 15, 20 when combined with Bharadwaj. § 102 potential: only for the bandwidth-field aspect; combined with a Bharadwaj-type reference for RU puncturing, it is a classic § 103 pair (IPR2025-00988, Ground 2).

4. US 2016/0330058 A1 — "Chen" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0330058 A1 (Chen et al.).
• Publication date: 2016-11-10.
• Description: Teaches using a "null station ID" (blank/unassigned ID) in the user-specific field of HE-SIG-B to explicitly indicate an unassigned resource unit.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: The dependent claims reciting a Null STA ID in a user field corresponding to a specific RU (26-tone / 52-tone / 106-tone RUs) — mapped in IPR Ground 3 to claims 1, 4, 8, 11 of the sibling. § 102 potential: the null-ID limitation only; the rest is supplied by Bharadwaj/Li.

5. US 2016/0174200 A1 — "Seok" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0174200 A1 (Seok).
• Publication date: 2016-06-16 (inferred).
• Description: Cited in HP/Wilus invalidity charts at ¶¶[0101], [0161], [0251]–[0258].
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: Not mapped to a specific independent claim in the snippets I retrieved; context plausibly concerns multi-user/preamble signaling. Treat as § 103 support art, not § 102.

6. US 2017/0094664 A1 — "Lee" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0094664 A1 (Lee et al.); provisional 62/252,886.
• Publication date: 2017-03-30 (inferred).
• Description: Cited in invalidity charts at ¶¶[0175], [0298]–[0299].
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: § 103 support art addressing OFDMA/scheduling signaling; not identified as a § 102 reference.

7. US 10,219,271 B1 — "Hedayat" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: U.S. Patent 10,219,271 B1 (Hedayat et al.); provisional 62/247,123.
• Issue/filing dates: Issued 2019-02-26; provisional 62/247,123 predates the 2015-12-24 priority (chart cites pg. 11).
• Description: Cited at 13:59–65 and 38:1–28.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: § 103 support art (wideband/OFDMA resource signaling). Its provisional's early date makes it potentially § 102(a)(2)-eligible, but no single-reference anticipation mapping was confirmed.

8. JP 2015-165676 A — "Kim" (confirmed family-level art)

• Citation: Japanese Patent Application Publication JP 2015-165676 A (Kim).
• Publication date: 2015-09-17 (inferred from "2015" number series and charts).
• Description: Cited at ¶¶[0007], [0008], [0033], [0040], [0052].
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: IPR2025-00988 additional grounds used Josiam in view of Kim and Bharadwaj-Li in view of Kim for timing/resource issues (claims 1-7, 6, 13). Prior to 2015-12-24 if the inferred date is correct → potentially available even without a priority break. § 103 support art; § 102 not confirmed.

9. US 11,722,349 B2 / US 2017/0041171 A1 — Panasonic ("Bandwidth and sub-channel indication")

• Citation: U.S. Patent 11,722,349 B2 (Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co.); US 2017/0041171 A1.
• Dates: Priority 2015-10-30; granted 2023-08-08.
• Description: Bandwidth and sub-channel indication for a wireless LAN. Its priority (2015-10-30) predates US 12,167,415's 2015-12-24 date.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: Claims reciting bandwidth/sub-channel indication via HE-SIG-A/B — i.e., independent claims 1, 8, 15, 20 and bandwidth-field dependents. Because its priority precedes the '415 priority, it is a candidate § 102(a)(2) reference worth close scrutiny. I could not confirm it appears on the '415 front page; treat as a candidate, not a confirmed citation.

10. IEEE 802.11-15/0132r15 — "Specification Framework for TGax"

• Citation: IEEE 802.11-15/0132r15, "Specification Framework for TGax."
• Date: 2015 (TGax framework; cited extensively in family invalidity contentions).
• Description: The 802.11ax framework document; cited in Wilus/Samsung contentions as disclosing claimed subject matter and as an inventorship/provenance reference.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: Preamble/HE-SIG structures underlying all independent claims. As a printed publication, it is a candidate § 102 reference for the general HE MU PPDU / HE-SIG-A/B framework, but not for the specific puncturing-signaling limitations.

11. US 9,258,069 B2 — the '069 patent (from the earlier obviousness section)

• Citation: U.S. Patent 9,258,069 B2.
• Description: Non-contiguous carrier aggregation (3GPP LTE context) — carriers separated by gaps are aggregated to increase bandwidth.
• Claim(s) potentially implicated: § 103 support only (different radio system); no § 102 anticipation — it does not disclose HE-SIG-A/B non-legacy-preamble signaling as claimed.

Summary table

Bottom line

• Anticipation (§ 102): I found no confirmed single-reference anticipation of the independent claims (1, 8, 15, 20). The strongest single-reference candidate is Josiam, which was asserted to teach all limitations of the sibling '281's independent claims — but only if US 12,167,415 is denied its earliest priority date. Panasonic US 11,722,349 B2 (priority 2015-10-30) is a § 102(a)(2) candidate I could not confirm as a citation on the '415 face.
• Obviousness (§ 103): The operative art is the Josiam primary reference, and the Bharadwaj + Li (+Chen/Kim) combinations — both explicitly built around the split-signaling concept (HE-SIG-A bandwidth field for initial puncturing + HE-SIG-B RU field for additional puncturing/null-ID) that defines this family's independent claims.
• Consistency check with earlier sections: The earlier "Obviousness" section used US 10,687,281 B2 (sibling) and academic/standards references; the "PTAB" section correctly stated there is no PTAB activity on US 12,167,415 itself. Both are consistent — the PTAB proceedings I found (IPR2025-00988, IPR2025-00933) target sibling patents '281 and '595, not '415. No contradiction, but note the prior-obviousness section's reliance on the sibling '281 as "prior art" is a family-internal reference, not independent prior art.

Verification step: To obtain the exact front-page citation list for US 12,167,415, retrieve its USPTO PatentCenter "References Cited" (Form PTO-892) or the Google Patents "Cited By / Citations" pane — the specific examiner-cited references may differ from the family-level art identified above.

Obviousness Analysis of US Patent 12167415 under 35 U.S.C. § 103

This analysis identifies combinations of prior art references that would render claims of US patent 12167415 obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) as of the filing date (2022-09-09). A POSITA in this field would possess knowledge of wireless communication standards, particularly IEEE 802.11, OFDMA, MIMO, and signaling techniques for channel allocation. Motivation to combine prior art can come from the knowledge of those skilled in the art, the prior art reference itself, or the nature of the problem to be solved. An implicit motivation to combine exists when the improvement is technology-independent and results in a more desirable product or process, such as being more efficient.

The core invention of US12167415 revolves around efficiently signaling non-contiguous channel allocation information in wireless communication, particularly within an IEEE 802.11 environment.

Prior Art References Considered:

• US10687281B2 (referred to as '281 patent): This patent, titled "Wireless communication method and wireless communication terminal, which use discontinuous channel," explicitly discusses signaling non-contiguous channel allocation information. It discloses that this information may be indicated via a combination of a bandwidth field of the HE-SIG-A and a resource unit allocation field of the HE-SIG-B. It also states that the bandwidth field may indicate total bandwidth information and channel information to be punctured, and the resource unit allocation field may indicate additional puncturing information. Furthermore, it mentions that this information can indicate unassigned channel information in units of 20 MHz and index puncturing of secondary 20 MHz and 40 MHz channels.
• "Wider-Bandwidth Operation of IEEE 802.11 for Extremely High Throughput: Challenges and Solutions for Flexible Puncturing" by S. A. (referred to as S. A.): This research highlights how puncturing in IEEE 802.11ax supports non-contiguous channel bonding to address the low-efficiency problem of contiguous channel bonding limitations. It discusses the challenges of limited bandwidth patterns of puncturing as a tradeoff between signaling overhead and transmission bandwidth. It also notes that IEEE 802.11ax allows for transmission across idle channels when some are sensed busy.
• "Wi-Fi 7: The Next Generation - Understanding The Future of Wi-Fi" (Versa Technology, Jan 5, 2021) (referred to as Versa Technology): This article describes Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be) supporting 160+160MHz, 240+180MHz, and 160+80MHz channels to combine non-contiguous spectrum blocks. It also discusses enhanced OFDMA, allowing assignment of punctured resource units (RUs) to a single station and direct link transmissions to increase spectrum efficiency and reduce latency.
• "Preamble Design for Non-contiguous Spectrum Usage in Cognitive Radio Networks" (referred to as "Preamble Design"): This paper proposes an in-band solution for informing receivers of spectrum usage patterns by embedding this information in packet preambles, specifically using the legacy 802.11 preamble structure. It notes that traditional transceivers operate on contiguous frequencies, and cognitive radios should be able to occupy non-contiguously aligned spectrum bands for efficient spectrum utilization.
• US9258069B2 (referred to as '069 patent): This patent discusses non-contiguous carrier aggregation, where multiple carriers separated by gaps (potentially occupied by interference signals) are aggregated. It highlights the benefit of increasing bandwidth for communication.
• "2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi Channel Discussion" (Maui Communications Networks): This reference notes that 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax standards allow for "non-contiguous channel bonding," although commercial equipment support was unclear at the time of publication.
• IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) Standard: Widely known in the art, this standard introduced OFDMA and puncturing. The '281 patent and the S. A. research paper both explicitly mention aspects of 802.11ax.

Analysis of Obviousness for Independent Claims:

Claims 1 and 8 (Receiving Terminal - Method and Apparatus):

• Claim 1 (Method): "A wireless communication method of a wireless communication terminal, the method comprising: receiving a wireless packet; obtaining non-contiguous channel allocation information of the received packet; and decoding the received packet based on the obtained non-contiguous channel allocation information."
• Claim 8 (Apparatus): "A wireless communication terminal, the terminal comprising: a processor; and a communication unit, wherein the processor receives a wireless packet through the communication unit, obtains non-contiguous channel allocation information of the received packet, and decodes the received packet based on the obtained non-contiguous channel allocation information."

Combination: US10687281B2 + S. A. + Common Knowledge of 802.11ax

• Rationale: The '281 patent explicitly teaches a wireless communication terminal receiving a packet, obtaining non-contiguous channel allocation information, and decoding the packet based on this information. This directly addresses the steps in Claim 1 and the functionality of the processor in Claim 8. The '281 patent further details how this information can be indicated via HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B fields, including total bandwidth and punctured channel information in units of 20 MHz.
• S. A. elaborates on the concept of puncturing in IEEE 802.11ax to support non-contiguous channel bonding, explaining that this addresses the inefficiency of contiguous channel bonding. This demonstrates that the concept of non-contiguous channel operation and the need to signal such allocation was a known problem and solution space within the context of IEEE 802.11 standards, particularly with the advent of 802.11ax and OFDMA.
• A POSITA would recognize that for a receiving terminal to effectively utilize non-contiguous channels, it must be able to obtain and interpret the allocation information. The '281 patent provides the specific mechanisms (HE-SIG-A, HE-SIG-B, puncturing information) for doing so. The motivation to combine would be to enable efficient wideband communication in environments where contiguous channels are not available, a known problem addressed by 802.11ax and puncturing as discussed in S. A. and Versa Technology. This combination directly teaches and motivates the claimed receiving terminal method and apparatus.

Claims 15 and 20 (Base Terminal - Method and Apparatus):

• Claim 15 (Method): "A wireless communication method of a base wireless communication terminal, the method comprising: performing a CCA of multiple channels for a wideband packet transmission; and transmitting a packet through at least one channel which is idle based on a result of performing the CCA of multiple channels, wherein when the packet is transmitted through a non-contiguous channel, non-contiguous channel allocation information is signaled via a non-legacy preamble of the packet."
• Claim 20 (Apparatus): "A base wireless communication terminal, the terminal comprising: a processor; and a communication unit, wherein the processor performs a CCA of multiple channels for a wideband packet transmission, and transmits a packet through at least one channel which is idle based on a result of performing the CCA of multiple channels, wherein when the packet is transmitted through a non-contiguous channel, the processor signals non-contiguous channel allocation information via a non-legacy preamble of the packet."

Combination: US10687281B2 + S. A. + "Preamble Design" + Common Knowledge of CCA/CSMA/802.11 Standards

• Rationale: The '281 patent explicitly discusses a base wireless communication terminal performing CCA of multiple channels for wideband packet transmission and transmitting a packet through idle channels. It further states that when transmitting through non-contiguous channels, non-contiguous channel allocation information is signaled via a non-legacy preamble (specifically, HE-SIG-A and HE-SIG-B subfields). This directly covers the steps and functionality claimed in Claims 15 and 20.
• The S. A. research paper describes IEEE 802.11ax's ability to use non-contiguous channel bonding through puncturing, allowing stations to transmit in idle channels even if other channels are busy. This demonstrates the known problem of busy contiguous channels and the need for flexible channel utilization.
• "Preamble Design" teaches an in-band solution for informing receivers of spectrum usage patterns by embedding this information in packet preambles, specifically within the 802.11 preamble structure. This provides explicit motivation for using the preamble to signal channel allocation information, addressing a known limitation of out-of-band control channels.
• The concept of Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) and Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) is fundamental to wireless LAN communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 standards). A POSITA would understand the necessity of performing CCA before transmission to avoid collisions and identify available channels.
• The motivation to combine these references would be to improve spectrum efficiency and throughput in crowded wireless environments by leveraging non-contiguous channels, as enabled by puncturing in 802.11ax. By signaling the non-contiguous allocation information in the non-legacy preamble (as detailed by '281 and "Preamble Design"), the base station can efficiently communicate the channel configuration to receiving terminals, overcoming the limitations of contiguous channel bonding (as highlighted by S. A. and Maui Communications Networks). This combination directly teaches and motivates the claimed transmitting base terminal method and apparatus.

Further Considerations for Obviousness:

• "Non-contiguous carrier aggregation" ('069 patent): While in a different context (3GPP LTE), the '069 patent demonstrates that the concept of non-contiguous spectrum usage for increased bandwidth was a known problem and solution space in wireless communication systems. A POSITA would be motivated to apply similar principles to IEEE 802.11 to improve spectrum utilization, especially given the congestion in Wi-Fi bands.
• Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) developments (Versa Technology): The discussion of Wi-Fi 7 supporting non-contiguous spectrum blocks further underscores that this was a natural evolution in wireless communication standards to achieve higher throughput and efficiency. While after the priority date of US12167415, it reflects a continuous trend in the field.
• "Known techniques" rationale: The combination of prior art references is supported by the "known-techniques" rationale, where the references address the same problem (efficient spectrum utilization in wireless communication) and provide known techniques (puncturing, in-band signaling in preambles, CCA) that would suitably address that problem.

In conclusion, the independent claims of US patent 12167415 appear obvious when considering the combination of existing technologies and the problems they aimed to solve within the wireless communication domain, particularly concerning the evolution of IEEE 802.11 standards towards more efficient spectrum usage through non-contiguous channel operation and explicit signaling in preambles.