DETAILED ACTION
In a communication received on 19 February 2026, applicants amended claims 1, 8, and 16.
Claims 1, 2, 4-20, and 24 are pending.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 8, and 16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1, 2, 4, 5, 8-14, 16, 18, and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simoes et al. (US 2011/0286365 A1) in view of Gangadharan et al. (US 2016/0219083 A1) and Shaffer et al. (US 7,046,636 B1), and further in view of Balasaygun et al. (US 2019/0349829 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Simoes discloses: a computing device comprising:
one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations (i.e., computer server, 140, with connection preservation application and connection setup application in Simoes, fig. 1, fig. 2a, fig. 2b, ¶0034) comprising:
establishing, a conference call associated with a plurality of client devices (i.e., establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference call for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol in Simoes, ¶0018, ¶0023-0024, ¶0030);
determining an occurrence of a termination event associated with a client device of the plurality of client devices (i.e., server receives notification, from a bridge/switch/router, of a participant terminal being disrupted including a reason such as loss of media, quality of service, or corrupt transmission in Simoes, ¶0117-0122),
wherein the termination event comprises a loss of connectivity associated with a communication channel connecting the client device to a channel port of the computing device (i.e., determining a disruption on a communication link including a path including ports between switches connected to the disrupted terminal; detecting a loss of media packets from a terminal indicating loss of connectivity in Simoes, ¶0093-0094, ¶0117-0118);
sending to the SIP router a first request for confirmation of an absence of a SIP BYE message indicator associated with the client device stored at a network node (i.e., determining if the termination is intentional or unexpected based on querying other nodes of the network, such as the router, if a SIP BYE message was received in Simoes, ¶0129-0131);
receiving the confirmation of the absence of the SIP BYE message indicator (i.e., confirming with other nodes whether a message indicating willful termination is received in Simoes, ¶0131)
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference call for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices (¶0003-0004), discloses:
via a WebRTC signal gateway and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) router (i.e., establishing a connection between user equipment (UE) and gateway utilizing WebRTC standards for video chat and voice calling, webRTC gateway bridging with SIP network elements in Gangadharan, ¶0010, ¶0011, ¶0012, fig. 1).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses:
sending, to a Push Notification Server (PNS) and based at least in part on the determination that the client device should automatically rejoin, a first instruction to send a push message to the client device, the push message including a second instruction to rejoin the conference call and a third instruction to send a SIP REGISTER message to the WebRTC signal gateway and the SIP router (i.e., client communicates with an SIP network entity via a WebRTC controlling acting as a gateway for translating to the SIP network; and restarting the session with the gateway after receiving a push message to wake up in Gangadharan, ¶0013, ¶0039).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses a conference bridge establishes a connection between the two terminals (¶0046). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses:
sending a fourth instruction to a WebRTC media gateway (i.e., webRTC session controller is the gateway in Gangadharan, ¶0013, fig. 1)
to provide a RealTime Communication (RTC) (i.e., webRTC session controller is the gateway for connecting the WebRTC application to the SIP network elements over an RTC connection in Gangadharan, ¶0013, fig. 1)
channel between the client device and the media control unit (MCU) (i.e., SIP network elements such as those that control multimedia sessions such as voice and video calls in Gangadharan, ¶0011, fig. 1).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes and Gangadharan do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Shaffer, in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops (col. 1 lines 32-45), discloses:
determining to cycle multiple network pathways for the client device based at least in part on a cycling schedule, wherein the cycling schedule changes a network pathway of the multiple network pathways after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed (i.e., cyclical and periodic establishment of alternate path for voice as suggested by "voice quality is periodically measured at various locations of network 40 and attached components, in order to assess the overall voice quality of a communication session"; "If the voice quality deviates from a predetermined level, one or more of nodes 61 are instructed to replicate communication packets, and transmit the packets along an alternate communication path(s)"; and "The cycle of continuously identifying new, distinct communication paths with improved voice quality over the original communication path may continue until an alternate communication path having sufficient bandwidth to support the communication session is identified" in Shaffer, col. 3 lines 42-67, claim 36).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, and further in view of Shaffer, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Shaffer to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes, Gangadharan, and Shaffer do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Balasaygun, in order to improve quality and reliability of mobile data network for conferencing (¶0002), discloses:
and a media control unit (MCU) that provides bridge communications between the
plurality of client devices (i.e., a conference bridge and mixer for conference session Balasaygun, ¶0033, ¶0036);
determining, based at least in part on receiving the confirmation of the absence of the SIP BYE message indicator, that the client device should automatically rejoin the conference call without requiring user input to re-enter conference call credentials (i.e., dropped call may have application make API call to automatically dial communication controller without prompting user in Balasaygun, ¶0054);
wherein the second instruction and the third instruction are configured to execute automatically upon receipt at the client device absent user input to cause the client device to reconnect to an ongoing conference call while other client devices of the plurality of client devices remain connected to the conference call via the MCU (i.e., calling into prior established conference; push message notification to make API call to automatically dial without prompting user in Balasaygun, ¶0043, ¶0054);
the MCU, wherein the RTC channel is established to enable the client device to resume participation in the conference call with the other client devices of the plurality of client devices that remained connected during unintentional loss of connectivity (i.e., communication session channel reestablished for the session in Balasaygun, ¶0048, ¶0064).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan and Shaffer, and further in view of Balasaygun, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Balasaygun to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve quality and reliability of mobile data network for conferencing.
With respect to claim 2, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 1, wherein the termination event further comprises a latency above a threshold (i.e., detecting g disruption of a participant connection based on quality of service latency threshold in Simoes, ¶0117-0122).
With respect to claim 4, Simoes discloses: to send a SIP REGISTER message to: a second WebRTC signal gateway that is different than the first WebRTC signal gateway; or a second SIP router that is different than the first SIP router (i.e., after disconnecting unintentionally, a terminal can rejoin by sending SIP REGISTER messages to any other component of an SIP network; the server for reconnecting the terminal to the session monitors for the SIP register messages issued to the network in Simoes, ¶0103-0104).
Simoes discloses reconnecting, via a bridge, participant to session participant was unexpectedly disconnected from (fig. 6, ¶0105, ¶0138-0141). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses: the computing device of claim 1, wherein the WebRTC signal gateway comprises a first WebRTC signal gateway, the SIP router comprises a first SIP router, and the second instruction to rejoin the conference call includes a third instruction (i.e., after receiving a message for waking up the WebRTC application on a UE, send a message to a push notification server to have the UE webRTC application wake up and reconnect to the bridged SIP session in Gangadharan, ¶0013, ¶0044-0047).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
With respect to claim 5, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 1, wherein the second instruction to rejoin the conference call comprises computer-readable instructions for establishing a communication channel for the client device via an absence of user input (i.e., terminals and servers automatically restore the session in Simoes, ¶0103-0105).
With respect to claim 8, Simoes discloses: a computing device comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions (i.e., user terminal participating in a conference in Simoes, fig. 4, ¶0078) that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
sending a first message to establish a first communication channel with the MCU (i.e., terminal transmits OK message in response to invite message to establish communication with a bridging node in Simoes, fig. 4, ¶0078-0083) connecting a client device to a channel port of the computing device (i.e., establishing a communication path through switches between terminals via allocated ports; the client device connected via port to a switch that can detect disruption in Simoes, ¶0093-0094);
determining a loss of connectivity associated with the first communication channel connecting the client device to the channel port of the computing device (i.e., determining a disruption on a communication link including a path including ports between switches connected to the disrupted terminal; detecting a loss of media packets from a terminal indicating loss of connectivity in Simoes, ¶0093-0094, ¶0117-0118);
receiving, from a Push Notification Server (PNS), a second message including: an indication of a latency above a threshold or a loss of connectivity associated with the first communication channel (i.e., detecting disruption of a participant connection based on quality of service latency threshold, transmitting indication of loss/latency in Simoes, ¶0117-0122).
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference call for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices (¶0003-0004), discloses: via a WebRTC signal gateway and a SIP router, and to a Media Control Unit (MCU) (i.e., client communicates with an SIP network entity via a WebRTC controlling acting as a gateway for translating to the SIP network, the client instructions are translated to the SIP network for controlling multimedia communication sessions in Gangadharan, ¶0012-0013).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices.
Simoes discloses reconnecting, via a bridge, participant to session participant was unexpectedly disconnected from (fig. 6, ¶0105, ¶0138-0141). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses: an instruction to establish a second communication channel with the MCU (i.e., after receiving a message for waking up the WebRTC application on a UE, send a message to a push notification server to have the UE webRTC application wake up and reconnect to the bridged SIP session in Gangadharan, ¶0013, ¶0044-0047).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses after a participant terminal unexpectedly disconnects, the terminal can send a SIP register message for reconnecting to a previous session (¶0103). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses: sending, via the WebRTC signal gateway and a SIP router, to the MCU and at least partly in response to receiving the instruction, a third message to establish the second communication channel. (i.e., restarting the session with the gateway after receiving a push message to wake up in Gangadharan, ¶0039).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses a conference bridge establishes a connection between the two terminals (¶0046). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses:
sending a fourth message to a WebRTC media gateway (i.e., webRTC session controller is the gateway in Gangadharan, ¶0013, fig. 1)
to provide a RealTime Communication (RTC) channel (i.e., webRTC session controller is the gateway for connecting the WebRTC application to the SIP network elements over an RTC connection in Gangadharan, ¶0013, fig. 1)
between the client device and the MCU (i.e., SIP network elements such as those that control multimedia sessions such as voice and video calls in Gangadharan, ¶0011, fig. 1).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes and Gangadharan do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Shaffer, in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops (col. 1 lines 32-45), discloses:
determining to cycle multiple network pathways for the client device based at least in part on a cycling schedule, wherein the cycling schedule changes a network pathway of the multiple network pathways at irregular intervals (i.e., cyclical and periodic establishment of alternate path for voice as suggested by: "voice quality is periodically measured at various locations of network 40 and attached components, in order to assess the overall voice quality of a communication session"; "If the voice quality deviates from a predetermined level, one or more of nodes 61 are instructed to replicate communication packets, and transmit the packets along an alternate communication path(s)"; and "The cycle of continuously identifying new, distinct communication paths with improved voice quality over the original communication path may continue until an alternate communication path having sufficient bandwidth to support the communication session is identified" in Shaffer, col. 3 lines 42-67, claim 36; the irregular interval attributed to the condition of the network when periodically determining a measurement and determining an alternate path).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, and further in view of Shaffer, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Shaffer to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes, Gangadharan, and Shaffer do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Balasaygun, in order to improve quality and reliability of mobile data network for conferencing (¶0002), discloses:
the third instruction to execute automatically upon receipt at the client device absent user input to cause the client device to reconnect to an ongoing conference call while other client devices of the plurality of client devices remain connected to the conference call via the MCU (i.e., calling into prior established conference; push message notification to make API call to automatically dial without prompting user in Balasaygun, ¶0043, ¶0054);
the MCU, wherein the RTC channel is established to enable the client device to resume participation in the conference call with the other client devices of the plurality of client devices that remained connected during unintentional loss of connectivity (i.e., communication session channel reestablished for the session in Balasaygun, ¶0048, ¶0064).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan and Shaffer, and further in view of Balasaygun, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Balasaygun to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve quality and reliability of mobile data network for conferencing.
With respect to claim 9, Simoes discloses reconnecting, via a bridge, participant to session participant was unexpectedly disconnected from (fig. 6, ¶0105, ¶0138-0141). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses: the computing device of claim 8, wherein the sending the third message further comprises sending the third message to the WebRTC signal gateway (i.e., after receiving wakeup message, application communicates to reconnect with the webRTC node for communicating with the SIP network in Gangadharan, ¶0032).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
With respect to claim 10, Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, 1]0029, 1]0108-109). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to utilize rea I-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices (110003-0004), discloses: the computing device of claim 8, further comprising an Over-the-Top (OTT) application, stored at the one or more computer-readable media, for establishing communication with the WebRTC signal gateway (i.e., WebRTC application running in a browser for exchanging communications instantly an negligible in latency with the RTC entity, such as a voice call application in Gangadharan, 1]0010-0011).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices.
With respect to claim 11, Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference call for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices (¶0003-0004), discloses: the computing device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise determining to send the third message via an absence of a user input at the client device (i.e., webRTC application/device sends communication to establish connection with webRTC server in response to receiving the wakeup message in Gangadharan, ¶0031-0032).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices.
With respect to claim 12, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise, prior to sending the first message, receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) invite message from the MCU to establish the first communication channel (i.e., terminal transmits OK message in response to invite message to establish communication with a bridging node in Simoes, fig. 4, ¶0078-0083).
With respect to claim 13, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 8, wherein the first message comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message sent to the MCU via a SIP router (i.e., router connected to terminals participating in a conference via SIP protocol in Simoes, ¶0029).
With respect to claim 14, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise, prior to receiving the second message, determining a latency above a threshold (i.e., server receives notification, from a bridge/switch/router, of a participant terminal being disrupted including a reason such as loss of media, quality of service, or corrupt transmission in Simoes, ¶0117-0122).
With respect to claim 16, Simoes discloses: a computing device comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions (i.e., SIP server to receive SIP signaling and transmitting instructions to other network elements in Simoes, ¶0026-0027) that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message including the client device identifier (i.e., terminal sending a SIP INVITE message comprising the URI, IP Address, or identifier of the other terminal in Simoes, ¶0100),
the communication channel comprising a connection between the client device and a port of the computing device. (i.e., determining a disruption on a communication link including a path including ports between switches connected to the disrupted terminal; detecting a loss of media packets from a terminal indicating loss of connectivity in Simoes, ¶0093-0094, ¶0117-0118).
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference call for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices (¶0003-0004), discloses:
storing a client device identifier indicating that a client device associated with the client device identifier is registered to receive push messages (i.e., application registers with push notification server and receives associated device token/key and is saved for pushing messages to the application in Gangadharan, ¶0029),
a WebRTC signal gateway identifier (i.e., sending the RTC session ID to push notification server in Gangadharan, ¶0031-0032), and
an instruction to send a push message to the client device associated with the client device identifier (i.e., send message including device/registration token to push notification server and in response server pushes wake up message to target UE in Gangadharan, ¶0031-0032); and
sending, to the client device and at least partly in response to receiving the SIP message, a push message including the WebRTC signal gateway identifier (i.e., in response to a SIP invite directed to the UE, the push server is instructed to push a message including the session ID of the webRTC node in Gangadharan, ¶0031-0032)
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to utilize real-time communications in a web browser more efficiently for mobile devices.
Simoes discloses monitoring for SIP register messages signaling to a server that a terminal is available for communication and connection establishment (¶0103). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses: and an instruction for the client device to send a SIP REGISTER message to a WebRTC signal gateway associated with the WebRTC signal gateway and a SIP router to establish a communication channel (i.e., communicates to reconnect to the webRTC session controller and sends a response Final to establish the connection to the SIP network participants in Gangadharan, ¶0031-0032).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses a conference bridge establishes a connection between the two terminals (¶0046). Simoes do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Gangadharan, in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE (¶0003-0004), discloses:
sending an instruction to a WebRTC media gateway (i.e., webRTC session controller is the gateway in Gangadharan, ¶0013, fig. 1)
to provide a Real-Time Communication (RTC) channel (i.e., webRTC session controller is the gateway for connecting the WebRTC application to the SIP network elements over an RTC connection in Gangadharan, ¶0013, fig. 1)
between the client device and a media control unit (MCU) (i.e., SIP network elements such as those that control multimedia sessions such as voice and video calls in Gangadharan, ¶0011, fig. 1).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Gangadharan to improve upon those of Simoes in order to reduce resource consumption while maintaining a SIP session with a mobile UE.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes and Gangadharan do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Shaffer, in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops (col. 1 lines 32-45), discloses:
determining to cycle multiple network pathways for the client device based at least in part on a cycling schedule, wherein the cycling schedule changes a network pathway of the multiple network pathways at scheduled (i.e., cyclical and periodic establishment of alternate path for voice as suggested by: "voice quality is periodically measured at various locations of network 40 and attached components, in order to assess the overall voice quality of a communication session"; "If the voice quality deviates from a predetermined level, one or more of nodes 61 are instructed to replicate communication packets, and transmit the packets along an alternate communication path(s)"; and "The cycle of continuously identifying new, distinct communication paths with improved voice quality over the original communication path may continue until an alternate communication path having sufficient bandwidth to support the communication session is identified" in Shaffer, col. 3 lines 42-67, claim 36; a periodic performance measurement implies scheduled intervals).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, and further in view of Shaffer, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Shaffer to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops.
Simoes discloses establishing, via a switch/router and server, a conference ca II for multiple terminals as participants using SIP protocol (fig. 7, ¶0029, ¶0108-109). Simoes, Gangadharan, and Shaffer do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Balasaygun, in order to improve quality and reliability of mobile data network for conferencing (¶0002), discloses:
wherein the instruction is configured to execute automatically upon receipt at the client device absent user input to cause the client device to reconnect to an ongoing conference call while other client devices of the plurality of client devices remain connected to the conference call via the MCU (i.e., calling into prior established conference; push message notification to make API call to automatically dial without prompting user in Balasaygun, ¶0043, ¶0054);
the MCU, wherein the RTC channel is established to enable the client device to resume participation in the conference call with the other client devices of the plurality of client devices that remained connected during unintentional loss of connectivity (i.e., communication session channel reestablished for the session in Balasaygun, ¶0048, ¶0064).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan and Shaffer, and further in view of Balasaygun, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Balasaygun to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve quality and reliability of mobile data network for conferencing.
With respect to claim 18, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 16, wherein the SIP message is sent to the computing device based at least in part on a stored security setting (i.e., sending the instructions to the node based on the connection preservation application software configuration in Simoes, ¶0037).
With respect to claim 24, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 1, [wherein the predetermined amount of time] includes at least one of approximately one minute, approximately two minutes, approximately three minutes, approximately four minutes, approximately five minutes, approximately ten minutes, approximately 30 minutes, approximately one hour, approximately two hours, approximately three hours, or approximately four hours (i.e., absent a willful determination, the terminal is put on hold for a predetermined timeout period such as 1 minute in Simoes, ¶0131-0133).
Simoes discloses a predetermined period of time can be used before acting upon a communication session (¶0113). Simoes and Gangadharan do(es) not explicitly disclose establishing an alternate path after a predetermined period of time. Shaffer, in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops (col. 1 lines 32-45), discloses: the predetermined amount of time (i.e., cyclical and periodic establishment of alternate path for voice as suggested by: "voice quality is periodically measured at various locations of network 40 and attached components, in order to assess the overall voice quality of a communication session"; "If the voice quality deviates from a predetermined level, one or more of nodes 61 are instructed to replicate communication packets, and transmit the packets along an alternate communication path(s)"; and "The cycle of continuously identifying new, distinct communication paths with improved voice quality over the original communication path may continue until an alternate communication path having sufficient bandwidth to support the communication session is identified" in Shaffer, col. 3 lines 42-67, claim 36).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, and further in view of Shaffer, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Shaffer to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improving voice call quality by utilizing alternate communication paths when quality drops.
Claim 6 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simoes et al. (US 2011/0286365 A1) in view of Gangadharan et al. (US 2016/0219083 A1), Shaffer et al. (US 7,046,636 B1) and Balasaygun et al. (US 2019/0349829 A1), and further in view of Moran et al. (US 2004/0068567 A1).
With respect to claim 6, Simoes discloses: the computing device of claim 5, wherein initiating the communication channel for the client device via the absence of user input (i.e., establishing a communication session between terminal and node and bridging the session with the previous active session in Simoes, ¶0138-0141) is based, at least in part, on a user preference associated with the client device and stored in the one or more computer-readable media indicating that the computing device is to automatically add the client device to the conference call (i.e., server is configured to bridge and connect dropped terminal to previous communication session based on the connection preservation application programming and database entries associated with the disrupted terminals and sessions in Simoes, ¶0037-0039, Table 1) automatically add the client device to the conference call based at least in part on:
the computing device determining the occurrence of the termination event (i.e., after disconnecting unintentionally, a terminal can rejoin by sending SIP REGISTER messages to any other component of an SIP network; the server for reconnecting the terminal to the session monitors for the SIP register messages issued to the network in Simoes, ¶0103-0104); and
the computing device receiving the confirmation of the absence of the SIP BYE message indicator (i.e., determining if the termination is intentional or unexpected based on querying other nodes of the network, such as the router, if a SIP BYE message was received in Simoes, ¶0129-0131).
Simoes discloses automatically reconnecting terminals that unexpectedly drop from a session (¶0103-0104). Simoes, Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Moran, in order to improve the user experience by allowing preserving the context of an interrupted chat session according to user preferences (¶0053), discloses: user preferences (i.e., user preferences can be defined to further customize the rejoining of an interrupted chat session while handling process transparently to the user in Moran, ¶0053).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun, and further in view of Moran, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Moran to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve the user experience by allowing preserving the context of an interrupted chat session according to user preferences.
With respect to claim 15, Simoes discloses automatically reconnecting terminals that unexpectedly drop from a session (¶0103-0104). Simoes, Gangadharan Shaffer, and Balasaygun do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Moran, in order to improve the user experience by allowing preserving the context of an interrupted chat session according to user preferences (¶0053), discloses: the computing device of claim 8, wherein the first message includes personal identification number (PIN) data provided via a first user input (i.e., registering for a session service using userID, phone number, and other unique identifiers in Moran, ¶0024), and
the third message includes the PIN data via an absence of a second user input (i.e., authenticating and identifying user based on device information stored in a device table without user input in Moran, ¶0038).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun, and further in view of Moran, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Moran to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve the user experience by allowing preserving the context of an interrupted chat session according to user preferences.
Claim 7, 17 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simoes et al. (US 2011/0286365 A1) in view of Gangadharan et al. (US 2016/0219083 A1), Shaffer et al. (US 7,046,636 B1), and Balasaygun et al. (US 2019/0349829 A1), and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2014/0191573 A1).
With respect to claim 7, Simoes discloses server receives notification, from a bridge/switch/router, of a participant terminal being disrupted including a reason such as loss of media, quality of service, or corrupt transmission (¶0117-0122). Simoes, Gangadharan, Shaffer, and Balasaygun do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Chen, in order to improve efficiency and remedial action in response to a detected outage and informing multiple users simultaneously (¶0053), discloses: the computing device of claim 5, wherein determining the occurrence of the termination event comprises receiving an indication of an occurrence of a site outage (i.e., detection of an outage generates a notification to a push notification server that in response pushes a message to multiple users corresponding to the outage in Chen, ¶0053), and
the operations further comprise instructing the PNS to send multiple push messages to multiple client devices based, at least partly, on determining the occurrence of the site outage (i.e., a push notification server that in response pushes a message to multiple users corresponding to the outage in Chen, ¶0053).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun, and further in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Chen to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve efficiency and remedial action in response to a detected outage and informing multiple users simultaneously.
With respect to claim 17, Simoes discloses server receives notification, from a bridge/switch/router, of a participant terminal being disrupted including a reason such as loss of media, quality of service, or corrupt transmission (¶0117-0122). Simoes, Gangadharan, Shaffer, and Balasaygun do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Chen, in order to improve efficiency and remedial action in response to a detected outage and informing multiple users simultaneously (¶0053), discloses: the computing device of claim 16, wherein receiving the SIP message further comprises receiving an indication of a site outage (i.e., detection of an outage generates a notification to a push notification server that in response pushes a message to multiple users corresponding to the outage in Chen, ¶0053), and
sending the push message is based at least in part on the indication (i.e., a push notification server that in response pushes a message to multiple users corresponding to the outage in Chen, ¶0053).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun, and further in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Chen to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve efficiency and remedial action in response to a detected outage and informing multiple users simultaneously.
With respect to claim 19, Simoes discloses server receives notification, from a bridge/switch/router, of a participant terminal being disrupted including a reason such as loss of media, quality of service, or corrupt transmission (¶0117-0122). Simoes, Gangadharan, Shaffer, and Balasaygun do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Chen, in order to improve efficiency and remedial action in response to a detected outage and informing multiple users simultaneously (¶0053), discloses: the computing device of claim 16, wherein receiving the SIP message further comprises receiving an indication of a termination event (i.e., detection of an outage generates a notification to a push notification server that in response pushes a message to multiple users corresponding to the outage in Chen, ¶0053), and
sending the push message is based at least in part on the indication (i.e., a push notification server that in response pushes a message to multiple users corresponding to the outage in Chen, ¶0053).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun, and further in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Chen to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve efficiency and remedial action in response to a detected outage and informing multiple users simultaneously.
Claim 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simoes et al. (US 2011/0286365 A1) in view of Gangadharan et al. (US 2016/0219083 A1), Shaffer et al. (US 7,046,636 B1), and Balasaygun et al. (US 2019/0349829 A1), and further in view of Tanizawa et al. (US 2009/0116474 A1).
With respect to claim 20, Simoes discloses monitoring for SIP register messages signaling to a server that a terminal is available for communication and connection establishment (¶0103). Simoes, Gangadharan, Shaffer, and Balasaygun, do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Tanizawa, in order to improve the user experience by authenticating on a PC and an IP telephone simultaneously (¶0003-0004), discloses: the computing device of claim 16, wherein the instruction for the client device to send the SIP REGISTER message includes computer-executable instructions for generating the SIP REGISTER message at the client device absent a user input (i.e., SIP processing unit creates SIP message Register based on successful authentication in Tanizawa, ¶0053).
Based on Simoes in view of Gangadharan, Shaffer and Balasaygun, and further in view of Tanizawa, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Tanizawa to improve upon those of Simoes in order to improve the user experience by authenticating on a PC and an IP telephone simultaneously.
Conclusion
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Sherman Lin
4/4/2026
/S. L./
Examiner, Art Unit 2447
/JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447