DETAILED ACTION
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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Response filed on 12/19/2026.
In the instant Amendment, claims 1, 14, and 27 are independent claims. Claims 1, 3-11, 13-14, 16-24, 26-27, and 29-30 have been examined and are pending.
Response to arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/19/2026 regarding claims 1, 14 and 27 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). The rejection relies on the combined teachings of Goddeti, Lee, and Faccin. Lee is not relied upon as teaching the entire tunneling feature. Rather, Lee teaches the determination step, namely that the UE determines whether it is in an HPLMN or a VPLMN and, if it is in a VPLMN, applies roaming-related handling. Goddeti, as set forth in the Office Action, teaches using an existing cellular data connection associated with a first subscription to obtain a secure tunnel to a gateway of a second network associated with a second subscription when the second subscription is in a roaming / limited-service situation. Faccin further teaches that, when roaming in a VPLMN, the UE performs gateway discovery using a DNS query based on the VPLMN identifier and, if gateway discovery in the VPLMN is unsuccessful, the UE may use a gateway in the HPLMN discovered based on a DNS query with labels set to the HPLMN value. Faccin also teaches IKE/IKE_AUTH signaling to authenticate and establish the secure tunnel with that gateway. Thus, the combination, teaches obtaining the tunnel connection with the gateway of the second wireless network based on the determination that the UE is operating through a VPLMN.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
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.
Claims 1, 3-11, 13-14, 16-24, and 26-27, and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goddeti et al. (U.S. 20190306898 A1; Hereinafter "Goddeti") in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Pub. 20170195908 A1; Hereinafter “Lee”); Shribman et al. (US 20220103525 A1; Hereinafter “Shribman”) and Faccin et al (US 20180103363 A1; Hereinafter “Faccin”).
As per claims 1, 14, and 27, Goddeti teaches a method of wireless communications, comprising: obtaining a data connection with a first wireless network (network 311) based on a first subscription (SUB1 301) (Goddeti: para[0045], “the network 311 may setup a packet data connection (e.g., on an EPS bearer) linking UE 305 on SUB1 301 with eNodeB1 321, a serving gateway (SGW1 331), and a PDN gateway (PGW1 341) of the network 311, to a gateway (e.g., ePDG2 352) of the network 312. In some cases, a default EPS bearer may be established to provide SUB1 301 with an “always-on” connectivity to a packet data network (e.g., the Internet 370).” ), the first wireless connection being a cellular network (Goddeti: para[0043], “Each subscriber may be associated with a different cellular network, e.g., SUB1 301 with a network 311 and SUB2 302 with a network 312”);
obtaining a tunnel connection with a gateway (e.g., ePDG2 352) of a second wireless network (network 302) through the data connection based on a second subscription (SUB2 302) associated with the second wireless network (network 312) (Goddeti: para[0046-0048], “An IMS application on SUB2 302 may use the internet connectivity provided by SUB1 301 to exchange IMS data and signaling with a gateway (e.g., ePDG2 352) in the SUB2's network 312, which is in turn connected to the PGW2 342 reaching the IMS 360….For example, the IP address may be preconfigured for SUB2 302 (e.g., stored in SUB2 302's SIM card), or be discovered through a domain-name lookup service, such as dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS). In some implementations, an IMS application on SUB2 302 may request SUB1 301 to open an IP socket addressed to the ePDG2 352.SUB2 302 may apply a tunneling protocol over its communications with ePDG2 352 via SUB1 301's network 311. For example, IMS packets between SUB2 302 and the ePDG2 352 can be encapsulated and encrypted by, e.g., IP Security Protocol (IPSec), while being transported across the network 311. Thus, a secure IP tunnel may be created to facilitate subscriber authentication and registration with the ePDG2 352 and the IMS 360”se also para[0053-0055]); and
communicating with the second wireless network through the tunnel connection using the data connection (Goddeti: para[0053-0055], “SUB1 may provide “internal hotspot” for SUB2 in a manner, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 3. For example, SUB1 may provide a packet data connection transporting SUB2's IMS data and signaling to and from SUB2's core network through SUB1's network.”),
wherein the first wireless network is associated with the VPLMN, and the second wireless network is associated with at least one second home country public land mobile network (HPLMN) different from the VPLMN (Goddeti: para[0041], [0056], [0069], “SUB2 may be in roaming and under a coverage of a visited LTE network that may lack a roaming arrangement with SUB2's home network or operator. In some cases, SUB2 may be in a limited service and, for example, may not connect to the visited network except for an emergency call.”).
Goddeti does not explicitly teach determining whether the data connection is with a visited country public land mobile network (VPLMN); wherein the tunnel connection with the gateway of the second wireless network is obtained based on the determination; wherein obtaining the tunnel connection includes authenticating with the second wireless network using Internet Key Exchange (IKE) signaling on the data connection with the cellular network, wherein obtaining the tunnel connection further comprises sending, from a user equipment, a query for a domain name or an address of a gateway of the at least one HPLMN using the data connection with the VPLMN and receiving, in response to the query, one or more domain names of the gateway of the at least one HPLMN.
However, in the related art, Lee teaches determining whether the data connection is with a visited country public land mobile network (VPLMN), wherein the tunnel connection with the gateway of the second wireless network is obtained based on the determination (Lee: para[49-53], [111-115], “FIG. 8, in step S110, the UE determines whether the UE is in the HPLMN or VPLMN. Specifically, the UE may determine that the UE is in VPLMN (i.e. in roaming area) if the (E)HPLMN of the UE is not in the broadcasted PLMN list of the cell. In step S120, the UE applies one of the first RAN assistance information or second RAN assistance information according to the determination. That is, if it is determined that the UE is in VPLMN, the UE applies the first RAN assistance information for roaming UEs.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have utilize the UE’s VPLMN determination of Lee as a trigger condition for initiating a tunnel connection to a home network gateway as taught by Goddeti, in order to manage roaming behavior and ensure proper access to home operator services (Lee [003]).
Goddeti in view of Lee does not explicitly teach wherein obtaining the tunnel connection includes authenticating with the second wireless network using Internet Key Exchange (IKE) signaling on the data connection with the cellular network, wherein obtaining the tunnel connection further comprises sending, from a user equipment, a query for a domain name or an address of a gateway of the at least one HPLMN using the data connection with the VPLMN and receiving, in response to the query, one or more domain names of the gateway of the at least HPLMN.
However, in an analogous art, Shribman teaches wherein obtaining the tunnel connection includes authenticating with the second wireless network using Internet Key Exchange (IKE) signaling on the data connection with the cellular network (Shribman: para[0637], fig. 8 “The tunnel endpoints are authenticated before secure VPN tunnels can be established. User-created remote-access VPNs may use passwords, biometrics, two-factor authentication, or any other cryptographic methods. Network-to-network tunnels often use passwords or digital certificates, and permanently store the key in order to allow a tunnel to establish automatically, without intervention from a user.” para[0250], “Negotiating encryption keys may involve performing Internet Key Exchange (IKE or IKEv2) as part of establishing a session under the Security Protocol for the Internet (IPSec), as described in IETF RFC 2409 entitled: .. which are both incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein”, para[0690], fig. 18, “the main functionality may be to serve as a smartphone, such as for making telephone call over a cellular network, as exampled in the tunnel #2 33b.” see also para [0269], [0360], para[0637])).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have update the modified Goddeti with the internet key exchange authentication process of Shribman to enable secure, faster and more efficient data communication between the UE and the gateway (Shribman para[0386]).
Goddeti in view of Lee and Shribman does not explicitly teach wherein obtaining the tunnel connection further comprises sending, from a user equipment, a query for a domain name or an address of a gateway of the at least one HPLMN using the data connection with the VPLMN and receiving, in response to the query, one or more domain names of the gateway of the HPLMN.
However, in an analogous art, Faccin teaches wherein obtaining the tunnel connection further comprises sending, from the UE, a query for a domain name or an address of a gateway of the at least one HPLMN using the data connection with the VPLMN (Faccin: fig. 3 para[0084-0088], “At 304, the UE 115-b may use its connectivity to the access network 225-a to perform an ngPDG discovery procedure to discover and select a ngPDG.. The UE 115-b may perform ePDG discovery using a domain name service (DNS) query mechanism for identifying a ngPDG or a suitable ePDG that supports ngPDG functionality.…. When roaming, the UE 115-b may utilize the services of a visited PLMN (VPLMN) and the ePDG FQDN Operator Identifier may be constructed as described above, but using a mobile network code (MNC) and mobile country code (MCC) of the VPLMN. To ensure that the UE 115-b discovers a ngPDG or an ePDG that has ngPDG functionality, the UE 115-b may construct the FQDN to identify the ngPDG by adding an indication to the FQDN that the UE 115-b is requesting a network address of a ngPDG.”); and
receiving, in response to the query, one or more domain names of the gateway of the HPLMN (Faccin: fig. 3 para[0084-0088], “The UE 115-b may receive a response to the DNS query from the NGC 130-a that contains one or more IP addresses of available ngPDGs, ePDGs having ngPDG functionality, or both. For example, the NGC 130-a may reply to the DNS query by providing a list of addresses of ngPDGs and ePDGs that support ngPDG functionality.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have update the modified Goddeti with the domain name query of Faccin, it will enable the ability to provide multiple dedicated network functionality services (Faccin: para[67]).
Furthermore, Goddeti also teaches the hardware components of claims 14 and 27 such as
an interface configured to (Goddeti: para[0041], “The 2G/3G access network 264 may connect to the circuit switched network via an interface”);
a user equipment (UE), comprising: a receiver configured to (Goddeti: fig. 8, para[0076], “The apparatus 805 may include a receiver 810”):
a processing system configured to communicate with the second wireless network through the tunnel connection using the data connection (Goddeti: para[0007], “a UE is provided that may include a transceiver and a processor”, para[0053-0055], “SUB1 may provide “internal hotspot” for SUB2 in a manner, e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 3. For example, SUB1 may provide a packet data connection transporting SUB2's IMS data and signaling to and from SUB2's core network through SUB1's network.”).
As per claims 3, 16, and 29, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein obtaining the tunnel connection comprises authenticating with the second wireless network using one or more credentials of the second subscription (Goddeti: para[0048], “a secure IP tunnel may be created to facilitate subscriber authentication and registration with the ePDG2 352 and the IMS 360. For example, SUB2 302 may authenticate with the ePDG2 352 using a credential associated with SUB2 302,”).
As per claims 4 and 17, Goddeti in view of Lee, Shribman and Faccin teaches the dependent claim 3. Shribman teaches wherein authenticating with the second wireless network comprises authenticating the IKE signaling using the one or more credentials (Shribman: para[0637], fig. 8 “The tunnel endpoints are authenticated before secure VPN tunnels can be established. User-created remote-access VPNs may use passwords, biometrics, two-factor authentication, or any other cryptographic methods. Network-to-network tunnels often use passwords or digital certificates, and permanently store the key in order to allow a tunnel to establish automatically, without intervention from a user.” para[0073])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have update the modified Goddeti with the internet key exchange authentication process of Shribman to enable secure, faster and more efficient data communication (Shribman para[0386]).
As per claims 5 and 18, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein the tunnel connection is an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) tunnel connection (Goddeti: para[0072], “A tunneling protocol may be applied on IP packets of the IMS service over the PDN connection. For example, when using SUB1's IP connectivity, an IMS application on SUB2 may encapsulate its IP packets using a secure tunneling protocol (such as IPsec) to provide a protected connection through the first network with an ePDG of the second network..”).
As per claims 6 and 19, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein communicating with the second wireless network comprises communicating one or more Internet Protocol-Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) messages with the second wireless network (Goddeti: para[0040-045], “SUB2 302 may initiate or receive an IMS VoLTE call via the packet data connection through the network 312 leading to the IMS 360.The UE 305 may also conduct IMS services on SUB2 302 indirectly through the network 311 associated with SUB1 301.” See also table 1 and 2).
As per claims 7 and 20, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein the one or more IMS messages comprise at least one of one or more voice packets or one or more multimedia packets (Goddeti : para[0040], “In various aspects, such IP services may include, but are not limited to, voice and video calling, and may be provided through various packet data networks (e.g., IMS/Internet 258).” ).
As per claims 8 and 21, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein obtaining the tunnel connection comprises obtaining the tunnel connection based on one or more credentials of the second subscription, wherein the one or more credentials include at least one of a subscriber identity or an authentication key (Goddeti: para[0048], “a secure IP tunnel may be created to facilitate subscriber authentication and registration with the ePDG2 352 and the IMS 360. For example, SUB2 302 may authenticate with the ePDG2 352 using a credential associated with SUB2 302,”, para[0071], “Furthermore, UE may authenticate using SUB2's credential or identity with the gateway of the second network over the PDN connection.”).
As per claims 9 and 22, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein the gateway includes at least one of an evolved packet data network gateway (ePDG) or a Non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF) (Goddeti: para[0046], “The ePDG2 352 (e.g., an Evolved Packet Data Gateway described with reference to FIG. 2) may serve as the entry point for an external network (e.g., the network 311) to access the core (e.g., PGW2 342 in the EPC) of the network 312”).
As per claims 10 and 23, Goddeti in view of Lee, Shribman and Faccin teaches the independent claim 1. Lee teaches wherein the first wireless network is associated with at least one first public land mobile network (PLMN) (PLMN1), and the second wireless network is associated with at least one second PLMN different from the at least one first PLMN (PLMN2) (Lee: para[94], “, two sets of RAN assistance information are provided, where one set (i.e. RAN assistance information #1) for non-roaming UEs and another set (i.e. RAN assistance information #2) for roaming UEs. The set of RAN assistance information for roaming UEs (i.e. RAN assistance information #2) may be provided commonly for all roaming UEs. ”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have utilize the UE’s VPLMN determination of Lee as a trigger condition for initiating a tunnel connection to a home network gateway as taught by Goddeti, in order to manage roaming behavior and ensure proper access to home operator services (Lee [003]).
As per claims 11, 24, and 30, Goddeti additionally teaches determining that a wireless local area network (WLAN) is unavailable for connecting with the gateway of the second wireless network (Goddeti: fig. 5, step 22 , “At block 520, SUB2 may check whether it is in a limited service and whether an IMS service would need internet connection. If so, it may further check whether a Wi-Fi is available at block 522, otherwise it may stay on SUB2 at block 435 and may handover to Wi-Fi for IMS services. However, if no Wi-Fi is available, SUB2 may decide to use SUB1 for IMS services at block 430, and may subsequently conduct IMS services over SUB1's internal hotspot as generally described in FIG. 4.”);
wherein obtaining the tunnel connection comprises obtaining the tunnel connection based on the determination that the WLAN is unavailable (Goddeti: para[0063], “An implementation may consider a variety of factors in determining whether to use SUB1's internet (or share internet resources). Many of these factors are already described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 (e.g., blocks 420, 422, 520, 522). For example, there might not be a WLAN (e.g., Wi-Fi) access available, which renders WLAN-based IMS mobility solution unavailable. In some cases, SUB2's cellular service may experience degradation or outage, or be limited due to lack of roaming arrangement” ).
As per claims 13 and 26, Goddeti additionally teaches wherein the first wireless network is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) network or a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio network, and the second wireless network is an E-UTRA network or a 5G New Radio network (Goddeti: para[0037], “A LTE network may include a radio access network, e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 252”, para[0043], “The networks 311 and 312 may be deployed or controlled by same or different operators. As an illustrated example, each network is shown as a LTE network, including various E-UTRAN and EPC entities generally described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.”).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LYDIA L NOEL whose telephone number is (571)272-1628. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 - 5:00.
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/L.L.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2437
/MENG LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2437