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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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.
3. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
4. Claim(s) 1-9,11-16, 21, 23-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Athalye (U.S.Pub. # 2008/0070566) in view of Shaw (US 20220240105 A1)
Regarding claims 1,8,15, Athalye discloses a method of selecting a network interface for a communication device (102 of fig. 1) having at least two radio physical interfaces (302,306,308 of fig. 3), the selecting to improve communications by the communication device, the method comprising: determining, by a configuration daemon associated with an operating system of the communication device, a first radio physical interface as a primary interface and a second radio physical interface as idle, the primary interface being active (para. 0026 discloses first communication interface is active while the second interface is idle); executing, by a networking subsystem of the operating system, a state machine configured to monitor network conditions and associated performance parameters of the at least two radio physical interfaces, the state machine receiving input from one or more data-gathering subsystems associated with the operating system, the input characterizing the network conditions and the associated performance parameters (para. 0026,0027 for assessing service level, specifically para. 0027 discloses network condition and performance parameters); providing, by the state machine in response to the monitored network conditions and associated performance parameters of the at least two radio physical interfaces, an outrank state indication to the configuration daemon, the outrank state indication indicating whether the second radio physical interface should be the primary interface (para. 0026” r the mobile station 102 having a plurality of communication interfaces 302. Each communication interface has an active power mode and an inactive power mode. The power consumption of a communication interface in the active power mode is greater than the power consumption of the communication interface in the inactive power mode. In the method, a communication service level is assessed for a first communication interface which is in the active power mode and is providing a communication service (step 402). A second communication interface is activated by changing the second communication interface from the inactive power mode to the active power mode (step 404). A communication service level is assessed for the activated second communication interface (step 406). A comparison is performed of the communication service level of the first communication interface with the communication service level of the activated second communication interface (step 408). If the comparison of communication service levels indicates that the second communication interface can provide a greater communication service level than the first communication interface (step 410), then the first communication interface is deactivated by changing the first communication interface from the active power mode to the inactive power mode (step 412), and a communication service is provided through the second communication interface (step 414). Otherwise, a communication service is continued to be provided through the first communication interface (step 416).”); and
configuring, by the configuration daemon, the second radio physical interface as the primary interface and the first radio physical interface as idle (410,412,416 of fig. 4).
Athalye doesn’t teach wherein the network conditions and the associated performance parameters includes data usage by applications of the communication device associated with large data usage.
Shaw (US 2022/0240105 A1) teaches the network conditions and the associated performance parameters includes data usage by applications of the communication device associated with large data usage. (see para 0004 “network performance characteristics such as data rate or throughput are reported to the network …. Different applications executed on the UE use the network in different ways. For example, some applications may transmit or receive large amounts of data (e.g. video player applications”; see para0041 “When a heavy data usage application is run, for example a video player, it is likely that the UE will be demanding the maximum data rate which the network is capable of providing at that time (based upon the amount of congestion on the network” ) [throughput/ data rate is a performance parameter associated with congestion (interpreted as network performance which is based on heavy data usage such as video player]
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art skills of the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the network conditions and the associated performance parameters includes data usage by applications of the communication device associated with large data usage in the system of Athalye. The motivation is to efficiently use the network (Shaw: see para 0061)
Regarding claims 2,9,16, Athalye discloses wherein providing the outrank state indication further includes providing, by the state machine, an armed state indication before the outrank state indication when prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters are met, the armed state indicating whether the second radio physical interface should be designated as the primary interface (410,412,416 of fig. 4; see para 0026 “f the comparison of communication service levels indicates that the second communication interface can provide a greater communication service level than the first communication interface (step 410), then the first communication interface is deactivated by changing the first communication interface from the active power mode to the inactive power mode (step 412), and a communication service is provided through the second communication interface (step 414). Otherwise, a communication service is continued to be provided through the first communication interface (step 416).”).
Regarding claims 3, Athalye discloses wherein configuring the second radio physical interface as the primary interface and the first radio physical interface as idle is performed automatically by the configuration daemon without user interaction (410,412,416 of fig. 4; see para 0026 “f the comparison of communication service levels indicates that the second communication interface can provide a greater communication service level than the first communication interface (step 410), then the first communication interface is deactivated by changing the first communication interface from the active power mode to the inactive power mode (step 412), and a communication service is provided through the second communication interface (step 414). Otherwise, a communication service is continued to be provided through the first communication interface (step 416).”).
Regarding claims 4,11, Athalye discloses wherein the first radio physical interface is a Wi-Fi interface, and wherein the second radio physical interface is a cellular interface (para. 0024 “the mobile station 102 may have several communication interfaces (CI) 302. More specifically, the mobile station may have a communication interface A for communication with the CDMA-based wireless communication system 100, and another communication interface B for communication with the GSM-based wireless communication system 100'. These two communication interfaces may share a common antenna 304, or may have separate antennas (not shown). Also, the mobile station may have a communication interface C for communication with the WiFi access point 210, or with a Bluetooth connection 224.”).
Regarding claims 5,12, Athalye discloses wherein the one or more data-gathering subsystems associated with the operating system include one or more of a wireless radio coexistence subsystem, a cellular subsystem, a media subsystem, a device-driver subsystem, a device power/thermal subsystem, a network statistics subsystem, a networking services discovery daemon, a networking framework, a Wi-Fi subsystem, and a device thermal subsystem (para. 0024,0026 “the mobile station 102 may have several communication interfaces (CI) 302. More specifically, the mobile station may have a communication interface A for communication with the CDMA-based wireless communication system 100, and another communication interface B for communication with the GSM-based wireless communication system 100'. These two communication interfaces may share a common antenna 304, or may have separate antennas (not shown). Also, the mobile station may have a communication interface C for communication with the WiFi access point 210, or with a Bluetooth connection 224.”)
Regarding claims 6,13, Athalye discloses wherein the one or more data-gathering subsystems are configured to monitor application activity of the communication device (see para 0026 “ a method 400 of providing communication services for the mobile station 102 having a plurality of communication interfaces 302. Each communication interface has an active power mode and an inactive power mode. The power consumption of a communication interface in the active power mode is greater than the power consumption of the communication interface in the inactive power mode. In the method, a communication service level is assessed for a first communication interface which is in the active power mode and is providing a communication service (step 402). A second communication interface is activated by changing the second communication interface from the inactive power mode to the active power mode (step 404). A communication service level is assessed for the activated second communication interface (step 406). A comparison is performed of the communication service level of the first communication interface with the communication service level of the activated second communication interface (step 408). If the comparison of communication service levels indicates that the second communication interface can provide a greater communication service level than the first communication interface (step 410), then the first communication interface is deactivated by changing the first communication interface from the active power mode to the inactive power mode (step 412), and a communication service is provided through the second communication interface (step 414). Otherwise, a communication service is continued to be provided through the first communication interface (step 416).” ).
Regarding claims 7,14, 21, Athalye discloses wherein the performance parameters of the at least two radio physical interfaces include a comparative cost for operating each of the at least two radio physical interfaces (para. 0027” The communication service level may be based on one of, or a combination of, traditional Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, radio frequency (rf) signal strength, financial cost, level of security provided, an explicit interface prioritization, and similar factors. Traditional QofS parameters are throughput, delay, jitter, packet error rate, and the like”).
Regarding claim 21, Athalye teaches wherein the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include the communication device not being in a system-wide low-power mode (see para 0009 “Each communication interface has an active power mode and an inactive power mode. The power consumption of a communication interface in the active power mode is greater than the power consumption of the communication interface in the inactive power mode. In the method, a communication service level is assessed for a first communication interface which is in the active power mode and is providing a communication service. A second communication interface is activated by changing the second communication interface from the inactive power mode to the active power mode.”)
Regarding claim 23, Athalye teaches wherein the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include the communication device not being located in a known home or work location (see para 0020 “A remote station, also known as a mobile station (MS), an access terminal (AT), user equipment or subscriber unit, may be mobile or stationary, and may communicate with one or more base stations, also known as base transceiver stations (BTSs) or node Bs. ….. Base stations and base station controllers are parts of a network called an access network. The access network may be further connected to additional networks outside the access network, such as a corporate intranet or the Internet, and may transport data packets between each remote station and such outside networks.”) [ mobile station is connected to the access network, where access network is connected to additional networks outside the access network, such as a corporate intranet; since network is outside the corporate intranet, therefore the mobile station is interpreted to not being located in a known home or work location]
Regarding claim 24, Athalye teaches wherein the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include the communication device is connected to a public network via the first radio physical interface (see para 0022 “a mobile subscriber may have access to a local area network (LAN) 204 over a wired Ethernet connection 206, or over a wireless (WiFi) nework connection 208 through an access point 210 based on an IEEE 802.11 standard.”)
Regarding claim 25, Athalye teaches wherein the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include a random delay. (see para 0027 “The communication service level may be based on one of, or a combination of, traditional Quality of Service (QoS) metrics…... Traditional QofS parameters are throughput, delay”)
5. Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Athalye (U.S.Pub. # 2008/0070566) in view of Athalye (US 2008/0070566 A1) in view of Shaw (US 20220240105 A1) in view of Bahl (US 2005/0239497 A1)
Regarding claim 22, Athalye doesn’t teach wherein the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include the communication device not being in a moderate or higher system thermal state.
Bahl (US 2005/0239497 A1) teaches the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include the communication device not being in a moderate or higher system thermal state. (see para 0103 “the particular criterion governing wireless interface/network selections is dynamically configured according to sensed operating conditions (e.g., battery power high/low).”)
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill sin the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the prerequisites of the monitored network conditions and performance parameters include the communication device not being in a moderate or higher system thermal state in the system of Athalye. The motivation is to improve of quality of service on a wireless interface. (Bahl: see para 0073)
Conclusion
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/PAMIT KAUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2416