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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 8, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Frederiksen teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station (Section 0036, doppler shift between communication device and a non-terrestrial entity).
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(s) 1 – 5, 9, 10, 12, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ravishankar (US 11,272,373) in view of Frederiksen et al. (US 2022/0091276)
Regarding Claim 1, Ravishankar teaches a communication control apparatus that controls a terrestrial network comprising a terrestrial base station installed on a ground and capable of communicating with a communication device in a terrestrial communication cell provided by the terrestrial base station (Figure 2, base station (255)), and a non-terrestrial network comprising flying non-terrestrial base station and capable of communicating with a communication device in a non-terrestrial communication cell provided by the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite (210)) is the non-terrestrial base station, satellite base station (220) is the communication control apparatus (Col. 4 line 25)), wherein the non-terrestrial network is provided with an antenna capable of communicating with the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite terminal (230) communicates with the satellite (210)), and a non-terrestrial signal processing unit that processes non-terrestrial signal communicated with the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite base station (220) comprises processors, said satellite base station controls the resources of the satellite network and terrestrial network via the GRM in order to minimize interference (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64) thus said satellite base station would need to process non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications) and the communication control apparatus comprising: a non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit that shares, among the non-terrestrial signal processing unit and the terrestrial network, non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding a quality of the non-terrestrial communication via the non- terrestrial base station between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the antenna (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information with said satellite and terrestrial network); and a communication ratio determining unit that determines the ratio of the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network to be used for communication with communication device in an overlapping area of the terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, the allocation or distribution of resources to the satellite network and terrestrial network is the ratio, overlapping coverage area which is terrestrial coverage area (256) is within satellite coverage area (212) (See Figure 2)).
Ravishankar does not teach wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of: a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; a Doppler shift between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station; a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; or a communication delay between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station.
Frederiksen, which also teaches the use of satellites, teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of: a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; a Doppler shift between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station; a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; or a communication delay between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station (Section 0036, doppler shift between communication device and a non-terrestrial entity).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar with the above features of Frederiksen for the purpose of compensating for doppler shift as taught by Frederiksen.
Regarding Claim 12, Ravishankar teaches a communication control method that controls a terrestrial network comprising a terrestrial base station installed on a ground and capable of communicating with a communication device in a terrestrial communication cell provided by the terrestrial base station (Figure 2, base station (255)), and a non-terrestrial network comprising flying a non-terrestrial base station and capable of communicating with a communication device in a non-terrestrial communication cell provided by the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite (210) is the non-terrestrial base station), wherein the non-terrestrial network is provided with an antenna capable of communicating with the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite terminal (230) communicates with the satellite (210)), and a non-terrestrial signal processing unit that processes non-terrestrial signal communicated with the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite base station (220) comprises processors, said satellite base station controls the resources of the satellite network and terrestrial network via the GRM in order to minimize interference (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64) thus said satellite base station would need to process non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications), and the communication control method comprising: sharing, among the non-terrestrial signal processing unit and the terrestrial network, non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding a quality of the non-terrestrial communication via the non-terrestrial base station between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the antenna (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information with said satellite and terrestrial network); and determining a ratio of the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network to be used for communication with a communication device in an overlapping area of the terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, the allocation or distribution of resources to the satellite network and terrestrial network is the ratio, overlapping coverage area which is terrestrial coverage area (256) is within satellite coverage area (212) (See Figure 2)).
Ravishankar does not teach wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of: a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; a Doppler shift between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station; a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; or a communication delay between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station.
Frederiksen, which also teaches the use of satellites, teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of: a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; a Doppler shift between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station; a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; or a communication delay between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station (Section 0036, doppler shift between communication device and a non-terrestrial entity).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar with the above features of Frederiksen for the purpose of compensating for doppler shift as taught by Frederiksen.
Regarding Claim 13, Ravishankar teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a communication control program (Figure 2, satellite base station (220) is the communication control apparatus and comprises a processor that executes code stored in memory (226), Col. 5 line 18) that controls a terrestrial network comprising a terrestrial base station installed on a ground and capable of communicating with a communication device in a terrestrial communication cell provided by the terrestrial base station (Figure 2, base station (255)), and a non-terrestrial network comprising flying a non-terrestrial base station and capable of communicating with a communication device in a non-terrestrial communication cell provided by the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite (210)) is the non-terrestrial base station), wherein the non-terrestrial network is provided with an antenna capable of communicating with the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite terminal (230) communicates with the satellite (210)), and a non-terrestrial signal processing unit that processes non-terrestrial signal communicated with the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station (Figure 2, satellite base station (220) comprises processors, said satellite base station controls the resources of the satellite network and terrestrial network via the GRM in order to minimize interference (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64) thus said satellite base station would need to process non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications), and the communication control program causing a computer to perform: sharing, among the non-terrestrial signal processing unit and the terrestrial network, non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding the quality of the non-terrestrial communication via the non-terrestrial base station between communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the antenna (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information with said satellite and terrestrial network); and determining a ratio of the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network to be used for communication with a communication device in an overlapping area of the terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, the allocation or distribution of resources to the satellite network and terrestrial network is the ratio, overlapping coverage area which is terrestrial coverage area (256) is within satellite coverage area (212) (See Figure 2)).
Ravishankar does not teach wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of: a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; a Doppler shift between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station; a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; or a communication delay between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station.
Frederiksen, which also teaches the use of satellites, teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of: a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; a Doppler shift between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station; a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial base station; or a communication delay between the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station (Section 0036, doppler shift between communication device and a non-terrestrial entity).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar with the above features of Frederiksen for the purpose of compensating for doppler shift as taught by Frederiksen.
Regarding Claim 2, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ravishankar further teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit is provided in the non-terrestrial signal processing unit (Figure 2, Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM is included in satellite base station and thus can be a part of the satellite base station’s architecture), and shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information obtained from the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the non-terrestrial base station and the antenna to the terrestrial network(Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information).
Regarding Claim 3, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 2. Ravishankar further teaches wherein the terrestrial network is connected to core network via the non-terrestrial signal processing unit (Figure 2, terrestrial network (256) can be connected to private network, which reads on a core network, via public network and satellite base station), the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information with the terrestrial network when the non-terrestrial communication quality information exceeds a predetermined threshold (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information, Col. 11 lines 63 – 67, allocation of resources such that a portion of said resources is muted, usage requirements being high can lead to high interference and thus interference exceeding a threshold), and the communication ratio determining unit changes the ratio of the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network used for communication with the communication device in the overlapping area of the terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information that exceeds the predetermined threshold (Col. 11 lines 63 – 67, allocation of resources such that a portion of said resources is muted, usage requirements being high can lead to high interference and thus interference exceeding a threshold, overlapping coverage area which is terrestrial coverage area (256) is within satellite coverage area (212) (See Figure 2)).
Regarding Claim 4, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ravishankar further teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit is provided in the terrestrial network (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM interacts with the terrestrial network for the purpose of allocating resources thus it is provided is said terrestrial network), and shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information obtained from the communication device in the terrestrial communication cell to the non-terrestrial signal processing unit (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information).
Regarding Claim 5, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 4. Ravishankar further teaches wherein the non-terrestrial signal processing unit is connected to core network via the terrestrial network (Figure 2, satellite base station is connected to private network (see arrow between satellite base station and the private network), said connection is on the earth thus rendering a terrestrial connection and thus use of a terrestrial network); the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information with the non-terrestrial signal processing unit when the non-terrestrial communication quality information exceeds a predetermined threshold (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information, GRM is controlled by the processors of the satellite base station thus said processors would participate in the sharing of the interference related information, Col. 11 lines 63 – 67, allocation of resources such that a portion of said resources is muted, usage requirements being high can lead to high interference and thus interference exceeding a threshold), and the communication ratio determining unit changes the ratio of the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network used for communication with the communication device in the overlapping area of the terrestrial communication cell and the non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information that exceeds the predetermined threshold (Col. 11 lines 63 – 67, allocation of resources such that a portion of said resources is muted, usage requirements being high can lead to high interference and thus interference exceeding a threshold, overlapping coverage area which is terrestrial coverage area (256) is within satellite coverage area (212) (See Figure 2)).
Regarding Claim 9, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ravishankar does not teach wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell, the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station, and a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell, the antenna and the non- terrestrial base station.
Frederiksen, which also teaches the use of satellites, teaches wherein the non-terrestrial communication quality information includes at least one of a Doppler shift between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell, the antenna and the non-terrestrial base station, and a communication delay between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell, the antenna and the non- terrestrial base station (Section 0036, doppler shift between communication device, which also has an antenna and a non-terrestrial entity).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar with the above features of Frederiksen for the purpose of compensating for doppler shift as taught by Frederiksen.
Regarding Claim 10, Ravishankar teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ravishankar further teaches wherein the non-terrestrial base station is a communication satellite flying in outer space (Figure 2, satellite (210)) is the non-terrestrial base station).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ravishankar (US 11,272,373) in view of Frederiksen et al. (US 2022/0091276), as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Eichen (US 2021/0058146).
Regarding Claim 6, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ravishankar combination does not teach wherein the non-terrestrial signal processing unit is a baseband unit that processes the non-terrestrial signal in baseband.
Eichen, which also teaches use of satellites, teaches wherein the non-terrestrial signal processing unit is a baseband unit that processes the non-terrestrial signal in baseband (Section 0037, ground station comprises baseband equipment with interfaces for communications with DGSS logic and the internet thus will need to processing capability for processing said communications).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar combination with the above features of Eichen for the purpose of resolving conflicts between the incumbent users of atmospheric water sensors onboard Earth exploration satellites and 5G providers as taught by Eichen.
Claim(s) 7, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ravishankar (US 11,272,373) in view of Frederiksen et al. (US 2022/0091276) in view of Eichen (US 2021/0058146), as applied to Claim 6 set forth above, and further in view of Bachu et al. (US 2024/0097997).
Regarding Claim 7, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 6. Ravishankar further teaches the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information amongst itself and the terrestrial network (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information).
Ravishankar combination does not teach the baseband unit comprises a distributed unit on the antenna side and a central unit on the core network side, and the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information among the central unit and the terrestrial network.
Bachu, which also teaches wireless communication, teaches baseband unit comprises a distributed unit on the antenna side and a central unit on the core network side (Figure 2, Section 0085, DU closer to the RUs, which are close to antennas).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar combination with the above features of Bachu for the purpose of providing enhanced scalability and resource efficiency, which are benefits of a CU/DU split. The combination of Ravishankar combination and Bachu teaches the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information among the central unit and the terrestrial network
Regarding Claim 8, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 7. Ravishankar further teaches shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information obtained from the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the non-terrestrial base station and the antenna (Col. 5 lines 58 – 64, GRM allocating resources among the satellite and terrestrial networks based on interference thus there is an implicit sharing of interference related information).
Ravishankar combination does not teach wherein the distributed unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information obtained from the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the non-terrestrial base station and the antenna to the central unit.
Bachu, which also teaches wireless communication, teaches a distributed unit and a central unit (Figure 2, Section 0085, DU closer to the RUs, which are close to antennas).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar combination with the above features of Bachu for the purpose of providing enhanced scalability and resource efficiency, which are benefits of a CU/DU split. The combination of Ravishankar combination and Bachu teaches wherein the distributed unit shares the non-terrestrial communication quality information obtained from the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell via the non-terrestrial base station and the antenna to the central unit.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ravishankar (US 11,272,373) in view of Frederiksen et al. (US 2022/0091276), as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Jeong et al. (US 2016/0006499)
Regarding Claim 11, Ravishankar combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ravishankar does not teach a second non-terrestrial network comprising flying a second non-terrestrial base station and capable of communicating with a communication device in a second non-terrestrial communication cell provided by the second non-terrestrial base station, wherein the second non-terrestrial network is provided with a second antenna capable of communicating with the second non-terrestrial base station, and a second non-terrestrial signal processing unit that processes a second non-terrestrial signal communicated with the communication device in the second non-terrestrial communication cell via the second antenna and the second non-terrestrial base station, and the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit that shares, among the non-terrestrial signal processing unit and the second non-terrestrial signal processing unit, non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding the quality of the non-terrestrial communication via the non-terrestrial base station between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the antenna, and second non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding a quality of the second non-terrestrial communication via the second non-terrestrial base station between the communication device in the second non-terrestrial communication cell and the second antenna; and the communication ratio determining unit that determines a ratio of the non-terrestrial network and the second non-terrestrial network to be used for communication with communication device in an overlapping area of the non-terrestrial communication cell and the second non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information and the second non-terrestrial communication quality information.
Jeong, which also teaches a satellite system, teaches a second non-terrestrial network comprising flying a second non-terrestrial base station and capable of communicating with a communication device in a second non-terrestrial communication cell provided by the second non-terrestrial base station (Section 0101, second satellite network will comprise satellites that communicate with ground terminals in the footprint of said satellites), wherein the second non-terrestrial network is provided with a second antenna capable of communicating with the second non-terrestrial base station (Section 0101, the ground terminals in the footprint of the satellite will have antennas in order to communicate with said satellite), and a second non-terrestrial signal processing unit that processes a second non-terrestrial signal communicated with the communication device in the second non-terrestrial communication cell via the second antenna and the second non-terrestrial base station (Figure 1, satellite network operation management device (30) will have a processor for processing signals communicated in the satellite network); and the non-terrestrial communication quality information sharing unit that shares, among the non-terrestrial signal processing unit and the second non-terrestrial signal processing unit, non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding the quality of the non-terrestrial communication via the non-terrestrial base station between the communication device in the non-terrestrial communication cell and the antenna, and second non-terrestrial communication quality information regarding a quality of the second non-terrestrial communication via the second non-terrestrial base station between the communication device in the second non-terrestrial communication cell and the second antenna (predicting apparatus predicts the interference which is a quality metric that affects both satellite networks (Sections 0102, 0103, 0104); and the communication ratio determining unit that determines a ratio of the non-terrestrial network and the second non-terrestrial network to be used for communication with communication device in an overlapping area of the non-terrestrial communication cell and the second non-terrestrial communication cell based on the non-terrestrial communication quality information and the second non-terrestrial communication quality information (Section 0104, compensation for interference between both satellite networks renders adjustment in communication resources in both satellite networks which is the ratio).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ravishankar with the above features of Jeong for the purpose of enabling multiple satellite networks to coexist as taught by Jeong.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
February 3, 2026