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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 on 12/23/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 11/26/2025 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1, 20, 29 and 30 are amended, and claims 1-30 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-30 have been fully considered but are moot based upon the new grounds of rejection necessitated by applicant's amendment.
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 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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-3, 8-11,13-22 and 27-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20220256410 A1), in view of Miao et al. (US 20170094628 A1 and Miao hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang teaches a method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (Figure 5), comprising:
communicating via a first subscriber identity module (SIM) (Paragraphs 0003 and 0067; a terminal device in dual SIM dual active (DSDA) mode means that two SIM cards may be mounted on a terminal device that supports two user identities (where one SIM card corresponds to one user identity), and the two SIM cards may be simultaneously in connected state, that is, the terminal device may send and receive data by using both the two user identities) and a second SIM (Paragraphs 0003 and 0067; two SIM cards each correspond to an user identity may be simultaneously in connected states that send and receiving data by using both the two user identities) according to a first allocation of a hardware capability of the UE (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards. Figure 5 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity), wherein the first allocation comprises a first subset of the hardware capability of the UE being associated with the first SIM and a second subset of the hardware capability of the UE being associated with the second SIM (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device obtains the first information including the information about the serving cell of the first user identity, and then sends the first information to the gNB 1 by using the second user identity. Therefore, the gNB 1 can receive the first information from the terminal device, and determine the information about the serving cell of the first user identity based on the first information, to comprehensively consider the serving cell of the first user identity and the serving cell of the second user identity, and add the serving cell for the second user identity. In other words, in this embodiment of this application, the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards);
configuring (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed) a second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards. Figure 8 and Paragraphs 0152 and 0161; S801 and S802 are the same as steps S501 and S502, and S804a and S805a are the same as steps S506a and S507a. Figure 5 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity), wherein the second allocation comprises a third subset of the hardware capability of the UE being associated with the first SIM and a fourth subset of the hardware capability of the UE being associated with the second SIM (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device obtains the first information including the information about the serving cell of the first user identity, and then sends the first information to the gNB 1 by using the second user identity. Therefore, the gNB 1 can receive the first information from the terminal device, and determine the information about the serving cell of the first user identity based on the first information, to comprehensively consider the serving cell of the first user identity and the serving cell of the second user identity, and add the serving cell for the second user identity. In other words, in this embodiment of this application, the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards), wherein the first subset of the hardware capability is different from the third subset of the hardware capability of the UE and the second subset of the hardware capability is different from the fourth subset of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0097 and 0148; steps performed [to dynamically allocate hardware capabilities of the UE] when a SIM card of a terminal device changes state, such as from idle state to connected states. Figure 8 and Paragraphs 0148 and 0153; steps performed [to dynamically allocate hardware capabilities of the UE] when serving cell of the first SIM of the terminal device is changed. Allocation of hardware capability that is dynamically allocated based on the cell change could be different from the allocation of hardware capability that is dynamically allocated when one SIM changes connection state. As evidenced in Figures 7a-7d and Paragraph 0124; as serving cell changes, the band combination changes as well, thus the dynamically allocation of the hardware capabilities of UE would change); and
communicating via the first SIM and the second SIM (Paragraph 0067; in embodiments of this application, two SIM cards mounted on a terminal device in a DSDA [dual sim dual active] mode are respectively referred to as the SIM card A and the SIM card B. Correspondingly, the terminal device may support two user identities. A user identity corresponding to the SIM card A is referred to as the first user identity, and a user identity corresponding to the SIM card B is referred to as the second user identity) according to the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraphs 0130, 0148 and 0153; communication method based on dynamical allocation of hardware capability).
Zhang does not explicitly teach communicating via network subscription, and configuring, by the UE, an allocation of the hardware capability of the UE. In an analogous art, Miao teaches communicating via network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions), and configuring, by the UE, an allocation of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0045; processor(s) 506 and the wireless circuitry 508 can be configured to perform and/or control performance of one or more functionalities of the dual SIM wireless communication device 502, in accordance with various implementations. The processor(s) 506 and the wireless circuitry 508 can provide functionality for coordinating hardware/software resources in the dual SIM wireless communication device 502 to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 20, claim 20 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Zhang teaches an apparatus for wireless communications (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0081; related functions of the terminal device 101 or the first access network device 102 may be implemented by a communication apparatus 40), comprising:
a processor of a user equipment (UE) (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0081; terminal device 101 implemented by a communication apparatus 40 that include one or more processors 401);
a transceiver coupled with the processor (Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0081 and 0084; terminal device 101 implemented by a communication apparatus 40 that include communication interface 404 that may be a transceiver module, configured to communicate with another device or a communication network. The communication interface 404 may be configured to implement signal input and signal output of the processor); and
memory coupled with the processor, the memory and the processor configured to cause the apparatus to perform steps/functions (Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0081 and 0085; the memory 403 can be used to carry or store expected program code in a form of instructions or a data structure and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory may exist independently, and is connected to the processor through the communication line 402. Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor).
Regarding claim 29, claim 29 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Zhang teaches apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (Figure 4 and Paragraph 0081; terminal device 101 implemented by a communication apparatus 40).
Regarding claim 30, claim 30 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Zhang teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor (Figure 4 and Paragraphs 0081 and 0085; the memory 403 of mobile terminal device can be used to carry or store expected program code in a form of instructions or a data structure and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory may exist independently, and is connected to the processor through the communication line 402. Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor).
Regarding claims 2 and 21, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 20, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches storing the second allocation in a memory of the UE in association with a determined geographic location of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Examiner asserts that serving cell is interpreted as location of the UE since UE is capable of communicating with the serving cell, and in order to communicate with the serving cell, the UE stores the cell ID or equivalent information of the serving cell in the UE memory. Figures 5 and 8 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity).
Regarding claims 3 and 22, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 20, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches storing the determining that the second allocation (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Figures 5 and 8 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity) is associated with a current or predicted geographic location of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Examiner asserts that serving cell is interpreted as location of the UE since UE is capable of communicating with the serving cell, and in order to communicate with the serving cell, the UE stores the cell ID or equivalent information of the serving cell in the UE memory), wherein configuring the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE is based at least in part on the second allocation being associated with the current or predicted geographic location of the UE (Figures 5 and 8, and Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity).
Regarding claims 8 and 27, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 20, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches determining that the second allocation (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards) is associated with a first cell that is connected with the UE via the first SIM (Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity), wherein configuring the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE is based at least in part on the second allocation being associated with the first cell (Figure 8 and Paragraphs 0152 and 0161; S801 and S802 are the same as steps S501 and S502, and S804a and S805a are the same as steps S506a and S507a. Figure 5 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity).
In addition, Miao teaches connected with the UE via network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claims 9 and 28, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 20, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches predicting a cell for subsequent communications by UE via the first SIM (Figure 9 and Paragraph 0184; the gNB 1 determines to perform a handover on the terminal device), wherein configuring the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE is based at least in part on the second allocation (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards) being associated with the predicted cell (Figure 9 and Paragraph 0173; gNB 1 determines whether a band combination consisting of the at least one first band and a third band corresponding to a first cell exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device. Paragraph 0174; it is assumed that the serving cell of the first user identity is a cell 2, a first band corresponding to the cell 2 is a band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell cell 1 is a band 1. In this case, the band combination consisting of the at least one first band and the third band corresponding to the first cell is {band 1, band 2}. Paragraph 0175; if the band combination exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to use the first cell as a target serving cell to which the second user identity is to be handed over).
In addition, Miao teaches communications with the UE via network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches determining that the second SIM is in an idle mode (Paragraph 0091; a user identity corresponding to one SIM card of a terminal device enters a connected state from an idle state or an inactive state, and a user identity corresponding to another SIM card is in the connected state, the idle state, or the inactive state), wherein configuring the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards) is based at least in part on the second SIM being in the idle mode (Paragraph 0091; a user identity corresponding to one SIM card of a terminal device enters a connected state from an idle state or an inactive state, and a user identity corresponding to another SIM card is in the connected state, the idle state, or the inactive state).
In addition, Miao teaches network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 10, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches determining that the second SIM is no longer in the idle mode (Paragraph 0091; a user identity corresponding to one SIM card of a terminal device enters a connected state from an idle state or an inactive state); and communicating via the first SIM and the second SIM (Paragraphs 0003 and 0067; a terminal device in dual SIM dual active (DSDA) mode means that two SIM cards may be mounted on a terminal device that supports two user identities (where one SIM card corresponds to one user identity) according to the first allocation (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards) after determining that the second SIM is no longer in the idle mode (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0091; a user identity corresponding to one SIM card of a terminal device enters a connected state from an idle state or an inactive state).
In addition, Miao teaches connected with the UE via network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein: the first subset comprises more of the hardware capability of the UE than the second subset; and the fourth subset comprises more of the hardware capability of the UE than the third subset (Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; an access network device corresponding to one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) of the terminal device can obtain information about a serving cell of another SIM card (namely, a SIM card B), to comprehensively consider information about serving cells of the two SIM cards, and add a new serving cell for a user identity corresponding to the SIM card (namely, the SIM card A). Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, a serving cell that matches a hardware resource of the terminal device can be configured for a user identity corresponding to a SIM card of the terminal device, so that the serving cell configured for the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by the hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used. Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0097 and 0148; steps performed [to dynamically allocate hardware capabilities of the UE] when a SIM card of a terminal device changes state, such as from idle state to connected states. Figure 8 and Paragraphs 0148 and 0153; steps performed [to dynamically allocate hardware capabilities of the UE] when serving cell of the first SIM of the terminal device is changed. Allocation of hardware capability that is dynamically allocated based on the cell change could be different from the allocation of hardware capability that is dynamically allocated when one SIM changes connection state. As evidenced in Figures 7a-7d and Paragraph 0124; as serving cell changes, the band combination changes as well, thus the dynamically allocation of the hardware capabilities of UE would change). Even though Zhang does not explicitly the first subset comprises more of the hardware capability than the second subset and the fourth subset comprises more of the hardware capability than the third subset, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to dynamically allocate different subsets of hardware capabilities of the UE to different SIM cards because Applicant has not disclosed that this particular allocation of hardware capability provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with any reasonable allocation of subset of hardware capabilities. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Zhang to obtain the invention as specified in this claim.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein: the first subset and the second subset cumulatively comprise a total hardware capability of the UE (Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; an access network device corresponding to one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) of the terminal device can obtain information about a serving cell of another SIM card (namely, a SIM card B), to comprehensively consider information about serving cells of the two SIM cards, and add a new serving cell for a user identity corresponding to the SIM card (namely, the SIM card A). Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, a serving cell that matches a hardware resource of the terminal device can be configured for a user identity corresponding to a SIM card of the terminal device, so that the serving cell configured for the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by the hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used), and the third subset and the fourth subset cumulatively comprise the total hardware capability of the UE (Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; the first access network device can receive the second information from the terminal device, and configure the serving cell for the second user identity based on the second information. Because the terminal device has considered the information about the serving cell of the first user identity when obtaining the second information, the first access network device may configure the serving cell for the second user identity based on the second information, so that a quantity of serving cells of the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by a hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches storing the second allocation in a memory of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Examiner asserts that serving cell is interpreted as location of the UE since UE is capable of communicating with the serving cell, and in order to communicate with the serving cell, the UE stores the cell ID or equivalent information of the serving cell in the UE memory. Figures 5 and 8 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity) in association with at least one of a first cell associated with the first SIM or a second cell associated with the second SIM (Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; an access network device corresponding to one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) of the terminal device can obtain information about a serving cell of another SIM card (namely, a SIM card B), to comprehensively consider information about serving cells of the two SIM cards, and add a new serving cell for a user identity corresponding to the SIM card (namely, the SIM card A). Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, a serving cell that matches a hardware resource of the terminal device can be configured for a user identity corresponding to a SIM card of the terminal device, so that the serving cell configured for the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by the hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used. Figures 5, 8 and Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity).
In addition, Miao teaches network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein the hardware capability of the UE comprises a supported bandwidth, a supported multiple-input multiple-output rank, a supported quantity of one or more component carriers, a supported quantity of one or more layers per configured component carrier, or any combination thereof (Paragraphs 0105; it should be noted that the band combination (BC) list supported by the terminal device may also be referred to as a carrier aggregation combination list supported by the terminal device, or briefly referred to as a band combination supported by the terminal device, or the like. The band combination list supported by the terminal device is related to a hardware resource of the terminal device).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches reporting first data associated with the first subset to a first cell in communication with the UE via the first SIM (Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; an access network device corresponding to one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) of the terminal device can obtain information about a serving cell of another SIM card (namely, a SIM card B), to comprehensively consider information about serving cells of the two SIM cards, and add a new serving cell for a user identity corresponding to the SIM card (namely, the SIM card A). Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, a serving cell that matches a hardware resource of the terminal device can be configured for a user identity corresponding to a SIM card of the terminal device, so that the serving cell configured for the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by the hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used); and reporting second data associated with the second subset to a second cell in communication with the UE via the second SIM (Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; an access network device corresponding to one SIM card (for example, a SIM card B) of the terminal device can obtain information about a serving cell of another SIM card (namely, a SIM card B), to comprehensively consider information about serving cells of the two SIM cards, and add a new serving cell for a user identity corresponding to the SIM card (namely, the SIM card B). Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, a serving cell that matches a hardware resource of the terminal device can be configured for a user identity corresponding to a SIM card of the terminal device, so that the serving cell configured for the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by the hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used).
In addition, Miao teaches communicate with the UE via network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein the first SIM is associated with a first subscriber identification module card inserted into a first card slot of the UE and the second SIM is associated with a second subscriber identification module card inserted into a second card slot of the UE (Paragraphs 0064 and 0065; two SIM cards are mounted on a terminal device is considered as that the terminal device supports two user identities. There is a one-to-one correspondence between a SIM card and a user identity, and may be registered with more than two networks, where each user identity may be registered with one network. Paragraph 0067; in embodiments of this application, two SIM cards mounted on a terminal device in a DSDA [dual sim dual active] mode are respectively referred to as the SIM card A and the SIM card B. Correspondingly, the terminal device may support two user identities. A user identity corresponding to the SIM card A is referred to as the first user identity, and a user identity corresponding to the SIM card B is referred to as the second user identity).
In addition, Miao teaches network subscription (Paragraph 0037; a set of one or more SIMs/eSIMs for the wireless communication device can reside internally in the wireless communication device, e.g., on one or more removable UICCs and/or as eSIMs on an eUICC in the wireless communication device, and/or reside externally in a wireless accessory device. A second SIM/eSIM in the wireless accessory device can enable the wireless communication device to connect to a wireless network using a different subscriber identity than available in a first SIM/eSIM in the wireless communication device, such as when using two different subscriber identities from two different SIMs/eSIMs to access the same wireless network for different services and/or subscriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Miao so as to improve performance and reduce power consumption for mobility management of connections to one or more of the wireless networks 510A/B (Miao, Paragraph 0045).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein the first allocation (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards. Figure 5 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity) is based at least in part on the first subscriber identification module card being inserted into the first card slot and the second subscriber identification module card being inserted into the second card slot (Paragraphs 0064 and 0065; two SIM cards are mounted on a terminal device is considered as that the terminal device supports two user identities. There is a one-to-one correspondence between a SIM card and a user identity, and may be registered with more than two networks, where each user identity may be registered with one network. Paragraph 0067; in embodiments of this application, two SIM cards mounted on a terminal device in a DSDA [dual sim dual active] mode are respectively referred to as the SIM card A and the SIM card B. Correspondingly, the terminal device may support two user identities. A user identity corresponding to the SIM card A is referred to as the first user identity, and a user identity corresponding to the SIM card B is referred to as the second user identity).
Claims 4-7, 12 and 23-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Miao, as applied to the claims above, further in view of Rao et al. (WO 2021002859 A1 and Rao hereinafter).
Regarding claims 4 and 23, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 3 and 22, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches transmitting, to one or more cells, prior to (Figures 5, 6 and Paragraph 0103; the gNB 1 obtains a band combination list supported by a terminal device) configuring the second allocation (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards. Figure 8 and Paragraphs 0152 and 0161; S801 and S802 are the same as steps S501 and S502, and S804a and S805a are the same as steps S506a and S507a. Figure 5 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band, band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity).
The combination of Zhang and Miao does not explicitly teach transmitting, to one or more cells, one or more measurement reports associated with the current or predicted geographic location. In an analogous art, Rao teaches transmitting, to one or more cells, one or more measurement reports associated with the current or predicted geographic location (Paragraph 0039; network may thus selectively control wireless devices e.g. in a certain cell to perform and/or store measurements during an idle and/or inactive mode and report the measurements upon transitioning to an active mode. Figure 2 and Paragraph 0035; measurements performed in at least one of the idle mode and the inactive mode are stored 210. A measurement report comprising said measurements is transmitted 220 to the network node when entering a connected mode from the idle mode or the inactive mode); and storing, in a memory of the UE, the one or more measurement reports (Paragraph 0039; network may thus selectively control wireless devices e.g. in a certain cell to perform and/or store measurements during an idle and/or inactive mode and report the measurements upon transitioning to an active mode. measurements performed in at least one of the idle mode and the inactive mode are stored 210. A measurement report comprising said measurements is transmitted 220 to the network node when entering a connected mode from the idle mode or the inactive mode), wherein the determining is based at least in part on storing the one or more measurement reports (Paragraphs 0049 and 0050; the received measurement information of the measurements stored during the idle and/or inactive mode is provided after block 310 to a mobility management module. The module may be configured to, on the basis of processing the measurements, predict a blockage event or a handover event for the wireless device and determine a new cell for proactively handing over the wireless device). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Miao with the teachings of Rao so as to proactively decide on the basis of the prediction to which beam to switch to in the same cell or whether to proactively handover the UE to another cell to avoid a blockage event (Rao, Paragraphs 0050 and 0060).
Regarding claims 5 and 24, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 20, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein configuring the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Figures 5 and 8 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity) is based at least in part on the second allocation being associated with the geographic location (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Examiner asserts that serving cell is interpreted as location of the UE since UE is capable of communicating with the serving cell, and in order to communicate with the serving cell, the UE stores the cell ID or equivalent information of the serving cell in the UE memory).
The combination of Zhang and Miao does not explicitly teach predicting a geographic location based at least in part on user data stored in memory of the UE. In an analogous art, Rao teaches predicting a geographic location based at least in part on user data stored in memory of the UE (Paragraph 0039; network may thus selectively control wireless devices e.g. in a certain cell to perform and/or store measurements during an idle and/or inactive mode and report the measurements upon transitioning to an active mode. measurements performed in at least one of the idle mode and the inactive mode are stored 210. A measurement report comprising said measurements is transmitted 220 to the network node when entering a connected mode from the idle mode or the inactive mode. Paragraph 0049; the received measurement information of the measurements stored during the idle and/or inactive mode is provided after block 310 to a mobility management module. The module may be configured to, on the basis of processing the measurements, predict a blockage event or a handover event for the wireless device and determine a new cell for proactively handing over the wireless device. The module may comprise the machine learning model trained, on the basis of historical measurement submitted by wireless devices, to predict trajectory of the wireless device, and predict the blockage event, a handover event, or a beam switching event). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Miao with the teachings of Rao so as to proactively decide on the basis of the prediction to which beam to switch to in the same cell or whether to proactively handover the UE to another cell to avoid a blockage event (Rao, Paragraphs 0050 and 0060).
Regarding claims 6 and 25, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 20, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein configuring the second allocation of the hardware capability of the UE (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Figures 5 and 8 and Paragraph 0121; the terminal device obtains first information or second information. Paragraph 0122; the first information includes information about a serving cell of a first user identity, and the second information includes a band combination list or a band list supported by the second user identity. Paragraphs 0136 and 0139; the gNB 1 determines at least one first band based on the first information and determines, based on the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the at least one first band, at least one second band, and a third band corresponding to a first cell, whether to add the first cell as a serving cell of the second user identity. Paragraph 0141; for example, in a possible implementation, it is assumed that the at least one first band includes a band band 1, the at least one second band includes a band band 2, and the third band corresponding to the first cell is a band 3. If a band combination {band 1, band 2, band 3} exists in the band combination list supported by the terminal device, the gNB 1 determines to add the first cell as one serving cell of the second user identity) is based at least in part on the second allocation being associated with the geographic location (Figure 8 and Paragraph 0153; steps performed when information about the serving cell of the first user identity of the terminal device is changed. Examiner asserts that serving cell is interpreted as location of the UE since UE is capable of communicating with the serving cell, and in order to communicate with the serving cell, the UE stores the cell ID or equivalent information of the serving cell in the UE memory).
The combination of Zhang and Miao does not explicitly teach predicting a mobility path of the UE. In an analogous art, Rao teaches predicting a mobility path of the UE (Paragraph 0049; the received measurement information of the measurements stored during the idle and/or inactive mode is provided after block 310 to a mobility management module. The module may be configured to, on the basis of processing the measurements, predict a blockage event or a handover event for the wireless device and determine a new cell for proactively handing over the wireless device. The module may comprise the machine learning model trained, on the basis of historical measurement submitted by wireless devices, to predict trajectory of the wireless device, and predict the blockage event, a handover event, or a beam switching event). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Miao with the teachings of Rao so as to proactively decide on the basis of the prediction to which beam to switch to in the same cell or whether to proactively handover the UE to another cell to avoid a blockage event (Rao, Paragraphs 0050 and 0060).
Regarding claims 7 and 26, the combination of Zhang/Miao/Rao teaches all of the limitations of claims 6 and 25, as described above. Further, Rao teaches wherein predicting the mobility path is based at least in part on a machine learning algorithm and one or more past measurement reports stored in a memory of the UE (Paragraph 0049; the received measurement information of the measurements stored during the idle and/or inactive mode is provided after block 310 to a mobility management module. The module may be configured to, on the basis of processing the measurements, predict a blockage event or a handover event for the wireless device and determine a new cell for proactively handing over the wireless device. The module may comprise the machine learning model trained, on the basis of historical measurement submitted by wireless devices, to predict trajectory of the wireless device, and predict the blockage event, a handover event, or a beam switching event). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Miao with the teachings of Rao so as to proactively decide on the basis of the prediction to which beam to switch to in the same cell or whether to proactively handover the UE to another cell to avoid a blockage event (Rao, Paragraphs 0050 and 0060).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Zhang and Miao teaches all of the limitations of claim 10, as described above. Further, Zhang teaches wherein: the fourth subset comprises a portion of the hardware capability of the UE sufficient to support operations (Figure 5 and Paragraph 0148; the terminal device obtains the first information including the information about the serving cell of the first user identity, and then sends the first information to the gNB 1 by using the second user identity. Therefore, the gNB 1 can receive the first information from the terminal device, and determine the information about the serving cell of the first user identity based on the first information, to comprehensively consider the serving cell of the first user identity and the serving cell of the second user identity, and add the serving cell for the second user identity. In other words, in this embodiment of this application, the terminal device can report a band occupied by one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) to the gNB 1 accessed by another SIM card (for example, a SIM card B). Therefore, the gNB 1 can dynamically adjust, based on information about the band occupied by the SIM card A, an available band of the SIM card B, to coordinate carrier aggregation capabilities of the two SIM cards), and the third subset comprises a remainder of the hardware capability of the UE (Paragraphs 0070 and 0071; an access network device corresponding to one SIM card (for example, a SIM card A) of the terminal device can obtain information about a serving cell of another SIM card (namely, a SIM card B), to comprehensively consider information about serving cells of the two SIM cards, and add a new serving cell for a user identity corresponding to the SIM card (namely, the SIM card A). Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, a serving cell that matches a hardware resource of the terminal device can be configured for a user identity corresponding to a SIM card of the terminal device, so that the serving cell configured for the terminal device does not exceed an upper limit that can be supported by the hardware resource of the terminal device, and the hardware resource of the terminal device can be fully used).
The combination of Zhang and Miao does not explicitly teach upport page decode operations. In an analogous art, Rao teaches support page decode operations (Paragraph 0046; measurement report may comprise a time-ordered list of measurements performed by the UE 10 at a paging cycle applied in the idle and/or the inactive mode. Paragraph 0055; while in RRC_IN ACTIVE or RRC_IDLE state, the UE is in a low power “sleep” mode to reduce battery consumption. It wakes up periodically based on a configured paging cycle value. Parameter ran-PagingCycle in SuspendConfig information element controls the paging cycle while the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state and the parameter defaultPagingCycle in the PCCH-Config information element controls the paging cycle while the mobile is in RRC_IDLE state) and mobile terminated voice call operations (Paragraph 0088; user may be able to operate the device via the UI, for example to accept incoming telephone calls, to originate telephone calls or video calls, to browse the Internet, to manage digital files stored in the memory 904 or on a cloud accessible via the transmitter 906 and the receiver 908, or via the NFC transceiver 910, and/or to play games). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Miao with the teachings of Rao so as to enable encryption and decryption of communication effected via the device 900 (Rao, Paragraph 0089).
Conclusion
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/Jing Gao/
Examiner
Art Unit 2647