Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/950,949

Device-Driven Network Connection

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 22, 2022
Examiner
THOMPSON, JR, OTIS L
Art Unit
2477
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allow Rate
890 granted / 1002 resolved
+30.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+9.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
1034
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
§103
50.2%
+10.2% vs TC avg
§102
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
§112
9.0%
-31.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1002 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 31, 2026 has been entered. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments filed January 31, 2026 with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The new ground of rejection is found in prior art reference Pylappan (US 2022/0373637), which was previously cited on the PTO-892 dated May 5, 2025, but not relied upon. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 1, 2, 11 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gheorghiu et al. (US 2014/0307623) in view of Pylappan (US 2022/0373637). Regarding claim 1, Gheorghiu et al. disclose a method of operating a user equipment (UE) device (Paragraph 83, UE; Figure 7, UE 115-f), the method comprising: receiving, using one or more antennas (Figure 7, antennas 760), a first signal from a first wireless base station of a cellular network, the first signal including first contextual information about the cellular network (Paragraph 83, …the device 500 is configured to receive a cell load indication [first contextual information] from the PCell [wireless base station is inherent]…the device 500 is configured to receive a cell load indication [first contextual information] from the SCell [wireless base station is inherent]…; Figure 10 step 1005); wirelessly connecting, using one or more processors (Figure 7, processor module 710), the UE device to the first wireless base station based on the first contextual information (Paragraph 83, …and to establish the independent connection with the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the PCell…and to select the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the SCell [connection to same SCell from which the cell load indication was received]…; Figure 10 steps 1010 and 1015); and communicating, using the one or more antennas (Figure 7, antennas 760), wireless data with the cellular network (Paragraph 84, …the device 500 is configured to communicate with the PCell and the SCell concurrently by communicating with the PCell according to a first scheduler associated with the PCell while communicating concurrently with the SCell according to a second scheduler associated with the SCell…; Figure 10 step 1020) via the first wireless base station after the UE device has wirelessly connected to the first wireless base station (Paragraph 83, and to select the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the SCell [connection to same SCell from which the cell load indication was received and communication between the device 500 and the selected SCell]). Gheorghiu et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Pylappan: receiving, using the one or more antennas, information about a set of additional UE devices dropping a connection to the cellular network at a location (Pylappan, Paragraph 21, data of a history of previous trips made by mobile devices [set of additional UE devices] stored in trip history database 165… arrival prediction engine 155 transmits one or more messages to mobile device 105 to trigger mobile device 105 to share location data more or less frequently; Paragraph 22, Dead zone tracker 160 determines geographic areas with a history of wireless communication loss; Paragraphs 23-24 and 30-34, system uses mobile device 105 location, trip history databased 165 and dead zone tracker 160 to determine mobile device 105 is within or approaching a dead zone); and updating, using the one or more processors, communication between the one or more antennas and the cellular network when the UE device is at or approaching the location (Pylappan, Paragraph 34, mobile device 105 does not attempt to send location data to host system 110 when mobile device 105 has no or a poor connection to a cellular or other data network (e.g., within dead zone 215). Mobile device 105 may be able to obtain location data, e.g., via a GPS signal, but not efficiently communicate the location data with host system 110 (or communicate at all)… If mobile device 105 determines the network connection is poor or disconnected, mobile device 105 does not attempt to transmit location data and waits to try again as dictated by the current sampling rate [location data sampling rate update]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gheorghiu et al. with the cited disclosure from Pylappan in order to mitigate signal loss an directional ambiguity with dynamic location data sampling (Pylappan, Title). Regarding claim 2, Gheorghiu et al. disclose wherein the first contextual information includes traffic load information associated with the cellular network (Paragraph 83, …cell load indication…). Regarding claim 11, Pylappan disclose wherein updating the communication comprises changing a frequency of the communication (Paragraph 34, mobile device 105 does not attempt to send location data to host system 110 when mobile device 105 has no or a poor connection to a cellular or other data network (e.g., within dead zone 215). Mobile device 105 may be able to obtain location data, e.g., via a GPS signal, but not efficiently communicate the location data with host system 110 (or communicate at all)… If mobile device 105 determines the network connection is poor or disconnected, mobile device 105 does not attempt to transmit location data and waits to try again as dictated by the current sampling rate [location data sampling rate update]). Regarding claim 19, Gheorghiu et al. disclose a method of operating a user equipment (UE) device (Paragraph 83, UE; Figure 7, UE 115-f) to communicate with a cellular network, the method comprising: receiving, using one or more antennas (Figure 7, antennas 760), a first signal that includes first contextual information about usage of a set of additional UE devices that communicate with the cellular network (Paragraph 83, …the device 500 is configured to receive a cell load indication [first contextual information] from the PCell…the device 500 is configured to receive a cell load indication [first contextual information] from the SCell…; Figure 10 step 1005; The cell load indication inherently includes usage information of additional UEs in the cell because a cell is comprised of a plurality of UEs, as shown in figure 1, that contribute to the load of the respective cell), wherein the first contextual information includes location information about the set of additional UE devices (The cell load indications in paragraph 83 of Gheorghiu et al. encompass/include location information about the set of additional UEs as the contextual information because the cell load indications directly show that additional UEs are connected to/located in the cell), or motion information about the set of additional UE devices; performing, using one or more processors (Figure 7, processor module 710), a wireless connectivity action with the cellular network based on the first contextual information (Paragraph 83, …and to establish the independent connection with the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the PCell…and to select the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the SCell…; Figure 10 steps 1010 and 1015; Paragraph 79, …directly establish a connection (e.g., establish an independent connection) with the SCell by transmitting an initial access message, such as a random access preamble, to the SCell, and by receiving a response message, such as a random access response, from the SCell in response to the initial access message); and transmitting, using the one or more antennas (Figure 7, antennas 760), a second signal to the cellular network that implements the wireless connectivity action (Figure 10 step 1020, communicate [second signal] with first and second cells concurrently). While Gheorghiu et al. generally discloses location information about the set of additional UE devices in relation to cell load indications in paragraph 83, Gheorghiu et al. do specifically disclose the location information. However, Pylappan specifically discloses location information about the set of additional UE devices, or motion information about the set of additional UE devices (Pylappan, Paragraph 21, data of a history of previous trips made by mobile devices [set of additional UE devices] stored in trip history database 165… arrival prediction engine 155 transmits one or more messages to mobile device 105 to trigger mobile device 105 to share location data more or less frequently; Paragraph 22, Dead zone tracker 160 determines geographic areas with a history of wireless communication loss; Paragraphs 23-24 and 30-34, system uses mobile device 105 location, trip history databased 165 and dead zone tracker 160 to determine mobile device 105 is within or approaching a dead zone). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gheorghiu et al. with the cited disclosure from Pylappan in order to mitigate signal loss an directional ambiguity with dynamic location data sampling (Pylappan, Title). Claim(s) 12, 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tabet et al. (US 2015/0304883) in view of Pylappan. Regarding claim 12, Tabet et al. disclose a method of operating a user equipment (UE) (Figure 4, UE 106) to communicate with a cellular network, the method comprising: with the one or more processors (Figure 4, processor(s) 402), generating first contextual information about usage of the UE device (Figure 7 and paragraph 104, In 702, a UE 106 may transmit an indication of one or more types of expected upcoming data traffic (e.g., uplink traffic, and/or downlink traffic) to a (e.g., serving) base station 102 or MME/(S/P)GW. The UE 106 may monitor application data already generated, buffered, and ready for transmission to determine the expected upcoming data traffic, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 106 may monitor application data generation and/or application data flow patterns to predict if one or more types of data traffic will be generated and ready for transmission within a certain time period), wherein the first contextual information includes a cellular connectivity history of the UE device (Paragraph 104, a UE 106 may transmit an indication of one or more types of expected upcoming data traffic (e.g., uplink traffic, and/or downlink traffic) to a (e.g., serving) base station 102 or MME/(S/P)GW…UE 106 may monitor application data generation and/or application data flow patterns [cellular connectivity history] to predict if one or more types of data traffic will be generated and ready for transmission within a certain time period), a location of the UE device, a motion of the TE device, or information about a battery level of the UE device (Paragraphs 143, 153 and figure 9, power preference indicator (PPI)); and transmitting, using one or more antennas (Figure 4, antenna 435), a signal to the cellular network (Figure 7 and paragraph 115 step 710, exchange RRC connection establishment parameters with the BS 102 to establish the scheduled RRC connection), that implements, for the UE device and the cellular network, a network connectivity decision that is based on the first contextual information (Figure 7 steps 706-710, RRC connection established between based station and UE based on indication in step 702). Tabet et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Pylappan: location information of the UE device, or motion information of the UE device (Pylappan, Paragraphs 13 and 21, mobile device 105 is triggered to share its location data; Paragraph 17, Mobile device 105 determines its location using a geographical positioning receiver 140 (e.g., global positioning system (GPS)), assisted GPS (A-GPS), cellular tower data (e.g., nearest tower, triangulation, etc.), wireless network data (e.g., a listing of known Wi-Fi network connections within geographical areas), or a combination thereof. For example, mobile device 105 may determine that it is within or outside of a threshold distance from a dead zone, location of directional ambiguity, or pickup/drop off location based upon latitude and longitude values determined by geographical positioning receiver 140 and/or latitude and longitude values associated with a wireless network signal received by mobile device 105). According to paragraph 34, mobile device 105 uses its location data to determine whether to increase communication rate with the network or wait to communicate with the network. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gheorghiu et al. with the cited disclosure from Pylappan in order to mitigate signal loss an directional ambiguity with dynamic location data sampling (Pylappan, Title). Regarding claim 16, Tabet et al. disclose transmitting, using the one or more antennas, an additional signal to the cellular network that includes the first contextual information (Figure 9 steps 902 and 904, UE 106 transmission of load-based-delay feature during RRC connection establishment [Paragraph 142]). Regarding claim 17, Tabet et al. and Pylappan disclose wherein the network connectivity decision comprises: a decision to immediately transmit or to delay wireless data transfer with the cellular network (Paragraph 14, a wireless devices and a base station may (e.g., optionally) agree to implement a feature whereby transmission of some uplink and/or downlink traffic may be selectively delayed depending on loading considerations at the base station; Pylappan, According to paragraph 34, mobile device 105 uses its location data to determine whether to increase communication rate with the network or wait to communicate with the network), selection of a wireless base station of the cellular network for reception of the signal, selection of a frequency to use for transmission of the signal, or a reduction in data quality of the signal. Claim(s) 3-5, 7-9, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan as applied to claims 1, 2 and 19 above, and further in view of Tabet et al. (US 2015/0304883). Regarding claim 3, Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Tabet et al.: wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station comprises: starting or delaying transfer of the wireless data based on the traffic load information (Tabet et al., Paragraph 14, a wireless devices and a base station may (e.g., optionally) agree to implement a feature whereby transmission of some uplink and/or downlink traffic may be selectively delayed depending on loading considerations at the base station), the wireless data being associated with an application running on the UE device (Tabet et al., Paragraph 148, according to the load-based-delay feature, the UE may buffer uplink application data traffic until one of estimated loading of the BS is below the loading threshold). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan with the load-based-delay feature of Tabet et al. in order to improve network performance, while also attempting to meet the delay requirements of the data traffic of each UE (Tabet et al., Paragraph 110). Regarding claim 4, Tabet et al. disclose wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station further comprises: starting or delaying transfer of the wireless data based on a data sensitivity of the application (Paragraph 144, the existing traffic is relatively delay insensitive (e.g., having a delay sensitivity below a delay sensitivity threshold, such that no or minimal adverse effect will be caused by introducing a degree of delay expected to be introduced by the load-based-delay feature). For example, ‘background’ and/or ‘best effort’ type traffic may have delay sensitivity characteristics such that the load-based-delay feature may be appropriate). Regarding claim 5, Tabet et al. disclose wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station further comprises: starting transfer of the wireless data when the application has a delay sensitive data sensitivity (Paragraph 10, RRC connection for a wireless device at one time intended for exchange of high priority (e.g., delay intolerant) data; Paragraph 117, it may still be possible for a UE 106 to dynamically initiate an RRC connection with a BS 102 (e.g., in addition to deterministically scheduling other RRC connections with the BS 102 in advance), such as if the UE 106 generates high priority data that would require immediate transmission in order to meet the delay budget of the data); and delaying transfer of the wireless data when the application has a data rate sensitive or packet loss sensitive data sensitivity (Paragraph 144, the existing traffic is relatively delay insensitive (e.g., having a delay sensitivity below a delay sensitivity threshold, such that no or minimal adverse effect will be caused by introducing a degree of delay expected to be introduced by the load-based-delay feature). For example, ‘background’ and/or ‘best effort’ type traffic may have delay sensitivity characteristics such that the load-based-delay feature may be appropriate; Paragraph 110, Scheduling the upcoming RRC connections may take into consideration the characteristics (e.g., expected bandwidth and delay budget, etc.) of the upcoming data traffic for each UE). Regarding claim 7, Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Tabet et al.: wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station comprises: generating a network connectivity configuration for the UE device; and transmitting, using the one or more antennas (Tabet et al., Figure 4, antenna 435 of UE 106), a second signal to the cellular network pursuant to the network connectivity configuration (Tabet et al., Paragraph 115, In 710, the UE 106 and the BS 102 may establish an RRC connection. This may be performed at the scheduled time and based on the UE 106 receiving the paging message from the BS 102. For example, the UE 106 may respond to the paging message and exchange RRC connection establishment parameters [includes generated network connectivity configuration] with the BS 102 to establish the scheduled RRC connection; Paragraph 112, certain RRC connection characteristics may be associated (e.g., by mutual exchange between the UE 106 and the BS 102 or other network elements, or in a statically/predetermined manner such as according to specification documents) with certain data traffic types or classes, such that indication of a type of data traffic associated with a particular scheduled upcoming RRC connection may implicitly indicate some or all of the characteristics of that scheduled upcoming RRC connection). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gheorghiu et al. and Pylappan with the load-based-delay feature of Tabet et al. in order to improve network performance (Tabet et al., Paragraph 110). Regarding claim 8, Tabet et al. disclose wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the cellular network further comprises: using the second signal to negotiate the network connectivity configuration with the cellular network (Paragraph 115, exchange of RRC connection establishment parameters). Regarding claim 9, Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Tabet et al.: generating, using the one or more processors (Tabet et al., Figure 4, processor(s) 402), second contextual information about the UE device (Tabet et al., Figure 7 and paragraph 104, In 702, a UE 106 may transmit an indication of one or more types of expected upcoming data traffic (e.g., uplink traffic, and/or downlink traffic) to a (e.g., serving) base station 102 or MME/(S/P)GW. The UE 106 may monitor application data already generated, buffered, and ready for transmission to determine the expected upcoming data traffic, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 106 may monitor application data generation and/or application data flow patterns to predict if one or more types of data traffic will be generated and ready for transmission within a certain time period), wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station comprises wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station based on the second contextual information (Tabet al., Figure 7 steps 706-710, RRC connection established based on indication in step 702); and transmitting, using the one or more antennas, a second signal to the cellular network that includes the second contextual information (Tabet et al., Figure 7 and paragraph 104, In 702, a UE 106 may transmit an indication of one or more types of expected upcoming data traffic (e.g., uplink traffic, and/or downlink traffic) to a (e.g., serving) base station 102 or MME/(S/P)GW). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gheorghiu et al. and Pylappan with the load-based-delay feature of Tabet et al. in order to improve network performance (Tabet et al., Paragraph 110). Regarding claim 20, Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Tabet et al.: receiving, using the one or more antennas (Tabet et al., Figure 4, antenna 435), a third signal from the cellular network that includes second contextual information about usage of the cellular network (Tabet et al., Figure 9 and paragraphs 141-142, In 902, a UE 106 and a BS 102 may exchange information in a handshake mechanism to determine whether or not both entities support a load-based-delay feature. Thus, the handshake mechanism may establish that both the UE 106 and the BS 102 support the load-based-delay feature (i.e., in the case that both do support the feature). As one possibility, the handshake mechanism may include an exchange of information during radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment. For example, UE support of such a feature may be indicated in a UE capabilities information element (IE), while BS support of such a feature may be indicated in an RRC connection reconfiguration message [third signal that includes second contextual information] which may follow the exchange of UE capability information), performing the wireless connectivity action comprises performing the wireless connectivity action based on the first contextual information (Tabet et al., Figure 9 and paragraph 141, load-based; Paragraph 14, loading considerations of the base station ), and the wireless connectivity action comprises: immediate transmission of the second signal (Tabet et al., Paragraph 10, RRC connection for a wireless device at one time intended for exchange of high priority (e.g., delay intolerant) data; Paragraph 117, it may still be possible for a UE 106 to dynamically initiate an RRC connection with a BS 102 (e.g., in addition to deterministically scheduling other RRC connections with the BS 102 in advance), such as if the UE 106 generates high priority data that would require immediate transmission in order to meet the delay budget of the data; Also see Pylappan, paragraph 34), delayed transmission of the second signal (Tabet et al., Paragraph 14, a wireless devices and a base station may (e.g., optionally) agree to implement a feature whereby transmission of some uplink and/or downlink traffic may be selectively delayed depending on loading considerations at the base station. For example, when such a feature is enabled, lower priority data which is at least somewhat delay tolerant may be delayed under high load conditions until better load conditions are detected; Also see Pylappan, paragraph 34), selection of a wireless base station of the cellular network for reception of the second signal, selection of a frequency to use for transmission of the second signal, or a reduction in data quality of the second signal. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gheorghiu et al. and Pylappan with the load-based-delay feature of Tabet et al. in order to improve network performance, while also attempting to meet the delay requirements of the data traffic of each UE (Tabet et al., Paragraph 110). Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Chang et al. (US 2014/0362757). Regarding claim 6, Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Chang et al.: switching the UE device, based on the traffic load information, from the first wireless base station to a second wireless base station of the cellular network (Chang et al., Paragraph 111, the eNB managing the microcell can find whether or not an accessible CSG cell exists near the UE through the RRC connection establishment procedure. Accordingly, when the accessible CSG cell exists near the UE and the macrocell has a high load level, the UE can perform handover to the CSG cell immediately after establishing the RRC connection between the macrocell and the UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gheorghiu et al. and Pylappan with the cited disclosure from Chang et al. in order to prevent a UE from receiving low-quality service (Chang et al., Paragraph 111). Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan in view of Tabet et al. as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Brooks et al. (US 11,212,857). Regarding claim 10, Gheorghiu et al. in view of Pylappan in view of Tabet et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically the following limitations that are disclosed by Brooks et al.: receiving, using the one or more antennas, a third signal that includes third contextual information about a set of additional UE devices (Brooks et al., Figure 1, bearer assignment component 114 being implemented in any device [i.e. UE] in network 100 [according to column 6 lines 44-47] receiving network information from additional UEs 120, inherently comprising an antenna to do so) wherein wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station comprises wirelessly connecting the UE device to the first wireless base station based on the third contextual information (Brooks et al., Figure 5, bearer assignment component 114 implemented in any device [i.e. UE] in network 100 [according to column 6 lines 44-47] receiving aggregated network information from additional UEs in step 502 and determining whether to establish connection 5G base station in steps 512-516 based on the aggregated network information); and transmitting, using the one or more antennas, the second contextual information to the set of additional UE devices (Brooks et al., Figure 1, bearer assignment component 114 being implemented in any device [i.e. UE] in network 100 [according to column 6 lines 44-47] transmitting its respective network information to additional UEs). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gheorghiu et al., Pylappan and Tabet et al. with the cited disclosure from Brooks et al. in order to optimize communications between UEs and base stations (Brooks et al., Abstract). Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tabet et al. in view of Pylappan as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Gheorghiu et al. Regarding claim 13, Tabet et al. in view of Pylappan disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Gheorghiu et al.: receiving, using the one or more antennas (Gheorghiu et al., Figure 7, antennas 760), second contextual information about usage of a set of additional UE devices (Gheorghiu et al., Paragraph 83, …the device 500 is configured to receive a cell load indication [second contextual information] from the PCell…the device 500 is configured to receive a cell load indication [second contextual information] from the SCell…; Figure 10 step 1005; The cell load indication inherently includes usage information of additional UEs in the cell because a cell is comprised of a plurality of UEs, as shown in figure 1, that contribute to the load of the respective cell), wherein making the network connectivity decision comprises making the network connectivity decision based on the second contextual information (Paragraph 83, …and to establish the independent connection with the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the PCell…and to select the SCell based at least in part on the cell load indication received from the SCell…; Figure 10 steps 1010 and 1015). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Tabet et al. and Pylappan with the cited disclosure from Gheorghiu et al. in order to establish connection quickly with low signaling to rapidly enable communication at high data rates (Gheorghiu et al., Paragraph 42). Regarding claim 14, Tabet et al. in view of Pylappan in view of Gheorghiu et al. disclose wherein making the network connectivity decision comprises: selecting an updated frequency band for transmission of the signal based on the first contextual information (Tabet et al., Figure 7, connection establishment based on indication of contextual information from UE) and the second contextual information (Gheorghiu et al., Figure 10 step 1005, receive selection parameters; Paragraph 125, receiving selection parameters from the first cell includes receiving a set of candidate cells from which to select the second cell [select updated frequency band]… In some embodiments, the selection parameters received from the first cell include at least one of a reference signal receive power, a reference signal receive quality, a wireless local area network (WLAN) load [second contextual information], a basic service set (BSS) load [second contextual information], or a wide area network (WAN) metric; Paragraph 78, candidate cell is identified by a carrier frequency). Regarding claim 15, Pylappan and Gheorghiu et al. disclose wherein the first contextual information includes the location of the UE device (Pylappan, Paragraphs 17 and 34, mobile device 105 obtains location information via GPS), the second contextual information includes information about the set of additional UE devices dropping a connection to the cellular network at a particular location (Pylappan, Paragraph 21, data of a history of previous trips made by mobile devices [set of additional UE devices] stored in trip history database 165… arrival prediction engine 155 transmits one or more messages to mobile device 105 to trigger mobile device 105 to share location data more or less frequently; Paragraph 22, Dead zone tracker 160 determines geographic areas with a history of wireless communication loss; Paragraphs 23-24 and 30-34, system uses mobile device 105 location, trip history databased 165 and dead zone tracker 160 to determine mobile device 105 is within or approaching a dead zone), and selecting the updated frequency band comprises selecting the updated frequency band when the UE device is at or approaching the particular location (Pylappan, Paragraphs 23-24 and 30-34, system uses mobile device 105 location, trip history databased 165 and dead zone tracker 160 to determine mobile device 105 is within or approaching a dead zone; Gheorghiu et al., Paragraph 125, cell selection based on parameters including a reference signal receive power, a reference signal receive quality, a wireless local area network (WLAN) load, a basic service set (BSS) load, or a wide area network (WAN) metric). Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tabet et al. in view of Pylappan in view of Gheorghiu et al. as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Brooks et al. Regarding claim 18, Tabet et al. in view of Pylappan in view of Gheorghiu et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Brooks et al.: training, using the one or more processors, a learning model based on the first contextual information, wherein making the network connectivity decision comprises making the network connectivity decision based on an output of the learning model (Brooks et al., Claim 1, aggregated network information associated with a plurality of user equipments (UEs) in communication with at least one of the 4G base station or a Fifth Generation (5G) base station, wherein the aggregated network information comprises at least signal strength information and location information associated with the plurality of UEs; determining that a UE is communicating with the 4G base station using a first bearer; determining network information associated with the UE; inputting, based at least in part on an addition inquiry associated with the UE, the network information and the aggregated network information to a machine learning algorithm trained to evaluate addition inquiries; receiving, from the machine learning algorithm, a response to the addition inquiry, the machine learning algorithm trained to determine the response at least partially based on a likelihood that, if a 5G connection is established, the UE will be dropped by the 5G base station within a threshold amount of time; and performing one of: determining that the response denies the addition inquiry and refraining from establishing a 5G connection with the UE; or determining that the response approves the addition inquiry and sending a message to the 5G base station to establish a 5G connection with the UE using a second bearer, wherein the UE is connected to both the 4G base station via the first bearer and the 5G base station via the second bearer at a same time). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Tabet et al., Pylappan and Gheorghiu et al. with the cited disclosure from Brooks et al. in order to optimize communications between UEs and base stations (Brooks et al., Abstract). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OTIS L THOMPSON, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 6:30am - 7:00pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag G. Shah can be reached at (571)272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 February 19, 2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 22, 2022
Application Filed
May 01, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Aug 06, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 29, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Jan 31, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 09, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
89%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+9.9%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1002 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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