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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/02/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This is in response to the amendment filed on 10/02/2025. Claims 1-10, 12-16 and 19-20 are pending with claims 1, 9, and 16 being independent. Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9, 12, 15 and 16 are amended. Claims 11 and 17-18 are canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a as being anticipated by
Gurumoorthy et al. (US 2023/0254918 A1).
Regrading claim 1, Gurumoorthy discloses a method (see Fig. 9)
comprising:
sending by a wireless to one or more network function (NF)s of a network, capability
information of the wireless device including one or more indications that the wireless
device is a multi-universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) device with two or more
subscriber identity modules (SIMs) associated with the wireless device (step 908,
MULTI-SIM CAPABILITY), the capability information including the or more indication
being included in at least one of:
a user equipment (UE) capability information message of an attach
procedure (step 908 ATTACH REQUEST), or
a UE assistance information message of a UE assistance information capability
procedure (Fig. 12, step 1206 -WIRELESS DEVICE CAPABILITY EXCHANGED and
step 1208 WIRELESS DEVICE ASSISTANCE INFORMATION);
receiving a paging offset request at the wireless device in response to the capability
information including the one or more indications that the wireless device is a MUSIM
device with two or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) associated with the wireless
device [0144] In some cases, multi-SIM wireless device assistance information
message may be used to request a delta configuration change over a previously
requested configuration. For example, certain requested configurations in a multi-SIM
wireless device assistance information message may imply that a previously requested
configuration is still valid. As a more detailed example, the wireless device may
transmit, to a first wireless network, a first multi-SIM wireless device assistance
information message including a request to reconfigure the paging occasion based on
an offset. The first wireless network may respond with an RRC reconfiguration message
reconfiguring the paging occasion based on the offset as requested by the wireless
device), and
changing, at the wireless device and responsive to the paging offset request, a
paging offset value ([0144] The first wireless network may then send an RRC
reconfiguration message back to the wireless device switching the wireless device back
into the RRC active mode with the previous configuration with the paging occasion
based on the previously requested offset).
Regarding claim 2, Gurumoorthy further discloses receiving at the
wireless device and from the one or more NFs, a response message indicating that a
MUSIM feature of the MUSIM device is supported by the network ([0119] The
eNB 904 may respond to the attach request 908 with an attach accept
message 910 and the wireless device 902 may respond to the attach accept
message 910 with an attach complete message 912. Of note, there may be multiple
messages exchanged as between the wireless device 902 and the eNB 904 between
the attach request 908 and attach accept message 910, as well as the attach accept
message 910 and the attach complete message 912 that may have been omitted in this
discussion for clarity) [0145] At block 1604, the wireless device generates a multi-SIM
capability message. In some cases, this multi-SIM capability message may indicate one
or more types of wireless networks supported for each SIM card. In some cases, the
multi-SIM capability message includes an indication that the wireless device can
connect to multiple different wireless networks).
Regarding claim 4, Gurumoorthy further discloses wherein the one or
more indications includes a request to activate one or more MUSIM features including
at least one of: a connection release request, a paging cause indication support
[0134] In some cases, the wireless device may request that the wireless network repeat
a page over multiple consecutive paging occasions in a pre-determined manner.), a
reject paging request, a paging restriction information, or a paging offset value
([0134] In some cases, the wireless device may request a dynamic offset to
the paging occasion to adjust a length of the paging occasion).
Regrading claim 9, Gurumoorthy discloses a method (see Fig. 9) comprising:
sending by a wireless to at least one of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) or a
Mobility Management Entity (MME of Fig. 6) (see [0099]), capability information of the
wireless device including one or more indications that the wireless device is a multi-
universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) device with two or more subscriber
identity modules (SIMs) associated with the wireless device (step 908, MULTI-SIM
CAPABILITY), the capability information including the or more indications being
included in at least one of:
a user equipment (UE) capability information message of an attach
procedure (step 908 ATTACH REQUEST) [0119], or
a UE assistance information message of a UE assistance information capability
procedure (Fig. 12, steps 1206 -WIRELESS DEVICE CAPABILITY EXCHANGED and
1208 WIRELESS DEVICE ASSISTANCE INFORMATION);
receiving, at the wireless device and responsive to the capability information
including the one or more indications, one or more response messages indicating the
AMF or the MME supports a MUSIM feature of the MUSIM device ([0119] The
eNB 904 may respond to the attach request 908 with an attach accept
message 910 and the wireless device 902 may respond to the attach accept
message 910 with an attach complete message 912. Of note, there may be multiple
messages exchanged as between the wireless device 902 and the eNB 904 between
the attach request 908 and attach accept message 910, as well as the attach accept
message 910 and the attach complete message 912 that may have been omitted in this
discussion for clarity) and ([0145] At block 1604, the wireless device generates a multi-
SIM capability message. In some cases, this multi-SIM capability message may indicate
one or more types of wireless networks supported for each SIM card. In some cases,
the multi-SIM capability message includes an indication that the wireless device can
connect to multiple different wireless networks);
receiving a paging offset request at the wireless device and responsive to the
capability information including the one or more indications that the wireless device is a
MUSIM device with two or more active subscriber identity modules (SIMs) associated
with the wireless device [0144] In some cases, multi-SIM wireless device assistance
information message may be used to request a delta configuration change over a
previously requested configuration. For example, certain requested configurations in a
multi-SIM wireless device assistance information message may imply that a previously
requested configuration is still valid. As a more detailed example, the wireless device
may transmit, to a first wireless network, a first multi-SIM wireless device assistance
information message including a request to reconfigure the paging occasion based on
an offset. The first wireless network may respond with an RRC reconfiguration message
reconfiguring the paging occasion based on the offset as requested by the wireless
device), and changing, at the wireless device and responsive to the paging offset
request, a paging offset value ([0144] The first wireless network may then send an RRC
reconfiguration message back to the wireless device switching the wireless device back
into the RRC active mode with the previous configuration with the paging occasion
based on the previously requested offset).
Regarding claim 16, Gurumoorthy discloses a method comprising:
method (see Fig. 9) comprising:
receiving, by at least one of an Access and Mobility Function (AMF) or a Mobility
Management Entity (MME of Fig. 6) (see [0099]), capability information of a wireless
device including one or more indications that the wireless device is a multi-universal
subscriber identity module (MUSIM) device with two or more subscriber identity
modules (SIMs) associated with the wireless device (step 908, MULTI-SIM
CAPABILITY), the capability information including the or more indications being
included in at least one of:
a user equipment (UE) capability information message of an attach
procedure (step 908 ATTACH REQUEST) [0119], or
a UE assistance information message of a UE assistance information capability
procedure (Fig. 12, steps 1206 -WIRELESS DEVICE CAPABILITY EXCHANGED and
1208 WIRELESS DEVICE ASSISTANCE INFORMATION);
storing, responsive to the capability information including the one or more
indications, a device identifier corresponding to the wireless device associated with a
MUSIM feature ([0134] In some cases, the wireless device may include an indication of
a paging collision along with a request to reconfigure the paging occasions of the
wireless device in the multi-SIM wireless device assistance information message.
The paging occasions may be based on an identifier, such as an assigned UE ID or 5G
serving temporary mobile subscriber identity, and the wireless device may request a
new assigned identifier,)
sending to the wireless device, an indication that the MUSIM feature is
supported by the network ([0119] The eNB 904 may respond to the attach
request 908 with an attach accept message 910 and the wireless device 902 may
respond to the attach accept message 910 with an attach complete message 912. Of
note, there may be multiple messages exchanged as between the wireless
device 902 and the eNB 904 between the attach request 908 and attach accept
message 910, as well as the attach accept message 910 and the attach complete
message 912 that may have been omitted in this discussion for clarity) and ([0145] At
block 1604, the wireless device generates a multi-SIM capability message. In some
cases, this multi-SIM capability message may indicate one or more types of wireless
networks supported for each SIM card. In some cases, the multi-SIM capability
message includes an indication that the wireless device can connect to multiple different
wireless networks);
receiving a paging offset request at the wireless device and responsive to the
capability information including the one or more indications that the wireless device is a
MUSIM device with two or more active subscriber identity modules (SIMs) associated
with the wireless device [0144] In some cases, multi-SIM wireless device assistance
information message may be used to request a delta configuration change over a
previously requested configuration. For example, certain requested configurations in a
multi-SIM wireless device assistance information message may imply that a previously
requested configuration is still valid. As a more detailed example, the wireless device
may transmit, to a first wireless network, a first multi-SIM wireless device assistance
information message including a request to reconfigure the paging occasion based on
an offset. The first wireless network may respond with an RRC reconfiguration message
reconfiguring the paging occasion based on the offset as requested by the wireless
device), and
changing, at the wireless device and responsive to the paging offset request, a
paging offset value ([0144] The first wireless network may then send an RRC
reconfiguration message back to the wireless device switching the wireless device back
into the RRC active mode with the previous configuration with the paging occasion
based on the previously requested offset).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gurumoorthy et al, as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Krishne Gowda et al ( WO 2022/069794 A1).
Gurumoorthy teaches the method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more indication includes one or more predefined information elements (IE) of the UE capability information message having one or more predefined values.
Krishne Gowda et al. in the same field of endeavor teaches an information element in a capability information message which predefines MUSIM as one of its capabilities (Paragraph starting line 37).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method taught by Gurumoorthy with the information elements of Krishne Gowda et al. for the purpose of decreasing computational time and the results would be predictable.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gurumoorthy et al as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Roeland et al (US 2016/0037412 A1).
Regarding claims 5 and 6 Gurumoorthy teaches the method of claim 4, but does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more indication includes the connection release request to be released to an ECM-IDLE state for one of two USIMS of the wireless device and the connection release request is based on the wireless device initiating a Service Request procedure or a Tracking Area update procedure.
Roeland in a similar field of endeavor. teaches a scenario where an MME may initiate the “S1 release procedure” as described in 3GPP TS 23.401 section 5.3.5. As a result, the UE enters the ECM-IDLE mode and performing a Service Request as well as being able to perform tracking area updates (see Paragraphs 30-31).
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 method taught by Gurumoorthy with the release procedure of Roeland so the wireless device can be responsive to activity on one USIM that would necessitate the connection release and allowing devices to be able to respond to multiple pages from different networks.
Claims 7, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gurumoorthy et al as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Rajadurai et al. (WO 2022/060147 A1).
Regarding claims 7-8 and 10, Gurumoorthy further discloses wherein the one or more indication of a MUSIM feature being supported by the wireless device () but fails to explicitly teach that the method further comprises: changing, at the wireless device, one or more device parameters causing a first USIM to be active and a second USIM to be inactive, and sending, in response to causing the first USIM to be active, a second indication, to the one or more NFs, that the MUSIM feature is not supported by the wireless device. Wherein the MUSIM feature is at least one of a Connection Release feature, a Paging Cause Indication for Voice Service feature, a Reject Paging Request feature, or a Paging Restriction Feature.
Rajadurai, in an analogous field of endeavor teaches wherein: the one or more indication is a first indication of a MUSIM feature being supported by the wireless device (paragraph 7 teaches the method comprising: identifying whether the UE supports and intends to use at least one multi-universal subscriber identity module (USIM) feature); and the method further comprises: changing, at the wireless device, one or more device parameters causing a first USIM to be active and a second USIM to be inactive (paragraph 116 teaches that a user may not choose the UE as dual USIM capable, reasoning that the UE has an option to not support MUSIM features which is necessarily determined by parameters which may be user-defined); and sending, in response to causing the first USIM to be active, a second indication, to the one or more NFs, that that the MUSIM feature is not supported by the wireless device (paragraph 135 teaches that the UE can send an indication of whether or not the UE supports and intends to use one or more Multi-USIM specific features), and wherein the MUSIM feature is at least one of a Connection Release feature, a Paging Cause Indication for Voice Service feature, a Reject Paging Request feature, or a Paging Restrictions Feature (paragraph 29 teaches wherein the indication of multi-USIM features for the UE includes at least one multi-USIM feature being supported and intended to apply to the UE by the AMF, and wherein the at least one multi-USIM feature corresponds to a connection release, a paging cause, a paging restriction, or a reject paging).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the features of Rajadurai into the method of Gurumoorthy in order to enhance the MUSIM capabilities of the user equipment.
Claims 12, 13, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gurumoorthy et al., as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Lin et al., (US 2023/0034780 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Gurumoorthy teaches the method of claim 9, but do not explicitly teach wherein the one or more indication includes a requested international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) offset value.
Lin teaches where the MUSIM UE and the network can request and negotiate an “IMSI offset” for the IMSI value on one of the USIM card through a TAU or ATTACH procedure (Paragraph 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method taught by Gurumoorthy with the IMSI offset of Lin for the purpose of accurately differentiating the paging occasions of the different USIMs within the same UE and the results would be predictable.
Regarding claim 13, Gurumoorthy as modified by Lin teach the method of claim 12. In addition, Lin further teaches further comprising receiving, from the one or more NFs, an accepted IMSI offset value, the accepted IMSI offset value being different than the requested IMSI offset value (paragraph 29 teaches including a Negotiated IMSI offset IE in an ATTACH ACCEPT message, which is used to calculate an alternative IMSI that is used for deriving the paging occasion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the method taught by Gurumoorthy with the IMSI offset of Lin et al. for the purpose of accurately ordering the incoming paging occasions of the different USIMs within the same UE and the results would be predictable.
Regarding claim 14, Gurumoorthy and Lin teach the method of claim 12.
Gurumoorthy further discloses wherein the one or more NFs include a gNodeB (See Fig. 7A gNB 704).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gurumoorthy al. as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Russell et al., (US 2019/0029058 A1).
Gurumoorthy teaches the method of claim 9, but does not explicitly teach wherein sending the one or more indication is at least part of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) initial attach procedure.
Russell teaches an MME establishing a default PDN connection for a USIM UE as part of the UE's E-UTRAN Initial Attach procedure (see Paragraph 59).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method taught by Gurumoorthy with the E-UTRAN Initial Attach procedure for the purpose of adhering to modern telecommunications standards.
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gurumoorthy et al applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Kumar et al., (US 2022/0361143 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Gurumoorthy. teaches the method of claim 16, but do not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving an initiation message for a Service Request Procedure or a Tracking Area Update, the initiation message omitting a release indication; and removing, from a database and in response to the initiation message omitting the release indication, Paging Restriction information associated with the wireless device.
Kumar in a similar field of endeavor. teaches when the UE initiates a service request procedure or registration procedure without providing a release indication(also called as release request indication), the network removes any stored paging restriction information (Paragraph 13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method taught by Gurumoorthy with the steps of Kumar et al. for the purpose of allowing multiple USIMs to stay connected to the network.
Regarding claim 20, Gurumoorthy. teaches the method of claim 16, but do not explicitly teach further comprising: sending, to the wireless device, a paging message; determining that the paging message is rejected by the wireless device; and storing, responsive to the paging message being rejected, and based on the device identifier corresponding to the wireless device being associated with the MUSIM feature, a record that the paging message is rejected due to the MUSIM feature.
Kumar et al. teaches a multi-USIM UE which may respond to a page with a reject paging indication to the network indicating that the UE does not accept the paging and requests to return to CM-IDLE state after sending this response (Paragraph 14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method taught by Gurumoorthy with the steps of Kumar et al. for the purpose of distinguishing the reasons for different paging rejections.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Selvaganapathy et al. (WO 2021/152405 A1) discloses a method for a UE to monitor pages for optimizing paging collision in MULTI-SIM scenarios.
Ly et al. (WO 2020/247043 A1) discloses a system a system in a wireless communications with enhanced support for use of 4G and 5G multi- Subscriber Identity Module user equipment.
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/CHARLES N APPIAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641