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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/15/2026 has been entered.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP 20189898.8, filed on June 6, 2020, has been filed in Application No. 18/040,631, filed on February 03, 2023. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
It is also noted that the present application is a 371 National Phase Patent Application of PCT/EP2021/063702, for which the 371(c) filing date is May 21, 2021.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 18-22, 26, 27, and 29 have been considered but are moot in further view of CHOI (US-20160165521-A1).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 18, 26-27, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Edge (US 20210144669 A1) in view of 3GPP ("3rd Generation Partnership Project", 3GPP TR 38.821, V16.0.0) (IDS, 140 pages) in further view of CHOI (US-20160165521-A1).
Regarding Claim 18, Edge discloses A user equipment, UE (Fig.1:105, UE), comprising:
a transceiver (Fig.39:3902, wireless transceiver), which, in operation, transmits a registration request (Par.323, Fig37A:12, NAS registrations message) including an indication of a first location (Par.323,316,314, location of UE) of the UE (paragraph [0323], Fig.37A"At stage 12, UE 105 sends an RRC Setup Complete to the sNB 106/202/307 and includes an indication (e.g. MCC and MNC) of the selected PLMN and a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Registration Request message. UE 106 may also include a location of UE 105, e.g. as determined at stage 5, if UE 105 selects the selected PLMN for a radio cell of a different sNB 106/202/307 at stage 11." and paragraph [0316], "At stage 5, the UE 105 may optionally determine the location of the UE 105 from the location related measurements from stage 3 if stage 3 occurs." and paragraph [0314], "At stage 3, which is optional, the UE 105 obtains location related measurements, e.g., for DL signals received from the SV 102/202/302, from other SVs 102/202/302, from gNBs 114 (not shown), from navigation SVs 190 (not shown), or from some combination of these." (i.e., The indication is implied since the UE is sending a location determined at stage 3, and 5. Examiner also points to Fig.6, wherein SV are space vehicles.)), and
the indication of first location being stored in the UE (paragraph [0323], Fig.37A, "UE 106 may also include a location of UE 105, e.g. as determined at stage 5, if UE 105 selects the selected PLMN for a radio cell of a different sNB 106/202/307 at stage 11." and paragraph [0316], "At stage 5, the UE 105 may optionally determine the location of the UE 105 from the location related measurements from stage 3 if stage 3 occurs." (i.e., the location is determined by the UE and sends to AMF, therefore implying the location is stored in UE.)), and
receives a registration accept message (Par.329, NAS Registration accept message) including a list of one or more tracking areas forming a registration area (Par.329, Tas/TACs) (paragraph [0329], Fig.37A "At stage 18, the AMF 122 returns a NAS Registration Accept message to UE 105 via sNB 106/202/307 that includes the allowed fixed TAs (referred to here as TAs) (TACs) and location information such as geographic definitions of the allowed TAs and constituent fixed cells for the allowed TAs." (i.e., returns a plurality of tracking areas.)).
However, Edge does not disclose circuitry, which, in operation, determines, based on an indication of a second location of the UE and the list of one or more tracking areas corresponding to a plurality of prestored geographical areas, whether or not the UE is located in the registration area at the second location, the one or more tracking areas of the list corresponding to one or more cell IDs of earth moving cells forming the registration area per each time interval such that the registration area for the UE need not be updated each time the earth moving cells, which constitute the registration area, change wherein the circuitry, when determining that the UE is not located in the registration area at the second location and when received signal strengths of a plurality of candidate cells for a newly visited cell are substantially the same, determines, based on a measurement of the second location, a geographical area in which the UE is located out of the plurality of prestored geographical areas, and selects one candidate cell included in the determined geographical area as the newly visited cell.
3GPP discloses circuitry (Page 92, implied processor of UE), which, in operation, determines (Page 92, detects), based on an indication of a second location (Page 92, new geographical area) of the UE and the list of one or more tracking areas corresponding to a plurality of prestored geographical areas (Page 92, list of tracking area), whether or not the UE is located in the registration area at the second location (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, First paragraph, "the mapping rule between the geographical area the TAC value is kept both on the UE side and network side" and page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, second paragraph, "When UE moves to a new geographical area…If UE detects entering a tracking area that is not in the list of tracking area that the UE previously registered to, a mobility registration update procedure will be triggered." (i.e., the limitation is being read that when a UE enters a location that is new then the processor in the UE will determine if UE is in the registration area of the second location based on new area and list of tracking area)),
the one or more tracking areas of the list corresponding to one or more cell IDs of earth moving cells (page 91, par.7.3.1.3.1 (First paragraph), tracking area fixed on the ground) forming the registration area per each time interval (Fig.7.3.1.3.1-1 and Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2) such that the registration area for the UE need not be updated each time the earth moving cells (Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, TAC-2-> TAC-1-> TAC-2), which constitute the registration area, change (page 91, par.7.3.1.3.1 (First paragraph), "In order to not have TAU performed frequently by the UE triggered by the satellite motion, the tracking area may be designed to be fixed on ground." and page 91, par.7.3.1.3.1 (last four paragraph of page 91), Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "This approach allows to use Rel-15 NR network procedure and can be applied to UE with or without location information." and "“hard switch” option: one cell broadcast only one TAC per PLMIN. The new TAC replaces the old TAC and there may be some fluctuation at the border area. As shown in Figure 7.3.1.3.1-2, the UE will see its TAC changing like TAC-2-> TAC-1-> TAC-2 from Tl to T3." (i.e., Examiner points to Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, as the TAC move from right to left, looking at T1->T2 the TAC does not get updated until T3 wherein old TAC 2 changes to TAC 3 and TAC1 changes to TAC2. Examiner also points to Fig.7.3.1.3.1-1 which correlates to the Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, wherein shows 1 satellite moving and the respective TAC. Edge discloses tracking area of a list corresponding to one or more cell IDs of earth moving cell as disclosed by Figs.4-8.)),
wherein the circuitry, when determining that the UE is not located in the registration area at the second location (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "…If UE detects entering a tracking area that is not in the list of tracking area…" (i.e., UE detects implies the circuitry or processor determines that UE is not in the registration area at a second location.)),
determines, based on a measurement of the second location, a geographical area in which the UE is located out of the plurality of prestored geographical areas (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "UE derives the TAC based on its location information (mapping rule between the geographical area and the TAC value is kept… on UE side)" (i.e., a geographical area among the geographical areas is implied since UE is deriving the TAC based on the location information)),
and selects one candidate cell included in the determined geographical area as the newly visited cell (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "UE reports the TAI derived by itself to network via Registration Request message" (i.e., UE selects the Tracking Area Identity derived by itself using the geographical area that was mapped to certain TAC and that was already stored of a newly visited cell because the UE has detected entering a tracking that is not in the list of tracking area that the UE previously registered to.)).
Edge and 3GPP are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the UE (EDGE, UE 105) to determine if the UE is in registration area at the second location as that would speed up the process of obtaining the correct TAI faster since all the processing will be done in the UE and AMF would just need to check if the UE derived the correct TAI, and also has the ability to not update the tracking area constantly in order to preserve power and reduce processing each time there is a TAC update and only do it under certain condition as described in 3GPP (3GPP, page 91, par.7.3.1.3.1 (First paragraph), "In order to not have TAU performed frequently by the UE triggered by the satellite motion”).
However, Edge in view of 3GPP does not disclose and when received signal strengths of a plurality of candidate cells for a newly visited cell are substantially the same.
CHOI discloses when received signal strengths of a plurality of candidate cells for a newly visited cell are substantially the same (paragraph [0168], "Moreover, in case that a UE (re)selects a cell, if signal strengths of candidate cells are similar to each other or if difference between the signal strengths of the candidate cells is not significant, a cell load information may be used for cell (re)selection." (i.e., Choi discloses its known in the art when the cell strength for cell re(selection) is the same to use different type of data for cell (re)selection.)).
Edge in view of 3GPP and CHOI are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Edge UE to include CHOI UE cell strength measurement because such a modification is the result of applying a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results. More specifically, CHOI UE cell strength measurement permits the UE to detect that the measurement of candidate cell is the same and to use a different method, such as perform cell load information for cell re(selection). This known benefit is applicable to Edge UE as they both share characteristics and capabilities. Additionally, implementing CHOI UE cell strength measurement for cell re(selection) can also reduce ping-pong effect as when the UE detects multiple candidates for cell re(selection) using a different method can help the UE pick the best cell for the UE to camp on such as described in 3GPP.
Regarding Claim 26, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George discloses all the limitation as claim 18.
Edge further discloses wherein the transceiver, in operation, receives a paging message within the registration area (paragraph [0351], “Paging may operate as for a terrestrial NR access, with an AMF 122 sending a paging message to one or more sNBs 106/202 (or sNB-CUs 307) which broadcast the paging message over all radio cells which support the fixed TAs allowed for the UE 105.” (i.e., AMF paging the sNBs and that eventually reaches to UE 105.)).
Regarding Claim 27, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI discloses all the limitation as claim 18.
3GPP further discloses wherein, if the circuitry determines that the UE is not located in the registration area at the second location, the transceiver, in operation transmits a second registration request including at least one of (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2 "When UE moves to a new geographical area…If UE detects entering a tracking area that is not in the list of tracking area that the UE previously registered to, a mobility registration update procedure will be triggered. UE reports the TAI derived by itself to network via Registration Request message." (i.e., the limitation is being read that when a UE enters a location that is new then the UE will determine if UE is in the registration area of the second location based on new area and list of tracking area. A second registration request is reading as when entering a location that a UE is not in a registration area, UE would send another registration request with the derived TAI)):
an indication of the second location of the UE (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2 "When UE moves to a new geographical area, UE derives the TAC based on the location information…").
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference.
Regarding Claim 29, which is similar in scope to claim 18, thus rejected under the same rationale.
Claim(s) 19, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Edge (US 20210144669 A1) in view of 3GPP ("3rd Generation Partnership Project", 3GPP TR 38.821, V16.0.0) (IDS, 140 pages) in view of CHOI (US-20160165521-A1) in further view of George (WO 2009016035 A1).
Regarding Claim 19, Edge in view of 3GPP in further view of CHOI discloses all the limitations as claim 18.
Edge further discloses the circuitry, in operation, determines based on:
(Bullet 1) a list of cell IDs of the earth moving cells (paragraph [0365], “…another SV 102/202/302…a list of new radio cells”),
an indication of a second time instant when the (paragraph [0365], “However, if a UE 105 knows when a coverage of a new radio cell will start (e.g. by being provided with a list of new radio cells that will support or partially support a particular fixed TA and the times at which the coverages will start),”),
coverage area information indicating, for each of the (paragraph [0365], “a list of new radio cells that will support or partially support a particular fixed TA and the times at which the coverages will start),”)
wherein the list of the plurality of earth moving cells and the indication of the second time instant are included in an indication of the registration area (paragraph [0365], “However, if a UE 105 knows when a coverage of a new radio cell will start (e.g. by being provided with a list of new radio cells that will support or partially support a particular fixed TA and the times at which the coverages will start), the UE 105 may attempt to acquire one of these new radio cells after a coverage is expected to start.” (i.e., the list and the time are indicated to the UE for registration.)),
(Bullet 2) a cell ID of a newly visited cell (paragraph [0206], Fig.22 “If the UE 105 moves into a new fixed cell or new fixed TA and reports the movement to the PLMN…” (i.e., the UE moves to a cell or TA and can report to PLMN.)), or
(Bullet 1 continued) 3GPP further discloses a measurement of the second location (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "When UE moves to a new geographical area, UE derives the TAC based on the location information and forms the TAI based on the derived TAC and PLMN ID." (i.e., “second location” is new geographical area. This is for bullet 1 wherein at the end states the limitation.))
(Bullet 3) the measurement of the second location (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "When UE moves to a new geographical area, UE derives the TAC based on the location information and forms the TAI based on the derived TAC and PLMN ID." (i.e., “second location” is new geographical area. This is for bullet 3.)) and
a mapping between geographical areas and tracking areas (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "divide the earth into a lot of geographical areas and each geographical area is mapped to a certain TAC") and
the list of one or more tracking areas (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "includes a TAI list as a registration area the UE is registered to…"),
wherein the mapping is read from a storage (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2, "(the mapping rule between the geographical area and the TAC value is kept both on UE side and network side)," (i.e., implying the mapping is stored in UE as well as network side)),
whether or not the UE is located in the registration area at the second location (page 92, par. 7.3.1.3.2, Fig.7.3.1.3.1-2 "…If UE detects entering a tracking area that is not in the list of tracking area that the UE previously registered to, a mobility registration update procedure will be triggered. UE reports the TAI derived by itself to network via Registration Request message" (i.e., the UE is determining whether or not located in a registration area by looking at the list of tracking area the UE previously register to and determining if the second location has an included tracking area.)).
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the UE (EDGE, UE 105) for UE to determine whether or not the UE is located in the registration area at the second location as it would then able to determine derive a TAI and report to AMF to able to get a new list of tracking area and that would be more efficient then constantly messaging AMF (page 92, paragraph 7.3.1.3.2, paragraph 2, “The AMF confirms the reported TAI and includes a new TAI list for the UE in the registration accept message.”). Depending on the bullet, the UE can be modified to determine whether or not the UE is the location registration at the second location.
However, Edge in view of 3GPP in further view of CHOI do not disclose wherein the registration request includes a cell ID of a last cell that has been visited by the UE and a timestamp indicating a first time instant at which the UE has been located within the last cell.
George discloses wherein the registration request includes a cell ID (page 13, base station) of a last cell (page 13, previous cells) that has been visited by the UE (page 13, line 16-19, "the LTE network 100 can collect and maintain a time history of handovers. Thereby, each base station receives a list of time stamps, which list is indicating when the corresponding UE has entered the previous cells.") and
a timestamp (page 13, time stamp) indicating a first time instant (page 13, time of UE leaves a cell) at which the UE has been located within the last cell (page 13, line 19-26, "When the UE leaves a cell, this old serving cell passes the corresponding list towards the new target cell. In turn the target cell adds a further time stamp indicating the time when the UE has entered the new target cell…which also adds a further time stamp and so on" (i.e., the LTE collects timestamps of UE and the final time UE was at the previous cell maps to a first time instant.)).
Edge in view of 3GPP in further view of CHOI and George are considered analogous to the claimed invention because they are both in the field Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Edge node record the time stamps of UE that was located near a cell and have the node then transfer the time stamps to a new cell when UE moves away from the old cell to better optimize usage of cells (George, page 13 line 35 to page 14 line 5, “when the UE has entered a specific cell, may allow for an optimization of the usage of the cells. For instance, if the network is aware that a given UE is travelling at a high generalized velocity, the network can decide to handover the UE into an overlying macro cell in order to minimize the signaling traffic.”).
Regarding Claim 22, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George discloses all the limitation as claim 19.
3GPP further discloses wherein the indication of the registration area includes a plurality of lists of cell IDs of the earth moving cells (page 110, line 6, "The AMF determines the UE location will be covered by TAC#1…TAC#2" (i.e., 3GPP TAC is the same as cell as shown in page 90, Fig.7.3.1.1-1)), and
a plurality of indications of time intervals including said time interval respectively indicating, for each of the plurality of lists of cell IDs, the time interval when the earth moving cells, form the registration area (page 109-110, Step 2, "TAC#1 during 10:01-10:10, TAC#2 during 10:11-10:20, etc." (i.e., AMF can determine the time interval the TAC# will be in the same area as the UE, as explained TAC and cell are the same size when using satellite as shown in page 90, Fig.7.3.1.1-1.)).
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference.
Claim(s) 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Edge (US 20210144669 A1) in view of 3GPP ("3rd Generation Partnership Project", 3GPP TR 38.821, V16.0.0) (IDS, 140 pages) in view of CHOI (US-20160165521-A1) in view of George (WO 2009016035 A1) in further view of LG (LG Electronics INC. Email Discussion) (IDS).
Regarding Claim 20, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George discloses all the limitation as claim 19.
However, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George do not disclose wherein the transceiver, in operation, receives the coverage area information within system information.
LG discloses wherein the transceiver, in operation, receives the coverage area information within system information (Page 9, Huawei "Ephemeris delivery and content… Ephemeris should include…coverage of satellite cells on earth" (i.e., discussion of delivering the coverage of satellite cells on earth to deliver to the UE)).
Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George and LG are both solving UE location information. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Edge to provide ephemeris information to UE and provide the coverage of satellite cells on earth for preforming measurement and cell selection or reselection. (LG, page 10, proposal 7, “Providing ephemeris information with cell deployment information and UE location information is considered to help UEs performing measurement and cell selection/reselection.”).
Regarding Claim 21, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George discloses all the limitation as claim 19.
However, Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George do not disclose wherein the coverage area information includes, for each of the plurality of earth moving cells: a satellite beam direction of each beam forming the cell and a radius or diameter of the coverage area.
LG discloses wherein the coverage area information includes, for each of the plurality of earth moving cells: a satellite beam (footprint) direction of each beam forming the cell and a radius or diameter of the coverage area (Page 9, Huawei, "If ephemeris provides the footprint or coverage of satellite cells on earth, UE could determine the target cell based on its location and ephemeris directly." (i.e., Huawei states providing coverage of satellite cells on earth to UE then the UE itself could determine its location. Ephemeris has radius data)).
Edge in view of 3GPP in view of CHOI in further view of George and LG are both solving UE location information. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Edge to provide ephemeris information to UE and provide the coverage of satellite cells on earth for preforming measurement and cell selection or reselection. (LG, page 10, proposal 7, “Providing ephemeris information with cell deployment information and UE location information is considered to help UEs performing measurement and cell selection/reselection.”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
US Patent Publication US 20170223506 A1 to KIM et al. discloses apparatus and method for providing a location of an electronic device.
US Patent Publication US 20200137675 A1 to PARK et al. discloses method for registering terminal in wireless communication system and apparatus.
US Patent Publication US 20130095862 A1 to Bejerano et al. discloses tracking application system to track UE and include a timestamp of UE connected with a cell.
US Patent Number US 11296782 B2 to Edge et al. discloses method for registering terminal in wireless communication system and apparatus.
World Intellectual Property Organization 2020092561 A1 DEENOO et al. discloses methods and apparatus for mobility in moving networks.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erkin S. Abdullaev whose telephone number is (571)272-4135. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday - 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wesley Kim can be reached at (571)272-7867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERKIN ABDULLAEV/Examiner, Art Unit 2648
/WESLEY L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2648