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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
IDS(es) submitted on 8/7/2023, 2/6/2024, and 5/30/2024 has/have been considered.
Oath/Declaration
Oath/Declaration filed on 2/16/2023 has been acknowledged.
Drawings
Drawing(s) submitted on 2/16/2023 have been acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant elected claims 1-11, and 16-20 of group I.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chun (WO 2020/141964 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 16, and 20 Chun discloses a network selection method, applied to a terminal and comprising:
receiving disaster condition information related to a first PLMN to which the terminal belongs (Abstract: the UE receives a disaster-related message from the serving PLMN indicating that a disaster roaming service is provided, checks, on the basis of the disaster-related message, whether the terminal can receive the disaster roaming service); and
selecting an available PLMN for access in a case that the disaster condition information indicates a disaster condition having occurred on the first PLMN (Abstract: selecting a second PLMN for providing a disaster roaming service if the terminal can receive the disaster roaming service according to the result of checking, transmits a registration request message to the second PLMN selected on the basis of the disaster-related message, and receives a response message for the registration request message from the second PLMN).
Regarding claims 2 (dependent on claim 1) and 17 (dependent on claim 16), Chun discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting an available PLMN for access comprises one of the following:
randomly selecting one PLMN for access from all currently available PLMNs (Page 27 onward: Method 1
To this end, first, in this specification, when the terminal can no longer provide communication services from the PLMN to which it is currently connected, and receives a message including an instruction to use another PLMN in the vicinity, from the base station connected to the currently connected PLMN , The terminal may additionally receive information about other PLMNs from the base station through the message. Here, the message may include an instruction to connect to another PLMN. Accordingly, the terminal may perform a connection with the indicated PLMN based on the message.
In this process, if the message indicates a specific PLMN, a connection to the indicated PLMN may be performed. If the message indicates a plurality of PLMNs, if the message contains information related to the selection weight, one PLMN is selected based on the message, and if there is no information related to the selection weight, the UE randomly selects a PLMN);
randomly selecting one PLMN for access from third PLMNs, wherein the third PLMN is a PLMN sending the disaster condition information and capable of providing services for users of the first PLMN in a case that a disaster condition occurs on the first PLMN;
selecting one available PLMN for access from a PLMN list in configured disaster condition network selection information, wherein a PLMN in the PLMN list is a PLMN that the terminal is allowed to access in a case that a disaster condition occurs on the first PLMN; and
selecting one available PLMN for access from the PLMN list in the configured disaster condition network selection information, wherein the selected PLMN is the third PLMN.
Regarding claims 3 (dependent on claim 2) and 18 (dependent on claim 17), Chun discloses wherein the selecting one available PLMN for access from a PLMN list in configured disaster condition network selection information comprises one of the following:
selecting one available PLMN in descending order of priorities in a case that priority information is configured for the PLMNs in the disaster condition network selection information (Page 28: In this process, if the message indicates a specific PLMN, a connection to the indicated PLMN may be performed. If the message indicates a plurality of PLMNs, if the message contains information related to the selection weight, one PLMN is selected based on the message, and if there is no information related to the selection weight, the UE randomly selects a PLMN); and
randomly selecting one available PLMN from the PLMNs in the disaster condition network selection information (Page 28: In this process, if the message indicates a specific PLMN, a connection to the indicated PLMN may be performed. If the message indicates a plurality of PLMNs, if the message contains information related to the selection weight, one PLMN is selected based on the message, and if there is no information related to the selection weight, the UE randomly selects a PLMN).
Regarding claim 4, Chun discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the disaster condition network selection information further comprises at least one of the following:
priority information of the PLMNs in the PLMN list (Page 28: In this process, if the message indicates a specific PLMN, a connection to the indicated PLMN may be performed. If the message indicates a plurality of PLMNs, if the message contains information related to the selection weight/priority, one PLMN is selected based on the message); and
access technologies of the PLMNs in the PLMN list.
Regarding claim 5, The method according to claim 2, further comprising:
obtaining or updating the disaster condition network selection information (Abstract; Page 27-28; Page 36: obtaining the disaster condition network selection information).
Regarding claim 6, Chun discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the obtaining or updating the disaster condition network selection information comprises:
receiving encrypted disaster condition network selection information sent by a first home PLMN; or
wherein the obtaining or updating the disaster condition network selection information comprises:
sending a registration request to a network-side device of a first home PLMN or a first visited PLMN; and
receiving registration accept information sent by the network-side device, wherein the registration accept information carries the disaster condition network selection information; or
wherein the obtaining or updating the disaster condition network selection information comprises:
receiving downlink non-access stratum transport information sent by a network- side device of a first home PLMN or a first visited PLMN, wherein the downlink non-access stratum transport information carries the disaster condition network selection information (Page 36: according to a disaster situation, the same cell may additionally broadcast another PLMN. In this case, the RRC of the terminal is updated when the SIB in the cell in which it is located and a new PLMN is supported, the terminal informs the corresponding content to the upper end, for example, the NAS layer now has its HomePLMN. Knowing that it is supported by the cell, it is necessary to properly attempt to reconnect or register); or
wherein the obtaining or updating the disaster condition network selection information comprises:
receiving a configuration update command sent by a network-side device of a first home PLMN or a first visited PLMN, wherein the configuration update command carries the disaster condition network selection information.
Regarding claims 7 (dependent on claim 1) and 19 (dependent on claim 16), Chun discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving disaster condition information related to a first PLMN to which the terminal belongs comprises one of the following:
receiving the disaster condition information broadcast by a second PLMN; and
receiving the disaster condition information sent by the first PLMN (Abstract: selecting a second PLMN for providing a disaster roaming service if the terminal can receive the disaster roaming service according to the result of checking, transmits a registration request message to the second PLMN selected on the basis of the disaster-related message, and receives a response message for the registration request message from the second PLMN; Page 28: In this process, if the message indicates a specific PLMN, a connection to the indicated PLMN may be performed. If the message indicates a plurality of PLMNs, if the message contains information related to the selection weight, one PLMN is selected based on the message, and if there is no information related to the selection weight, the UE randomly selects a PLMN).
Regarding claim 8, Chun discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the disaster condition information broadcast by the second PLMN comprises at least one of the following:
a disaster condition having occurred on the first PLMN (Abstract: selecting a second PLMN for providing a disaster roaming service if the terminal can receive the disaster roaming service according to the result of checking, transmits a registration request message to the second PLMN selected on the basis of the disaster-related message, and receives a response message for the registration request message from the second PLMN);
area information of a disaster condition having occurred on the first PLMN; and
indication information for indicating whether the second PLMN is able to provide services for users of the first PLMN in a case that a disaster condition occurs on the first PLMN.
Regarding claim 9, Chun discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the receiving the disaster condition information sent by the first PLMN comprises at least one of the following:
receiving the disaster condition information provided by the first PLMN by using a broadcast message (Page 36: according to a disaster situation, the same cell may additionally broadcast another PLMN. In this case, the RRC of the terminal is updated when the SIB in the cell in which it is located and a new PLMN is supported, the terminal informs the corresponding content to the upper end, for example, the NAS layer now has its HomePLMN. Knowing that it is supported by the cell, it is necessary to properly attempt to reconnect or register);
receiving the disaster condition information provided by the first PLMN by using a non-access stratum message;
receiving the disaster condition information provided by the first PLMN by using an RRC release message; and
receiving the disaster condition information provided by the first PLMN by using a switching command.
Regarding claim 10, Chun discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the disaster condition information sent by the first PLMN comprises at least one of the following:
a disaster condition having occurred on the first PLMN (Abstract: selecting a second PLMN for providing a disaster roaming service if the terminal can receive the disaster roaming service according to the result of checking, transmits a registration request message to the second PLMN selected on the basis of the disaster-related message, and receives a response message for the registration request message from the second PLMN);
area information of a disaster condition having occurred on the first PLMN; and
a frequency and/or cell of a PLMN that is accessible in a case that a disaster condition occurs on the first PLMN.
Regarding claim 11, Shun discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting an available PLMN for access comprises:
sending an access stratum message to the selected PLMN, so as to perform cell selection or reselection on the selected PLMN (Page 36: according to a disaster situation, the same cell may additionally broadcast another PLMN. In this case, the RRC of the terminal is updated when the SIB in the cell in which it is located and a new PLMN is supported, the terminal informs the corresponding content to the upper end, for example, the NAS layer now has its HomePLMN. Knowing that it is supported by the cell, it is necessary to properly attempt to reconnect or register); and/or,
wherein after the selecting an available PLMN for access, the method further comprises: searching for a PLMN based on a preset periodicity; and
reselecting to a higher-priority PLMN in a case that the higher-priority PLMN is found;
wherein the preset periodicity is configured in a SIM or USIM of the terminal, or determined during implementation by the terminal, or configured by an operator.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUCK HUYNH whose telephone number is (571)272-7866. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am - 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUCK HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644