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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 4/21/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 9-12, 14, 15 and 17-20 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to Claims have overcome the 112(b) rejection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed on 1/26/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 8-10 with respect to claims 1, 9 and 17 have been considered but are moot upon a further consideration and a new ground of rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai (US PGPub 2025/0192856) in view of Dash (US PGPub 2023/0085782).
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 9-12, 14, 15 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai (US PGPub 2025/0192856) in view of Dash (US PGPub 2023/0085782).
Regarding claims 1, 9 and 17, Bai teaches a computer-implemented method (Bai, see abstract, Beam switch prediction and reporting) comprising:
establishing, by a user equipment (UE), a communication path via a node B, the communication path enabling a communication between the UE and a packet data network (PDN) (Bai, see paragraphs 0076 and 0109, the UE 115-b may communicate with the network entity 105-b using a first communication beam. The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions, which may include at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW));
generating, by the UE, a request to update a UE capability (Bai, see paragraph 0112, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b. The first message may indicate the changes to the one or more communication parameters, a time parameter that indicates a time for the UE 115-b to switch to the second communication beam (e.g., the beam switch time), or both), wherein the request to update the UE capability indicates a time period for the update to the UE capability desired by the UE (Bai, see paragraph 0112, a time parameter that indicates a time for the UE 115-b to switch to the second communication beam (e.g., the beam switch time)); and
transmitting, by the UE, the request to the node B, causing the node B to update the UE capability used for the communication (Bai, see paragraph 0112, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b).
Bai teaches the above yet fails to teach detecting, by the UE, a change of radio access technology (RAT); determining, by the UE, a preset condition is triggered during the communication based at least in part on the change of RAT.
Then Dash teaches detecting, by the UE, a change of radio access technology (RAT) (Dash, see paragraph 0047, At 305, UE 101 can determine UE 101 camps on the second RAT for service by a second PLMN. For example, UE 101 can determine UE 101 camps on the second RAT, which can be the UTRAN wireless network including base station 111 and core network 102, serviced by PLMN 103); determining, by the UE, a preset condition is triggered during the communication based at least in part on the change of RAT (Dash, see paragraph 0048, At 306, UE 101 can determine whether there is a trigger event to enable UE 101 to switch from the second RAT to the first RAT. For example, UE 101 can determine whether there is a trigger event to enable UE 101 to switch from the UTRAN RAT to the NR RAT).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bai with Reselection of a radio access technology (rat) for a multimode user equipment (ue) of Dash, because doing so would make Bai more efficient in improving the operational efficiency for a multi-mode UE (Dash, see paragraph 0003).
Regarding claims 2, 10 and 18, Bai in view of Dash teaches further comprising:
transmitting, by the UE, the request to the node B without requesting for an enquiry from the node B (Bai, see paragraphs 0111-0112, At 325, the UE 115-b may determine a preferred communication beam for use by the network entity 105-b after the UE 115-b switches to the second communication beam. The UE 115-b may determine the preferred communication beam based on the second communication beam. At 330, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b).
Regarding claims 3, 11 and 19, Bai in view of Dash teaches further comprising:
detecting a block error rate exceeds a preset threshold (Bai, see paragraph 0109, the UE 115-b may determine movement of the UE 115-b, may determine movement of a nearby obstruction, or both. For example, the UE 115-a may determine that the UE 115-b is changing location (e.g., changing latitude, longitude, altitude), changing orientation (e.g., rotating), changing physical configuration (e.g., folding or unfolding), or any combination thereof), wherein determining that the preset condition is triggered is further based on the block error rate exceeding the preset threshold (Bai, see paragraph 0112, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b. The first message may indicate the changes to the one or more communication parameters, a time parameter that indicates a time for the UE 115-b to switch to the second communication beam (e.g., the beam switch time), or both).
Regarding claims 4 and 12, Bai in view of Dash teaches further comprising:
detecting a packet loss rate exceeds a preset threshold (Bai, see paragraph 0109, the UE 115-b may determine movement of the UE 115-b, may determine movement of a nearby obstruction, or both. For example, the UE 115-a may determine that the UE 115-b is changing location (e.g., changing latitude, longitude, altitude), changing orientation (e.g., rotating), changing physical configuration (e.g., folding or unfolding), or any combination thereof), wherein determining that the preset condition is triggered is further based on the packet loss rate exceeding the preset threshold (Bai, see paragraph 0112, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b. The first message may indicate the changes to the one or more communication parameters, a time parameter that indicates a time for the UE 115-b to switch to the second communication beam (e.g., the beam switch time), or both).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Bai in view of Dash teaches further comprising:
detecting a change of tracking area (Bai, see paragraph 0109, the UE 115-b may determine movement of the UE 115-b, may determine movement of a nearby obstruction, or both. For example, the UE 115-a may determine that the UE 115-b is changing location (e.g., changing latitude, longitude, altitude), changing orientation (e.g., rotating), changing physical configuration (e.g., folding or unfolding), or any combination thereof), wherein determining that the preset condition is triggered is further based on the change of tracking area (Bai, see paragraph 0112, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b. The first message may indicate the changes to the one or more communication parameters, a time parameter that indicates a time for the UE 115-b to switch to the second communication beam (e.g., the beam switch time), or both).
Regarding claims 7, 15 and 20, Bai in view of Dash teaches wherein the request to update the UE capability indicates a change in the capability desired by the UE including at least one of:
a change of modulation scheme,
a change of power class,
a change of bandwidth in use,
a change of antenna switching,
a change of a granular for beamforming, or
a change of downlink multiple input multiple output (MIMO) (Bai, see paragraphs 0111-0112, At 325, the UE 115-b may determine a preferred communication beam for use by the network entity 105-b after the UE 115-b switches to the second communication beam. The UE 115-b may determine the preferred communication beam based on the second communication beam. At 330, the UE 115-b may transmit a first message to the network entity 105-b).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHONG G KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-0619. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri @ 9am - 5pm.
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/CHONG G KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
/CHRISTOPHER B ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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