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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because of the new ground of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The claim contains the limitation of “wherein the user device comprises the base station or a network node in a core network of wireless communication” without support from the original disclosure. Applicant is requested to point out in the next response the passages where the original disclosure supports such limitations and how the original disclosure reads on the limitation.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5-9, 11, 12, 14-16, 22, 26 and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20220183093 A1 herein Sevindik in view of US 20160192239 A1herein Salvador.
Claim 1, Sevendik discloses a method for wireless communication, comprising:
directing, by a communication device, traffic of a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) device to a frequency layer allocated for traffic of the FWA device (0137-0138, the individual radios of the BSe are simultaneously connected to each CPEe);
selecting, by the communication device, a first alternative frequency layer allocated for downlink heavy traffic of the FWA device (0146, 5G NR CBSDe provides user plane (UP) downlink (DL), 4G CBSDe provides UP uplink (UL) data to different radios, respectively);
redirecting, by the communication device, the traffic of the FWA device to the first alternative frequency layer (0040, split the user data to different radio bearers on different radio access technologies; Claim 10);
selecting, by the communication device, a second alternative frequency layer allocated for uplink heavy traffic of the FWA device (0146, 5G NR CBSDe provides user plane (UP) downlink (DL), 4G CBSDe provides UP uplink (UL) data to different radios, respectively); and
redirecting, by the communication device, the traffic of the FWA device to the second alternative frequency layer (0040, split the user data to different radio bearers on different radio access technologies; Claim 10);
Sevindik may not explicitly disclose for a first time duration, tracking, by the communication device, a first amount of traffic from a base station to the FWA device; upon an amount of downlink traffic included in the first amount of traffic exceeding a first threshold, determining, by the communication device, that the first amount of traffic is downlink heavy; in response to determining that the first amount of traffic is downlink heavy, selecting, by the communication device, a first alternative frequency layer allocated for downlink heavy traffic of the FWA device; for a second time duration, tracking, by the communication device, a second amount of traffic from the FWA device to the base station; upon an amount of uplink traffic included in the second amount of traffic exceeding a second threshold, determining, by the communication device, that the first amount of traffic is uplink heavy; in response to determining that the second amount of traffic is uplink heavy; selecting, by the communication device, a second alternative frequency layer allocated for uplink heavy traffic of the FWA device.
Salvador discloses for a first time duration, tracking, by the communication device, a first amount of traffic from a base station to the FWA device (0038, user downlink/uplink traffic volume (Kbytes received/sent) for the last n connections during the last k minutes); upon an amount of downlink traffic included in the first amount of traffic exceeding a first threshold, determining, by the communication device, that the first amount of traffic is downlink heavy (0042-0043, determining downlink data volume to be above 5MB then a classification of high traffic data users group); in response to determining that the first amount of traffic is downlink heavy, selecting, by the communication device, a first alternative frequency layer allocated for downlink heavy traffic of the FWA device (0012, deciding on offloading the traffic from the first carrier frequency to a second carrier frequency);
for a second time duration, tracking, by the communication device, a second amount of traffic from the FWA device to the base station (0038, uplink traffic volume being higher during a second time period); upon an amount of uplink traffic included in the second amount of traffic exceeding a second threshold, determining, by the communication device, that the first amount of traffic is uplink heavy (0046-0047, data traffic volume is greater that 500Kb, classification to a high traffic group); in response to determining that the second amount of traffic is uplink heavy (0012, determining to offload traffic onto a different carrier frequency); selecting, by the communication device, a second alternative frequency layer allocated for uplink heavy traffic of the FWA device (0041-0049, threshold framework for categorization based on traffic volume). 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 Sevindik to include classification of traffic based on traffic volume and user profiles as taught by Salvador so as to optimize load balancing (0038).
Claim 5, Sevindik discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the characteristic comprises: tracking a Quality of Service (QoS) requirement of the traffic of the FWA device for a third time duration (0203-0204, times where QoS is analyzed); and characterizing the traffic of the FWA device as latency sensitive upon the QoS requirement exceeding a threshold (0190, traffic load above a threshold, thus switching to split mode).
in response to characterizing the traffic of the FWA device as latency sensitive (0166, decision on which band for latency sensitive communications; 0188, split mode communications),
selecting, by the communication device, a third alternative frequency layer allocated for latency sensitive traffic of the FWA device (0166, 0059, different frequency for split mode); and
redirecting, by the communication device, the traffic of the FWA device to the third alternative frequency layer (0188, split mode; 0005, mmWave bands; 0031, Frequency Range 2).
Claim 6, Sevindik discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises the base station or a network node in a core network of wireless communication (Fig. 7: 702).
Claim 7, Sevindik discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises the FWA device (Fig. 7: 704).
Claim 9, Sevindik discloses The method of claim 8, wherein the first frequency layer or the second frequency layer comprises a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) layer (0036, TDD in the uplink and downlink) in Frequency Range 1 (FR1) of New Radio (NR) access technology (0005, NR-U under 5GHz; 0031, Frequency Range 1).
Claim 11, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Sevindik discloses a device for telecommunications, comprising a processor (Fig. 8: 845, 850, processor and memory with programs).
Claim 12, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 2.
Claim 14, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 5.
Claim 15, Sevendik in view of Salvador discloses the device of claim 11, wherein the first alternative frequency layer prioritizes downlink traffic (Fig. 7c: DL towards 5G base station) and wherein the [[a]] second alternative frequency layer (Fig. 7c: UL towards 4G base station).
Claim 16, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 9.
Claim 21, Sevindik in view of Salvador discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the frequency layer represents a frequency band or a sub-band of the frequency band (Fig. 7c: f1 and f2 for connection with 4G base station and f3 and f4 for connection with the 5G base station).
Claim 22, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 21.
Claim 26, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 25.
Claim 27, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 25.
Claim(s) 18, 19, 23-25 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sevindik in view of Salvador in view of US 20200007691 A1 herein Wong.
Claim 18, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Sevindik discloses initiating, by the user device, a second data transmission to the base station via the FWA device (0142, consumption of various different types of traffic, individual radios at the BSe are connected to the CPEe). Sevindik in view of Salvador disclose FWA and classification of downlink and uplink traffic, i.e. downlink heavy and uplink heavy (See claim 1 rejection). Sevindik in view of Salvador may not explicitly disclose receiving, by the user device, a first prompt indicating an option to purchase a first redirection of the first data transmission [[to a first frequency layer allocated to downlink heavy traffic]]; performing the first data transmission using the first frequency layer after the first redirection is purchased; receiving, by the user device, a second prompt indicating an option to purchase a second redirection of the second data transmission [[to a second frequency layer allocated to uplink heavy traffic;]] performing the second data transmission [[using the second frequency layer]] after the second redirection is purchased.
Wong discloses receiving, by the user device, a first prompt indicating an option to purchase a first redirection of the first data transmission (0024, subscribers can pay an additional fee to be upgraded to a faster speed tier; 0053, the available speed tiers and corresponding charges can be provided to the user for selection); performing the first data transmission after the first redirection is purchased (0053-0054, Based on the user's selection, a user-selected speed tier can be assigned to the subscriber account, 0059, billing for the UE can be facilitated based on a fee corresponding to the user-selected speed tier); receiving, by the user device, a second prompt indicating an option to purchase a second redirection of the second data transmission (monitoring throughput at time intervals; 0053-0054, the available speed tiers and corresponding charges can be provided to the user for selection); performing the second data transmission after the second redirection is purchased (0053-0059, billing/tier assignment following selection applied to the selection). 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 Sevindik to include purchasing high speed tiers as taught by Wong so as to allow users to improve data plans for purchase (0003).
Claim 19, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Claim 23, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 9.
Claim 24, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 5.
Claim 25, Sevindik in view of Salvador in view of Wong discloses the method of claim 24, wherein the third frequency layer comprises a layer in Frequency Range 2 (FR2) of NR access technology (0031, Frequency Range 2).
Claim 28, Sevindik in view of Salvador in view of Wong discloses the method of claim 18, wherein the user device comprises the base station or a network node in a core network of wireless communication (Fig. 4: 131).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20220217547 A1 – Systems and methods are provided for effectuating self-installation and device management that may be utilized by end user of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) devices, installation professionals, mobile network operators, etc. to optimally locate and position/orient a 5G FWA device relative to an installation environment, as well as subsequently manage the 5G FWA device. Various guidance can be provided to a user depending on the user's level of experience or familiarity with installation of such devices. Calculations can be executed to determine performance of a 5G FWA device depending on its location/position/orientation relative to elements or structures or obstructions that may impact its ability to effectively connect to/obtain service from a serving cell or network infrastructure. For example, a heat map can be generated to assist with optimal 5G FWA device installation.
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 Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm. 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, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. 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.
/Mehmood B. Khan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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