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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application no. CN202010955406.0 filed in PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA on 09/11/2020. It is noted that the applicant has filed a certified copy of the application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-9 and 15-20 (Group I) in the reply filed on 12/11/2025 is acknowledged.
Response to Amendment
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 08/10/2026 for response of the office action mailed on 05/15/2026. Claims 1 and 15 have been amended. Claims 10-14 have been withdrawn. Claims 1-9 and 15-20 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive/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.
Argument on page (2):
Specifically, amended claim 1 clarifies that a second beam that is used for sending a positioning signal from the first satellite is different from the first beam that is used for sending a communication signal from the same first satellite. For teaching of sending the positioning signal, the Office Action relies on Buer. Office Action, pages. 3-4. However, Buer has not been shown to disclose at least the above-identified features.
Response:
Examiner has considered the applicant’s arguments and respectfully disagrees. Due to the nature of amendment(s) made on the independent claims, the Office no longer relies on Buer solely and instead introduces the combination of Buer and Wyrwas (US 6,128,468). Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive in view of the combined teachings of Buer and Wyrwas. Buer teaches transmitting a communication signal using a first service beam (¶0027-¶0028) and further teaches that the communications satellite 121 may transmit a positioning signal 115 (¶0146). Wyrwas then teaches transmitting signals from the same communications satellite through different spot beams (Fig. 17-19), where the signals from the different beams are used by a terminal to determine positioning. Thus, Buer in combination with Wyrwas teaches the claimed positioning signal being transmitted using a second beam different from the first communication beam.
Argument on page (3):
However, Applicant respectfully submits that the cited passages of Buer have not been shown to disclose (1) a second beam that is used for transmitting the positioning signal from the communications satellite 121, much less, (2) that a second beam (which transmits the positioning signal) is different from the first or second service beam 125 that are used for communicating with the same communications satellite 121, as recited in the amended claim 1.
Response:
Examiner has considered the applicant’s arguments and respectfully disagrees. Due to the nature of amendment(s) made on the independent claims, the Office no longer relies on Buer solely and instead introduces the combination of Buer and Wyrwas (US 6,128,468). Applicant argues that Bur does not disclose a second beam used for transmitting the positioning signal, or that such beam is different from the service beam used for communication. The Office relies on Wrywas for this feature. Wyrwas teaches different spot beams 30A, and 30B-30G from the same communications satellite, with signals transmitted through the different beams being used for terminal positioning (Fig. 17-19). Accordingly, the combined teachings of Buer and Wyrwas teach the claimed different beam second beam used for the positioning signal.
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.
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 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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1, 6, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buer et al. (US 2022/0231757), Buer hereinafter, and further in view of Wyrwas (US 6,128,468 A), Wyrwas hereinafter.
Re. Claim 1, Buer teaches a beam hopping method for a satellite system, comprising: sending, by a first satellite, a communication signal to a first area by using a first beam, (Fig. 1, 3 & ¶0027 - The communications satellite 121 may communicate via a service beam 125-a directed towards a service beam coverage area 126-a that includes the satellite terminal 150 … In some examples the communications satellite 121 may be a multi-beam satellite and may have multiple service beams, including service beam 125-a, covering multiple beam coverage areas, including service beam coverage area 126-a, which may or may not overlap with adjacent beam coverage areas);
wherein the communication signal is used by the first satellite to communicate with a terminal device in the first area, and the first area belongs to an area covered by the first satellite; (¶0027 - The service beam coverage area 126-a may cover any suitable service area (e.g., circular, elliptical, hexagonal, local, regional, national, etc.) and provide service to any number of satellite terminals 150 located in the service beam coverage area 126-a. ¶0028 - The communications satellite 121 may transmit a forward link signal 172 via the service beam 125-a to be received by the satellite terminal 150);
and sending, by the first satellite, a positioning signal (¶0146 - For example, a satellite terminal 150 may have established a communications link with a communications satellite 121, and also be receiving a positioning signal 115 from the communications satellite 121);
Yet, Buer does not explicitly teach to a second area by using a second beam that is different from the first beam, wherein the positioning signal is used by a terminal device in the second area for positioning measurement.
However, in the analogous art, Wyrwas explicitly teaches to a second area by using a second beam that is different from the first beam, (Fig. 3 & Page 6, (8) - FIG. 3 shows the structure of the cone 16 of radio coverage provided by each communications satellite 10 … The cone 16 of radio coverage is divided into a plurality of spot beams 30, by means of a corresponding plurality of directional antennae on the communications satellite 10. The communications satellite 10 is intended for mobile radio telephone communications and each of the spot beams 30 corresponds, roughly, to the equivalent of a cell in a cellular radio telephone network);
wherein the positioning signal is used by a terminal device in the second area for positioning measurement (Fig. 17-19 & Page 17, (115) - The satellite 10 puts out regular broadcasts on each of the spot beams 30, each broadcast providing identification of from which spot beam 30 the broadcast originates. The user terminal 44 listens to the broadcasts from the adjacent other spot beams 30B-30G to determine which of the points of intersection 142 the user terminal 44 occupies. Page 18, (117) - … the user terminal 44 receives an instruction … to determine where, in a particular spot beam 30, the user terminal 44 may be located. (119) - When a ninth test 156 detects that a broadcast message can be heard, control passes to … where the user terminal 44 extracts the beam identity from the broadcast signal. (121) - When enough results have been received, a twenty-first activity 164 calculates to which of the adjacent overlapping beams 30B-30G the user terminal 44 most closely lies so that the point of intersection 142 most appropriately placed can be selected as the actual position of the user terminal 44).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Wyrwas to the teaching of Buer. The motivation would be because the invention particularly relates to satellite communication systems and related methods where an earth based user terminal communicates with a satellite which in turn communicates with an earth station, and vice versa. Most particularly, the present invention relates to such a system and its related methods where there is a requirement for the location of the user terminal, on the surface of the earth, to be known to the earth station (Page 2, (2), Wyrwas).
Re. Claims 6 and 20, Buer and Wyrwas teaches Claims 1 and 15.
Yet, Buer does not explicitly teach the positioning measurement comprises measuring one or more of the following measurement values: a time of arrival (ToA), a frequency of arrival (FoA), or an angle of arrival (AoA).
However, in the analogous art, Wyrwas explicitly teaches the positioning measurement comprises measuring one or more of the following measurement values: a time of arrival (ToA), a frequency of arrival (FoA), or an angle of arrival (AoA) (Fig. 6-7 & Page 8, (25) - The embodiment of the present invention in part concerns itself with means of employing the doppler shift in frequencies, due to the motion of the communications satellite 10, and measurement of the propagation delay, to determine the position of the user terminal 44 on the surface of the earth 14. Page 15, (96) - In any event, it is merely necessary to note the time of arrival of a broadcast message at a user terminal 44, and to know from which communications satellite 10 it originated, in order, effectively, to do a ranging "propagation delay" measurement on the user terminal 44 from the communications satellite 10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Wyrwas to the teaching of Buer. The motivation would be because the invention particularly relates to satellite communication systems and related methods where an earth based user terminal communicates with a satellite which in turn communicates with an earth station, and vice versa. Most particularly, the present invention relates to such a system and its related methods where there is a requirement for the location of the user terminal, on the surface of the earth, to be known to the earth station (Page 2, (2), Wyrwas).
Re. Claim 15, Buer teaches a communication apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: (Fig. 9-11 & ¶0149);
send a communication signal to a first area by using a first beam, wherein the communication signal is used by a first satellite to communicate with a terminal device in the first area, and the first area belongs to an area covered by the first satellite; (Fig. 1, 3 & ¶0027 - The communications satellite 121 may communicate via a service beam 125-a directed towards a service beam coverage area 126-a that includes the satellite terminal 150. The service beam coverage area 126-a may cover any suitable service area (e.g., circular, elliptical, hexagonal, local, regional, national, etc.) and provide service to any number of satellite terminals 150 located in the service beam coverage area 126-a. In some examples the communications satellite 121 may be a multi-beam satellite and may have multiple service beams, including service beam 125-a, covering multiple beam coverage areas, including service beam coverage area 126-a, which may or may not overlap with adjacent beam coverage areas. ¶0028 - The communications satellite 121 may transmit a forward link signal 172 via the service beam 125-a to be received by the satellite terminal 150);
and send a positioning signal (¶0146 - For example, a satellite terminal 150 may have established a communications link with a communications satellite 121, and also be receiving a positioning signal 115 from the communications satellite 121);
Yet, Buer does not explicitly teach to a second area by using a second beam that is different from the first beam, wherein the positioning signal is used by a terminal device in the second area for positioning measurement.
However, in the analogous art, Wyrwas explicitly teaches to a second area by using a second beam that is different from the first beam, (Fig. 3 & Page 6, (8) - FIG. 3 shows the structure of the cone 16 of radio coverage provided by each communications satellite 10 … The cone 16 of radio coverage is divided into a plurality of spot beams 30, by means of a corresponding plurality of directional antennae on the communications satellite 10. The communications satellite 10 is intended for mobile radio telephone communications and each of the spot beams 30 corresponds, roughly, to the equivalent of a cell in a cellular radio telephone network);
wherein the positioning signal is used by a terminal device in the second area for positioning measurement (Fig. 17-19 & Page 17, (115) - The satellite 10 puts out regular broadcasts on each of the spot beams 30, each broadcast providing identification of from which spot beam 30 the broadcast originates. The user terminal 44 listens to the broadcasts from the adjacent other spot beams 30B-30G to determine which of the points of intersection 142 the user terminal 44 occupies. Page 18, (117) - … the user terminal 44 receives an instruction … to determine where, in a particular spot beam 30, the user terminal 44 may be located. (119) - When a ninth test 156 detects that a broadcast message can be heard, control passes to … where the user terminal 44 extracts the beam identity from the broadcast signal. (121) - When enough results have been received, a twenty-first activity 164 calculates to which of the adjacent overlapping beams 30B-30G the user terminal 44 most closely lies so that the point of intersection 142 most appropriately placed can be selected as the actual position of the user terminal 44).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Wyrwas to the teaching of Buer. The motivation would be because the invention particularly relates to satellite communication systems and related methods where an earth based user terminal communicates with a satellite which in turn communicates with an earth station, and vice versa. Most particularly, the present invention relates to such a system and its related methods where there is a requirement for the location of the user terminal, on the surface of the earth, to be known to the earth station (Page 2, (2), Wyrwas).
Claims 2-3 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buer and Wyrwas, as applied to Claims 1, 6, 15 and 20 above, and further in view of Rothaar et al. (US 2021/0384968 A1), Rothaar hereinafter.
Re. Claims 2 and 16, Buer and Wyrwas teach Claims 1 and 15.
Yet, Buer and Wyrwas do not explicitly teach the second beam is generated after a related parameter of the first beam changes, and the related parameter of the first beam comprises one or more of the following parameters: a steering angle, a frequency, a power, a beam shape, a beam quantity, or an antenna gain/ the second beam is generated after a related parameter of the first beam changes, and the related parameter of the first beam comprises one or more of the following parameters: a steering angle, a frequency, a power, a beam shape, a beam quantity, or an antenna gain.
However, in the analogous art, Rothaar explicitly teaches the second beam is generated after a related parameter of the first beam changes, and the related parameter of the first beam comprises one or more of the following parameters: a steering angle, a frequency, a power, a beam shape, a beam quantity, or an antenna gain/ the second beam is generated after a related parameter of the first beam changes, and the related parameter of the first beam comprises one or more of the following parameters: a steering angle, a frequency, a power, a beam shape, a beam quantity, or an antenna gain (Fig. 2, 5 & ¶0031 - Referring to FIG. 2, the process begins by processing logic controlling an electronically steered flat-panel antenna to generate a single receive beam pointing to and tracking a first satellite using a first set of RF radiating antenna elements … ¶0032 - While tracking the first satellite, processing logic makes a determination to switch the antenna into a two-receive beam configuration in which the antenna is generating first and second receive beams simultaneously (processing block 202) … this determination to switch the antenna into a two-beam configuration is made when the antenna is leaving the field of view of the first satellite and needs to find a second satellite for continuing communications. ¶0034 - In one embodiment, the first and second beams point at carriers that are at different frequencies. In one embodiment, the first and second beams have different antenna gains, wherein gain for the second beam is lower than the gain for the first beam).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Rothaar to the teachings of Buer and Wyrwas. The motivation would be because the embodiments of the present invention relate to generating multiple beams simultaneously with a single satellite antenna to facilitate handing off communication between two satellites (¶0002, Rothaar).
Re. Claim 3, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar teach Claim 2.
Buer further teaches the beam hopping method further comprises: sending, by the first satellite, the communication signal to the first area in a first time duration of a broadcast signal periodicity by using the first beam; (Fig. 3-5 & ¶0058 - The entry timing signal(s) 430 may be transmitted on a forward link carrier, which may be a carrier configured to indicate timing windows (e.g., contention slots) available for satellite terminals to transmit network entry signals to attempt a communications link establishment via the communications satellite 121-a);
and sending, by the first satellite, the positioning signal to the second area in a second time duration of the broadcast signal periodicity by using the second beam, (¶0048 - In various examples the first service beam coverage area 126-a can be associated with a first service beam 125, and the second service beam coverage area 126-b can be associated with a second service beam 125, where the first service beam 125 and the second service beam 125 may be associated with the same communications satellite 121 … Each of the satellite terminals 150 may be configured to receive positioning signals 115, and in various examples the installation positions determined based on the received positioning signals 115 for each satellite terminal 150 may be associated with a geographic area for each of the respective satellite terminals 150. Fig. 3B & ¶0054 - Satellite terminal 150-f may be configured to receive positioning signals 115, from which the first installation position 355 and the second installation position 360 may each be determined).
wherein the first time duration and the second time duration do not overlap (¶0071 - As illustrated by FIGS. 4A and 4B, the contention slots for various satellite terminals 150 may be different, and non-overlapping … In other examples, contention slots for various satellite terminals 150 of a satellite communications system may have the same or different durations, may have the same or different boundaries, and may be … separated by some amount of time (e.g., separated by a guard band).
Re. Claim 17, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar teach Claim 16.
Buer further teaches the one or more memories store the programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: send the communication signal to the first area in a first time duration of a broadcast signal periodicity by using the first beam; (Fig. 3-5 & ¶0058 - The entry timing signal(s) 430 may be transmitted on a forward link carrier, which may be a carrier configured to indicate timing windows (e.g., contention slots) available for satellite terminals to transmit network entry signals to attempt a communications link establishment via the communications satellite 121-a);
and send the positioning signal to the second area in a second time duration of the broadcast signal periodicity by using the second beam, (¶0048 - In various examples the first service beam coverage area 126-a can be associated with a first service beam 125, and the second service beam coverage area 126-b can be associated with a second service beam 125, where the first service beam 125 and the second service beam 125 may be associated with the same communications satellite 121 … Each of the satellite terminals 150 may be configured to receive positioning signals 115, and in various examples the installation positions determined based on the received positioning signals 115 for each satellite terminal 150 may be associated with a geographic area for each of the respective satellite terminals 150. Fig. 3B & ¶0054 - Satellite terminal 150-f may be configured to receive positioning signals 115, from which the first installation position 355 and the second installation position 360 may each be determined).
wherein the first time duration and the second time duration do not overlap (¶0071 - As illustrated by FIGS. 4A and 4B, the contention slots for various satellite terminals 150 may be different, and non-overlapping … In other examples, contention slots for various satellite terminals 150 of a satellite communications system may have the same or different durations, may have the same or different boundaries, and may be … separated by some amount of time (e.g., separated by a guard band).
Claims 4-5 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar, as applied to Claims 2-3 and 16-17 above, and further in view of Shrestha et al. (US 2024/0179099 A1), Shrestha hereinafter.
Re. Claim 4, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar teach Claim 3.
Yet, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar do not explicitly teach the beam hopping method further comprises: obtaining, by the first satellite, first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a length of the first time duration and a length of the second time duration; and adjusting, by the first satellite, the length of the first time duration and the length of the second time duration in the broadcast signal periodicity based on the first indication information.
However, in the analogous art, Shrestha explicitly teaches the beam hopping method further comprises: obtaining, by the first satellite, first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a length of the first time duration and a length of the second time duration; and adjusting, by the first satellite, the length of the first time duration and the length of the second time duration in the broadcast signal periodicity based on the first indication information (Fig. 2, 4-5 & ¶0081 - As the RTD can be variable due to movement of satellite and/or UE, the gateway may broadcast information about RTD variation to be used for the subsequent uplink transmissions. In some cases, the gateway may broadcast the RTD variation between the gateway and satellite. Additionally, the gateway may, in some cases, broadcast the RTD variation between the satellite and the UE (e.g., considering beam center as the reception point) … In some cases, the RTD variation may be signaled with different periodicity than RTD (e.g., more frequently than RTD itself). ¶0087 - In other cases, a same or different modification periodicity (p) may be defined (e.g., hard coded or provided in SIB) for the update of RTD and RTD variation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Shrestha to the teachings of Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar. The motivation would be because the invention describes methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications in which UEs may communicate with satellites and base stations or gateways in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (Abstract, Shrestha).
Re. Claims 5 and 19, Buer, Rothaar and Ref teach Claims 4 and 18.
Yet, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar do not explicitly teach the first indication information is carried in any one of the following messages: a radio resource control (RRC) message, a system information block (SIB) message, or a media access control layer control element (MAC CE) message.
However, in the analogous art, Shrestha explicitly teaches the first indication information is carried in any one of the following messages: a radio resource control (RRC) message, a system information block (SIB) message, or a media access control layer control element (MAC CE) message (Fig. 2, 4-5 & ¶0084 - In some cases, the configuration information may be provided in a system information broadcast (e.g., in a system information block (SIB) such as a SIB1 broadcast or in a NTN-specific SIB) … In further cases, the configuration may be provided to the UE in UE-specific signaling (e.g., in RRC signaling, in a MAC-CE, etc.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Shrestha to the teachings of Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar. The motivation would be because the invention describes methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications in which UEs may communicate with satellites and base stations or gateways in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (Abstract, Shrestha).
Re. Claim 18, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar teach Claim 17.
Yet, Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar do not explicitly teach the one or more memories store the programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: obtain first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a length of the first time duration and a length of the second time duration; and adjust the length of the first time duration and the length of the second time duration in the broadcast signal periodicity based on the first indication information.
However, in the analogous art, Shrestha explicitly teaches the one or more memories store the programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: obtain first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a length of the first time duration and a length of the second time duration; and adjust the length of the first time duration and the length of the second time duration in the broadcast signal periodicity based on the first indication information (Fig. 2, 4-5 & ¶0081 - As the RTD can be variable due to movement of satellite and/or UE, the gateway may broadcast information about RTD variation to be used for the subsequent uplink transmissions. In some cases, the gateway may broadcast the RTD variation between the gateway and satellite. Additionally, the gateway may, in some cases, broadcast the RTD variation between the satellite and the UE (e.g., considering beam center as the reception point) … In some cases, the RTD variation may be signaled with different periodicity than RTD (e.g., more frequently than RTD itself). ¶0087 - In other cases, a same or different modification periodicity (p) may be defined (e.g., hard coded or provided in SIB) for the update of RTD and RTD variation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Shrestha to the teachings of Buer and Wyrwas and Rothaar. The motivation would be because the invention describes methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications in which UEs may communicate with satellites and base stations or gateways in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (Abstract, Shrestha).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buer and Wyrwas, as applied to Claims 1, 6, 15 and 20 above, and further in view of Edge (US 2022/0046424 A1), Edge hereinafter.
Re. Claim 7, Buer and Wyrwas teach Claim 1.
Yet, Buer and Wyrwas do not explicitly teach the sending, by the first satellite, a positioning signal to a second area by using a second beam comprises: periodically sending, by the first satellite, the positioning signal to the second area; or sending, by the first satellite, the positioning signal to the second area in a pre-configured manner.
However, in the analogous art, Edge explicitly teaches the sending, by the first satellite, a positioning signal to a second area by using a second beam comprises: periodically sending, by the first satellite, the positioning signal to the second area; (Fig. 6-7, 9-10 & ¶0223 - As illustrated, at block 1602, the UE receives broadcast signaling from a plurality of communications satellites (e.g. SVs 102, 202 or 302) for a plurality of radio cells supported by the plurality of communications satellites, the broadcast signaling for each radio cell in the plurality of radio cells including a positioning identifier (PID), wherein the PID is changed periodically according to a sequence of periodic intervals, wherein the sequence of periodic intervals occur within the lifetime of the each radio cell, e.g., as discussed at stages 2 and 3 of FIG. 9).
or sending, by the first satellite, the positioning signal to the second area in a pre-configured manner (Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “or”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Edge to the teachings of Buer and Wyrwas. The motivation would be because the invention relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to accessing a wireless network using communication satellites (¶0002, Edge).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The Examiner has conducted a search of Patent and Non-Patent Literature and was unable to find any prior art which solely or in combination with another reference teaches the limitation of:
Claim 8 – and before the sending, by the first satellite, a positioning signal to a second area by using a second beam, the beam hopping method further comprises: receiving, by the first satellite, a configuration request sent by the second satellite, wherein the configuration request is used to request the first satellite to assist the second satellite in the positioning measurement; and sending, by the first satellite, the positioning signal to the second area by using the second beam and based on the configuration request.
Claim 9 – depends on Claim 8.
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 ALYSSA WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7673. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5pm. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on (571) 270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALYSSA WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2429 /AYMAN A ABAZA/SPE, Art Unit 2429
Prosecution Insights