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 .
Applicant’s amendment filed 1/16/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 25 and 36 are amended.
Claims 1-24 and 44 are cancelled.
Claim 45 is new.
Claims 25-43 and 45 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 25,26,28-30,35-37, and 39-41 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Altman (US 20210114616).
Re claim 25:
Altman discloses a terminal device, wherein the terminal device comprises a wireless fidelity (Wi- Fi) chip and a device-to-device (D2D) chip; wherein the Wi-Fi chip is configured to (Para.[0033] a vehicle may comprise multiple vehicular transceivers (e.g., e.g., 175, and 175B, and optionally additional ones) which may be of the same type or which may be of different types (e.g., cellular, 4G, 3G, 2G, 4G LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, Bluetooth, Zigbee, V2V, V2X, 802.11, 802.11p/DSRC, or the like), and/or a vehicle may comprise multiple RF circuitries (e.g., 176, and 176B, and optionally additional ones) which may be of the same type or of different types):
when the terminal device processes a preset service, establish a first communication link to a second terminal device, and transmit target data streams between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using the first communication link (Fig.4 and Para.[0069] The encapsulated packets of each of the sensors, synchronized by the stamps, or of the multiple sensors in one encapsulation or even one compressed packet stream as processed and overlayed by the vehicle Multi-link Agent, may be transmitted over the most suitable connection(s) at any point in time and Para.[0093] This estimated or certain traffic may be predicted in general parameters such as goodput, or in parameters such as goodput for a specific QoS or service or even application, or priority.); and
wherein the D2D chip is configured to: when the terminal device processes the preset service, establish a second communication link to the second terminal device, and transmit the target data streams between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using the second communication link (Fig.4 and Para.[0069] The encapsulated packets of each of the sensors, synchronized by the stamps, or of the multiple sensors in one encapsulation or even one compressed packet stream as processed and overlayed by the vehicle Multi-link Agent, may be transmitted over the most suitable connection(s) at any point in time and Para.[0093] This estimated or certain traffic may be predicted in general parameters such as goodput, or in parameters such as goodput for a specific QoS or service or even application, or priority); and
wherein the first communication link comprises at least one Wi-Fi link that complies with a Wi-Fi protocol, the second communication link comprises at least one D2D link that complies with a D2D sidelink (SL) protocol, the target data streams are data streams corresponding to the preset service, the target data streams are transmitted between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using a first communication link and the second communication link without passing through a cellular network and the preset service is a unidirectional data transmission service or a bidirectional data transmission service (Para.[0017] The present invention provides a reliable broadband communication link as a virtual communication link that is comprised of a dynamic adaptive combination of multiplicity of available communication modems, transceivers, links, operators and networks, including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications and the available performance of each one of them and the total of them, both measured and predicted and Para.[0205] Sharing the data can be done over or using a wireless link different than the one belonging to the network or operator or technology being reported on; such as used for closer range, for example, 802.11/DSRC V2X or V2V or others, and/or such information and data may be known in advance to the bonding software or device either from its own previous experiences or from others reported or downloaded to it).
Re claim 26:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the D2D chip is configured to transmit the target data streams between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using a first interface and by using the second communication link, and wherein the first interface is an interface used for direct communication between devices (Para.[0017] The present invention provides a reliable broadband communication link as a virtual communication link that is comprised of a dynamic adaptive combination of multiplicity of available communication modems, transceivers, links, operators and networks, including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications and the available performance of each one of them and the total of them, both measured and predicted).
Re claim 28:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein: when the preset service is a bidirectional data transmission service, the target data streams comprise a first data stream sent by the terminal device to the second terminal device and a second data stream sent by the second terminal device to the terminal device; and the Wi-Fi chip is configured to send the first data stream to the second terminal device by using the first communication link, and the D2D chip is configured to receive, by using the second communication link, the second data stream sent by the second terminal device; or the D2D chip is configured to send the first data stream to the second terminal device by using the second communication link, and the Wi-Fi chip is configured to receive, by using the first communication link, the second data stream transmitted by the second terminal device (Para.[0017] The present invention provides a reliable broadband communication link as a virtual communication link that is comprised of a dynamic adaptive combination of multiplicity of available communication modems, transceivers, links, operators and networks, including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications and the available performance of each one of them and the total of them, both measured and predicted).
Re claim 29:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the terminal device further comprises at least one processor; wherein the at least one processor is configured to: determine, based on first communication capability information and second communication capability information, a plurality of communication links supported between the terminal device and the second terminal device (Para.[0204] It can then implement and enforce various policy-based bonding of using the most appropriate combination of these links, and dividing the IP load over them as best fits the users' needs, the application needs, the overall networks capabilities and needs); and
determine the first communication link and the second communication link from the plurality of communication links based on transmission requirement information of the preset service (Para.[0017] including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications); and
wherein the first communication capability information indicates a communication link supported by the terminal device, and the second communication capability information indicates a communication link supported by the second terminal device (Para.[0204] It can then implement and enforce various policy-based bonding of using the most appropriate combination of these links, and dividing the IP load over them as best fits the users' needs, the application needs, the overall networks capabilities and needs).
Re claim 30:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 29, wherein the transmission requirement information of the preset service comprises at least one of throughput rate requirement information or delay requirement information (Para.[0022] The present invention also facilitates and utilizes interfaces and communications between multi-link communications data, layers and application, as well as other applications. Such usage includes, for example, coordinating the communications of one or more applications of one or more of the vehicle occupants, according to the current or recent or predicted or estimated or past/historical performance (for example, at least one or more of: bandwidth, goodput, throughput, error rate, latency, jitter behavior, dropped packets, defective packets, erroneous packets, requests for retransmission of packets) over at least one of the communication links and/or over all of them combined); and
wherein the at least one processor is configured to: when at least one of the throughput rate requirement information indicates that a required throughput rate used to transmit the target data streams is greater than or equal to a preset throughput rate threshold, or the delay requirement information indicates that a required delay value used to transmit the target data streams is less than a preset delay threshold, determine the plurality of communication links as the first communication link and the second communication link (Para.[0094] The operations of the Upload/Download Adjustment Unit 203 of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 may be based on one or more criteria or conditions or goals that may be pre-defined or may be modified by the user; for example, a goal of reducing monetary cost, a goal of obtaining the highest possible through-put for the longest possible time, a goal of maintaining at least a threshold value of throughput for at least N seconds of travel or for at least M miles of travel).
Re claim 35:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the Wi-Fi chip is further configured to: when the terminal device processes a non-preset service, transmit, by using the first communication link, a data stream corresponding to the non-preset service to the second terminal device (Para.[0034] new applications and Para.[0051] In a third example, the vehicular Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 185 may be configured to prioritize bandwidth consumption such that a first particular type of applications (e.g., streaming video applications) would have a higher priority than a second particular type of applications (e.g., mapping/navigation applications)).
Re claim 36: Claim 36 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 25.
Re claim 37:
Altman discloses the method according to claim 36, wherein an interface of the second communication link is an interface used for direct communication between devices (Para.[0033] a vehicle may comprise multiple vehicular transceivers (e.g., e.g., 175, and 175B, and optionally additional ones) which may be of the same type or which may be of different types (e.g., cellular, 4G, 3G, 2G, 4G LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, Bluetooth, Zigbee, V2V, V2X, 802.11, 802.11p/DSRC, or the like),).
Re claim 39: Claim 39 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 28.
Re claim 40: Claim 40 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 29.
Re claim 41: Claim 41 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 30.
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) 27 and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616) in view of Jiang (US 20170280445).
Re claim 27:
As discussed above, Altman meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Altman does not explicitly disclose the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein: an operating frequency band of the first communication link is at least one of an unlicensed frequency band of 2.4 GHz, an unlicensed frequency band of 5 GHz, or an unlicensed frequency band of 6 GHz; and an operating frequency band of the second communication link is an unlicensed frequency band of 2.4 GHz, an unlicensed frequency band of 5 GHz, or an unlicensed frequency band of 6 GHz.
Jiang discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein: an operating frequency band of the first communication link is at least one of an unlicensed frequency band of 2.4 GHz, an unlicensed frequency band of 5 GHz, or an unlicensed frequency band of 6 GHz; and an operating frequency band of the second communication link is an unlicensed frequency band of 2.4 GHz, an unlicensed frequency band of 5 GHz, or an unlicensed frequency band of 6 GHz (Para.[0060] The coexistence of the LTE V2V communication with IEEE 802.11p may be similar to coexistence of LTE in an unlicensed spectrum with Wi-Fi, for example, via license assisted access (LAA). For example, such coexistence may occur around 5 GHz).
Altman and Jiang are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Altman to include an unlicensed spectrum as taught by Jiang in order to improve device-to-device communication reliability (Jiang Para.[0007]).
Re claim 38: Claim 38 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 27.
Claim(s) 31 and 42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616) in view of Zeng (US 20240048990).
Re claim 31:
As discussed above, Altman meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Altman does not explicitly disclose the terminal device according to claim 29, wherein the terminal device further comprises a transceiver; and wherein the transceiver is configured to: discover the second terminal device by using a Bluetooth link; and obtain the second communication capability information from the second terminal device by using the Bluetooth link.
Zeng discloses the terminal device according to claim 29, wherein the terminal device further comprises a transceiver; and wherein the transceiver is configured to: discover the second terminal device by using a Bluetooth link; and obtain the second communication capability information from the second terminal device by using the Bluetooth link (Para.[0059] Further, after the smart terminal determines the mode of binding (one of the four mode of bindings, for example, if the Bluetooth device is a Bluetooth speaker without input and output capabilities, the mode of binding selects Just Works, that is, no confirmation is required by the Bluetooth speaker) with the Bluetooth device, the smart device generates a key (that is a parameter that is input in an algorithm for converting a plaintext into a ciphertext or converting a ciphertext into a plaintext) and transmits the key to the Bluetooth device, and then the smart terminal transmits an SDP service discovery request to the Bluetooth device for obtaining services supported by the Bluetooth device. The smart terminal can select a service to be connected after knowing which services the Bluetooth device can support).
Altman and Zeng are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Altman to include using Bluetooth discovery and capability information as taught by Zeng in order to optimize a connection process (Zeng Para.[0039]).
Re claim 42: Claim 42 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 31.
Claim(s) 32,33,43, and 45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616).
Re claim 32:
As discussed above, Altman meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the terminal device further comprises a display; wherein the display is configured to display first prompt information in response to an operation of initiating a target service by a user, wherein the first prompt information is used to prompt whether to transmit, by using a plurality of links, the target data streams corresponding to the preset service (Para.[0153] The Bonding/Multi-Link Agent or circuitry or application on a mobile device, may prompt the user whether to participate in a bonding transmission in this vehicle or in other transmissions requested from other vehicles and Para.[0249] display unit);
wherein the Wi-Fi chip is configured to: in response to a confirmation operation of the user for the first prompt information, establish the first communication link with the second terminal device (Para.[0017] including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications); and
transmit the target data streams between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using the first communication link (Para.[0017] including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications); and
wherein the D2D chip is configured to: in response to the confirmation operation of the user for the first prompt information, establish the second communication link with the second terminal device (Para.[0017] including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications); and
transmit the target data streams between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using the second communication link (Para.[0017] including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications).
As shown above, Altman teaches a system where links are added dynamically based on need. Altman also discloses a system where a user is prompted to participate in a multi-link setup. Altman does not explicitly disclose the links are established in response to confirmation operation of the user. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the links would be established in response to confirmation of the user because selection by the user of participating in multi-link would lead to the additional link being established.
Re claim 33:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 32, wherein the display is further configured to display a multi-link icon, and the multi-link icon indicates that the terminal device already establishes the first communication link and the second communication link (Para.[0117] The map may present to a user in the vehicle, or to remote user(s) in other location(s), the performance of the bonded communication of all the transceivers of or in the vehicle, of each one of the communication links, of a potential combination of some of the existing or other communication links (for example, if the SIM or eUSIM/VSIM and operator of some of the links would be changed to another network or operator, simulation or emulation of the newly bonded communication may be generated and displayed)).
Re claim 43: Claim 43 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 32.
Re claim 45:
Altman discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the preset service includes a projection service, and the target data streams include data to be projected by the second terminal device (Para.[0171] The terms “mobile device” or “portable device” or “wireless device” or “end-user device” as used herein may refer to any suitable device that is able or configured to communicate with a wireless network or cellular network, including, but not limited to...VR gear or equipment or helmet or glasses or headset, AR gear or equipment or helmet or glasses or headset,…a gaming device or gaming console,… a mobile projector).
Altman does not explicitly state the target data stream include data to be projected.
As shown above, Altman teaches a system where two devices communicate and one of those devices can be a mobile projector or VR/AR gear. Altman does not explicitly state the target data streams include data to be projected. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that when one of the devices is a device used for projection, like a mobile projector or VR/AR gear, then the target data stream would include data to be projected because the data is being transmitted to a projector.
Claim(s) 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616) in view of Sohn (US 20190296426).
Re claim 34:
As discussed above, Altman meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Altman does not explicitly disclose the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the Wi-Fi chip is further configured to exchange information with the D2D chip by using a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface.
Sohn discloses the terminal device according to claim 25, wherein the Wi-Fi chip is further configured to exchange information with the D2D chip by using a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface (Para.[0054] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle on board unit may be connected to a peripheral device such as an HMI device and the like through a UART module. Pieces of information being received from the peripheral device may also be transmitted to another vehicle on board unit, roadside unit and/or central control server through the WAVE-V2X communication module, the LTE-V2X communication module or the LTE module).
Altman and Sohn are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Altman to UART as taught by Sohn in order to support different types of V2X (Sohn Para.[0018]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the remarks, Applicant contends Altman does not disclose the target data streams are transmitted between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using a first communication link and the second communication link without passing through a cellular network. Applicant’s rationale is Altman shows passing through a cellular network in paragraph 0076.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Altman discloses the target data streams are transmitted between the terminal device and the second terminal device by using a first communication link and the second communication link without passing through a cellular network (Para.[0017] The present invention provides a reliable broadband communication link as a virtual communication link that is comprised of a dynamic adaptive combination of multiplicity of available communication modems, transceivers, links, operators and networks, including any suitable combination or aggregation of multiple types (e.g., cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G-LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, satellite, V2X, V2V, IoT, or the like); and loading and utilizing them dynamically in both the upstream direction and the downstream direction, with the suitable amount of packets uploaded or downloaded or transmitted according to the requirements from the applications and the available performance of each one of them and the total of them, both measured and predicted and Para.[0205] Sharing the data can be done over or using a wireless link different than the one belonging to the network or operator or technology being reported on; such as used for closer range, for example, 802.11/DSRC V2X or V2V or others, and/or such information and data may be known in advance to the bonding software or device either from its own previous experiences or from others reported or downloaded to it).
Paragraph 0017, as cited above, shows many different options of the first and second links. Wi-Fi and V2V are two types of links that do not pass through cellular networks. Thus when the first and second link are Wi-Fi and V2V, the target data stream would not pass through a cellular network. The citation in paragraph 76 refers to one example of when a cellular connection is used, but as shown in paragraph 0017, the multiple links can be links that do not use a cellular connection (e.g. Wi-Fi and V2V) and therefore the traffic does not pass through cellular networks.
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 MOHAMMAD SAJID ADHAMI whose telephone number is (571)272-8615. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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