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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s Amendments and Arguments filed 05/26/2026 have been considered for examination.
With regard to the 103 rejections, Applicant’s arguments filed 05/26/2026 in view of the amendments have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1, 3-6, 16, 28-31, 33-34 and 36-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762)1 in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Cho discloses, a method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; UE], comprising:
generating an emergency message [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; ¶0473, UE may send an emergency message prior to the authentication (i.e., effectiveness verification) of the UE in the idle state; further see ¶0479, the UE provides notification that the emergency message has occurred (i.e., generating an emergency message); note that sending an emergency message requires generating the emergency message beforehand); further see ¶0475, when an emergency message is generated, the UE in the idle state performs the aforementioned random access procedure along with the eNB at step S38020]; and
transmitting the emergency message to a wireless network while the UE is in one of a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; ¶0473, UE may send an emergency message prior to the authentication (i.e., effectiveness verification) of the UE in the idle state; further see ¶0484, the UE sends the emergency message through the uplink resources allocated by the eNB to the eNB and MME at steps S38050 and 38060].
Although Cho discloses, “generating an emergency message comprising at least one of an emergency information” and “transmitting the emergency message to a wireless network” as set forth above, Cho does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized and bold limitations), the message is modified to be a message comprising at least one of an emergency level or an emergency type, transmitting the message on a dedicated time or frequency resource, and wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is dedicated for a type of emergency message.
However, Liu discloses, an emergency message comprising at least one of an emergency level or an emergency type [FIG. 3; its related descriptions; ¶0086-0087, the information of the to-be-sent information includes a relatively low emergency degree and a relative high emergency degree; note that each of the low emergency degree and the high emergency degree corresponds to an emergency level as well as an emergency type], transmitting the emergency message on a dedicated time or frequency resource [FIG. 3; its related descriptions; ¶0066, sending the to-be-sent information by using the target frequency band; further see ¶0087, the target frequency band is a dedicated licensed frequency band for the to-be-sent information of the relative high emergency degree], and wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is dedicated . . . for a type of emergency message [FIG. 3; its related descriptions; ¶0066, sending the to-be-sent information by using the target frequency band; further see ¶0087, the target frequency band is a dedicated licensed frequency band for the to-be-sent information of the relative high emergency degree (i.e., high emergency message/type of emergency message].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Liu in the system of Cho in order to cause the system to be able to flexibly use frequency resources depending on types of emergency messages [e.g., ¶0004 of Liu].
Although Cho in view of Liu discloses, “wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is dedicated for a type of emergency message” as set forth above, Cho in view of Liu does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized and bold limitations), wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is dedicated, within frequencies dedicated for the wireless network.
However, Shi discloses, wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is dedicated, within frequencies dedicated for the wireless network [¶0056, dedicated frequencies need to be allocated to the NTN cells (i.e., wireless network)].
It is noted that the above-mentioned feature is a known technique in the field Applicant's endeavor, e.g., telecommunication art.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the system of Cho in view of Liu with "the above-mentioned known feature(s)" taught by Shi to reach the claimed invention as set forth above. Since one having ordinary skill in the art could have recognized that applying the known technique taught by Shi into the system of Cho in view of Liu would have yield predictable results and/or resulted in the improved system, such as e.g., ensuring to avoid interferences with terrestrial network and reliable satellite communication, such a modification (or application) would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Regarding claim 3, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Shi discloses, wherein the time or frequency resource is based on a global allocation that is fixed globally for non-terrestrial network (NTNs) [¶0056, dedicated frequencies need to be allocated to the NTN cells; further see ¶0057 a frequency list dedicated to the NTN is added in the SIB4 to notify the UE of the inter-frequency carrier frequencies dedicated to NTN cells; note that since the frequency list/frequencies dedicated to the NTN is predetermined by the network and broadcasted to each UE, the frequency list for the NTN cell is predetermined and thus globally allocated for UEs].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Shi in the system of Cho in view of Liu for similar rationales set forth above in claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Although Cho discloses, wherein the emergency message is transmitted in a frequency resource for emergency messages without time domain synchronization with the wireless network [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; ¶0473, UE may send an emergency message prior to the authentication (i.e., effectiveness verification) of the UE in the idle state; note that sending a message in the idle state is considered as sending the message in at least one frequency resource without any time domain synchronization with a network], Cho does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Liu discloses, a frequency resource that is dedicated for emergency messages [FIG. 3; its related descriptions; ¶0066, sending the to-be-sent information by using the target frequency band; further see ¶0087, the target frequency band is a dedicated licensed frequency band for the to-be-sent information of the relative high emergency degree].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Liu in the system of Cho for similar rationales set forth above in claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Although Cho discloses, receiving system information from the wireless network [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; see system information S38010] and wherein the UE transmits the message using a resource [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; ¶0473, UE may send an emergency message; note that sending a message requires using at least one resource] , Cho in view of Liu does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Shi discloses, receiving system information from the wireless network that indicates the dedicated time or frequency resource [¶0057, a frequency list dedicated to the NTN is added in the SIB4 to notify the UE of the inter-frequency carrier frequencies dedicated to NTN cells], wherein the UE transmits the message using a resource indicated in the system information [¶0057, a frequency list dedicated to the NTN is added in the SIB4 to notify the UE of the inter-frequency carrier frequencies dedicated to NTN cells].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Shi in the system of Cho in view of Liu for similar rationales set forth above in claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Although Cho in view of Liu discloses, “the dedicated time or frequency resource is a particular resource dedicated for the type of emergency message” as set forth above, Cho in view of Liu does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Shi discloses, wherein the wireless network comprises a non-terrestrial network (NTN) [¶0056, dedicated frequencies need to be allocated to the NTN cells (i.e., wireless network)], and the dedicated time or frequency resource is a particular resource dedicated . . .within the frequencies dedicated for the NTN [¶0056, dedicated frequencies need to be allocated to the NTN cells (i.e., wireless network)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Shi in the system of Cho in view of Liu for similar rationales set forth above in claim 1.
Regarding claim 28, Cho discloses, an apparatus for wireless communication [FIG. 38-39; their related descriptions; UE], comprising:
a memory [FIG. 42; its related descriptions; ¶0522, memory 42122; note that every UE has at least one memory]; and
at least one processor coupled to the memory [FIG. 42; its related descriptions; ¶0522, processor 42121; note that every UE has at least one processor coupled to the memory].
Since claim 28 recites similar features to claim 1 without further additional features, claim 28 is rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 1.
Regarding claim 29, Cho discloses, forwarding UE information to a network based on the received message [FIG. 38-39; their related descriptions; ¶0494, an eNB may send a transmission request message (or UE data transmission request message (or UE data transfer request message)) for requesting the transmission of the emergency message to an MME (i.e., network) at step S39040].
Since claim 29 is merely different from claim 1 in that it recites claimed features from the perspective of a base station or a network node, but recites similar features to claim 1 without further additional features. Thus, claim 29 is rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 1.
Regarding claim 30, Cho discloses, an apparatus for wireless communication [FIG. 38-39; their related descriptions; eNB], comprising:
a memory [FIG. 42; its related descriptions; ¶0522, memory 42112; note that eNB has at least one memory]; and
at least one processor coupled to the memory [FIG. 42; its related descriptions; ¶0522, processor 42111; note that every eNB has at least one processor coupled to the memory].
Since claim 30 recites similar features to claim 29 without further additional features, claim 30 is rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 29.
Regarding claims 31 and 34, claims 31 and 34 are rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 3.
Regarding claims 33 and 36, claims 33 and 36 are rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 5.
Regarding claim 37, claim 37 is rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 16.
Claims 4, 32 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Kim’623 et al (US Publication No. 2018/0359623).
Regarding claim 4, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Shi discloses, wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is dedicated . . . from within the frequencies dedicated for the wireless network [¶0056, dedicated frequencies need to be allocated to the NTN cells (i.e., wireless network)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Shi in the system of Cho in view of Liu for similar rationales set forth above in claim 1.
Further, Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Kim’623 discloses, wherein the dedicated time or frequency resource is based on at least one of the GPS coordinates [¶0009, when the frequency band information mapped with the received GPS coordinate information is present in the information storage portion, the control portion may set a frequency band and transmission power for accessing the server by using the mapped frequency band information and may perform control to transmit the GPS coordinate information to the server according to the set frequency band and transmission power].
It is noted that the above-mentioned feature is a known technique in the field Applicant's endeavor, e.g., telecommunication art.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi with "the above-mentioned known feature(s)" taught by Kim’623 to reach the claimed invention as set forth above. Since one having ordinary skill in the art could have recognized that applying the known technique taught by Kim’623 into the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi would have yield predictable results and/or resulted in the improved system, such as e.g., ensuring to support location-aware resource allocation, such a modification (or application) would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Regarding claims 32 and 35, claims 32 and 35 are rejected at least based on a similar rationale applied to claim 4.
Claims 7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Kim’041 et al (US Publication No. 2020/0146041).
Regarding claim 7, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 6 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Kim’041 discloses, receiving a master information block (MIB) or a remaining minimum system information (RMSI) indicating that a synchronization raster comprises the system information or the . . . time or frequency resources for transmitting the message [¶0006, the method including detecting a first synchronization signal block configured with a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) and a Physical Broadcasting Channel (PBCH) at a specific frequency position, determining a presence or non-presence of system information corresponding to the first synchronization signal block within a first synchronization raster corresponding to a specific frequency position based on a system information indicator included in the PBCH; further see ¶0097, RMSI may be interpreted as a System Information Block 1 (SIB1) and include system information a UE should obtain after reception of a Master System Information Block (MIB) through NR-PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel)].
It is noted that the above-mentioned feature is a known technique in the field Applicant's endeavor, e.g., telecommunication art.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi with "the above-mentioned known feature(s)" taught by Kim’041 to reach the claimed invention as set forth above. Since one having ordinary skill in the art could have recognized that applying the known technique taught by Kim’041 into the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi would have yield predictable results and/or resulted in the improved system, such as e.g., enabling the UE to accurately determine frequency synchronization and cell search parameters to ensure efficient network access and reduced signaling overhead, such a modification (or application) would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Regarding claim 10, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 6 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Kim’041 discloses, wherein the system information comprises: a first synchronization raster indicating time frequency resources for transmitting the message; and a second synchronization raster indicating one or more of: at least one frequency domain location for the first synchronization raster [¶0007, the second synchronization raster may be determined based on the first synchronization raster and a relative position of a value corresponding to the system information indicator; further see ¶0008, a position of the second synchronization raster may have a spacing amounting to an offset value corresponding to the system information indicator from a position of the first synchronization raster; further see ¶0006, specific frequency position].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Kim’041 in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 7.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Zhang et al (US Publication No. 2019/0222370).
Regarding claim 8, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 6 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Zhang discloses, wherein the time or frequency resources indicated in the system information are consistent over time [FIG. 1b; its related descriptions; ¶0153, fixed-uplink time-frequency resource is the last one or several symbols of a subframe; note that this type of allocations is applied across subframes].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Zhang in
the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi in order to cause the system to be able to minimize uplink service delay without lowering quality of service [¶007 of Zhang].
Regarding claim 9, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Zhang discloses, the method of claim 8 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Zhang discloses, wherein the system information indicates a duration of time associated with the time or frequency resources [FIG. 1b; its related descriptions; ¶0153, fixed-uplink time-frequency resource is the last one or several symbols of a subframe].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Zhang in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 8.
Claims 12-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Xu et al (US Publication No. 2022/0141882).
Regarding claim 12, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Xu discloses, wherein the message is transmitted in one or more RACH occasions (ROs), within configured ROs for the wireless network [¶0083, the RA configuration may identify resources for any of various RA messages, including message 1 (Msg1), Msg2, Msg3, Msg4, MsgA, and/or MsgB. Msg1-Msg4 (described with reference to, for example, FIG. 9], that are dedicated for a type of the message [FIG. 9; its related descriptions; ¶0083, the RA procedure configuration information may indicate resources (e.g., time and/or frequency resources on a physical random access channel (PRACH)) for use for transmitting and receiving RA messages. The RA configuration may identify resources for any of various RA messages, including message 1 (Msg1), Msg2, Msg3, Msg4, MsgA, and/or MsgB. Msg1-Msg4 (described with reference to, for example, FIG. 9); note that the indicated resources in the RA procedure configuration information is dedicated for RACH messages (i.e., type of message)].
It is noted that the above-mentioned feature is a known technique in the field Applicant's
endeavor, e.g., telecommunication art.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to combine the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi with "the above-mentioned known feature(s)" taught by Xu to reach the claimed invention as set forth above. Since one having ordinary skill in the art could have recognized that applying the known technique taught by Xu into the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi would have yield predictable results and/or resulted in the improved system, such as e.g., enabling timely and reliable message delivery by
coordinating RACH-based scheduling between the UE and network, such a modification (or
application) would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith,
83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82
USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Regarding claim 13, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Xu discloses, the method of claim 12 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Xu discloses, receiving system information indicating the associated one or more ROs or one or more preambles that are configured for the type of the message [FIG. 9; its related descriptions; ¶0081, the BS may broadcast and the UE may receive one or more system information blocks (SIB) such as SIB1 transmitted by the BS which may include the RA configuration information. The RA configuration information may include condition configuration information and/or RA procedure configuration information; further see ¶0083, the RA procedure configuration information may indicate resources (e.g., time and/or frequency resources on a physical random access channel (PRACH)) for use for transmitting and receiving RA messages; further see ¶0084, Based on the RA procedure configuration and/or other factors (e.g., application traffic activity, measurements, etc.) the UE 106 may determine to perform a 2-step RA procedure and may transmit a MsgA to the BS 102 (802), according to some embodiments. The MsgA may utilize a preamble according to the RA configuration information].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Xu in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 12.
Regarding claim 15, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Xu discloses, wherein the message is transmitted in a message A (MsgA) in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) occasion for a random access channel (RACH) procedure associated with the type of the message [FIG. 9; its related descriptions; ¶0098, the UE may respond to the RAR with a scheduled transmission (906). The scheduled transmission may be referred to as Msg3. The UE may transmit Msg3 according to the UL grant in the RAR (e.g., in Msg2); further see FIG. 9, “Msg3: PUSCH)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Xu in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 12.
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Chen et al (US Publication No. 2023/0308219).
Regarding claim 17, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 and particularly, “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Chen discloses, wherein the message comprises a new radio (NR) message non-terrestrial network (NTN) (NR-NTN) message [¶0089, the terminal is a mobile device capable of supporting the NR, for example, a mobile phone and a tablet computer. The terminal can access a satellite network by using the NR and implement services such as calling and internet access; note that signals or messages transmitted for calling and internet access to the satellite network using NR are considered as NR NTN messages].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Chen in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi in order to cause the system to be able to support or implement a long distance, a large coverage area and flexible networking [e.g., ¶0004 of Chen].
Regarding claim 18, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Chen discloses, the method of claim 17 and particularly “the dedicated time or frequency resource” as set forth above.
Although Cho in view of Liu discloses, wherein the message is transmitted in a time frequency resource dedicated for a type of the message [see FIG. 3; its related descriptions; ¶0066 of Liu, sending the to-be-sent information by using the target frequency band; further see ¶0087 of Liu, the target frequency band is a dedicated licensed frequency band for the to-be-sent information of the relative high emergency degree], Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Chen discloses, the message is modified to be a “non-terrestrial network (NTN)” message [¶0089, the terminal is a mobile device capable of supporting the NR, for example, a mobile phone and a tablet computer. The terminal can access a satellite network by using the NR and implement services such as calling and internet access; note that signals or messages transmitted for calling and internet access to the satellite network using NR are considered as NR NTN messages].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Chen in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 17.
Regarding claim 19, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Chen discloses, the method of claim 18 and particularly, “the type of the NTN message” as set forth above. Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Chen further discloses, wherein the type of the NTN message comprises an emergency NTN message [see ¶00476 of Cho, emergency message].
Regarding claim 20, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Chen discloses, the method of claim 19 and particularly, “the emergency NTN message” as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Chen discloses, triggering the emergency NTN message in response to an occurrence of an emergency event [see ¶0012 of Cho, an emergency message for providing emergency situation information].
Claims 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Park et al (US Publication No. 2015/0147971).
Regarding claim 21, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above. Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Park discloses, determining that the UE fails to access a first type of wireless network to establish an RRC connection [FIG. 1; its related descriptions; ¶0036, even in the event where normal communication is impossible through the terrestrial network terrestrial network failure, the mobile terminal 10 can perform wireless communication with other communication terminals 40 through the satellite communication network of the satellite terminal 20], wherein the UE transmits the message to a second type of wireless network based on the determination that the UE fails to access the first type of wireless network to establish the RRC connection [FIG. 1; its related descriptions; ¶0036, even in the event where normal communication is impossible through the terrestrial network terrestrial network failure, the mobile terminal 10 can perform wireless communication with other communication terminals 40 through the satellite communication network of the satellite terminal 20].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Park in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi in order to cause the system to be able to provide backup plans before communications through terrestrial networks to be restored in case of breakdown or failures of the terrestrial networks [e.g., ¶0004-0005 of Park].
Regarding claim 22, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Park discloses, the method of claim 21 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Park discloses, wherein the first type of wireless network is a terrestrial wireless network, and the second type of wireless network is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) [FIG. 1; its related descriptions; ¶0036, even in the event where normal communication is impossible through the terrestrial network terrestrial network failure, the mobile terminal 10 can perform wireless communication with other communication terminals 40 through the satellite communication network of the satellite terminal 20].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Park in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 21.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Liu’636 et al (US Publication No. 2019/0281636).
Regarding claim 23, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Although Cho discloses, the UE transmits the message to the wireless network [FIG. 38; its related descriptions; ¶0473, UE may send an emergency message] based on resources allocated for transmission of a type of the message being available for transmission [¶0360, there is proposed a method of configuring a dedicated path or a dedicated bearer (hereinafter called a non-EPS data bearer (NDB)) through which a message that provides notification of the generation of an emergency situation and that is transmitted by UE (hereinafter called an emergency message or a specific message) can be first delivered to an eNB], Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Liu’636 discloses, performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before transmitting the message to the wireless network [¶0269, the terminal apparatus 1 has to perform the LBT procedure before performing the transmission of the message 3 in the allocated subframes].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Liu’636 in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi in order to cause the system to be able to reduce or avoid interferences with other neighboring communication devices in unlicensed channels [e.g., ¶0043 of Liu’636].
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Qaisrani et al (US Publication No. 2022/0110187).
Regarding claim 24, Cho in view of Liu and Shi discloses, the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Qaisrani discloses, coordinating transmission of the message with one or more neighboring UEs [¶0142, at 912, the remote UE may establish device-to-device (D2D) communication with a relay UE, e.g., UE 106b. During D2D communication, the remote UE may provide information associated with the emergency condition to the relay UE; note that sending a message to a relay UE requires coordinating transmission of the message with the relay UE].
It is noted that the above-mentioned feature is a known technique in the field Applicant's endeavor, e.g., telecommunication art.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi with "the above-mentioned known feature(s)" taught by Qaisrani to reach the claimed invention as set forth above. Since one having ordinary skill in the art could have recognized that applying the known technique taught by Qaisrani into the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi would have yield predictable results and/or resulted in the improved system, such as e.g., ensuring for fast network response and prioritized handling through sidelink communications, such a modification (or application) would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Claims 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US Publication No. 2018/0139762) in view of Liu et al (US Publication No. 2018/0324819) and further in view of Shi et al (US Publication No. 2022/0030478 A1) and further in view of Qaisrani et al (US Publication No. 2022/0110187) and further in view of Huawei (WO 2017113077)2.
Regarding claim 25, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani discloses, the method of claim 24 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu and Shi does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Qaisrani discloses, wherein coordinating the transmission includes exchanging sidelink communication with the one or more neighboring UEs [¶0142, at 912, the remote UE may establish device-to-device (D2D) communication with a relay UE, e.g., UE 106b. During D2D communication, the remote UE may provide information associated with the emergency condition to the relay UE].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Qaisrani in the system of Cho in view of Liu and Shi for similar rationales set forth above in claim 24.
Further, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qairani does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Huawei discloses, a sequential order for transmission of the message by each of the one or more neighboring UEs in turns [FIG. 3C; its related descriptions; note that two UEs such as UE1 and UE2 sequentially repeats the uplink emergency services], or a coordinated time for simultaneous transmission of the emergency message by each of the one or more UEs [FIG. 3C; its related descriptions; ¶0107, the base station can simultaneously receive uplink emergency services sent from two UEs (eg., UE3 and UE4 in Figure 3C) in one symbol. In practical applications, the base station can also simultaneously receive uplink emergency services sent from more than two UEs in one symbol].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Huawei in the system of Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani in order to cause the system to be able to transmit or process uplink emergency services in a timely manner without delay [e.g., ¶0003 of Huawei].
Regarding claim 26, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani discloses, the method of claim 24 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Huawei discloses, wherein the UE and the one or more UEs sequentially repeatsthe transmission of the message [FIG. 3C; its related descriptions; note that two UEs such as UE1 and UE2 sequentially repeats the uplink emergency services].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Huawei in the system of Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani in order to cause the system to be able to transmit or process uplink emergency services in a timely manner without delay [e.g., ¶0003 of Huawei].
Regarding claim 27, Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani discloses, the method of claim 24 as set forth above.
Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani does not explicitly disclose (see, italicized limitations), but Huawei discloses, wherein the UE and the one or more UEs transmit the message simultaneously to the wireless network [FIG. 3C; its related descriptions; ¶0107, the base station can simultaneously receive uplink emergency services sent from two UEs (eg., UE3 and UE4 in Figure 3C) in one symbol. In practical applications, the base station can also simultaneously receive uplink emergency services sent from more than two UEs in one symbol].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the above-mentioned feature(s) as taught by Huawei in the system of Cho in view of Liu, Shi and Qaisrani in order to cause the system to be able to transmit or process uplink emergency services in a timely manner without delay [e.g., ¶0003 of Huawei].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Park et al (US Publication No. 2022/0225195 A1) [¶0226].
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/SUN JONG KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
1 Cho was filed in an IDS by the applicant.
2 Copy of English translation (see attached) to Huawei is used for the sake of claim mapping purpose.
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