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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 5/15/2026 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1, 3, 17 and 18 are amended, claims 4 and 9-16 are canceled, and claims 1-3, 5-8, 17 and 18 are currently pending.
Applicant's drawing replacement filed on 5/15/2026 has been fully considered, therefore drawings objection has been withdrawn.
Specification objection has been withdrawn based on amendment.
Claim objection for claim 3 has been withdrawn based on amendment.
Claim rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 has been withdrawn for claim 18 based on amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-3, 5-8, 17 and 18 have been fully considered but are moot based upon the new grounds of rejection necessitated by applicant's amendment.
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 6-8, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiao et al. (US 20220030495 A1 and Qiao hereinafter), in view of Ma et al. (US 20160197927 A1 and Ma hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Qiao teaches an apparatus (Figure 14; (R)AN 1) for supporting establishment of a wireless communication network (Figure 12 and Paragraph 0267; due to disaster and other problems, the (R)AN 2 may not be able to provide connectivity to the wireless devices in its coverage, the UE 2 may try to register to the PLMN 1, and access to the application server through PLMN 1. Figure 14 and Paragraphs 0284-0286; determine parameters of access control and send registration request for establishing connection to a wireless network), wherein the apparatus is configured to:
connect to a network controller device (Figure 14; AMF 1/SMF 1) of the wireless communication network (Figure 12 and Paragraph 0267; PLMN 1) and provide wireless connectivity to wireless communication devices within a target geographical area (Paragraph 0273; the failed/disaster network location may indicate the location (e.g. a geography location, tracking area, routing area, and/or the like) of the failed/disaster network functions (e.g. at least one of the first network functions). Paragraphs 0283 and 0284; in response to the message received from the AMF 1, the base stations of the first PLMN (e.g. (R)AN 1) may take one or more actions);
receive information about the target geographical area (Paragraph 0283; the AMF 1 may send to the (R)AN 1 a configuration message to indicate one or more tracking areas supporting the second PLMN/disaster PLMN, e.g. supporting a wireless device of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN accessing to the one or more tracking areas of the first PLMN. For example, the AMF 1 may send to the (R)AN 1 a configuration message to indicate one or more cells supporting the second PLMN/disaster PLMN, e.g. supporting a wireless device of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN accessing to the one or more cells of the first PLMN. For example, the AMF 1 may send to the (R)AN 1 a configuration message to indicate a wireless device of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN may access the PLMN 1 in a geographic area for 2 hours, e.g. considering the resource condition of the PLMN 1. Paragraph 0284; the base station of the first PLMN may transmit a SIB and/or a MIB message to one or more wireless devices in the coverage area. The one or more wireless devices may be wireless devices of the first PLMN. The one or more wireless devices may be wireless devices of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN. In an example, the SIB and/or MIB message may comprise at least one of: the network fail/disaster indication, the identifier of the second PLMN, and/or the identifier of the disaster PLMN, the allowed service type (e.g. eMBB), the allowed service location area (e.g. a tracking area), the allowed service time duration (e.g. 24 hours), the parameters of access control, or the identifier of the first PLMN/serving PLMN);
receive from the network controller device information about a network configuration to setup a communication channel with wireless communication devices (Paragraphs 0283 and 0284; the AMF 1 may send to the (R)AN 1 a configuration message to indicate one or more tracking areas supporting the second PLMN/disaster PLMN; the AMF 1 may send to the (R)AN 1 a configuration message to indicate one or more cells supporting the second PLMN/disaster PLMN, e.g. supporting a wireless device of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN accessing to the one or more cells of the first PLMN); and
invite or trigger the wireless communication devices located in the target geographical area to register via the communication channel or other communication channel to a core network operated by the network controller device (Figure 14 and Paragraph 0284; the base station of the first PLMN may transmit a SIB and/or a MIB message to one or more wireless devices in the coverage area. The one or more wireless devices may be wireless devices of the first PLMN. The one or more wireless devices may be wireless devices of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN. In an example, the SIB and/or MIB message may comprise at least one of: the network fail/disaster indication, the identifier of the second PLMN, and/or the identifier of the disaster PLMN, the allowed service type (e.g. eMBB), the allowed service location area (e.g. a tracking area), the allowed service time duration (e.g. 24 hours), the parameters of access control, or the identifier of the first PLMN/serving PLMN).
Qiao does not explicitly teach wherein the apparatus is a wireless communication device and wherein the apparatus comprises a relay node function that can be activated by the network controller device. In ana analogous art, Ma teaches wherein the apparatus is a wireless communication device (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0132; a relay terminal is a terminal that has a relay capability. As can be seen from Figure 1, relay terminal communicates with radio access network/mobile communications network. Paragraph 0210; the radio access network may be a base station (eNodeB) or the like. Examiner asserts when a terminal and/or a relay terminal communicates with a base station, it may be a wireless communication device) and wherein the apparatus comprises a relay node function that can be activated by the network controller device (Paragraphs 0149 and 0213; a network side instructs a relay terminal to activate a relay function). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Qiao and Ma because it would resolve issue that in a fire rescue or another scenario, it is impossible that all terminals are located in the network coverage. Consequently, a terminal outside the network coverage is incapable of using a trunking communications function by means of the mobile communications network (Col 3 Lines 20-25).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Qiao teaches wherein the apparatus is configured to restrict registration invitations or triggers to at least one of a predetermined group and/or type of the wireless communication devices, a network service and a network slice of the wireless communication network (Figure 14 and Paragraph 0284; the (R)AN 1 may determine parameters of access control, where the parameters of access control may comprise cell barring (e.g. AC Barring for MO Data), access class barring (e.g. access class 12 is barred), and/or service specific access control barring (e.g. video over LTE is barred)).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Qiao teaches wherein the target geographical area is an area smaller than a coverage area of an access device (Figure 14 and Paragraph 0283; the AMF 1 may send to the (R)AN 1 a configuration message to indicate one or more tracking areas supporting the second PLMN/disaster PLMN, e.g. supporting a wireless device of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN accessing to the one or more tracking areas of the first PLMN. Paragraphs 0284 and 0285; the SIB and/or MIB message may comprise at least one of: the network fail/disaster indication, the identifier of the second PLMN, and/or the identifier of the disaster PLMN, the allowed service location area (e.g. a tracking area)).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Qiao teaches further configured to include information about an emergency situation in an invitation signal or message sent to the wireless communication devices (Figure 14 and Paragraphs 0284 and 0285; the base station of the first PLMN (e.g., (R)AN 1) may transmit a SIB and/or a MIB message to one or more wireless devices in the coverage area. The one or more wireless devices may be wireless devices of the first PLMN. The one or more wireless devices may be wireless devices of the second PLMN/disaster PLMN. In an example, the SIB and/or MIB message may comprise at least one of: the network fail/disaster indication, the identifier of the second PLMN, and/or the identifier of the disaster PLMN, the allowed service type (e.g. eMBB), the allowed service location area (e.g. a tracking area), the allowed service time duration (e.g. 24 hours), the parameters of access control, or the identifier of the first PLMN/serving PLMN).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Qiao teaches further configured to fetch identity information of a wireless communication device and to identify a user of the wireless communication device by matching the identity information of the wireless communication device to a user information stored in a cellular device platform (Paragraph 0288; in response to the N2 message received from the (R)AN 1, the AMF 1 make take one or more actions. In an example action, the AMF 1 may perform authentication for the UE 2. In an example action, based on the received registration request message and/or the message received from the SMF 1/NEF 1/PCF 1 and/or the result of the authentication, the AMF 1 may determine a result of the registration request message).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Qiao teaches an access device (Figures 12 and 14; (R)AN 1) for providing wireless connectivity to wireless communication devices in a wireless communication network (Figure 12 and Paragraph 0267; due to disaster and other problems, the (R)AN 2 may not be able to provide connectivity to the wireless devices in its coverage, the UE 2 may try to register to the PLMN 1, and access to the application server through PLMN 1. Figure 14 and Paragraphs 0284-0286; determine parameters of access control and send registration request for establishing connection to a wireless network), the access device comprising an apparatus of claim 1 (Please refer to the claim rejection above regarding claim 1).
Regarding claim 17, claim 17 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 17, as described above. Further, Qiao teaches a computer program product stored/distributed on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the non-transitory computing readable medium comprising code means for producing the steps of claim 17 (Please refer to the claim rejection above regarding claim 17) when run on a computer device (Paragraph 0358; many of the elements described in the disclosed Examples may be implemented as modules. A module is defined here as an isolatable element that performs a defined function and has a defined interface to other elements. The modules described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware, firmware, wetware (e.g. hardware with a biological element) or a combination thereof. For example, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in a computer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiao in view of Ma, as applied in claim 1 above, further in view of Desai et al. (US 10911131 B1 and Desai hereinafter).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Qiao and Ma teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above.
The combination of Qiao and Ma does not explicitly teach further configured to perform measurements in the target geographical area and forward corresponding measurement parameters to the network controller device for prediction of a total number of access devices or relay devices or wireless communication devices needed in a mass casualty incident, MCI, or emergency area. In an analogous art, Desai teaches further configured to perform measurements in the target geographical area and forward corresponding measurement parameters to the network controller device for prediction of a total number of access devices or relay devices or wireless communication devices needed in a mass casualty incident, MCI, or emergency area (Figure 1 and Col 1 Lines 55-67; first, a user density value at an Access Point (AP) disposed above a ground level may be determined. Then a user density value at an AP-relay disposed at the ground level may be determined. Next, it may be determined that a difference between the user density value at the AP and the user density value at the AP-relay is greater than a predetermined threshold. The AP-relay may then be switched from a sensor mode to an AP-relay mode in response to determining that the difference between the user density value at the AP and the user density value at the AP-relay is greater than the predetermined threshold. Col 3 Lines 5-25; network controller 105 may provision and configure the WLAN devices by proactively monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing the WLAN. Radio Resource Management (RRM) processes may be performed by network controller 105 to provide real-time RF management of operating environment 100. RRM processes may allow network controller 105 to continually monitor AP 115 and AP-relay 120, for example, for the following: channel utilization, client count, signal strength between AP-relay 120 and other AP-relays, traffic load, interference, noise, coverage, and other information such as the number of nearby APs. Using this information, RRM processes on controller 105 may periodically reconfigure AP 115 and AP-relay 120 in operating environment 100 to improve efficiency by providing radio resource monitoring, AP-relay mode, transmit power control, dynamic channel assignment, and coverage hole detection and correction). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Qiao, Ma and Desai because it would improve efficiency in operating environment by providing radio resource monitoring, AP-relay mode, transmit power control, dynamic channel assignment, and coverage hole detection and correction (Col 3 Lines 20-25).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aghili et al. (US 20240080791 A1) discloses a wireless device registered to a first network and receives information indicating a value to be used during a registration to a second network, and perform registration to the second network.
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 Jing Gao whose telephone number is (571)270-7226. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am - 6pm M-F.
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 Alison Slater can be reached on (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JING GAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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