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 .
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 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) 1-3, 7, 13, 16-18, 22, 27, 30, 34-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Singh (US 2022/0159607 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, 16
Singh discloses a method for capability exchange, performed by a base station (Fig.1(5)), the method comprising:
exchanging, with a core network (Fig.1(7)), capability information (See Fig.(7, 8); [0080-0085]; base station and core network node exchange UE MULTI-SIM capabilities in order to properly handle UE registration and connection establishment) for solving a multi-card communication conflict problem (See [0043-0044]; result of handling two card UE services in order to avoid rejection in registration or configuration update) in a terminal (Fig.1(3)).
Regarding Claim 2, 17
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, 16 and Singh further teaches
wherein the capability information indicates one of:
being capable of solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0043-0044]; the capability exchange can provide information to know how to handle the Multi-UE connection establishment if capability is supported with less signaling),
and
being incapable of solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0043-0044]; the exchange can provide information to know how to handle the Multi-UE connection establishment if capability is not supported in order to avoid more signaling),.
Regarding Claim 3, 18
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 2, 17 and Singh further teaches
wherein when the capability information indicates being capable of solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0043-004]; support or not support Multi-SIM services in order to avoid signaling overhead)) , the capability information further indicates at least one of:
a way that the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal is able to be solved (See [0043-0044]; provide support signaling to UE with one SIM or both SIM)
, or
a type of the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal that is able to be solved (See [0043-0044]; provide support signaling for the UE to use one single SIM or both SIM) .
Regarding Claim 7, 22
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, 16 and Singh further teaches
wherein exchanging, with the core network, the capability information for solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal, comprises:
in response to setting up an interface with the core network (See [0080-0085]; N2 interface),
exchanging, with the core network, the capability information (See Fig.(7, 8); [0080-0085]; base station and core network node exchange UE MULTI-SIM capabilities in order to properly handle UE registration and connection establishment) for solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0043-0044]; result of handling two card UE services in order to avoid rejection in registration or configuration update) .
Regarding Claim 13, 27
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 7, 22 and Singh further teaches
wherein exchanging, with the core network, the capability information (See Fig.(7, 8); [0080-0085]; base station and core network node exchange UE MULTI-SIM capabilities in order to properly handle UE registration and connection establishment) for solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0043-0044]; result of handling two card UE services in order to avoid rejection in registration or configuration update), comprises:
receiving second capability information sent by the core network (See Fig. (7,8)),
wherein the second capability information is configured to indicate a capability of the core network to solve the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0081]; NG connection setup response message from the AMF 10 indicating its support (or lack of support) of Multi-SIM capability capabilities).
wherein the second capability information is carried in an interface setup response signaling (See [0081]; N2 setup response message from AMF);:
wherein the method further comprises:
receiving updated second capability information sent by the core network via the interface with the core network (See [0085]; a RAN configuration update response message from the AMF 10 indicating its support ( or lack of
support) of Multi-SIM capability) .
Regarding Claim 30,
Singh discloses a method for exchange triggering (See [0043-0044]; terminal send a RRC message to RAN/AMF)), performed by a terminal (Fig.1(3)), the method comprising:
in response to there being a multi-card communication conflict (See [0042]; provides multi-SIM capability indicator) sending a multi-card communication conflict problem to at least one of a base station or a core network (See [0043-0044]; terminal send a RRC message to RAN/AMF and need to coordinate the use of SIM #1 OR SIM #2 because of one chain and one transceiver)), so as to trigger that capability information of the base station for solving the multi-card communication conflict is exchanged with the core network, or capability information of the core network for solving the multi-card communication conflict is exchanged with the base station (See Fig.(7, 8); [0043-0044]; [0080-0085]; base station and core network node exchange UE MULTI-SIM capabilities in order to properly handle UE registration and connection establishment when UE send UE Multi-SIM capability indicator)
31-33. (Cancelled)
Regarding Claim 34,
Singh teaches a communication device (Fig..3)), comprising: a processor (Fig.3(57)); a memory (Fig.3(59)) for storing instructions executable by the processor (See [0056]) ; wherein the processor is configured to implement the method for capability exchange (See [0056]) according to claim 1.
Regarding Claim 35,
Singh teaches a communication device (Fig.4), comprising: a processor (Fig.4(77)); a memory (Fig.4(79)) for storing instructions executable by the processor (See {0058]) ; wherein the processor is configured to implement the method for capability exchange (See [0058]) according to claim 16
Regarding Claim 36,
Singh teaches about a communication device (Fig.(2)), comprising: a processor (Fig.2(37)); a memory (Fig.2(39)) for storing instructions executable by the processor (See [0046]); wherein the processor is configured to implement the method for exchange triggering (See [0046]) according to claim 30.
37-39. (Cancelled)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 4 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Singh (US 2022/0159607 A1) in view of Laselva (WO 2021/233527).
Regarding Claim 4, 19
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 3 , 18
But Singh fails to explicitly recite
wherein the way comprises at least one of:
changing a user equipment identity of a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, providing an offset corresponding to the user equipment identity of the SIM card,
changing an algorithm for determining a paging occasion based on the user equipment identity of the SIM card,
providing a paging reason, and
allowing the SIM card to be temporarily disconnected;
and
wherein the type comprises at least one of:
a conflict between monitoring a paging message by a first SIM card and monitoring a paging message by a second SIM card in the terminal;
a conflict between a communication operation of the first SIM card and monitoring the paging message by the second SIM card in the terminal;
a conflict between the communication operation of the first SIM card and a response of the second SIM card to the paging message in the terminal;
a conflict between the communication operation of the first SIM card and measuring a signal by the second SIM card in the terminal;
a conflict between the communication operation of the first SIM card and receiving system information by the second SIM card in the terminal; and
a conflict between the communication operation of the first SIM card and updating a tracking area by the second SIM card in the terminal.
However in an analogous art,
Laselva teaches
wherein the way comprises at least one of:
changing a user equipment identity of a subscriber identity module (SIM) card (See [0007-0008]; switching the apparatus to a radio resource control inactive state with respect to a first network while transferring data or monitoring paging in a second network, the first network associated with the first subscriber identity module and the second network associated with the second subscriber identity module),
allowing the SIM card to be temporarily disconnected (See [0007-0008]; switching the apparatus to a radio resource control inactive state with respect to a first network) ;
and
wherein the type comprises at least one of:
a conflict between monitoring a paging message by a first SIM card and monitoring a paging message by a second SIM card in the terminal (See [0029-0031]; DSDS UE can only monitor paging at different configured instant times);
a conflict between a communication operation of the first SIM card and monitoring the paging message by the second SIM card in the terminal (See [0029-0031]; A dual-SIM dual-standby, DSDS, UE is registered in two networks simultaneously but uses a single radio front-end and base band chain. Such a UE may, for 30 example, interrupt data transfer on one network to listen for paging on another network);
Singh and Laselva are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless technology with Multi SIM UE. Singh teaches about a base station communication with a core network node about Multi-SIM capabilities to resolve UE conflict. Laselva teaches about ways and types to resolve conflict in multi-SIM issues. Singh could use Laselva features as a mean to resolve detail conflict in multi UE operation in term of paging, data communication and call. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filing of the application to combine Singh and Laselva as to obtain an efficient Multi-SIM operated UEs.
(The term “at least one of” is used which translate that examination can be performed on one or more of the “at least” limitations for complete examination).
5-6. (Cancelled)
Claim(s) 8, 11, 23, 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Singh (US 2022/0159607 A1) in view of Examiner Official Notice.
Regarding Claim 8, 23
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 7, 22 and Singh further teaches
wherein exchanging, with the core network, the capability information (See Fig.(7, 8); [0080-0085]; base station and core network node exchange UE MULTI-SIM capabilities in order to properly handle UE registration and connection establishment) for solving the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0043-0044]; result of handling two card UE services in order to avoid rejection in registration or configuration update), comprises:
sending first capability information to the core network (Fig.(7,8)), wherein the first capability information is configured to indicate a capability of the base station to solve the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal (See [0080]; NG-RAN 5 indicates its support ( or lack of support) of Multi-SIM capability to the AMF 10 in N2 setup request message);
wherein the first capability information is carried in an interface setup request signaling (See [0080]; N2 setup request message);
Synch fails to explicitly recite
wherein the first capability information is further configured to indicate capabilities of other base stations connected to the base station to solve the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal.
“Examiner Official Notice”
However it would have been obvious that in a cellular network comprising multiple base stations of similar features that are interconnected to work together in a cellular network covering a large land area to have the same Multi-SIM capabilities to handle conflict for Multi-UE that will be involved in handover and similar connection procedure.
9-10. (Cancelled)
Regarding Claim 11, 26
Singh teaches all the features with respect to claim 8, 23 and Singh further teaches
receiving an interface setup failure signaling sent by the core network (See [0075]; the AMF 10 informs the NGRAN 5 about the lack of requested capability support with a new cause value (multi-SIM related cause value),
wherein the interface setup failure signaling carries an interface setup failure reason (See [0075]; The cause value corresponds to one/more of these: not subscribed, core network does not support, VPLMN does not support. For example, the cause value may be included in a Registration Accept message or in an N2 setup response message) that a capability of the core network to solve the multi-card communication conflict problem in the terminal is different from the capability of the base station to solve the multi-card communication conflict problem in the termina (See [0075]; a lack of multi-SIM functionalities support (e.g. if the UE is not subscribed to (failure in the previous steps with the UDM 11), multi-SIM not supported by the AMF 10, and/or not supported by the VPLMN),); and
in response to an update of the first capability information (See Fig.8; [0083-0085]; Base station sends s configuration update message to AMF) ,
sending updated first capability information to the core network via the interface with the core network(See Fig.8; [0083-0085]; Base station sends capability configuration update message to AMF through Ne interface) ,.
Conclusion
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/GARY LAFONTANT/Examiner, Art Unit 2646