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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/25/23, 12/11/24 & 06/03/25 has been considered by the examiner.
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) 25-30, 32-37 and 39-48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foreign Document “ALTERNATE WAN CONNECTIVITY TO HOME IOT DEVICES” (EP 3 675 550 A1 herein after referenced as Interdigital).
Regarding claim 25 and claim 35, Interdigital discloses:
An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: and A method, comprising: (Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses an overview of a typical IoT home system (i.e. reads on customer premises) where home devices connect via multiple access protocols to the gateway and wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network (i.e. reads on wireless connection) via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device (i.e. reads on from the client device) is connected (i.e. reads on a wireless connection) to a Wi-Fi gateway (i.e. reads on to the customer premises gateway device), the mobile device’s data are routed through the gateway to network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105; Interdigital, [0059]-[0060] discloses the methods may be implemented in, for example, an apparatus such as, for example, a processor, which refers to any processing device and discloses the methods may be implemented by instructions being performed by a processor and such instructions may be stored on a processor or computer-readable media such as for example other storage device such as, for example, a random-access memory RAM, a read-only memory ROM or any other magnetic, optical, or solid-state media. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it is inherent for a complex device such as the gateway and mobile device to include a processor and memory storing instructions in order to perform the various functionalities disclosed).
activate, at the client device,(Interdigital, [0021] discloses in the instance of connectivity failure to WAN, the mobile device (i.e. reads on at the client device) have the capability to switch (i.e. reads on activate) to its own data network).
Interdigital discloses in one embodiment, that a home gateway routes traffic of a mobile device via a WAN connection and when a WAN connection fails, the mobile device switches to its own network but fails to explicitly disclose in the same embodiment the limitations of “receive, at a client device, a notification of an intention of a customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device; deactivate, at the client device, a wireless connection from the client device to the customer premises gateway device; activate, at the client device, a wireless hotspot of the client device; and support, at the client device using the wireless hotspot of the client device, connection of the customer premises gateway device to the client device.”
In a different embodiment, Interdigital discloses:
receive, at a client device, a notification of an intention of a customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device; (Interdigital, [0016]-[0017] discloses the gateway controller (i.e. reads on of a customer premises gateway device) instructs (i.e. reads on a notification of an intention) the mobile agent (i.e. reads on receive, at a client device) to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode (i.e. reads on to communicate via the client device) and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously and discloses the IoT traffic continues to have connectivity to a WAN through the newly established mobile network WAN by routing IoT traffic through the mobile hotspot (i.e. reads on communicate via the client device); Interdigital, Fig. 6 & [0048] discloses at step 620, the gateway configures the gateway wireless interface to the mobile device to switch from access point mode to station mode and this allows the gateway to act as an associated station instead of an access point with the mobile device and at step 625, the gateway connects to the mobile device for gateway for possible access to the second wide area network and at step 630, the gateway configures the gateway to direct data to the second wide area network via the mobile device and the gateway can direct that the IoT sensor data be directed to the cellular network of the mobile device which now acts as an access point for the gateway; Interdigital, [0014] discloses the principles of this disclosure involve including a software WAN steering controller service in the gateway and a companion software WAN steering agent in mobile device; Interdigital, [0059] discloses any embodiment presented in the disclosure may be combined with any other embodiment disclosed).
deactivate, at the client device, a wireless connection from the client device to the customer premises gateway device; (Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect (i.e. reads on deactivate, at the client device, a wireless connection) from the gateway (i.e. reads on from the client device to the customer premises gateway device), and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network (i.e. reads on a wireless connection) via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device’s data are routed through the gateway to network 160).
activate, at the client device, a wireless hotspot of the client device; (Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode (i.e. reads on activate, at the client device, a wireless hotspot of the client device); Interdigital, Fig. 7 & [0051] discloses the method of Figure 7 is performed by a mobile device, such as device 150 in response to a reconfiguration command produced by the gateway and received by the mobile device and the received reconfiguration command is in response to the gateway detecting a primary WAN connectivity failure and the reconfiguration command can be received at step 705 and interpreted by a WAN steering agent 152 within the mobile device 150 and at step 710, the mobile device switches from a station mode of operation to a hotspot mode or access point mode of operation).
and support, at the client device using the wireless hotspot of the client device, connection of the customer premises gateway device to the client device (Interdigital, [0016]-[0017] discloses the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot (i.e. reads on and support, at the client device using the wireless hotspot of the client device, connection of the customer premises gateway device to the client device) using the configuration information acquired previously and discloses the IoT traffic continues to have connectivity to a WAN through the newly established mobile network WAN by routing IoT traffic through the mobile hotspot; Interdigital, Fig. 6 & [0048] discloses at step 620, the gateway configures the gateway wireless interface to the mobile device to switch from access point mode to station mode and this allows the gateway to act as an associated station instead of an access point with the mobile device and at step 625, the gateway connects to the mobile device for gateway for possible access to the second wide area network and at step 630, the gateway configures the gateway to direct data to the second wide area network via the mobile device and the gateway can direct that the IoT sensor data be directed to the cellular network of the mobile device which now acts as an access point for the gateway).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Interdigital to incorporate the teachings of the different embodiments for the purpose of conforming to the intent of the invention to modify and combine the various different embodiment (Interdigital, [0059]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of an embodiment of a mobile device switching to its own network when a WAN connection via a home gateway fails as taught by Interdigital) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a similar embodiment of a mobile device switching to its own network when a WAN connection via a home gateway fails with additional and/or alternative features and functionalities of the other embodiments as taught by Interdigital) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of an embodiment of a mobile device switching to its own network when a WAN connection via a home gateway fails (i.e. as taught by Interdigital) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 26, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, (see claim 25).
wherein the notification of the intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device is based on a condition associated with a broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to a broadband communication network (Interdigital, [0015]-[0016] discloses the gateway controller senses the failure of a wide area network WAN interface to the gateway to retain connectivity to a network, and seamlessly discovers the presence of a mobile companion agent service in the home wireless local area network and the WAN interface to the gateway may lose connectivity due to a multitude of reasons, such as WAN source network failure or WAN interface failure and discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device's data are routed through the gateway to the network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105).
Regarding claim 27, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, (see claim 25).
wherein the notification of the intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device is received via the wireless connection from the client device to the customer premises gateway device (Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device's data are routed through the gateway to the network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105).
Regarding claim 28, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, (see claim 25).
wherein the notification of the intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device is based on an application programming interface call (Interdigital, Fig. 4 & [0044] discloses REST APIs are used to control the mobile agent 152 and Fig. 4 shows REST calls between the gateway WAN steering controller and Mobile WAN steering agent showing HTTPS POST: /wansteering/enable; Interdigital, [0050] discloses configuring the mobile device is performed using representational state transfer REST application programming interfaces API* to configure the mobile device).
Regarding claim 29, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 25).
support, by the client device, communication of traffic for a set of customer premises equipments supported by the customer premises gateway device via the wireless hotspot of the client device and a wide area wireless connection of the client device to a wireless access network (Interdigital, [0017] discloses the IoT traffic continues to have connectivity to a WAN through the newly established mobile network WAN by routing IoT traffic through the mobile hotspot; Interdigital, Fig. 6 & [0048] discloses at step 620, the gateway configures the gateway wireless interface to the mobile device to switch from access point mode to station mode and this allows the gateway to act as an associated station instead of an access point with the mobile device and at step 625, the gateway connects to the mobile device for gateway for possible access to the second wide area network and at step 630, the gateway configures the gateway to direct data to the second wide area network via the mobile device and the gateway can direct that the IoT sensor data be directed to the cellular network of the mobile device which now acts as an access point for the gateway).
Regarding claim 30, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 25).
send, by the client device toward the customer premises gateway device, an indication of an availability of the client device to provide the wireless hotspot for use by the customer premises gateway device in event of a condition associated with a broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to a broadband communication network (Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details; Interdigital, [0015]-[0016] discloses the gateway controller senses the failure of a wide area network WAN interface to the gateway to retain connectivity to a network, and seamlessly discovers the presence of a mobile companion agent service in the home wireless local area network and the WAN interface to the gateway may lose connectivity due to a multitude of reasons, such as WAN source network failure or WAN interface failure and discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously).
Regarding claim 32, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 25).
send, by the client device toward the customer premises gateway device, telemetry of the client device (Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details; Interdigital, [0029] discloses if two mobile agents are present, then the one which as the best WiFi RRSI signal strength may be chosen; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device's data are routed through the gateway to the network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105).
Regarding claim 33, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 32, (see claim 32).
wherein the telemetry of the client device includes at least one of (Interdigital, [0029] discloses if two mobile agents are present, then the one which as the best WiFi RRSI signal strength may be chosen; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device's data are routed through the gateway to the network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105; Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details. EXAMINER’S NOTE: The examiner notes that the claims are written in an alternative limitation format requiring and contingent on the selection of only one of various alternative options presented and as such the non-selected alternative options are crossed out (i.e. the limitations reciting “a battery status of the client device” and “or a wireless signal strength of a wide area wireless connection of the client device to a wireless access network”) and are not given patentable weight as being directed towards limitations that are not required to be performed as is indicated in MPEP 2111.04, Section ll that recites “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition precedent are not met”).
Regarding claim 34, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 25).
support, at the client device, a containerized application configured to control the detect, deactivate, and activate functions at the client device (Interdigital, [0014] discloses the principles of this disclosure involve including a software WAN steering controller service in the gateway and a companion software WAN steering agent in mobile device; Interdigital, [0024] discloses the mobile WAN steering agent 152 is responsible for configuring the mobile wireless interface, configuring the mobile data interface, providing UPnP Device with Device Protection support, and accessing the REST API Server as needed and the mobile agent 152 can be hosted in the mobile application market place and installed in one or more mobile devices of the customer; Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode; Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details).
Regarding claim 36 and claim 48, Interdigital discloses:
An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: and A method, comprising: (Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses an overview of a typical IoT home system (i.e. reads on customer premises) where home devices connect via multiple access protocols to the gateway and wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device (i.e. reads on from the client device) is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway (i.e. reads on to the customer premises gateway device), the mobile device’s data are routed through the gateway to network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105 (i.e. reads on broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to a broadband communication network); Interdigital, [0021] discloses in the instance of connectivity failure to WAN (i.e. reads on detection of a condition associated with a broadband connection), the mobile device have the capability to switch to its own data network; Interdigital, [0059]-[0060] discloses the methods may be implemented in, for example, an apparatus such as, for example, a processor, which refers to any processing device and discloses the methods may be implemented by instructions being performed by a processor and such instructions may be stored on a processor or computer-readable media such as for example other storage device such as, for example, a random-access memory RAM, a read-only memory ROM or any other magnetic, optical, or solid-state media. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it is inherent for a complex device such as the gateway and mobile device to include a processor and memory storing instructions in order to perform the various functionalities disclosed).
Interdigital discloses in one embodiment, that a home gateway routes traffic of a mobile device via a WAN connection and when a WAN connection fails, the mobile device switches to its own network but fails to explicitly disclose in the same embodiment the limitations of “send, by a customer premises gateway device toward a client device in response to detection of a condition associated with a broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to a broadband communication network, a notification of an intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device; switch, by the customer premises gateway device, a wireless radio of the customer premises gateway device from operating in an access mode to operating in a client mode; and connect, by the customer premises gateway device using the wireless radio of customer premises gateway device based on the client mode, to a wireless hotspot of the client device.”
In a different embodiment, Interdigital discloses:
send, by a customer premises gateway device toward a client device in response to detection of a condition associated with a broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to a broadband communication network, a notification of an intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device; (Interdigital, [0015]-[0017] discloses the gateway controller senses the failure of a wide area network WAN interface to the gateway to retain connectivity to a network (i.e. reads on in response to detection of a condition associated with a broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to a broadband communication network), and seamlessly discovers the presence of a mobile companion agent service in the home wireless local area network and the WAN interface to the gateway may lose connectivity due to a multitude of reasons, such as WAN source network failure or WAN interface failure and discloses the gateway controller instructs (i.e. reads on send, by a customer premises gateway device a notification of an intention of the customer premises gateway device) the mobile agent (i.e. reads on toward a client device) to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode (i.e. reads on to communicate via the client device) and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously and discloses the IoT traffic continues to have connectivity to a WAN through the newly established mobile network WAN by routing IoT traffic through the mobile hotspot (i.e. reads on communicate via the client device); Interdigital, Fig. 6 & [0048] discloses at step 620, the gateway configures the gateway wireless interface to the mobile device to switch from access point mode to station mode and this allows the gateway to act as an associated station instead of an access point with the mobile device and at step 625, the gateway connects to the mobile device for gateway for possible access to the second wide area network and at step 630, the gateway configures the gateway to direct data to the second wide area network via the mobile device and the gateway can direct that the IoT sensor data be directed to the cellular network of the mobile device which now acts as an access point for the gateway; Interdigital, [0014] discloses the principles of this disclosure involve including a software WAN steering controller service in the gateway and a companion software WAN steering agent in mobile device; Interdigital, [0059] discloses any embodiment presented in the disclosure may be combined with any other embodiment disclosed).
switch, by the customer premises gateway device, a wireless radio of the customer premises gateway device from operating in an access mode to operating in a client mode; and connect, by the customer premises gateway device using the wireless radio of customer premises gateway device based on the client mode, to a wireless hotspot of the client device (Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller (i.e. reads on by the customer premises gateway device) then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode (i.e. reads on switch, a wireless radio of the customer premises gateway device from operating in an access mode) to operation in a station mode (i.e. reads on to operating in a client mode) and connects to the mobile hotspot (i.e. reads on and connect, by the customer premises gateway device using the wireless radio of customer premises gateway device based on the client mode, to a wireless hotspot of the client device) using the configuration information acquired previously; ; Interdigital, Fig. 6 & [0048] discloses at step 620, the gateway configures the gateway wireless interface to the mobile device to switch from access point mode to station mode and this allows the gateway to act as an associated station instead of an access point with the mobile device and at step 625, the gateway connects to the mobile device for gateway for possible access to the second wide area network and at step 630, the gateway configures the gateway to direct data to the second wide area network via the mobile device and the gateway can direct that the IoT sensor data be directed to the cellular network of the mobile device which now acts as an access point for the gateway).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Interdigital to incorporate the teachings of the different embodiments for the purpose of conforming to the intent of the invention to modify and combine the various different embodiment (Interdigital, [0059]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of an embodiment of a mobile device switching to its own network when a WAN connection via a home gateway fails as taught by Interdigital) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of a similar embodiment of a mobile device switching to its own network when a WAN connection via a home gateway fails with additional and/or alternative features and functionalities of the other embodiments as taught by Interdigital) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of an embodiment of a mobile device switching to its own network when a WAN connection via a home gateway fails (i.e. as taught by Interdigital) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 37, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, (see claim 36).
wherein the condition associated with the broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to the broadband communication network includes an unavailability of the broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to the broadband communication network (Interdigital, [0015] discloses the gateway controller senses the failure of a wide area network WAN interface to the gateway to retain connectivity to a network, and seamlessly discovers the presence of a mobile companion agent service in the home wireless local area network and the WAN interface to the gateway may lose connectivity due to a multitude of reasons, such as WAN source network failure or WAN interface failure. EXAMINER’S NOTE: The examiner notes that the claims are written in an alternative limitation format requiring and contingent on the selection of only one of various alternative options presented and as such the non-selected alternative options are crossed out (i.e. the limitations reciting “or the broadband connection from the customer premises gateway device to the broadband communication network having a particular quality level”) and are not given patentable weight as being directed towards limitations that are not required to be performed as is indicated in MPEP 2111.04, Section ll that recites “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition precedent are not met”).
Regarding claim 39, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, (see claim 36).
wherein the broadband communication network includes at least one of (Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses the mobile device’s data are routed through the gateway to network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105. EXAMINER’S NOTE: The examiner notes that the claims are written in an alternative limitation format requiring and contingent on the selection of only one of various alternative options presented and as such the non-selected alternative options are crossed out (i.e. the limitations reciting “a fiber optic network, a cable network, a fixed wireless access network,” and “or a satellite network”) and are not given patentable weight as being directed towards limitations that are not required to be performed as is indicated in MPEP 2111.04, Section ll that recites “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition precedent are not met”).
Regarding claim 40, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, (see claim 36).
wherein the notification of the intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device is sent via a wireless connection between the customer premises gateway device and the client device (Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device's data are routed through the gateway to the network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105).
Regarding claim 41, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, (see claim 36).
wherein the notification of the intention of the customer premises gateway device to communicate via the client device is sent using an application programming interface call (Interdigital, Fig. 4 & [0044] discloses REST APIs are used to control the mobile agent 152 and Fig. 4 shows REST calls between the gateway WAN steering controller and Mobile WAN steering agent showing HTTPS POST: /wansteering/enable; Interdigital, [0050] discloses configuring the mobile device is performed using representational state transfer REST application programming interfaces API* to configure the mobile device).
Regarding claim 42, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 36).
support, by the customer premises gateway device, communication of traffic of a set of customer premises equipments supported by the customer premises gateway device via the wireless hotspot of the client device (Interdigital, [0017] discloses the IoT traffic continues to have connectivity to a WAN through the newly established mobile network WAN by routing IoT traffic through the mobile hotspot; Interdigital, Fig. 6 & [0048] discloses at step 620, the gateway configures the gateway wireless interface to the mobile device to switch from access point mode to station mode and this allows the gateway to act as an associated station instead of an access point with the mobile device and at step 625, the gateway connects to the mobile device for gateway for possible access to the second wide area network and at step 630, the gateway configures the gateway to direct data to the second wide area network via the mobile device and the gateway can direct that the IoT sensor data be directed to the cellular network of the mobile device which now acts as an access point for the gateway).
Regarding claim 43, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 36).
receive, by the customer premises gateway device from the client device, an indication of an availability of the client device to provide the wireless hotspot for use by the customer premises gateway device; and register, by the customer premises gateway device, the client device as an available client device that is available to support the customer premises gateway device (Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details; Interdigital, [0028]-[0029] discloses the controller then filters out only mobile agents UPnP response message and discloses if two mobile agents are present, then the one which as the best WiFi RRSI signal strength may be chosen).
Regarding claim 44, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 36).
select, by the customer premises gateway device from a set of available client devices including the client device, the client device to provide the wireless hotspot for use by the customer premises gateway device (Interdigital, [0028]-[0029] discloses the controller then filters out only mobile agents UPnP response message and discloses if two mobile agents are present, then the one which as the best WiFi RRSI signal strength may be chosen).
Regarding claim 45, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 36).
receive, by the customer premises gateway device from the client device, telemetry of the client device; and select, by the customer premises gateway device based on the telemetry of the client device, the client device to provide the wireless hotspot for use by the customer premises gateway device (Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details; Interdigital, [0028]-[0029] discloses the controller then filters out only mobile agents UPnP response message and discloses if two mobile agents are present, then the one which as the best WiFi RRSI signal strength may be chosen; Interdigital, Fig. 1 & [0019] discloses wireless clients such as mobile devices 145, 150 may be a mobile phone or laptop computer and are connected using WiFi network via an antenna port and the wireless client devices will be in client mode and the gateway will be in access point mode and in such a scenario, despite the mobile phone has data network enabled, when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi gateway, the mobile device's data are routed through the gateway to the network 160 and Interface 109 to the network 160 may be a DSL or Gigabit ethernet and the like WAN connection and all the home network data are routed to the WAN interface 109 of the gateway 105).
Regarding claim 46, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 36).
control, by the customer premises gateway device while the customer premises gateway device is connected to the wireless hotspot of the client device, communications of customer premises equipments via the wireless hotspot of the client device based on at least one of a traffic type or a device type (Interdigital, [0017] discloses the gateway operating in station mode then configures the firewall and routing tables of the gateway so that wired LAN traffic is rejected and thus only IoT data traffic reaches the mobile WAN network).
Regarding claim 47, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: (see claim 36).
support a containerized application configured to control the send, switch, and connect functions at the customer premises gateway device (Interdigital, [0014] discloses the principles of this disclosure involve including a software WAN steering controller service in the gateway and a companion software WAN steering agent in mobile device; Interdigital, [0024] discloses the mobile WAN steering agent 152 is responsible for configuring the mobile wireless interface, configuring the mobile data interface, providing UPnP Device with Device Protection support, and accessing the REST API Server as needed and the mobile agent 152 can be hosted in the mobile application market place and installed in one or more mobile devices of the customer; Interdigital, [0016] discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode; Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details).
Claim(s) 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foreign Document “ALTERNATE WAN CONNECTIVITY TO HOME IOT DEVICES” (EP 3 675 550 A1 herein after referenced as Interdigital) in view of Katsman et al. (US Patent Publication 2017/0359724 herein after referenced as Katsman).
Regarding claim 31, Interdigital discloses:
The apparatus of claim 30, (see claim 30).
wherein the indication of the availability of the client device to provide the wireless hotspot for use by the customer premises gateway device is provided (Interdigital, [0026] discloses the Controller searches the LAN network for presence of Mobile Agent and in detail, the controller acts as a UPnP Control Point and Mobile Agent as a UPnP Device and the controller 110 broadcasts a M-Search SSDP message with Search Target as "urn:wansteeringtch-org:service:wansteering:1" and All the UPnP Devices in the LAN network of the gateway 105 that support wansteering service will respond with their device description details; Interdigital, [0015]-[0016] discloses the gateway controller senses the failure of a wide area network WAN interface to the gateway to retain connectivity to a network, and seamlessly discovers the presence of a mobile companion agent service in the home wireless local area network and the WAN interface to the gateway may lose connectivity due to a multitude of reasons, such as WAN source network failure or WAN interface failure and discloses the gateway controller instructs the mobile agent to enable its mobile data network, disconnect from the gateway, and change its wireless configuration from operation in a station mode to operation in a hotspot mode and the gateway controller then configures the gateway wireless to switch from operation in an access mode to operation in a station mode and connects to the mobile hotspot using the configuration information acquired previously).
Interdigital discloses providing information indicating hotspot capability but fails to explicitly disclose that said information is provided periodically and therefore fails to disclose “wherein the indication of the availability of the client device to provide the wireless hotspot for use is provided periodically.”
In a related field