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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 103 rejection have been considered but are moot because they do not apply to the new references used in the current office action.
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) 1, 4-5, 7-9, 12-13, 15-17, 19-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (US 20090190533) in view of Tripathi (US 20210119861) further in view of Huang (WO 2020088209, machine translated version is used).
Regarding claim 17, Zhu discloses an application server, comprising:
a transceiver, configured to receive first indication information transmitted by a terminal device (fig. 2, 9, [0037], when registering, the terminal notifies an access network type identity to the network side or an application server), the first indication information being used for indicating that an access type of the terminal device is access of the terminal device [0101], the current access mode type may be carried in a P-Access-Network-Info header field of the registration message (the P-Access-Network-Info is a header field in the SIP protocol)).
Zhu discloses, [0053], the routing execution entity performs the call connection in the access mode selected by the routing decision entity, which implies that Zhu discloses a processor is configured to update settings of a related network function entity according to the first indication information. Zhu does not explicitly disclose the access type of the terminal is through a satellite; a processor, configured to call and run computer-executable instructions from a memory,
wherein the processor is configured to update settings of a related network function entity according to the first indication information;
which comprises: setting, by the terminal device, at least one of a value of a first timer or a value of a second timer according to the access type.
Tripathi discloses the access type of the terminal is through a satellite (Tripathi, [0120] [0126] [0141]. UE transmits the NTN capability in response to the request message, the NTN capability indicating the NTN type that is supportable; in one embodiment, the network obtains, from the UE, the NTN's NTN type-based capabilities such as support for GNSS/GEO-based NTN or LEO-based NTN);
a processor, configured to call and run computer-executable instructions from a memory (Tripathi, fig. 2),
wherein the processor is configured to update settings of a related network function entity according to the first indication information (Tripathi, [0118][0128] [0136], the UE, in step F6S2, configures “NTN type”-dependent parameters (that is, update setting of a network function entity) and procedures (e.g., cell search/selection, network selection, and handover); the UE determines a set of operational parameters configured based on the NTN type);
which comprises: setting, by the terminal device, at least one of a value of a first timer or a value of a second timer according to the access type (Tripathi, [0118][0128] [0136], the UE, in step F6S2, configures “NTN type”-dependent parameters (e.g., radio protocol stack parameters such as various timers) and procedures (e.g., cell search/selection, network selection, and handover)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of properly accessing the network as given by Zhu with the teachings of controlling the access of the network given by Tripathi. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a method to use the NTN type to determine various parameters to enhance operations in an NTN (Tripathi, [0061]).
Zhu and Tripathi do not explicitly disclose wherein the processor is further configured to set, according to the access type of the terminal device, transmission and reception of data packets to or from a protocol layer of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).
Huang discloses wherein the processor is further configured to set, according to the access type of the terminal device, transmission or reception of data packets to or from a protocol layer of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) (Huang, fig. 7, page 4, last para., when the requesting party is IMS and the requested party is a satellite terminal, the IMS creates a session with the satellite end station based on a preset session control protocol, such as IMS protocol. Under the IMS protocol, data are transmitted or received to or from the IMS protocol layer).
Huang also discloses the first indication information being used for indicating that an access type of the terminal device is access of the terminal device through a satellite (Huang, page 4, last two para., the requesting party is a satellite terminal and the requested party is IMS, the first request message includes the first session terminal ’s Identification information, address information, and requested party information (for example, the phone number of the second conversation terminal, but not limited thereto). Here, the terminal’s identification information may indicate the terminal device a satellite, therefore, the access type of the terminal device is through a satellite, figs. 4, 6-7. The satellite terminal includes the first session device and the satellite remote device, that is, the first session device is part of the satellite device (which implies the access type of the terminal device is access of the terminal device through a satellite). Furthermore, the connection of the first session device and the IMS network is through the satellite remote device, Fig. 4, therefore, the access type of the terminal device is THROUGH a satellite. The information that the access type is through a satellite may be carried in a P-Access-Network-Info header field of the registration message (the P-Access-Network-Info is a header field in the SIP protocol) taught by Zhu);
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of properly accessing the network as given by Zhu with the teachings of controlling the access of the satellite network given by Huang. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a session control method and a satellite ground station, which greatly reduces the delay of satellite communication (Huang, Summary of the Invention section).
It is noted that the applicant uses selective language in this claim and the examiner is only showing one of the claimed options.
Claims 1 and 9 are rejected similarly with claim 17.
Regarding claims 21, 4, 12, Zhu, Huang and Tripathi disclose the application server of claim 17, wherein the first timer comprises a retransmission timer between the terminal device and a Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P- CSCF), and the second timer comprises a wait timer for reception of a reply message by the terminal device (Tripathi, [0105], the parameter drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, the first timer, specifies the minimum duration before a downlink assignment for HARQ retransmission can occur. Note, in claim 17, the applicant uses selective language, the second timer option is not selected and therefore can be ignored).
Regarding claims 5, 13, Zhu, Huang and Tripathi disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the terminal device, the at least one of the value of the first timer or the value of the second timer transmitted by the application server (Tripathi, [0118][0131], the gNB can consider NTN type while scheduling UEs and deciding transmission parameters (which may include various timers) and usage of PDCP, RLC, and MAC retransmissions; the AMF can choose the value of the timer).
wherein the first timer comprises a retransmission timer between the terminal device and a P-CSCF, and the second timer comprises a wait timer for reception of a reply message by the terminal device (Tripathi, [0105], the parameter drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, the first timer, specifies the minimum duration before a downlink assignment for HARQ retransmission can occur. Note, in claim 17, the applicant uses selective language, the second timer option is not selected and therefore can be ignored).
Regarding claims 19, 7 and 15, Zhu, Huang and Tripathi disclose the application server of claim 17, wherein the first indication information is carried by a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Invite message (Zhu, [0101], the current access mode type may be carried in a P-Access-Network-Info header field of the registration message (the P-Access-Network-Info is a header field in the SIP protocol. Huang, Background technique section).
Regarding claims 20, 8 and 16, Zhu and Tripathi disclose the application server of claim 17, wherein the application server comprises an application server in the IMS;
or the application server comprises at least one of: a Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF), an Interrogating-Call Session Control Function (I-CSCF), a Service Call Continuity Application Server (SCC AS), or an E.164 Number URI Mapping (ENUM) server (Zhu, [0003][0038], IMS, P-CSF) .
It is noted that the applicant uses selective language in this claim and the examiner is only showing one of the claimed options.
Regarding claim 22-24, Zhu, Huang and Tripathi disclose the method of claim 4, wherein setting, by the terminal device, the at least one of the value of the first timer or the value of the second timer according to the access type comprises at least one of: increasing a value of the retransmission timer, or increasing a value of the wait timer (Tripathi, [0105], the parameter drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, the first timer, specifies the minimum duration before a downlink assignment for HARQ retransmission can occur. [0118][0128] [0136], the UE, in step F6S2, configures “NTN type”-dependent parameters (e.g., radio protocol stack parameters such as various timers); [0094], a scaling factor per NTN type may be defined so that the actual value of the incremental timer adjustments would be (scaling_factor* existing R15-defined timing value)). It is noted that the applicant uses selective language in this claim and the examiner is only showing one of the claimed options.
Claim(s) 6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu, Tripathi and Huang further in view of Dong (US 20190363865).
Regarding claims 6, 14, Zhu, Huang and Tripathi disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Zhu, Huang and Tripathi do not explicitly disclose setting, by the terminal device, a duration of a buffer according to the access type.
Dong discloses setting, by the terminal device, a duration of a buffer according to the access type (Dong, [0267], needs to determine a current length of the queue/buffer based on status information fed back in second indication information).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of properly accessing the network as given by Zhu with the teachings of buffer management given by Dong. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve system flexibility, and further increase the system throughput (Dong, [0301]).
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 ZHENSHENG ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1985. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00am-6:00pm.
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, Michael Thier can be reached at 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHENSHENG ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
