DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Claims 1, 8, 11, 13 and 18 are amended.
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 claim(s) 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed February 6, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The reasons set forth below.
Regarding the first argument, applicant argues that Chin’s AP 307 is not the claimed “master device” (Remarks, page 12). Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Chin teaches wherein the mobile device is configured with capabilities to keep communication to the wide area wireless network through a master device of a corresponding local connection ([0064] For example, the UE 120 may experience frequent handoffs between the BS 310 associated with the 5G NR RAT, the BS 311 associated with the LTE RAT, and the AP 307 associated with the WLAN RAT.) This shows the UE can keep a communication to a wide area network through the local connection to the AP 307. In regards to the newly amended limitation, “the master device is a mobile device”, the new reference Cloutier is relied upon to teach this new limitation.
Regarding the second argument, applicant argues that Palenius does not cure the “master device / through master” deficiency (Remarks, page 13). Palenius was not cited as teaching this aspect of claim 1. Palenius is cited to teach other limitations of claim 1, such as “monitoring, by a mobile device, one or more high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network”. Chin is used to teach “switching between the wide area wireless network and the local connection network” ([0066] multiple handoffs may be performed between at least two of the BS 312, the BS 313, and the AP 307 when the user is closer to the third location (location C)).
Thus Chin, Palenius and Coultier teach the newly amended claim 1.
Regarding the dependent claims 2-10 and 12-20, Applicant has not made specific arguments pertaining to why the cited references do not teach the recited claims, other than their dependency to claim 1 or 11. Therefor for at least the reasons presented above for claims 1 and 11, the dependent claims are rejected.
Regarding the objections to the specification, amendment addresses the issue raised by the previous office action. Objection to the specification is withdrawn.
Regarding the objections to the claims 8, 13, 14 and 18, amendment addresses the issue raised by the previous office action. Objection to the claims 8, 13, 14 and 18 is withdrawn.
Regarding the 112(f) claim interpretation rejection of claim 11, amendments address the issues cited in the previous office action and rejection is withdrawn.
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.
The factual inquiries 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 1-7, 9-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chin (US 20210329514 A1) in view of PALENIUS (US 20160360537 A1); further in view of Cloutier (US 20150215974 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Chin teaches a method comprising:
monitoring, by a mobile device, a plurality of sensor inputs ([0082] For example, the contextual awareness unit 324 of the UE 120 may determine the user's location, the user's speed, and direction of travel using the sensors 525 (such as an accelerometer, a GPS module, and other sensors)), wherein the mobile device is configured with capabilities to keep communication to the wide area wireless network through a master device of a corresponding local connection network ([0064] For example, the UE 120 may experience frequent handoffs between the BS 310 associated with the 5G NR RAT, the BS 311 associated with the LTE RAT, and the AP 307 associated with the WLAN RAT.);
generating a scenario indication based on a scenario matrix of the plurality of sensor inputs ([0082] For example, the contextual awareness unit 324 of the UE 120 may determine the user's location, the user's speed, and direction of travel using the sensors 525 (such as an accelerometer, a GPS module, and other sensors). The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may use real-time and historical contextual awareness information to predict or infer other contextual awareness information, such as if the user of the UE 120 is inside a car, subway, airplane, driving, running, walking, or sitting.); and
switching between the wide area wireless network and the local connection network upon determining a switch trigger based on the scenario indication and one or more lower-layer reports ([0066] multiple handoffs may be performed between at least two of the BS 312, the BS 313, and the AP 307 when the user is closer to the third location (location C) (scenario indication can be a specific location that the user frequents, such as their home or workplace) [0082] The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may predict or infer network usage patterns when the user is at a certain location at a certain time. [0063] In some implementations, the UE 120 also may determine whether a third RAT, such as a WLAN RAT, is available in the wireless communication network 300. If a WLAN RAT is available, the UE 120 may determine the signal quality associated with the WLAN RAT (signal quality can be determined by lower layer reports) to determine whether to maintain the wireless connection with the first RAT or perform a handoff to the WLAN RAT (such as the AP 307 associated with the WLAN RAT). In this example, the switch trigger is based on location (scenario indication) and signal quality measurements (lower layer reports) [0054] On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (for example, for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from controller/processor 280.).
Chin does not teach monitoring, by a mobile device, one or more high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network; generating a scenario indication based on the one or more high-layer configuration, wherein the master device is a mobile device configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals in the wide area wireless network.
However, Palenius in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches monitoring, by a mobile device, one or more high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network ([0079] The UE may receive an indicator corresponding to a high speed vehicular network (HSVN) from a network node (high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network)); generating a scenario indication based on the one or more high-layer configuration ([0079] Based on the received indicator, the UE may determine that it is operating in at least a high speed vehicle network (HSVN) (a scenario indication).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of Chin to include the high speed indicator of Palenius to improve the method of generating a scenario indication. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce delays in determining changes in speed and improve the reliability of such determinations (Palenius; [0033]).
Palenius does not teach wherein the master device is a mobile device configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals in the wide area wireless network.
Cloutier in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the master device is a mobile device configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals in the wide area wireless network (Fig. 2; [0030] A mobile hotspot device (MHD) 22 includes a wireless cellular interface 24 that establishes a wireless communications link 26 with the cellular network 14. The wireless cellular interface 24 may comprise any suitable circuitry and/or software necessary to facilitate the establishment of the wireless communications link 26. The MHD 22 comprises any portable, mobile computing or processing device capable of establishing the wireless communications link 26, such as a smart phone…laptop computer that includes cellular data interface circuitry, a computer tablet…, or a special purpose hotspot device. [0031] The MHD 22 also includes a WLAN interface 28 suitable for establishing one or more wireless WLAN communication links, such as Wi-Fi.TM. communication links. The MHD 22 may also have one or more other wireless interfaces 30, such as a ZigBee wireless interface, a Bluetooth.RTM. wireless interface, and the like. A wireless router module 32 implements a hotspot capability in the MHD 22. The wireless router module 32 establishes a hotspot 34 via the WLAN interface 28 (or via the other wireless interface 30) such that one or more client devices 36-1-36-N (generally, client devices 36) within the hotspot 34 may connect to the MHD 22 via corresponding wireless communication links 38-1-38-N (generally, wireless communication links 38).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Chin and Palenius to include the mobile hotspot device of Cloutier to provide the WAN/LAN connections to the mobile device of Chin. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a device that can serve essentially as a wireless access point and router for client devices that would not otherwise have access to the Internet (Cloutier; [0004]).
Regarding claim 2, Chin teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the scenario indicator indicates one or more scenarios comprising a high speed transportation (HST) scenario, an elevator scenario, a basement scenario, and a special scenario for wide area wireless network ([0074] The UE 120 may collect contextual awareness information associated with the UE 120 over a period of time. The contextual awareness information may include the daily schedule of the user of the UE 120, such as the user's typical location, mobility information, travel patterns, and UE usage during the different times of each day of the week. For example, the user's location may be the global positioning system (GPS) location, the user's mobility information may indicate the user's speed and direction of travel, and the user's UE usage may indicate the active foreground and background applications and other processes of the UE 120. The mobility information also may indicate the type of transport, such as a car, subway, bicycle, train, elevator, etc. [0082] Based on the contextual awareness information that is collected over a period of time, the context aware engine 523 of the contextual awareness unit 324 may determine historical contextual awareness information. The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may use real-time and historical contextual awareness information to predict or infer other contextual awareness information, such as if the user of the UE 120 is inside a car, subway, airplane, driving, running, walking, or sitting.).
Regarding claim 3, Chin teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the one or more scenarios are adaptively updated ([0074] In some implementations, the UE 120 may include a context aware engine, which may be a machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) engine of the UE 120 that may be used to analyze the collected contextual awareness information and determine the historical contextual awareness information, including the historical user patterns and user behaviors. The UE-assisted operations may include collecting and analyzing the contextual awareness information and making dynamic decisions regarding reducing the rate of handoffs and selecting the RAT to camp on based on the real-time and historical contextual awareness information. Unlike network-assisted techniques that are generally slow and may not adapt to dynamic changes, the UE-assisted technique allows the UE 120 to make quick decisions based on each dynamic situation the UE 120 encounters and to adapt to changes in the environment. [0075] In some implementations, the UE 120 also may determine real-time contextual awareness information. For example, the real-time contextual awareness information may include real-time location information, real-time mobility information, and real-time UE usage information. Because of real-time contextual awareness information, the scenarios can be adaptively updated.).
Regarding claim 4, Chin teaches the method of claim 2, wherein each indicated scenario is determined based on one or more factors including the one or more sensor inputs (Using the high speed transportation scenario of claim 2; [0075] The UE 120 may determine the real-time contextual awareness information using various UE components, such as a GPS module, one or more sensors (such as an accelerometer), and an operating system, among others. [0082] The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may use real-time and historical contextual awareness information to predict or infer other contextual awareness information, such as if the user of the UE 120 is inside a car, subway, airplane, driving, running, walking, or sitting. (The car and subway are examples of high speed transportation scenarios that can be identified by the real-time contextual awareness information using various UE components, such as a GPS module and one or more sensors (such as an accelerometer.)).
Chin does not teach wherein each indicated scenario is determined based on the one or more high-layer configuration.
However, Palenius in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein each indicated scenario is determined based on the one or more high-layer configuration (Again, using the high speed transportation scenario of claim 2; [0073] According to some embodiments, a network node may provide an explicit indication (also known as a single-indicator) to UEs that the deployment is a high speed vehicle deployment or a high speed vehicular network (HSVN). (The UE can use this information to determine it is in a high speed transportation scenario).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of Chin and Cloutier to include the high speed indicator of Palenius to improve the method of generating a scenario indication. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce delays in determining changes in speed and improve the reliability of such determinations (Palenius; [0033]).
Regarding claim 5, Chin teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensor inputs comprising a moving status from an accelerometer, an altitude information from a barometer, an input from an altimeter, and geography information from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) ([0082] For example, the contextual awareness unit 324 of the UE 120 may determine the user's location, the user's speed, and direction of travel using the sensors 525 (such as an accelerometer, a GPS module, and other sensors). [0138] In some implementations, the mobile communication device 1304 may further include one or more sensors 1375 such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors.)
Regarding claim 6, Chin and Clautier does not teach wherein the high-layer configuration comprising a high-speed flag received from the wide area wireless network.
However, Palenius in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the high-layer configuration comprising a high-speed flag received from the wide area wireless network ([0079] The UE may receive an indicator corresponding to a high speed vehicular network (HSVN) from a network node).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of Chin and Cloutier to include the high speed indicator of Palenius to improve the method of generating a scenario indication. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce delays in determining changes in speed and improve the reliability of such determinations (Palenius; [0033]).
Regarding claim 7, Chin teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the lower-layer reports comprising signal to noise ratios (SNR) and reference signal received power (RSRP) ([0063] For example, the signal quality measurements may be reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.).
Regarding claim 9, Chin teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is one selecting from a wearable device, an Internet over Things (IoT) device, a data card, and a mobile device ([0036] A UE 115 may be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a wearable device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a smart appliance, a drone, a video camera, a sensor, or the like) with capability of connection with the wide area network ([0036] The UEs 115A-115D are examples of mobile smart phone-type devices that may access the wireless communication network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate with any type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like) and wired or wireless connection with the master device ([0039] Other machine type devices, such as the UE 115F and UE 115G (such as video cameras or smart lighting), the UE 115H (such as a smart meter), and UE 115I (such as a wearable device) may communicate through the wireless communication network 100 either directly with the BSs, such as the small cell BS 105F, and the macro BS 105E, or in multi-hop configurations by communicating with another user device which relays its information to the wireless communication network 100. Furthermore, the wireless communication network 100 may include one or more access points (APs) 107 that are part of one or more wireless local area networks (WLANs). The APs 107 (which also may be referred to as WLAN APs) may provide short-range wireless connectivity to the UEs 115 of the wireless communication network 100.), and wherein the master device is one selecting from a wireless mobile device, a cell phone, a customer premise device(CPE), a router, and a mobile device with capability of connection with the wide area network and wired or wireless connection with the mobile device ([0039] The APs 107 (which also may be referred to as WLAN APs) may provide short-range wireless connectivity to the UEs 115 of the wireless communication network 100).
Regarding claim 10, Chin teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device connects to the wide area wireless network through a link selecting from a cellular connection to a base station (Fig. 1 [0033] The wireless communication network 100 may be an LTE network or a 5G NR network, or a combination thereof. [0036] A UE 115 may be able to communicate with any type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like), a non-terrestrial network (NTN) connection with a satellite, and an NTN connection with an aircraft, and wherein the mobile device connects to a local connection network through a link selecting from a Wi-Fi link, a Bluetooth link, a sidelink, an ultra-wide band (UWB) link, a USB cable, and a power line communication connection ([0039] The APs 107 (which also may be referred to as WLAN APs) may provide short-range wireless connectivity to the UEs 115 of the wireless communication network 100 (wi-fi). The wireless communication network 100 also may provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDD communications, such as in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, as shown by UEs 115J-115L. (sidelink)).
Regarding claim 11, Chin teaches a mobile device, comprising:
a transceiver that transmits and receives radio frequency (RF) signal in a wide area wireless network (Fig. 12, [0135] The radio 1204 generally includes at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter (or “transmitter chain”) and at least one RF receiver (or “receiver chain”), which may be combined into one or more transceivers. [0128] In some implementations, the wireless communication apparatus 1200 can be an example of a device for use in a UE, such as the UE 120, which communicates in a wide area wireless network as shown in Fig. 3);
a memory, and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to
monitor a plurality of sensor inputs ([0082] For example, the contextual awareness unit 324 of the UE 120 may determine the user's location, the user's speed, and direction of travel using the sensors 525 (such as an accelerometer, a GPS module, and other sensors)), wherein the mobile device is configured with capabilities to keep communication to the wide area wireless network through a master device of a corresponding local connection network ([0064] For example, the UE 120 may experience frequent handoffs between the BS 310 associated with the 5G NR RAT, the BS 311 associated with the LTE RAT, and the AP 307 associated with the WLAN RAT.);
generate a scenario indication based on a scenario matrix of the plurality of sensor inputs ([0082] For example, the contextual awareness unit 324 of the UE 120 may determine the user's location, the user's speed, and direction of travel using the sensors 525 (such as an accelerometer, a GPS module, and other sensors). The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may use real-time and historical contextual awareness information to predict or infer other contextual awareness information, such as if the user of the UE 120 is inside a car, subway, airplane, driving, running, walking, or sitting.); and
switch between the wide area wireless network and the local connection network through corresponding master device upon determining a switch trigger based on the scenario indication and one or more lower-layer reports ([0066] multiple handoffs may be performed between at least two of the BS 312, the BS 313, and the AP 307 when the user is closer to the third location (location C) (scenario indication can be a specific location that the user frequents, such as their home or workplace) [0082] The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may predict or infer network usage patterns when the user is at a certain location at a certain time. [0063] In some implementations, the UE 120 also may determine whether a third RAT, such as a WLAN RAT, is available in the wireless communication network 300. If a WLAN RAT is available, the UE 120 may determine the signal quality associated with the WLAN RAT (signal quality can be determined by lower layer reports) to determine whether to maintain the wireless connection with the first RAT or perform a handoff to the WLAN RAT (such as the AP 307 associated with the WLAN RAT). In this example, the switch trigger is based on location (scenario indication) and signal quality measurements (lower layer reports) [0054] On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (for example, for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from controller/processor 280.).
Chin does not teach a monitor module that monitors one or more high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network; a scenario module that generates a scenario indication based on the one or more high-layer configuration, wherein the master device is a mobile device configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals in the wide area wireless network.
However, Palenius in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches a monitor module that monitors one or more high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network ([0079] The UE may receive an indicator corresponding to a high speed vehicular network (HSVN) from a network node (high-layer configuration in a wide area wireless network)); a scenario module that generates a scenario indication based on the one or more high-layer configuration ([0079] Based on the received indicator, the UE may determine that it is operating in at least a high speed vehicle network (HSVN) (a scenario indication).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of Chin to include the high speed indicator of Palenius to improve the method of generating a scenario indication. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce delays in determining changes in speed and improve the reliability of such determinations (Palenius; [0033]).
Palenius does not teach wherein the master device is a mobile device configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals in the wide area wireless network.
Cloutier in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the master device is a mobile device configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals in the wide area wireless network (Fig. 2; [0030] A mobile hotspot device (MHD) 22 includes a wireless cellular interface 24 that establishes a wireless communications link 26 with the cellular network 14. The wireless cellular interface 24 may comprise any suitable circuitry and/or software necessary to facilitate the establishment of the wireless communications link 26. The MHD 22 comprises any portable, mobile computing or processing device capable of establishing the wireless communications link 26, such as a smart phone…laptop computer that includes cellular data interface circuitry, a computer tablet…, or a special purpose hotspot device. [0031] The MHD 22 also includes a WLAN interface 28 suitable for establishing one or more wireless WLAN communication links, such as Wi-Fi.TM. communication links. The MHD 22 may also have one or more other wireless interfaces 30, such as a ZigBee wireless interface, a Bluetooth.RTM. wireless interface, and the like. A wireless router module 32 implements a hotspot capability in the MHD 22. The wireless router module 32 establishes a hotspot 34 via the WLAN interface 28 (or via the other wireless interface 30) such that one or more client devices 36-1-36-N (generally, client devices 36) within the hotspot 34 may connect to the MHD 22 via corresponding wireless communication links 38-1-38-N (generally, wireless communication links 38).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Chin and Palenius to include the mobile hotspot device of Cloutier to provide the WAN/LAN connections to the mobile device of Chin. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a device that can serve essentially as a wireless access point and router for client devices that would not otherwise have access to the Internet (Cloutier; [0004]).
Regarding claim 12, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 11, wherein the scenario indicator indicates one or more scenarios comprising a high speed transportation (HST) scenario, an elevator scenario, a basement scenario, and a special scenario for wide area wireless network ([0074] The UE 120 may collect contextual awareness information associated with the UE 120 over a period of time. The contextual awareness information may include the daily schedule of the user of the UE 120, such as the user's typical location, mobility information, travel patterns, and UE usage during the different times of each day of the week. For example, the user's location may be the global positioning system (GPS) location, the user's mobility information may indicate the user's speed and direction of travel, and the user's UE usage may indicate the active foreground and background applications and other processes of the UE 120. The mobility information also may indicate the type of transport, such as a car, subway, bicycle, train, elevator, etc. [0082] Based on the contextual awareness information that is collected over a period of time, the context aware engine 523 of the contextual awareness unit 324 may determine historical contextual awareness information. The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may use real-time and historical contextual awareness information to predict or infer other contextual awareness information, such as if the user of the UE 120 is inside a car, subway, airplane, driving, running, walking, or sitting.)
Regarding claim 13, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 12, wherein the one or more scenarios are adaptively updated ([0074] In some implementations, the UE 120 may include a context aware engine, which may be a machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) engine of the UE 120 that may be used to analyze the collected contextual awareness information and determine the historical contextual awareness information, including the historical user patterns and user behaviors. The UE-assisted operations may include collecting and analyzing the contextual awareness information and making dynamic decisions regarding reducing the rate of handoffs and selecting the RAT to camp on based on the real-time and historical contextual awareness information. Unlike network-assisted techniques that are generally slow and may not adapt to dynamic changes, the UE-assisted technique allows the UE 120 to make quick decisions based on each dynamic situation the UE 120 encounters and to adapt to changes in the environment. [0075] In some implementations, the UE 120 also may determine real-time contextual awareness information. For example, the real-time contextual awareness information may include real-time location information, real-time mobility information, and real-time UE usage information. Because of real-time contextual awareness information, the scenarios can be adaptively updated.).
Regarding claim 14, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 13, wherein each indicated scenario is determined based on one or more factors including the one or more sensor inputs and the one or more high-layer configuration (Using the high speed transportation scenario of claim 2; [0075] The UE 120 may determine the real-time contextual awareness information using various UE components, such as a GPS module, one or more sensors (such as an accelerometer), and an operating system, among others. [0082] The contextual awareness unit 324 and the context aware engine 523 also may use real-time and historical contextual awareness information to predict or infer other contextual awareness information, such as if the user of the UE 120 is inside a car, subway, airplane, driving, running, walking, or sitting. (The car and subway are examples of high speed transportation scenarios that can be identified by the real-time contextual awareness information using various UE components, such as a GPS module and one or more sensors (such as an accelerometer.)).
Chin and Cloutier does not teach wherein each indicated scenario is determined based on the one or more high-layer configuration.
However, Palenius in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein each indicated scenario is determined based on the one or more high-layer configuration (Again, using the high speed transportation scenario of claim 2; [0073] According to some embodiments, a network node may provide an explicit indication (also known as a single-indicator) to UEs that the deployment is a high speed vehicle deployment or a high speed vehicular network (HSVN). (The UE can use this information to determine it is in a high speed transportation scenario).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of Chin and Cloutier to include the high speed indicator of Palenius to improve the method of generating a scenario indication. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce delays in determining changes in speed and improve the reliability of such determinations (Palenius; [0033]).
Regarding claim 15, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensor inputs comprising a moving status from an accelerometer, an altitude information from a barometer, an input from an altimeter, and geography information from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) ([0082] For example, the contextual awareness unit 324 of the UE 120 may determine the user's location, the user's speed, and direction of travel using the sensors 525 (such as an accelerometer, a GPS module, and other sensors). [0138] In some implementations, the mobile communication device 1304 may further include one or more sensors 1375 such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors.)
Regarding claim 16, Chin and Cloutier does not teach wherein the high-layer configuration comprising a high-speed flag received from the wide area wireless network.
However, Palenius in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the high-layer configuration comprising a high-speed flag received from the wide area wireless network ([0079] The UE may receive an indicator corresponding to a high speed vehicular network (HSVN) from a network node).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the methods of Chin to include the high speed indicator of Palenius to improve the method of generating a scenario indication. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce delays in determining changes in speed and improve the reliability of such determinations (Palenius; [0033]).
Regarding claim 17, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 11, wherein the lower-layer reports comprising signal to noise ratios (SNR) and reference signal received power (RSRP) ([0063] For example, the signal quality measurements may be reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements, or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.).
Regarding claim 19, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 11, wherein the mobile device is one selecting from a wearable device, an Internet over Things (IoT) device, a data card, and a mobile device with capability of connection with the wide area network and wired or wireless connection with a master device, and wherein the master device is one selecting from a wireless mobile device, a cell phone, a customer premise device (CPE), a router, and a mobile device with capability of connection with the wide area network and wired or wireless connection with a device ([0036] A UE 115 may be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a wearable device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a smart appliance, a drone, a video camera, a sensor, or the like) with capability of connection with the wide area network ([0036] The UEs 115A-115D are examples of mobile smart phone-type devices that may access the wireless communication network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate with any type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like) and wired or wireless connection with the master device ([0039] Other machine type devices, such as the UE 115F and UE 115G (such as video cameras or smart lighting), the UE 115H (such as a smart meter), and UE 115I (such as a wearable device) may communicate through the wireless communication network 100 either directly with the BSs, such as the small cell BS 105F, and the macro BS 105E, or in multi-hop configurations by communicating with another user device which relays its information to the wireless communication network 100. Furthermore, the wireless communication network 100 may include one or more access points (APs) 107 that are part of one or more wireless local area networks (WLANs). The APs 107 (which also may be referred to as WLAN APs) may provide short-range wireless connectivity to the UEs 115 of the wireless communication network 100.), and wherein the master device is one selecting from a wireless mobile device, a cell phone, a customer premise device(CPE), a router, and a mobile device with capability of connection with the wide area network and wired or wireless connection with the mobile device ([0039] The APs 107 (which also may be referred to as WLAN APs) may provide short-range wireless connectivity to the UEs 115 of the wireless communication network 100).
Regarding claim 20, Chin teaches the mobile device of claim 11, wherein the mobile device connects to the wide area wireless network through a link selecting from a cellular connection to a base station (Fig. 1 [0033] The wireless communication network 100 may be an LTE network or a 5G NR network, or a combination thereof. [0036] A UE 115 may be able to communicate with any type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like), a non-terrestrial network (NTN) connection with a satellite, and an NTN connection with an aircraft, and wherein the mobile device connects to a local connection network through a link selecting from a Wi-Fi link, a Bluetooth link, a sidelink, an ultra-wide band (UWB) link, a USB cable, and a power line communication connection ([0039] The APs 107 (which also may be referred to as WLAN APs) may provide short-range wireless connectivity to the UEs 115 of the wireless communication network 100 (wi-fi). The wireless communication network 100 also may provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDD communications, such as in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, as shown by UEs 115J-115L. (sidelink)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chin (US 20210329514 A1) in view of PALENIUS (US 20160360537 A1) and Cloutier (US 20150215974 A1); further in view of Nix (US 8228861 B1).
Regarding claim 8, Chin Palenius and Cloutier does not teach wherein the scenario matrix further includes one or more elements comprising a regular variation of SNR, a regular variation of RSRP, a sudden fluctuation of SNR, and a sudden fluctuation of RSRP.
However Nix, in the same field of endeavor of handovers in media communications teaches wherein the scenario matrix further includes one or more elements comprising a regular variation of SNR, a regular variation of RSRP, a sudden fluctuation of SNR, and a sudden fluctuation of RSRP (Figure 2i; (Column 62, lines 37-56) An initial network SNR 235 can represent a measure for the signal-to-noise ratio measured to base station 104 in MN 102, and initial network SNR trend 236 could be an observed trend in the SNR (regular variation of SNR). SNR and trends in SNR may affect a selected handover procedure 232, since a projection of SNR may be used to estimate future time values. As one example, if the SNR on the initial network is low and falling sufficiently rapidly (sudden fluctuation of SNR), a handover procedure rules may select a handover procedure without waiting, possibly including a handover procedure that is less optimal than if additional time would be available.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Chin Palenius and Cloutier to include the SNR handover parameters of Nix. The motivation to do so would have been to selection of an efficient handover procedure (Nix; Column 63, lines 4-5 and 48-49).
Regarding claim 18, Chin Palenius and Cloutier does not teach wherein the scenario matrix further includes one or more elements comprising a regular variation of SNR, a regular variation of RSRP, a sudden fluctuation of SNR, and a sudden fluctuation of RSRP.
However Nix, in the same field of endeavor of handovers in media communications teaches wherein the scenario matrix further includes one or more elements comprising a regular variation of SNR, a regular variation of RSRP, a sudden fluctuation of SNR, and a sudden fluctuation of RSRP (Figure 2i; (Column 62, lines 37-56) An initial network SNR 235 can represent a measure for the signal-to-noise ratio measured to base station 104 in MN 102, and initial network SNR trend 236 could be an observed trend in the SNR (regular variation of SNR). SNR and trends in SNR may affect a selected handover procedure 232, since a projection of SNR may be used to estimate future time values. As one example, if the SNR on the initial network is low and falling sufficiently rapidly (sudden fluctuation of SNR), a handover procedure rules may select a handover procedure without waiting, possibly including a handover procedure that is less optimal than if additional time would be available.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Chin Palenius and Cloutier to include the SNR handover parameters of Nix. The motivation to do so would have been to selection of an efficient handover procedure (Nix; Column 63, lines 4-5 and 48-49).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/NANCY SIXTO/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/John Pezzlo/
Primary Examiner, AU 2465B
3 April 2026
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