DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants' communication filed on March 30, 2026. Claims 1, 3, 7, 9, 13 and 15-18 are amended. Claims 6, 19 and 20 are cancelled. Claims 21-23 are New. Claims 1-5, 7-18 and 21-23 are currently pending and have been examined.
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/remarks made in an amendment filed March 30, 2026, have been fully considered. In view of the amended claims 1, 3, 7, 9, 13 and 15-18 and upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection, necessitated by the amendments is made in view of different interpretation of the previously applied references as presented in this Office action. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 7-18 and 21-23 are therefore moot.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, 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, 7, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230262681 A1 (ZHAO) in view of US 20220232491 A1 (Ma et al.) (hereinafter Ma).
In re claims 1, 7 and 15, ZHAO discloses a user equipment (UE) ([0395], “As shown in FIG. 8, the communication device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is applied to a terminal, and includes: the processor 800, which is used to read the program in the memory 820, executes the following processes”) comprising: a communication interface (Fig. 8: 830); a processor (Fig. 8:800), coupled to the communication interface; a non-transitory computer readable storage medium coupled to the processor (Fig. 8:820), storing programming for execution by the processor ([0131], “In a sixth aspect of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a readable storage medium is provided, storing a program, wherein the program is executed by a processor to perform the scheduling method”), coupled to the processor, storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to”), a method performed by the user equipment (UE) (Fig. 1, [0010], “In a first aspect of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a scheduling method is provided, applied to a terminal”), and a first network device ([0370], “As shown in Fig. 7, a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is applied to a network device, and includes: the processor 700, which is used to read the program in the memory 720, executes the following processes”) for an integrated wireless communication network that comprises terrestrial and non-terrestrial network devices ([0007], “A fourth Generation (4-th Generation, 4G)/fifth Generation (5th Generation, 5G) system may support dual connectivity, i.e., one terminal may access two different base stations, one being a primary base station and one being a secondary base station”. [0008], “The air-ground integrated communication is a development direction of a future mobile communication system. When the network is integrated, the non-terrestrial cell and the terrestrial cell have a large difference between the time delay and other mechanisms) comprising: a communication interface (Fig. 7); a processor (Fig. 7:700), coupled to the communication interface; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium (Fig. 7:720, [0415], “The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a readable storage medium, where a program is stored, and when the program is executed by a processor, the program implements the processes of the foregoing scheduling method embodiment”), coupled to the processor, storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to: receiving signaling from a first network device to schedule a transmission between a second network device and the UE (Fig. 4, [0388], “In the case where the terrestrial cell corresponds to a first network device and the non-terrestrial cell corresponds to a second network device, the processor 700 is further configured to read the program and execute”. [0389], “transmitting uplink scheduling information of the non-terrestrial cell to the terminal” (receiving scheduling information from a first network device)), one of the first network device and the second network device comprising a terrestrial network device and the other of the first network device and the second network device comprising a non-terrestrial network device ([0060], “Optionally, in the case that the terrestrial cell corresponds to a first network device and the non-terrestrial cell corresponds to a second network device, the network device is the second network device”), the transmission scheduled by the first network device; and communicating the transmission with the second network device according to the signaling (Fig. 1:101, [0012], “Optionally, for a Scheduling Request (SR), the using the terrestrial cell to assist the scheduling of the non-terrestrial cell includes...”. [0091], “in a case that the terminal simultaneously aggregates a non-terrestrial cell and a terrestrial cell, using the terrestrial cell to assist a scheduling of the non-terrestrial cell” (communicating the transmission or scheduling according to the received signaling from the terrestrial cell)).
ZHAO does not explicitly disclose the transmission scheduled by the first network device.
Ma discloses the transmission scheduled by the first network device ([0125], “The CU 157 of IAB donor may signal communication link establishment via an F1 interface to IAB nodes 104, and the IAB nodes 104 may schedule transmissions (e.g., transmissions to the UEs 115 relayed from the IAB donor) through the DUs 165” (IAB node 104 is the first network device scheduling transmission between UE and the child node or second network device). [0139], “In non-terrestrial networks, a UE may frequently switch from one satellite to another satellite due to the relative high mobility between the UE and the satellites”. [0133], “the communication between a base station (e.g., base station 205-a) and a satellite (e.g., satellite 220-a) may be assisted by a gateway which relays traffic over a communication link that may be referred to as a feeder link”. [0130], “UEs 115 may communicate with satellites 160 and/or base stations or gateways 105 using communications links 125. In some cases, timing adjustments to account for propagation delay in communications links 125 via a satellite 160 may include a propagation delay between a UE 115 and a satellite 160, a propagation delay between a base station 105 and a satellite 160, as well as a variation in the propagation delays due to movement of the satellite”. [0072], “For instance, each of a set of cells (where each non-terrestrial communications device is configured as a cell) may indicate a time difference relative to a common time source. The UE may use the time difference relative to the common time source to select or reselect a cell”. [0124], “IAB nodes 104 may refer to a RAN node that provides IAB functionality (e.g., access for UEs 115, wireless self-backhauling capabilities, etc.). IAB nodes 104 may include a DU 165 and an MT. A DU 165 may act as a distributed scheduling node (first network device scheduling transmission) towards child nodes associated with the IAB node 104, and the MT may act as a scheduled node (second network device) towards parent nodes associated with the IAB node 104. That is, an IAB donor may be referred to as a parent node in communication with one or more child nodes (e.g., an IAB donor may relay transmissions for UEs through one or more other IAB nodes 104) ... (IAB donor scheduling transmission between UE and the child node)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of ZHAO and Ma to provide a scheduling method for switching between different types of links or subsystems, such as terrestrial and non-terrestrial links or subsystems, that use different signals and channels. The advantage of doing so is to provide 5G service in un-served areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial 5G network in cost effective manner and providing service continuity for M2M/IoT devices or for passengers on board moving platforms (e.g. passenger vehicles-aircraft, ships, high speed trains, bus) and in areas of Public Safety, Media and Entertainment, eHealth, Energy, Agriculture, Finance and Automotive.
In re claim 14, the combination discloses the UE of claim 7, wherein ZHAO discloses wherein the programming further including instructions to receive further signaling, from the first network device, the second network device, or another one of the terrestrial and non-terrestrial network devices in the integrated wireless communication network, indicative of respective configurations for links associated with the first network device and the second network device ([0015], “receiving SR resource configuration information configured by the terrestrial cell by a network device, where SR resources configured for the terrestrial cell and the non-terrestrial cell in the SR resource configuration information are distinguished by a time domain and/or a frequency domain, and the SR resource corresponding to the non-terrestrial cell is selected from the SR resource configured for the terrestrial cell according to the SR resource configuration information to send the SR of the non-terrestrial cell”. [0221], “The SR configuration information may include an index number of the SR resource, a prohibit timer length corresponding to the SR, a maximum SR transmission number, and the like. The configuration information may be transmitted to the terminal by the first base station or the second base station through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling”).
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230262681 A1 (ZHAO) in view of US 20220232491 A1 (Ma et al.) (hereinafter Ma) and in further view of US 20240356632 A1 (LIU).
In re claim 12, the combination discloses the UE of claim 7 but does not explicitly disclose wherein the signaling comprises downlink control information (DCI).
LIU discloses wherein the signaling comprises downlink control information (DCI) ([0064], “For example, the base station may notify the UE of the distance information through RRC layer signaling, MAC layer signaling or DCI, or through a combination of multiple types of signaling”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of ZHAO, Ma and LIU to provide a scheduling method for switching between different types of links or subsystems, such as terrestrial and non-terrestrial links or subsystems, that use different signals and channels. The advantage of doing so is to provide 5G service in un-served areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial 5G network in cost effective manner and providing service continuity for M2M/IoT devices or for passengers on board moving platforms (e.g. passenger vehicles-aircraft, ships, high speed trains, bus) and in areas of Public Safety, Media and Entertainment, eHealth, Energy, Agriculture, Finance and Automotive.
In re claim 13, the combination discloses the UE of claim 12, wherein LIU discloses wherein the DCI comprises one or more fields including one or more of: a link identifier of a second link associated with the second network device; a link switching end to indicate a last transmission that is communicated with the second network device and scheduled by the first network device; and beam angular information associated with the second link (Fig. 7, Abstract, “The processing circuit is configured to perform control so as to send, by means of beam-based non-terrestrial network communication, information about beam switching of a base station to a user equipment, to determine a temporal or spatial position of beam switching, and to perform control so as to perform beam switching when the determined temporal or spatial position is reached”. [0029], “The UE performs beam handover 3 ms after feeding back a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) containing beam handover information of the PDCCH. For the PDSCH, multiple TCI states are configured for the PDSCH through RRC, and some of the TCI states are activated by using the MAC CE. Activation of beams indicated by these TCI states is performed 3 ms after the UE feeds back an HARQ-ACK containing beam activation information of the PDSCH. Then, one of the TCI states is indicated through downlink control information (DCI)”).
Claim(s) 2-4, 8-10, 16-18 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230262681 A1 (ZHAO) in view of US 20220232491 A1 (Ma et al.) (hereinafter Ma) in view of US 20230070647 A1 (MATSUDA et al.) (hereinafter MATSUDA) and in further view of US 20190239082 A1 (Ravishankar).
In re claims 2, 8 and 16, the combination of ZHAO and Ma discloses the method of claim 1, the UE of claim 7 and the first network device of claim 15, but does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: receiving further signaling from the first network device, the further signaling comprising a link switching command indicating that the UE is to switch between a first link associated with the first network device and a second link associated with the second network device.
MATSUDA discloses receiving further signaling from the first network device, the further signaling comprising a link switching command indicating that the UE is to switch between a first link associated with the first network device and a second link associated with the second network device (Fig. 16, [0069], “If the relative moving speed is high, the communication apparatus 50 is likely to get out of the communication range of the base station apparatus connected thereto before receiving by the communication apparatus 50 a switching instruction used for switching the base station apparatus as a connection destination (e.g., a handover command) from the connected base station apparatus”.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of ZHAO, Ma and MATSUDA to provide a scheduling method for switching between different types of links that use different signals and channels. The advantage of doing so is to provide 5G service in un-served areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial 5G network in cost effective manner and providing service continuity for M2M/IoT devices or for passengers on board moving platforms.
ZHAO, Ma and MATSUDA do not explicitly disclose first link associated with the first network device and a second link associated with the second network device.
Ravishankar discloses first link associated with the first network device and a second link associated with the second network device (Fig. 4C, [0001], “Generally, satellite and terrestrial communication networks utilize different specific frequency bands. However, inefficiencies exist if a frequency spectrum allocated to one communication system is shared with another communication system. For example, a 20 MHz frequency band allocated to a satellite communication system (e.g. 1990 MHz to 2010 MHz for return link and 2180 MHz to 2200 MHz for forward link), when shared with a terrestrial communication system (such as a long-term evolution LTE network), there can be interference from multiple sources to the satellite”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of ZHAO, Ma, MATSUDA and Ravishankar to provide a scheduling method for switching between different types of subsystems, such as terrestrial and non-terrestrial links or subsystems, that use different signals. The advantage of doing so is to provide 5G service in un-served areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial 5G network in cost effective manner and providing service continuity for M2M/IoT devices or for passengers on board moving platforms.
In re claims 3, 9 and 17, the combination discloses the method of claim 2, the UE of claim 8 and the first network device of claim 16, wherein MATSUDA discloses wherein the link switching command indicates one or more of: a link identifier of the second link; a link switching start time at which the UE is to begin communicating transmissions with the second network device but scheduled by the first network device; a link switching duration during which the UE is to communicate the transmissions with the second network device but scheduled by the first network device and after which the UE is to communicate transmissions with the second network device that are scheduled by the second network device; a new UE radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the UE; an uplink timing advance associated with the second link; a time unit at which the UE is to acknowledge reception of the further signaling; or beam information associated with the second link ([0148], “The connection unit 553 of the communication apparatus 50 compares the identifier transmitted in step S203 with the identifier received in step S204. If both identifiers do not match, the connection unit 553 restarts the random-access procedure from step S201. If both identifiers match, the connection unit 553 performs the RRC connection operation and makes a transition from the idle state (RRC_IDLE) to the connected state (RRC_CONNECTED). The connection unit 553 uses the TC-RNTI acquired in step S202 as a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) in the subsequent communication. After making a transition to the connected state, the connection unit 553 transmits an RRC message of RRC connection setup completion to the base station apparatus. The RRC connection setup complete message is also referred to as “message-5”. This series of operations allows the communication apparatus 50 to connect with the base station apparatus”. [0298], “Timing advance information” is information regarding timing advance used by the communication apparatus 50 to connect to the base station apparatus to be a switching destination candidate. The timing advance information can be the timing advance value itself or can be information necessary for the communication apparatus 50 to calculate the timing advance value. In addition, the timing advance information can be similar to the timing advance information described in step S701 of the handover process (RACH-less handover) according to the second embodiment”).
In re claims 21, 22 and 23, the combination discloses the method of claim 3, the UE of claim 9 and the first network device of claim 17, wherein Ma discloses wherein the link switching command indicates the link switching start time ([0142], “The UE 215 may record the time of receiving the pre-determined frame (e.g., the start of the frame) from each cell 255”) and the link switching duration ([0089], “The time intervals used to determine a duration of transmission for the base stations 105 or the UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of Ts=1/(Δfmax.Nf) seconds, where Δfmax may represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and Nf may represent the maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource 190 may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms))”. [0091], “A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval”).
In re claims 4, 10 and 18, the combination discloses the method of claim 3, the UE of claim 9 and the network device of claim 17, wherein MATSUDA discloses the method further comprising: transmitting, to the first network device, an acknowledgement of reception of the further signaling ([0179], “The connection unit 553 of the communication apparatus 50 transmits an acknowledgement (ACK) to the non-terrestrial base station apparatus 20 in the case of the normal reception of the NR-PDSCH including the contention resolution. Then, the communication apparatus 50 regards the random-access procedure as successful and comes into the connected state (RRC_CONNECTED) ...”).
Claims 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230262681 A1 (ZHAO) in view of US 20220232491 A1 (Ma et al.) (hereinafter Ma) in view of US 20230070647 A1 (MATSUDA et al.) (hereinafter MATSUDA) in view of US 20190239082 A1 (Ravishankar) and in further view of US 20240356632 A1 (LIU).
In re claims 5 and 11, the combination discloses the method of claim 4 and the UE of claim 10, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the further signaling and the acknowledgement comprise Layer 1 signaling.
LIU discloses wherein the further signaling and the acknowledgement comprise Layer 1 signaling ([0141], “The radio communication interface 2325 may include, for example, a BB processor 2326 and RF circuitry 2327. The BB processor 2326 may perform, for example, encoding/decoding, modulating/demodulating and multiplexing/de-multiplexing, and various types of signal processing of layers (such as L1, medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP))”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of ZHAO, Ma, MATSUDA and Ravishankar with LIU to provide a scheduling method for switching between different types of links or subsystems, such as terrestrial and non-terrestrial links or subsystems, that use different signals and channels. The advantage of doing so is to provide 5G service in un-served areas that cannot be covered by terrestrial 5G network in cost effective manner, providing service continuity for M2M/IoT devices or for passengers on board moving platforms (e.g. passenger vehicles-aircraft, ships, high speed trains, bus) and in areas of Public Safety, Media and Entertainment, eHealth, Energy, Agriculture, Finance and Automotive.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SWATI JAIN whose telephone number is (571)270-0699. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri (830 am - 530 pm).
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, Pan Yuwen can be reached on 5712727855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SWATI JAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
Prosecution Insights