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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
1. 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
2. Claims 1, 2, 6, 10, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by TATUM (US 2023/0353232).
Regarding claim 1, TATUM teaches that a satellite communication system (Fig. 1). TATUM teaches that a satellite (Fig. 1), a network (Fig. 1), and a terminal located within a beam of the satellite (Fig. 1, page 1, paragraphs 3-5, and pages 3, paragraphs 24 - 26, where teaches satellite communication system comprising satellite, network, and terminals for locating within beams of satellite), the terminal and network being configured to communicate with each other through the satellite using a High Resource Usage Common Air Interface and a Low Resource Usage Common Air Interface (Fig. 1, 2 and pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, where teaches communicating terminal and network with through the satellite using primary coverage to a high traffic region, high resource usage common air interface, and low road interface, low traffic region, satellite, low resource usage common air interface), the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is configured to remain deactivated in the beam when the system is not communicating in the beam via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 2, paragraphs 19 - 20, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and if the satellite has no channels available for allocation or does not have sufficient resources to service the communication session, the satellite may deny or otherwise block the acquisition request), wherein, when communication within the beam via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is desired, the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is activated in the beam (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 5, paragraphs 38 – pages 7, paragraphs 48, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and use real-time satellite resource utilization information and/or anticipated service demand (e.g., load information) to prepare the real-time or near real-time beam assignments and beam planning process may generate instructions to turn on or activate one or more beams on one or more neighboring satellites), and wherein, when communication via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is finished in the beam, the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is deactivated in the beam (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 5, paragraphs 38 – pages 7, paragraphs 48, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and a beam assignment individual ones of some of the finger-shaped beams of first satellite extending out from the center of coverage footprint may provide coverage for a portion of the coverage footprint that is not covered by the first satellite following the deactivation of the finger-shaped beams extending out from the center of coverage footprint).
Regarding claim 2, TATUM teaches that the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface comprises a channel set including Foundational Channels (control channels, traffic channels..communication channels) such that deactivating the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface comprises deactivating the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels and activating the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface comprises activating the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 2, paragraphs 18 – 22).
Regarding claim 6, TATUM teaches all the limitation as discussed in claims 1 and 2. Furthermore. TATUM further teaches that a Low Resource Usage Common Air Interface configured to allow the terminal to communicate with the network through the satellite (Fig. 1, 2 and pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, where teaches communicating terminal and network with through the satellite using primary coverage to a high traffic region, high resource usage common air interface, and low road interface, low traffic region, satellite, low resource usage common air interface), the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels are configured to remain deactivated in the beam when the terminal and network are not using the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface to communicate with each other through the satellite (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 2, paragraphs 19 - 20, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and if the satellite has no channels available for allocation or does not have sufficient resources to service the communication session, the satellite may deny or otherwise block the acquisition request), the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels are activated in the beam when the terminal desires to communicate with the network through the satellite using the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 5, paragraphs 38 – pages 7, paragraphs 48, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and use real-time satellite resource utilization information and/or anticipated service demand (e.g., load information) to prepare the real-time or near real-time beam assignments and beam planning process may generate instructions to turn on or activate one or more beams on one or more neighboring satellites), and the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels are deactivated in the beam when communication between the terminal and network through the satellite via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is finished (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 5, paragraphs 38 – pages 7, paragraphs 48, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and a beam assignment individual ones of some of the finger-shaped beams of first satellite extending out from the center of coverage footprint may provide coverage for a portion of the coverage footprint that is not covered by the first satellite following the deactivation of the finger-shaped beams extending out from the center of coverage footprint).
Regarding claim 10, TATUM teaches all the limitation as discussed in claims 1 and 6. Furthermore. TATUM further teaches that determining whether the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels are active in the beam when communication in the beam via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is desired (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 5, paragraphs 38 – pages 7, paragraphs 48, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and use real-time satellite resource utilization information and/or anticipated service demand (e.g., load information) to prepare the real-time or near real-time beam assignments and beam planning process may generate instructions to turn on or activate one or more beams on one or more neighboring satellites), if the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels are inactive in the beam, activating the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels in the beam (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 2, paragraphs 19 - 20, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and if the satellite has no channels available for allocation or does not have sufficient resources to service the communication session, the satellite may deny or otherwise block the acquisition request, and beam activation can be controlled dynamically during any period of time, including on a continuous ongoing basis, such as, for example, in response to real-time updates from a terrestrial Earth station or by logic on board an individual satellite, in order to provide adequate coverage of a high traffic area, as many beams as possible should be activated to service the high traffic area), upon activation of the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels in the beam, acquiring the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface service and initiating communications between the terminal and the network via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface in the beam (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 2, paragraphs 19 - 20, where teaches beams are activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and if the satellite has no channels available for allocation or does not have sufficient resources to service the communication session, the satellite may deny or otherwise block the acquisition request, and beam activation can be controlled dynamically during any period of time, including on a continuous ongoing basis, such as, for example, in response to real-time updates from a terrestrial Earth station or by logic on board an individual satellite, in order to provide adequate coverage of a high traffic area, as many beams as possible should be activated to service the high traffic area and communicating with terminals and network), after communications via the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface are completed, deactivating the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface Foundational Channels in the beam (Fig. 1, 2, pages 3, paragraphs 24 – pages 4, paragraphs 34, and pages 5, paragraphs 38 – pages 7, paragraphs 48, where teaches beams provided by the antenna systems of satellites may be steerable such that the beam patterns of the satellites can be changed to produce virtually any arbitrary laydown pattern, and beams are merely activated or de-activated (i.e., turned on and/or off) for extending beam coverage from neighboring low load satellites to high load regions to assist in transferring loads from high load satellites, and a beam assignment individual ones of some of the finger-shaped beams of first satellite extending out from the center of coverage footprint may provide coverage for a portion of the coverage footprint that is not covered by the first satellite following the deactivation of the finger-shaped beams extending out from the center of coverage footprint).
Regarding claim 14, TATUM teaches all the limitation as discussed in claims 1, 6 and 10.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 3, 7, 11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TATUM in view of EVANS et al. (US 2019/0158597).
Regarding claims 3, 7, 11, and 15, TATUM does not specifically disclose the limitation “the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is NarrowBand Internet-of-Things Common Air Interface”. However, EVANS teaches the limitation “the High Resource Usage Common Air Interface is NarrowBand Internet-of-Things Common Air Interface” (page 1, paragraphs 10 – pages 2, paragraphs 13 and Fig. 1, where teaches managing air data or traffic implementation in New radio or 5G technology for using NarrowBand Internet-of-Things Common Air Interface). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teaching of TATUM’s communication technique as taught by EVANS, provide the motivation to achieve an efficient communication performance using air interface NarrowBand Internet-of-Things communication technique in communication system.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 4-5, 8-9, 12-13, and 16-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art of record fails to disclose the limitation “when using the Low Resource Usage Common Air Interface, the terminal is configured to send a message to the network through the satellite by sending a burst comprising the message at a pre-scheduled time such that the network can derive a terminal identity of the terminal by comparing the time of the burst with scheduled transmission information included in an information element without having to include terminal identity information in the message” as specified the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PARK (US 2013/0045675) discloses Apparatus and Method for Selecting Spot Beam Based on Traffic Demands and Channel Conditions for Multi-Spot Beam Satellite System.
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J.L
March 7, 2026
John J Lee
/JOHN J LEE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649