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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. US,11,924,872B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because Claims 1-20 of the present application are obvious based on Claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. US,11,924,872B2 in view of Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of in view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1)
Application 18/424,950
US,11,924,872B2
Claim 1
A method for prioritization in an aeronautical satellite network system, the method comprising:
determining network utilization of a beam of the aeronautical satellite network system by a plurality of aircraft using network capacity of the beam;
determining whether a demand in the beam indicated by network utilization is greater than the capacity of the beam;
upon determining the network demand in the beam indicated by the network utilization is greater than capacity of the beam,
sharing network bandwidth of the beam to a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft based on a service priority factor where the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the first aircraft.
Claim 1
A method for prioritization in an aeronautical satellite network system, the method comprising:
determining network utilization of a beam of the aeronautical satellite network system by a plurality of aircraft using network capacity of the beam;
determining whether a demand in the beam indicated by network utilization is greater than the capacity of the beam;
upon determining the network demand in the beam indicated by the network utilization is greater than capacity of the beam,
sharing network bandwidth of the beam to the plurality of aircraft based on the service priority factor that depends
Claim 8
An aeronautical satellite network system comprising:
a terrestrial gateway configured to communicate with a satellite;
a mobility network access point configured to provide network resources to a plurality of aircraft through the terrestrial gateway;
an aggregator configured to receive capacity utilization of network communication to the plurality of aircraft within a beam of the satellite and determine a service priority factor that depends on an altitude of a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft in the beam,
wherein the mobility network access point is configured to share network bandwidth of the beam to the first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft based on the service priority factor where the service priority factor depends on the altitude of the first aircraft.
Claim 6
An aeronautical satellite network system comprising:
a terrestrial gateway configured to communicate with a satellite;
a mobility network access point configured to provide network resources to a plurality of aircraft through the terrestrial gateway;
an aggregator configured to receive capacity utilization of network communication to the plurality of aircraft within a beam of the satellite and determine a service priority factor that depends on altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam,
wherein the mobility network access point is configured to share network bandwidth of the beam to the plurality of aircraft based on the service priority factor; and
Claim 18
An aeronautical satellite network system comprising:
a terrestrial gateway configured to communicate with a satellite;
a mobility network access point configured to provide network resources to a plurality of aircraft through the terrestrial gateway;
a plurality of network IP processors in the mobility network access point;
an aggregator configured to:
receive network capacity utilization reports of network utilization by the plurality of aircraft,
receive a report of a number of the plurality of aircraft above and a number of the plurality of aircraft below an altitude threshold on a per beam basis,
use the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the altitude threshold and the capacity utilization for the beam to determine a service priority factor, and
send the service priority factor to the network IP processors;
wherein the plurality of network IP processors are configured to use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft of the plurality of aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors.
Claim 14
An aeronautical satellite network system comprising:
a terrestrial gateway configured to communicate with a satellite;
a mobility network access point configured to provide network resources to a plurality of aircraft through the terrestrial gateway;
a plurality of network IP processors in the mobility network access point;
an aggregator configured to:
receive network capacity utilization reports of network utilization by the plurality of aircraft,
receive a report of a number of the plurality of aircraft above and a number of the plurality of aircraft below an altitude threshold on a per beam basis,
use the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the altitude threshold and the capacity utilization for the beam to determine a service priority factor, and
send the service priority factor to the network IP processors;
wherein the plurality of network IP processors are configured to use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft of the plurality of aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors.
Claim 3
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a report of a number of the plurality of aircraft above and a number of the plurality of aircraft below an altitude threshold on a per beam basis; receiving a capacity utilization for the beam; and using the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the altitude threshold and the capacity utilization for the beam to determine the service priority factor.
Claim 16,19
Claim 6The method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam.
Claim 4 ,14,20
Claim 2
Claim 6,20
Claim 4
Claim 7,11
Claim 5
Claim 9,10,12
Claim 1,8
Claim 13,17
Claim 18
Patent No. US,11,924,872B2 does not explicitly disclose sharing network bandwidth of the beam to a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft based on the service priority factor where the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the first aircraft.
Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of in view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1) teaches sharing network bandwidth of the beam to a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft based on the service priority factor but does not teach, the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the first aircraft
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Patent No. US,11,924,872B2 to add choosing a beam based on priority of Patent No. US,11,924,872B2 in view of Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in further view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1) to determine the priority additionally based on altitude.
RESPONSE TO ARGUMENTS
Applicant arguments dated 3/23/2026 have been reviewed and amendments rejected with new art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 15 and 19 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.
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) 1,2,3,7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1) in further view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1)
Regarding Claim 1, Treesh teaches, A method for prioritization in an aeronautical satellite network system, the method comprising: (Fig1 shows aircrafts 130-a, 130-n, satellite-105, beam handover manager-125 and beams-145).
determining a (Fig9 obtain beam utilization score (=network utilization of beam) indicative of predicted beam utilization over the service timeframe. [0026]-predicted beam utilization of a candidate satellite beam may be based on the predicted network demands for any multi-user access terminals 170 [0017] candidate satellite beams for providing network service for a plurality of aircraft. (=plurality of aircraft);
determining whether a network demand in the beam indicated by network utilization is greater than capacity of the beam; (Fig10- step 1015-Beam Utilization Scores Meet Criteria. [0047]- load-balancing criteria such as a beam utilization of a satellite beam exceeding a capacity threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold (=greater than capacity of beam), a number of users of a satellite beam exceeding a user threshold, a change in capacity demand for one or more satellite beams exceeding a threshold),
and using the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the threshold and the capacity utilization for the beam to determine a service priority factor([73]- an aircraft entering a new beam, beam utilization of a beam exceeding a threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold.[74]- Beam utilization score calculator 740 may calculate a beam utilization score(=service priority factor) for each candidate satellite beam determined by candidate satellite beam assigner 730. The beam utilization score may be determined by a variety of factors as described above.)
upon determining the network demand in the beam indicated by the (Fig10 -block 1025, [87]- a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam of the plurality of satellite beams exceeding an aircraft threshold, and [0091] In one example, beam handover manager 125 creates a ranked list of the identified aircraft based on a beam flexibility metric(=service priority factor) associated with each of the identified aircraft at block 1025. )
Treesh does not explicitly teach, determining a current network utilization.
Monstsma teaches, determining a current network utilization. [41]- The satellite beam load inspector 416 monitors the satellites in the group of satellites 402 to collect load information.[55]- In at least one implementation, monitoring operation 706 collects information indirectly about the load on each of the satellites in the group of satellites 402 by collecting information from an aircraft that is connected to a respective satellite… One type of information that monitoring operation 706 can collect via in-flight aircraft are the data rates for uplink and downlink with a satellite that the aircraft has experienced while connected to the satellite.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh, determining a current network utilization as taught by Montsma to current utilization rather then predicted data so aircraft does not fly blind.
Treesh in view of Montsma teaches sharing network bandwidth of the beam but does not teach sharing network bandwidth of the beam to a first aircraft of the plurality of aircraft based on the service priority factor where the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the first aircraft.
Xue teaches, allocating ([74] The assignment of the target beam and priority beam list can be determined based on the UE location and DSS locations(=where the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the first aircraft). Once the target beam is determined, the UE may gradually switch to the next target beam based on the velocity vs. the same DSS. The UE may detect a sharp turn or elevation changes detected by the orientation sensor and set a new target beam based on the change vector of the Azimuth and Elevation angles.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh, sharing priority factor where the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the first aircraft as taught by Xue to add altitude to select service priority factor to adjust the capacity in beams.
Regarding Claim 2,Treesh does not teach, The method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor depends on an altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam
Xue teaches, The method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor depends on altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam. [25] The system 100 may include multiple UEs 110, 140. In some aspects, one or both the UEs 110, 140 may be communication devices that communicate with each other directly (e.g., via P2P or other short range communication protocol) or via one or more short range or long range wireless networks 130.[35] The autonomous aerial UEs may include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh, The method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor depends on altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam as taught by Xue to add altitude to select service priority factor to adjust the capacity in beams.
Regarding Claim 3, Treesh teaches, The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a report of a number of the plurality of aircraft above and a number of the plurality of aircraft below an altitude threshold on a per beam basis; [75]- In another technique, optimization manager may receive aircraft flexibility information from aircraft flexibility manager 770 that indicates which aircraft associated with a satellite beam has the highest flexibility in being assigned to another candidate satellite beam.Flexibility information is the report.
([73]- an aircraft entering a new beam, beam utilization of a beam exceeding a threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold.[74]- Beam utilization score calculator 740 may calculate a beam utilization score(=service priority factor) for each candidate satellite beam determined by candidate satellite beam assigner 730. The beam utilization score may be determined by a variety of factors as described above.)
receiving a capacity utilization for the beam;[47] The trigger may also occur based on load-balancing criteria such as a beam utilization of a satellite beam exceeding a capacity threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold, a number of users of a satellite beam exceeding a user threshold,
using the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the altitude threshold and the capacity utilization for the beam to determine the service priority factor. ([73]- an aircraft entering a new beam, beam utilization of a beam exceeding a threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold.[74]- Beam utilization score calculator 740 may calculate a beam utilization score(=service priority factor) for each candidate satellite beam determined by candidate satellite beam assigner 730. The beam utilization score may be determined by a variety of factors as described above.)
Regarding Claim 7, Treesh teaches, The method according to claim 1 further comprising: upon determining network demand in the beam is less than capacity serving an entire bandwidth to each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft. ([0022]-graphical area and frequency re - use within the covered area. Frequency re - use in multi - beam satellite systems permits an increase in capacity of the system for a given system bandwidth).
Claim(s) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of in view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1) Xue et al. (US20200413267A1)in further view of PHUYAL et al. (US 2018 / 0324580 A1)
Regarding Claim 4, Treesh in view of Kumar does not teach, The method according to claim 3, wherein the altitude threshold includes a hysteresis.
Phuyal teaches, The method according to claim 3, wherein the altitude threshold includes a hysteresis. ([0104]- the minimum height threshold for implementing a handover protocol transition may be augmented for UE. [0097]- the flying state handover protocol may be configured with new hysteresis and threshold parameters related to handover that are customized for expected conditions associated with in - flight drone - coupled UEs).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Ei, The method according to claim 3, wherein the altitude threshold includes a hysteresis as taught by Phuyal to add altitude threshold using hysteresis to parametrize threshold calculation.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1) in further view of Holtzman et al. (US 6,404,760 B1)
Regarding Claim 6, Treesh in view of Kumar does not teach, the method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam.
Holtzman teaches, the method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam. (Col 9-L10-15, the weight is derived by using the estimate of pilot Signal Strength as an argument in a polynomial function, which may be a linear function. Col 8-L53-65 A weight is derived by comparing the Signal estimate from a first correlator 402 (FIG. 4) with an estimate of pilot Signal Strength where rank orders signals received via a common channel from strongest to weakest (=service priority).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Kumar the method according to claim 1, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam as taught by Holtzman to add linear functions to determining service priority.
Claim(s) 8-13,17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1) in further view of Xu et al. (US2013/0279334A1) in further view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1)
Regarding Claim 8, Treesh teaches, An aeronautical satellite network system comprising: a terrestrial gateway configured to communicate with a satellite; (Fig1 shows aircrafts 130-a, 130-n, satellite-105, beam handover manager-125(=gateway for this rejection) and beams-145).
a mobility network access point configured to provide network resources to a plurality of aircraft through the terrestrial gateway; ([0026]-The predicted beam utilization of a candidate satellite beam may be based on the predicted network demands for any multi - user access terminals 170(=mobility network access point). When is it time for handover, the beam handover manager 125(=gateway) can then notify the aircraft 130 by communicating a message via the satellite communications system 100 to the corresponding multi - user access terminal 170 indicating the selected satellite beam).
Treesh does not teach, where the service priority factor depends on the altitude of the first aircraft
Xue teaches, where the service priority factor depends on the altitude of the first aircraft .([74] The assignment of the target beam and priority beam list can be determined based on the UE location and DSS locations. Once the target beam is determined, the UE may gradually switch to the next target beam based on the velocity vs. the same DSS. The UE may detect a sharp turn or elevation changes detected by the orientation sensor and set a new target beam based on the change vector of the Azimuth and Elevation angles.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh where the service priority factor depends on the altitude of the first aircraft as taught by Xue to add altitude to determine service priority factor.
Treesh in view of Xue does not teach, wherein the aggregator configured to receive a current capacity utilization of network communication to the plurality of aircraft within a beam of the satellite and determine based a service priority factor ;wherein the mobility network access point is configured to allocate network bandwidth of the beam to the plurality of aircraft within the beam based on the service
Xu teaches, wherein the aggregator configured to receive a current capacity utilization of network communication to the plurality of aircraft within a beam of the satellite and determine based a service priority factor, ([0052]- [0053], Further, each IPGW can serve as an aggregation node(=aggregator) for a multitude of remote nodes or STs. The data transmission can be based, at least in part, for example, on dynamic load balancing to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels (=service priority factor) of the traffic loads, transmitted from a GW for an IPGW, IPGW (=receive capacity information),
wherein the mobility network access point is configured to allocate network bandwidth of the beam to the plurality of aircraft within the beam based on the service priority factor. ([0022] wherein the controller determines priority levels (=service priority factor) for a plurality of traffic flows from a plurality of terminals in the communications system, and assigns the traffic flows to a plurality of transmission channels (= beams to plurality of aircraft) using a load balancing scheme to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels. Though Xu does not teach “plurality of aircraft”, it does teach a satellite system in Fig 1B and [0049] with Satellite communications system 130 includes a satellite 132 that supports communications among multiple satellite terminals (STs) 134a-134n, a number of gateways (GWs) 138a–138m. Here “multiple satellite terminals (STs) 134a-134n” can be analogous to “plurality of aircraft” receiving “plurality of transmission channels”).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xue, wherein the aggregator configured to receive a current capacity utilization of network communication to the plurality of aircraft within a beam of the satellite and determine based a service priority factor ;wherein the mobility network access point is configured to allocate network bandwidth of the beam to the plurality of aircraft within the beam based on the service as taught by Xu to add altitude to determine service priority factor.
Treesh in view of Xu and Xue does not explicitly teach, determining a current network utilization.
Monstsma teaches, determining a current network utilization. [41]- The satellite beam load inspector 416 monitors the satellites in the group of satellites 402 to collect load information.[55]- In at least one implementation, monitoring operation 706 collects information indirectly about the load on each of the satellites in the group of satellites 402 by collecting information from an aircraft that is connected to a respective satellite… One type of information that monitoring operation 706 can collect via in-flight aircraft are the data rates for uplink and downlink with a satellite that the aircraft has experienced while connected to the satellite.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xu and Xue, determining a current network utilization as taught by Montsma to current utilization rather then predicted data so aircraft does not fly blind.
Regarding Claim 9, Treesh does not teach, The aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the service priority factor depends on altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam
Xue teaches, The aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the service priority factor depends on altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam. [25] The system 100 may include multiple UEs 110, 140. In some aspects, one or both the UEs 110, 140 may be communication devices that communicate with each other directly (e.g., via P2P or other short range communication protocol) or via one or more short range or long range wireless networks 130.[35] The autonomous aerial UEs may include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh, The aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the service priority factor depends on altitude of the plurality of aircraft in the beam as taught by Xue to add altitude to select service priority factor to adjust the capacity in beams.
Regarding Claim 10, Treesh teaches, The aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the beam basis and [75]- In another technique, optimization manager may receive aircraft flexibility information from aircraft flexibility manager 770 that indicates which aircraft associated with a satellite beam has the highest flexibility in being assigned to another candidate satellite beam.Flexibility information is the report
([73]- an aircraft entering a new beam, beam utilization of a beam exceeding a threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold.[74]- Beam utilization score calculator 740 may calculate a beam utilization score(=service priority factor) for each candidate satellite beam determined by candidate satellite beam assigner 730. The beam utilization score may be determined by a variety of factors as described above.)
uses the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the altitude threshold and ([73]- an aircraft entering a new beam, beam utilization of a beam exceeding a threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold.[74]- Beam utilization score calculator 740 may calculate a beam utilization score(=service priority factor) for each candidate satellite beam determined by candidate satellite beam assigner 730. The beam utilization score may be determined by a variety of factors as described above.)
the capacity utilization for the beam to determine the service priority factor. The trigger may also occur based on load-balancing criteria such as a beam utilization of a satellite beam exceeding a capacity threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold, a number of users of a satellite beam exceeding a user threshold,
Treesh does not teach, the aggregator
Xu teaches, the aggregator ([0052]- [0053], Further, each IPGW can serve as an aggregation node(=aggregator) for a multitude of remote nodes or STs. The data transmission can be based, at least in part, for example, on dynamic load balancing to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels (=service priority factor) of the traffic loads, transmitted from a GW for an IPGW, IPGW (=receive capacity information).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh the aggregator as taught by Xu to add altitude to determine service priority factor.
Regarding Claim 11, Treesh in view of Xue does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the aggregator is further configured to use the current capacity utilization for the beam to determine the service priority factor.
Xu teaches, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the aggregator is further configured to use the ([52]- [53], Further, each IPGW can serve as an aggregation node(=aggregator) for a multitude of remote nodes or STs. The data transmission can be based, at least in part, for example, on dynamic load balancing to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels (=service priority factor) of the traffic loads, transmitted from a GW for an IPGW, IPGW (=receive capacity information),
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xue, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the aggregator is further configured to use the capacity utilization for the beam to determine the service priority factor as taught by Xu to add capacity scores for priority of service.
Treesh in view of Xu does not explicitly teach, determining a current network utilization.
Monstsma teaches, determining a current network utilization. [41]- The satellite beam load inspector 416 monitors the satellites in the group of satellites 402 to collect load information.[55]- In at least one implementation, monitoring operation 706 collects information indirectly about the load on each of the satellites in the group of satellites 402 by collecting information from an aircraft that is connected to a respective satellite… One type of information that monitoring operation 706 can collect via in-flight aircraft are the data rates for uplink and downlink with a satellite that the aircraft has experienced while connected to the satellite.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xu, determining a current network utilization as taught by Montsma to current utilization rather then predicted data so aircraft does not fly blind.
Regarding Claim 12, Treesh in view of Xue does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, further comprising: a plurality of network Internet Protocol (IP) processors; wherein the aggregator is configured to: receive capacity utilization reports of network utilization by the plurality of aircraft, create an aggregate report of network utilization, use the aggregate report to determine the service priority factor, and send the service priority factor to the network IP processors.
Xu teaches, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, further comprising: a plurality of network Internet Protocol (IP) processors; ([0024]- Also, the communications system for load balancing can comprise a computer network system, and the controller can comprise one or more processors in the computer system);
wherein the aggregator is configured to: receive capacity utilization reports of a ([0052]- [0053], Further, each IPGW can serve as an aggregation node(=aggregator) for a multitude of remote nodes or STs. The data transmission can be based, at least in part, for example, on dynamic load balancing to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels (=service priority factor) of the traffic loads, transmitted from a GW for an IPGW, IPGW (=receive capacity information).
create an aggregate report of the ([0053]- The data transmission can be based, at least in part, for example, on dynamic load balancing to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels (=service priority factor) of the traffic loads);
and send the service priority factor to the plurality of network IP processors. ([0136] FIG.10 illustrates an exemplary chip set, or controller, 1000 in or upon which exemplary embodiments according to and aspects of the invention can be implemented. Such as a controller for controlling traffic load in a communications system, the controller including a processor for performing operations and processing information for traffic load control).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xue does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, further comprising: a plurality of network Internet Protocol (IP) processors; wherein the aggregator, The aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, further comprising: a plurality of network Internet Protocol (IP) processors; wherein the aggregator is configured to: receive capacity utilization reports of network utilization by the plurality of aircraft, create an aggregate report of network utilization, use the aggregate report to determine the service priority factor, and send the service priority factor to the network IP processors as taught by Xu to add capacity scores for priority of service.
Treesh in view of Xu does not explicitly teach, determining a current network utilization.
Monstsma teaches, determining a current network utilization. [41]- The satellite beam load inspector 416 monitors the satellites in the group of satellites 402 to collect load information.[55]- In at least one implementation, monitoring operation 706 collects information indirectly about the load on each of the satellites in the group of satellites 402 by collecting information from an aircraft that is connected to a respective satellite… One type of information that monitoring operation 706 can collect via in-flight aircraft are the data rates for uplink and downlink with a satellite that the aircraft has experienced while connected to the satellite.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xu, determining a current network utilization as taught by Montsma to current utilization rather then predicted data so aircraft does not fly blind.
Regarding Claim 13, Treesh in view of Xue does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of network IP processors use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors.
Xu teaches, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of network IP processors use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors. ([0047]-aspects of load balancing according to the invention can be implemented, can include a shared bandwidth (=limited bandwidth) network for data transmission that comprises a broadband satellite communications system).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of in view of Xue, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of network IP processors use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors as taught by Xu to add capacity scores for priority of service.
Regarding Claim 17, Treesh teaches, The aeronautical satellite network system of claim 10 wherein the mobility network access point is configured to determine network demand in the beam is less than the capacity and serves an entire bandwidth to each aircraft of the plurality of aircraft. ([0021]-graphical area and frequency re - use within the covered area. Frequency re - use in multi - beam satellite systems permits an increase in capacity of the system for a given system bandwidth).
Claim(s) 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Xu et al. (US2013/0279334A1) in further view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1)
Regarding Claim 18, Treesh teaches, An aeronautical satellite network system comprising: (Fig1 shows aircrafts 130-a, 130-n, satellite-105, beam handover manager-125 and beams-145).
a terrestrial gateway configured to communicate with a satellite; a mobility network access point configured to provide network resources to a plurality of aircraft through the terrestrial gateway; ([0026]-The predicted beam utilization of a candidate satellite beam may be based on the predicted network demands for any multi - user access terminals 170(=mobility network access point). When is it time for handover, the beam handover manager 125(=gateway) can then notify the aircraft 130 by communicating a message via the satellite communications system 100 to the corresponding multi - user access terminal 170 indicating the selected satellite beam).
receive a report of a number of the plurality of aircraft above and a number of the plurality of aircraft below an altitude threshold on a per beam basis, use the number of the plurality of aircraft above and the number of the plurality of aircraft below the altitude threshold and the capacity utilization for a beam to determine a service priority factor, and([73]- an aircraft entering a new beam, beam utilization of a beam exceeding a threshold, a number of aircraft serviced by a satellite beam exceeding an aircraft threshold.[74]- Beam utilization score calculator 740 may calculate a beam utilization score(=service priority factor) for each candidate satellite beam determined by candidate satellite beam assigner 730. The beam utilization score may be determined by a variety of factors as described above.) [75]- In another technique, optimization manager may receive aircraft flexibility information from aircraft flexibility manager 770 that indicates which aircraft associated with a satellite beam has the highest flexibility in being assigned to another candidate satellite beam. Flexibility information is the report
Treesh does not teach, a plurality of network Internet Protocol processors in the mobility network access point; an aggregator configured to: receive network capacity utilization reports of network utilization by the plurality of aircraft, send the service priority factor to the network IP processors; wherein the plurality of network IP processors are configured to use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft of the plurality of aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors.
Xu teaches, a plurality of network Internet protocol(IP) processors in the mobility network access point; an aggregator configured to: receive ([52]- [53], Further, each IPGW can serve as an aggregation node(=aggregator) for a multitude of remote nodes or STs. The data transmission can be based, at least in part, for example, on dynamic load balancing to load balance the traffic flows based on the determined priority levels (=service priority factor) of the traffic loads, transmitted from a GW for an IPGW, IPGW (=receive capacity information), [0058] -processors for IPGW.
send the service priority factor to the plurality of network IP processors; 17PATENTP2020-11-08/080115-046 wherein the plurality of network IP processors are configured to use the service priority factor to allocate bandwidth to individual aircraft of the plurality of aircraft within the beam and serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors. ([0047]-aspects of load balancing according to the invention can be implemented, can include a shared bandwidth (=limited bandwidth) network for data transmission that comprises a broadband satellite communications system).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh, a plurality of network IP processors in the mobility network access point; an aggregator configured to: receive network capacity utilization reports of network utilization by the plurality of aircraft, send the service priority factor to the network IP processors; 17PATENTP2020-11-08/080115-046 wherein the plurality of network IP processors are configured to use the service priority factor to limit bandwidth to individual aircraft of the plurality of aircraft serviced by each of the plurality of network IP processors as taught by Xu to add capacity scores for priority of service.
Treesh in view of Xu does not explicitly teach, determining a current network utilization.
Monstsma teaches, determining a current network utilization. [41]- The satellite beam load inspector 416 monitors the satellites in the group of satellites 402 to collect load information.[55]- In at least one implementation, monitoring operation 706 collects information indirectly about the load on each of the satellites in the group of satellites 402 by collecting information from an aircraft that is connected to a respective satellite… One type of information that monitoring operation 706 can collect via in-flight aircraft are the data rates for uplink and downlink with a satellite that the aircraft has experienced while connected to the satellite.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xu , determining a current network utilization as taught by Montsma to current utilization rather then predicted data so aircraft does not fly blind.
Claim(s) 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1) in further view of Xu et al. (US2013/0279334A1) in further view of PHUYAL et al. (US 2018 / 0324580 A1) in further view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1)
Regarding Claim 14, Treesh in view of Xue in further view of Xu does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the altitude threshold includes a hysteresis.
Phuyal teaches, the method according to claim 8, wherein the altitude threshold includes a hysteresis. ([0104]- the minimum height threshold for implementing a handover protocol transition may be augmented for UE. [0097]- the flying state handover protocol may be configured with new hysteresis and threshold parameters related to handover that are customized for expected conditions associated with in - flight drone - coupled UEs).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xue in further view of, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the altitude threshold includes a hysteresis as taught by Phuyal to add altitude threshold using hysteresis to parametrize threshold calculation.
Claim(s) 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Xue et al. (US20200413267A1) in further view of Xu et al. (US2013/0279334A1) in further view of Holtzman et al. (US 6,404,760 B1) in further view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1)
Regarding Claim 16, Treesh in view of Xue in further view of Xu does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam.
Holtzman teaches, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on the (Col 9-L10-15, the weight is derived by using the estimate of pilot Signal Strength as an argument in a polynomial function, which may be a linear function. Col 8-L53-65 A weight is derived by comparing the Signal estimate from a first correlator 402 (FIG. 4) with an estimate of pilot Signal Strength where rank orders signals received via a com mon channel from strongest to weakest (=service priority).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xue and Xu in further view of Lekutai, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 8, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam as taught by Holtzman to add linear functions to determining service priority.
Treesh in view of Xue in further view of Xu and Holtzman does not explicitly teach, determining a current network utilization.
Monstsma teaches, determining a current network utilization. [41]- The satellite beam load inspector 416 monitors the satellites in the group of satellites 402 to collect load information.[55]- In at least one implementation, monitoring operation 706 collects information indirectly about the load on each of the satellites in the group of satellites 402 by collecting information from an aircraft that is connected to a respective satellite… One type of information that monitoring operation 706 can collect via in-flight aircraft are the data rates for uplink and downlink with a satellite that the aircraft has experienced while connected to the satellite.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xue in further view of Xu and Holtzman, determining a current network utilization as taught by Montsma to current utilization rather then predicted data so aircraft does not fly blind.
Claim(s) 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treesh (US 2019/0222299A1) (hereinafter “Treesh”) in view of Xu et al. (US2013/0279334A1) in further view of Holtzman et al. (US 6,404,760 B1) in further view of Montsma et al.( US20190191334A1)
Regarding Claim 20, Treesh in view of Xu in further view of Xu does not teach, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 18, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam.
Holtzman teaches, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 18, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam. (Col 9-L10-15, the weight is derived by using the estimate of pilot Signal Strength as an argument in a polynomial function, which may be a linear function. Col 8-L53-65 A weight is derived by comparing the Signal estimate from a first correlator 402 (FIG. 4) with an estimate of pilot Signal Strength where rank orders signals received via a com mon channel from strongest to weakest (=service priority).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Treesh in view of Xu in further view of Xue, the aeronautical satellite network system of claim 18, wherein the service priority factor is a linear function based on a capacity utilization of the beam as taught by Holtzman to add linear functions to determining service priority.
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 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 mailing date of this final action
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/ANINDITA SEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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