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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 4/7/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-10 and 19-20 have been amended. Claims 17-18 have been cancelled. Claims 21-22 have been added. Claims 1-16 and 19-22 are still pending in this application, with claims 1, 10 and 21 being independent.
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.
Claims 1 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chauhan et al. (US 2021/0029584, hereinafter Chauhan) in view of Divvi et al. (US 2023/0300719, hereinafter Divvi).
Regarding claim 1, Chauhan discloses a method performed by a user equipment, comprising: obtaining, by the user equipment, a service set identifier (SSID) [Chauhan discloses that a Wi-Fi connection manager (see Chauhan Figure 5) may receive from the server, one or more SSID lists (Chauhan paragraph 0072). The connection manager (Figure 5) is part of system (500), which is part of a user equipment (see Chauhan Figure 2)];
Determining, by the user equipment, based on the obtaining of the SSID, that the SSID is linked to an access point name (APN) of a carrier, resulting in a first determination [Chauhan discloses that the connection manager client may identify an access point where each access point is associated with a user-defined SSID which may be stored at the UE (Chauhan paragraph 0064)]; and
Obtaining, by the user equipment, based on the first determination, access to a communication service of a network via the APN [Chauhan discloses an example method (Chauhan Fig. 6), where the connection manager may identify a Wi-Fi access point associated with the SSID, and establish a connection with the access point (i.e. obtain access to a communication service of a network via the access point) (see Chauhan Figure 6, paragraphs 0078 and 0079)].
Although Chauhan discloses that the connection manager (at the UE) identifies an access point associated with the SSID, and establishes a connection with the access point (see above), which implies that the SSID is linked to an access point name (APN); Chauhan does not expressly disclose the features of the SSID is linked to an access point name (APN) of a carrier.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Divvi discloses that a UE may receive a response from an access point and may receive SSID in the response (Divvi paragraph 0160, Figure 2B). The UE may associate with the selected network supported by the access point using the SSID name corresponding to the network provided by the access point (Divvi paragraph 0170). Thus, the UE obtains the SSID, and determines that the SSID is linked to an access point name of a carrier.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chauhan to have the features of the SSID is linked to an access point name (APN) of a carrier; as taught by Divvi. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide improved methods for automated network discovery and selection and to provide seamless connectivity of Wi-Fi devices (Divvi paragraph 0009).
Regarding claim 5, Chauhan and Divvi disclose the method of claim 1, Chauhan and Divvi further disclose wherein the network includes the Internet [Divvi discloses that after completing authentication, the UE can access the internet via access point (Divvi paragraph 0180, Figure 2C)]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Chauhan and Divvi disclose the method of claim 1, Chauhan and Divvi further disclose wherein the obtaining of the access to the communication service comprises establishing a communication session [As disclosed in Chauhan Figures 2B and 2C, the UE performs steps of association (step 2134, Figure 2B), Authentication and internet access (steps 2170 and 2176, Figure 2C); which indicates establishing a communication session]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 7, Chauhan and Divvi disclose the method of claim 6, Chauhan and Divvi further disclose wherein the communication session includes a data session [Chauhan discloses that the UE may determine that it wants to access internet. The operations disclosed in 2176 (Figure 2C) illustrate exchange of message including data (Chauhan paragraph 0182); which indicates a data session]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 6.
Regarding claim 8, Chauhan and Divvi disclose the method of claim 1, Chauhan and Divvi further disclose wherein the obtaining of the access to the communication service of the network is further based on the device successfully completing an authentication procedure [Chauhan discloses that the UE performs steps of association (step 2134, Figure 2B), Authentication and internet access (steps 2170 and 2176, Figure 2C); which indicates completing an authentication procedure]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chauhan in view of Divvi, and further in view of Chandrasekaran et al. (US 2022/0007175, hereinafter Chandrasekaran).
Regarding claim 2, Chauhan and Divvi disclose the method of claim 1, Chauhan and Divvi do not expressly disclose wherein the obtaining of the SSID comprises obtaining the SSID from a gateway or a router.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Chandrasekaran discloses that the gateway device may broadcast SSID for APD (access point device) (Chandrasekaran paragraph 0070).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chauhan and Divvi to have the feature of wherein the obtaining of the SSID comprises obtaining the SSID from a gateway or a router; as taught by Chandrasekaran. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide improved methods for onboarding AP devices to reduce complexity and cost in onboarding operations (Chandrasekaran paragraphs 0001 and 0092).
Regarding claim 3, Chauhan, Divvi and Chandrasekaran disclose the method of claim 2. Chauhan, Divvi and Chandrasekaran further disclose wherein the gateway or the router is located in a building [Chandrasekaran Figure 1A discloses a communication system where a gateway device 108 is located at a consumer premises (Chandrasekaran Figure 1A, paragraph 0031)]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 4, Chauhan, Divvi and Chandrasekaran disclose the method of claim 3. Chauhan, Divvi and Chandrasekaran further disclose wherein the building includes a residence, and wherein the residence is connected to network or system resources via a fiber link [Chandrasekaran Figure 1A discloses a communication system where a gateway device 108 is located at a consumer premises which may be a residential dwelling (Chandrasekaran Figure 1A, paragraph 0031). Content from service provider may be received by known methods such as terrestrial antenna, optical fibers, etc. (Chandrasekaran paragraph 0052)]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 3.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chauhan in view of Divvi, and further in view of Belghoul et al. (US 2020/0008007, hereinafter Belghoul).
Regarding claim 9, Chauhan and Divvi disclose the method of claim 8, Chauhan and Divvi do not expressly disclose wherein the authentication procedure is based on a validation of a credential associated with a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Belghoul discloses that a device may include additional SIM/eSIM in addition to a main SIM, and the provisioning server may use certificates for SIM/eSIM provisioning and may act as a trusted third party for the purpose of authenticating the entities of the network (Belghoul paragraph 0151).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chauhan and Divvi to have the features of wherein the authentication procedure is based on a validation of a credential associated with a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card; as taught by Belghoul. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide support in mobile devices for scalable neutral host, improved device mobility and efficiently connect with and operate on new networks (Belghoul paragraphs 0002 and 0007).
Claims 10-12 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Divvi et al. (US 2023/0300719, hereinafter Divvi) in view of Jayawardena et al. (US 2020/0162994, hereinafter Jayawardena).
Regarding claim 10, Divvi discloses a non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising [Divvi Figures 4 and 7 disclose components of an exemplary access point which may include a processor, memory, etc. The components may be implemented in software and stored in the memory, which may comprise a computer readable medium (Divvi Figures 4, 7; paragraphs 0288-0290)]:
Transmitting a first service set identifier (SSID) associated with a first cellular carrier, wherein the first SSID is associated with a first access point name (APN) of the first cellular carrier, thereby trigging execution of an authentication procedure by a first user equipment that receives the transmission to determine that the first SSID is associated with the first APN [Divvi discloses that a UE may receive a response from an access point and may receive SSID in the response (Divvi paragraph 0160, Figure 2B). The UE may associate with the selected network supported by the access point using the SSID name corresponding to the network provided by the access point (Divvi paragraph 0170). Divvi Figure 2B further discloses authentication procedures (Figure 2B, 2114), and further associates with the selected network supported by the access point using the SSID (Divvi Figure 2B, 2134; paragraphs 0163 and 0170)]; and
Subsequent to, and based on, the transmitting of the first SSID and the execution of the authentication procedure, routing first communication traffic obtained from the first user equipment to first network resources, the first network resources being associated with the first APN [Divvi Figures 2B and 2C disclose the steps of association, authentication and internet access (see Divvi Figures 2B, 2C, steps 2114, 2134, 2154 and 2188). These steps illustrate the exchange of messages including data (Divvi paragraph 0182)].
Divvi does not expressly disclose the features of transmitting a first SSID associated with a first cellular carrier; and the first SSID is associated with a first access point name of the first cellular carrier.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Jayawardena discloses that an SSID-to-APN table may be used to translate the SSID into a corresponding APN for a cellular communication system (Jayawardena paragraph 0022). Jayawardena further discloses that the devices with different application may connect to different APN; APN based service selection may provide scaling, and DNS and name authority resource types can be used to select the SGWs and PGWs for routing differentiations (Jayawardena paragraph 0045). Thus, a network resource is being associated with APN of the cellular carrier which provides the service to the client.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Divvi to have the features of transmitting a first SSID associated with a first cellular carrier; and the first SSID is associated with a first access point name of the first cellular carrier; as taught by Jayawardena. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide efficient and scalable routing techniques in the network (Jayawardena paragraph 0038).
Regarding claim 11, Divvi and Jayawardena disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10. Divvi and Jayawardena further disclose wherein the operations further comprise: routing second communication traffic obtained from the first network resources to the first user equipment [Jayawardena discloses that the network (e.g. Jayawardena Figure 2B) may include a combined Wi-Fi router and cellular modem. This combined router/modem may support cellular communications with one or more nodes of the guided wave system connected to the EPC. The combined router/modem may assign different SSIDs to handle multiple types of devices (Jayawardena paragraph 0042). In some examples, each device sharing a common SSID can share a common APN (Jayawardena paragraph 0043). As shown in the Figure 2B, the traffic may be exchanged between various IoT devices to other devices base on SSID and APN. This is similar to routing a second communication traffic (e.g. from a second user or client) from a first network resources to the first user]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 10.
Regarding claim 12, Divvi and Jayawardena disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11. Divvi and Jayawardena further disclose wherein the second communication traffic originates from a second user equipment [Jayawardena discloses that the network (e.g. Jayawardena Figure 2B) may include a combined Wi-Fi router and cellular modem. This combined router/modem may support cellular communications with one or more nodes of the guided wave system connected to the EPC. The combined router/modem may assign different SSIDs to handle multiple types of devices (Jayawardena paragraph 0042). In some examples, each device sharing a common SSID can share a common APN (Jayawardena paragraph 0043). As shown in the Figure 2B, the traffic may be exchanged between various IoT devices to other devices base on SSID and APN. This is similar to the second communication traffic originating from a second user or client]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 11.
Regarding claim 15, Divvi and Jayawardena disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10. Divvi and Jayawardena further disclose wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting a second SSID associated with the first cellular carrier; and subsequent to, and based on, the transmitting of the second SSID, routing second communication traffic obtained from a second user equipment to the first network resources [Jayawardena discloses that the combined router/modem may assign a set of SSIDs to each of the devices to multiple types of IoT devices or computer devices (Jayawardena paragraphs 0042); and each of the SSIDs may be mapped to an APN on the cellular side (Jayawardena paragraph 0043); indicating that a communication traffic may be obtained from a second user to the first resource. Jayawardena claim 7 also discloses that a message may be received which may include a second SSID]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 10.
Regarding claim 16, Divvi and Jayawardena disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15. Divvi and Jayawardena further disclose wherein the first network resources are associated with a second APN of the first cellular carrier, the second APN being different from the first APN [Jayawardena discloses that the combined router/modem may assign a set of SSIDs to each of the devices to multiple types of IoT devices or computer devices (Jayawardena paragraphs 0042); and each of the SSIDs may be mapped to an APN on the cellular side (Jayawardena paragraph 0043). In some cases, the APN approach is used to allow the use to connect to various networks by associating APNs with PGWs (Jayawardena paragraph 0040); which indicates that the second APN being different from the first APN]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 15.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Divvi in view of Jayawardena, and further in view of Belghoul et al. (US 2020/0008007, hereinafter Belghoul).
Regarding claim 13, Divvi and Jayawardena disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12. Divvi and Jayawardena further disclose that an access point name may be included in a set of access point names of a cellular communication system (Jayawardena paragraph 0021). Divvi and Jayawardena do not expressly disclose wherein the second user equipment obtains access to communication services via a second cellular carrier that is different from the first cellular carrier.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Belghoul discloses that cellular communication circuitry may be configured for multiple RATs – e.g. a first RAT could be LTE/LTE-A, and a second may be 5G NR (Belghoul paragraphs 0136 and 0139). Thus, a use may obtain access to communication services via a second cellular carrier that is different from the first.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Divvi and Jayawardena to have the features of wherein the second user equipment obtains access to communication services via a second cellular carrier that is different from the first cellular carrier; as taught by Belghoul. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide support in mobile devices for scalable neutral host, improved device mobility and efficiently connect with and operate on new networks (Belghoul paragraphs 0002 and 0007).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Divvi in view of Jayawardena, and further in view of Chandrasekaran.
Regarding claim 14, Divvi and Jayawardena disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10. Divvi and Jayawardena do not expressly disclose wherein the transmitting of the first SSID comprises broadcasting the first SSID.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Chandrasekaran discloses that the gateway device may broadcast SSID for APD (access point device) (Chandrasekaran paragraph 0070).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Divvi and Jayawardena to have the feature of wherein the transmitting of the first SSID comprises broadcasting the first SSID; as taught by Chandrasekaran. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide improved methods for onboarding AP devices to reduce complexity and cost in onboarding operations (Chandrasekaran paragraphs 0001 and 0092).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-22 are allowed. Claim 21 and its dependent thereof are allowable because the closest prior art, either alone or in combination, fails to anticipate or render obvious the features of determine a condition, the condition being whether the first SSID corresponds to a second SSID that is stored by the processing system and is linked to an access point name (APN) of a cellular carrier, resulting in a determination of whether the condition is true or false; obtain access to a communication service via first network resources of the cellular carrier when the determination is that the condition is true; and obtain access to the communication service via second network resources of a wireless local area network or via third network resources of a radio access network when the determination is that the condition is false; in combination with all other limitations in the claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 4/7/2026 with respect to claim rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The rejection has been revised according to the amended claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SAUMIT SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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