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 .
Claims 1-19 and 23 are pending.
Claims 20-22 have been cancelled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claims are directed towards non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 23 recites “A computer readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a base station to implement a mobility management method comprising:”. The specification, however, is silent as to whether this computer readable storage medium is transitory or non-transitory. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable storage medium typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable storage medium, particularly when the specification is silent. See MPEP 2111.01.
Note that signal claims are not directed to a process since they do not cover an act or series of acts. No part of the signal is a mechanical “device” or “part.” A propagating electromagnetic signal is not a “machine” as that term is used in § 101. Signals, standing alone, are not “manufacture[s]” under the meaning of that term in § 101. A signal comprising a fluctuation in electric potential or in electromagnetic fields is not a “chemical union,” nor a gas, fluid, powder, or solid. Signals are not “composition[s] of matter.” Thus, a transitory, propagating signal is not a “process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Those four categories define the explicit scope and reach of subject matter patentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101; thus, such a signal cannot be patentable subject matter. (see In re Nuijten, 500 F. 3d 1346 1356 n.7 (Fed. Cir 2007).
In view of the above analysis, claim 23 is ineligible for patent protection as failing to be limited to embodiments which fall within a statutory category.
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 6, 11-14, 17, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI (Pub. No.: US 20210211946 A1), hereinafter LI, in view of MA et al. (Pub. No.: US 20230209394 A1), hereinafter MA.
With respect to claim 1, LI teaches A mobility management system of a base station ([0008], base station), comprising:
data acquiring circuitry configured to acquire position data of a connected target terminal in a cell of the base station ([0151-0152], acquiring position data / current movement trajectory of the terminal), and based on the acquired position data, generate a moving track of the target terminal ([0155-0157], generating a moving track / historical movement trajectory of the terminal) and determine a speed of the target terminal ([0156], current movement speed is obtained);
track model selecting circuitry configured to, based on a matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to at least one track model corresponding to the speed of the target terminal, select a specific track model of which the matching degree meets a first preset condition from among the at least one track model ([0155-0157], selecting the historical movement trajectory of which the matching degree meets a first preset condition from among the at least one track model), and obtain an initial matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the specific track model ([0155-0157], obtaining an initial matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the specific track model);
mobility management circuitry configured to predict future position data of the target terminal based on the specific track model, update the initial matching degree based on the predicted future position data ([0139], predict a future possible movement trajectory according to the matched historical movement trajectories), based on the predicted future position data ([0139], predict a future possible movement trajectory), and determine whether the target terminal is to be connected to another base station according to the specific track model based on the updated matching degree ([0075], determining the terminal is to be connected to another base station according to the specific track model),
wherein each of the at least one track model defines a track for a terminal's handover from the base station to a different base station while traveling at the determined speed ([0157], the historical movement trajectory defines a track for a terminal's handover from the base station to a different base station while traveling at the determined speed), and of which an end point is a position at a time of the handover ([0139], a time taken to reach to the target cell, that is, the handover time).
LI does not explicitly teach updating the initial matching degree, and based on the updated matching degree.
However, MA teaches updating the initial matching degree ([0024], updating / adjusting the matching degree)., and based on the updated matching degree ([0024], based on the updating / adjusting the matching degree).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of MA, updating the initial matching degree, and based on the updated matching degree, into the teachings of LI, in order to match a QoS requirement of a service (MA, [0005]).
With respect to claim 2, the combination of LI and MA teaches the system of claim 1. LI teaches wherein the track model selecting circuitry is configured to determine the matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the at least one track model by: determining an overlapping degree of the moving track of the target terminal with each of the at least one track model ([0075], match the current movement trajectory with historical movement trajectories to obtain matching degrees).
With respect to claim 3, the combination of LI and MA teaches the system of claim 1. LI teaches a track storing circuitry configured to, when the target terminal handovers to the other base station ([0139-0140], terminal handovers to the other base station), store a predefined moving track of the target terminal in the cell as one of moving tracks corresponding to the speed of the target terminal and the other base station ([0113, 0155-0157, 0200], device stores a predefined moving track / historical movement trajectory of the target terminal in the cell as one of moving tracks corresponding to the speed of the target terminal and the other base station), wherein the predefined moving track is a set of position data that has passed a predetermined period before the handover time ([0155-0157, 0200], the predefined moving track track / historical movement trajectory is a set of position data that has passed a predetermined period before the handover time).
With respect to claim 6, the combination of LI and MA teaches the system of claim 1. LI teaches wherein the mobility management circuitry is configured to: when the updated matching degree meets a second preset condition, determine that the target terminal is to be connected to the other base station ([0075], determine the terminal is to be connected to the other base station).
LI does not explicitly teach when the updated matching degree meets a second preset condition.
However, MA teaches when the updated matching degree meets a second preset condition ([0024], based on the updating / adjusting the matching degree meets a second preset condition).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of MA, when the updated matching degree meets a second preset condition, and based on the updated matching degree, into the teachings of LI, in order to match a QoS requirement of a service (MA, [0005]).
With respect to claim 11, the combination of LI and MA teaches the system of claim 1. LI teaches acquire position data of the target terminal in the cell at a greater time interval than that before the specific track model is selected ([0151-0152], acquire position data / current movement trajectory of the target terminal in the cell at a greater time interval than that before the specific track model is selected).
With respect to claim 12, LI teaches A mobility management method of a base station ([0151-0152], a method), comprising:
acquiring position data of a connected target terminal in a cell of the base station ([0151-0152], acquiring position data / current movement trajectory of the terminal), and based on the acquired position data, generating a moving track of the target terminal ([0155-0157], generating a moving track / historical movement trajectory of the terminal) and determining a speed of the target terminal ([0156], current movement speed is obtained) ;
selecting, based on a matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to at least one track model corresponding to the speed of the target terminal, a specific track model of which the matching degree meets a first preset condition from among the at least one track model ([0155-0157], selecting the historical movement trajectory of which the matching degree meets a first preset condition from among the at least one track model), and obtaining an initial matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the specific track model ([0155-0157], obtaining an initial matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the specific track model);
predicting future position data of the target terminal based on the specific track model ([0139], predict a future possible movement trajectory according to the matched historical movement trajectories), based on the predicted future position data ([0139], predict a future possible movement trajectory), and determining whether the target terminal is to be connected to another base station according to the specific track model ([0075], determining the terminal is to be connected to another base station according to the specific track model),
wherein the each of the at least one track model defines a track for a terminal's handover from the base station to a different base station while traveling at the determined speed ([0157], the historical movement trajectory defines a track for a terminal's handover from the base station to a different base station while traveling at the determined speed), and of which an end point is a position at a time of the handover ([0139], a time taken to reach to the target cell, that is, the handover time).
LI does not explicitly teach updating the initial matching degree, and based on the updated matching degree.
However, MA teaches updating the initial matching degree ([0024], updating / adjusting the matching degree)., and based on the updated matching degree ([0024], based on the updating / adjusting the matching degree).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of MA, updating the initial matching degree, and based on the updated matching degree, into the teachings of LI, in order to match a QoS requirement of a service (MA, [0005]).
With respect to claim 13, this claim recites the system of claim 2, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 14, this claim recites the system of claim 3, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 17, this claim recites the system of claim 6, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 23, LI teaches A computer readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor ([0074], a processor; a memory configured to store processor-executable instructions), cause a base station to implement a mobility management method comprising ([0008], base station):
acquiring position data of a connected target terminal in a cell of the base station ([0151-0152], acquiring position data / current movement trajectory of the terminal), and based on the acquired position data, generating a moving track of the target terminal ([0155-0157], generating a moving track / historical movement trajectory of the terminal) and determining a speed of the target terminal ([0156], current movement speed is obtained) ;
selecting, based on a matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to at least one track model corresponding to the speed of the target terminal, a specific track model of which the matching degree meets a first preset condition from among the at least one track model ([0155-0157], selecting the historical movement trajectory of which the matching degree meets a first preset condition from among the at least one track model), and obtaining an initial matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the specific track model ([0155-0157], obtaining an initial matching degree of the moving track of the target terminal with respect to the specific track model);
predicting future position data of the target terminal based on the specific track model ([0139], predict a future possible movement trajectory according to the matched historical movement trajectories), based on the predicted future position data ([0139], predict a future possible movement trajectory), and determining whether the target terminal is to be connected to another base station according to the specific track model ([0075], determining the terminal is to be connected to another base station according to the specific track model),
wherein the each of the at least one track model defines a track for a terminal's handover from the base station to a different base station while traveling at the determined speed ([0157], the historical movement trajectory defines a track for a terminal's handover from the base station to a different base station while traveling at the determined speed), and of which an end point is a position at a time of the handover ([0139], a time taken to reach to the target cell, that is, the handover time).
LI does not explicitly teach updating the initial matching degree, and based on the updated matching degree.
However, MA teaches updating the initial matching degree ([0024], updating / adjusting the matching degree)., and based on the updated matching degree ([0024], based on the updating / adjusting the matching degree).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of MA, updating the initial matching degree, and based on the updated matching degree, into the teachings of LI, in order to match a QoS requirement of a service (MA, [0005]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI, in view of MA, and further in view of Gerstenberger et al. (Pub. No.: US 20120082058 A1), hereinafter Gerstenberger.
With respect to claim 10, the combination of LI and MA teaches the system of claim 1. LI teaches wherein when it is determined that the target terminal is to be connected to the other base station ([0075], determine the terminal is to be connected to the other base station), the target terminal is connected to the other base station by Dual Connective (DC) or Coordinated Multipoint (COMP) configuration ([0075], determine the terminal is to be connected to the other base station).
The combination of LI and MA does not explicitly teach the target terminal is connected to the other base station by Coordinated Multipoint (COMP) configuration.
However, Gerstenberger teaches the target terminal is connected to the other base station by Coordinated Multipoint (COMP) configuration ([0049], terminal is connected to the other base station by Coordinated Multipoint (COMP) configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Gerstenberger, the target terminal is connected to the other base station by Coordinated Multipoint (COMP) configuration, into the teachings of LI and MA, in order to improve mobility management--e.g., handover processing enhancement--by providing/utilizing additional information in combination with CoMP operation, for enhancing the handover procedure (Gerstenberger, [0016]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 7-9, 15-16, and 18-19 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pub. No.: US 20120178455 A1; “Sato”, ([0030])
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/KIET TANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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