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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-6, 21-24 are subject to examination. Claims 7-20 are cancelled.
Priority
The claim for domestic priority (PRO 63/444,987 02/12/2023), as claimed in this application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) is acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I invention (claims 1-6) in the reply filed on 2/9/26 is acknowledged.
Specification
The title is objected to because the title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. The present title is well known in the art (please see cited arts), too broad and not sufficient for proper classification of the claimed subject matter. The title should also reflect claimed invention,
STORE AND FORWARD SERVICE VIA SATELLITE ACCESS USING CONTAINER WITH A PACKET AND A MAC, please refer to MPEP 606 for title contents.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The figures submitted on the filing date of this application are acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
An initialed and dated copy of the applicant’s IDS form 1449 (dated 10/20/24), is attached to the instant Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 21, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over QAISE et al., WO 2020074745 A1 in view of Jain et al., 20210204011, SHRESTHA et al., 20220109496, Sherkin et al 20210409215 and Hawkinson et al., 20220174067.
Referring to claim(s) 1, QAISE substantially discloses, a method of performing a store and forward service for mobile terminated messages to user equipment via satellite access, the method comprising: (
Figure 1 illustrates is the Store-and-forward architecture. It shows a non-terrestrial cellular data network 100 comprising a terminal device 110 and a satellite -based base station 120, para) col., 5, lines 29-30
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receiving, by a home network of the user equipment, a first message request from an application server, determining, by the home network, whether the user equipment supports the
store and forward service via satellite access, in an instance the user equipment supports the store and forward service, store and forward towards the user equipment, for the gateway to store and forward towards the user equipment (
at least one satellite hosting a base station, characterized in that the terminal device is attached to said network by a communication channel between said terminal device and said base station,
or a store and forward architecture SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function) components shall be a part of the EPC of the S-NB-loT system. This connection between the SCEF and the application servers is, on a terrestrial LTE/NB-loT network, a permanent connection. ft is proposed that the SCEF functions be modified to accommodate for, but not limited to the functions of, buffering of non-lP user data in SCEF from multiple users, mimicking the connection between SCEF and Application Servers on the ground station in the absence of an intersatellite link ln the presence of an available link the link between the SCEF and the application servers may be made permanent, last para, page 7)
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QAISE does not specifically mention about, which is well-known in the art, which Jain discloses, that includes a secured packet destined for the user equipment via satellite access, para 35. 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 the invention disclosed by QAISE to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the secured packet. QAISE discloses usage of well-known securing a packet, which is used for packet switching. The secured packet would be further secured using the container for communication among devices, para 35.
QAISE and Jain do not specifically mention about, which is well-known in the art, which SHRESTHA discloses, integrity protecting the secured packet at the home network, sending, by the home network to a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) gateway of a NTN radio access network node of a serving network of the user equipment, a second message request (para 196, 105). 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 the invention disclosed by QAISE to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the integrity protecting the packet. This would ensure that the packet’s data has not been altered in any way during transmission from sender to receiver. The gateway, which connects the satellite to the network would enable receiving packet forwarded to the destination, para 196, 105.
QAISE, SHRESTHA and Jain do not specifically mention about, which is well-known in the art, which Sherkin discloses, a well-known use of deriving a first message authentication code based on the secured packet and a home network key (para 63).
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 the invention disclosed by QAISE to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the deriving a first message authentication code. This would enable generating the authentication for a message using a secret key and a MAC algorithm, so that the receiver can verify the message’s authenticity and integrity, para 63.
QAISE, SHRESTHA, Sherkin and Jain do not specifically mention about, which is well-known in the art, which Hawkinson discloses, a well-known use of home network container, the home network container comprising the secured packet and the first message authentication code (para 15, 6).
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 the invention disclosed by QAISE to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the container. A container is a structure in which a code is carried along with the message so that the receiver can correctly compute and verify it. This “container” is a format or wrapper that holds the code and the message together for secure transmission or storage. Para 15, 6.
Referring to claim(s) 6, QAISE discloses, wherein determining whether the user equipment
supports the store and forward service via satellite access comprises: receiving, by the home network, a store and forward support indicator indicating whether the user equipment supports the store and forward service via satellite access during primary authentication of the user equipment, last para, page 7.
Referring to claim(s) 21, the apparatus claim is rejected for the same rejections and reasons as per the rejected method claim 1.
Claim(s) 22, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHRESTHA in view of Sherkin and XIANG et al., WO 2021243343 A2.
Referring to claim 22, SHRESTHA discloses a user equipment comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform operations, the operations comprising: (abstract),
receiving, from a NTN satellite of NTN radio access network node of the serving network of
the user equipment, a home network information (para 163).
SHRESTHA does not disclose, which Sherkin discloses, the secured packet (abstract) and the first message authentication code (para 23), perform integrity verification of the secured packet (para 44) comprised by: deriving a second message authentication code based on the secured packet and the
home network key (para 63); comparing the second message authentication code with the first message
authentication code received; (para 63) and verifying integrity of the secured packet when the second message authentication code matches the first message authentication code (para 63).
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 the invention disclosed by SHRESTHA to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the integrity protecting the packet. This would ensure that the packet’s data has not been altered in any way during transmission from sender to receiver. The device which connects the satellite to the network would enable receiving packet forwarded to the destination in a secure manner, para 63.
SHRESTHA and Sherkin do not disclose, which XIANG discloses, in the home network container, lines 20-30, page 13, line 5, page 27.
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 the invention disclosed by SHRESTHA to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the container. A container is a structure in which a code is carried along with the message so that the receiver can correctly compute and verify it. This “container” is a format or wrapper that holds the code and the message together for secure transmission or storage, lines 20-30, page 13, line 5, page 27.
Claim(s) 23, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHRESTHA in view of Sherkin, XIANG and ADRANGI et al., WO 2020150701 A1 and Lin 20110038480.
Referring to claim 23, SHRESTHA in view of Sherkin, XIANG do not disclose, which ADRANGI discloses, wherein the verifying the integrity protection is performed at Mobile Equipment (ME) of the user equipment, and wherein the ME forwards the secured packet (abstract, claim 1). 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 the invention disclosed by SHRESTHA to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the integrity protecting the packet. This would ensure that the packet’s data has not been altered in any way during transmission from sender to receiver. The gateway, which connects the satellite to the network would enable receiving packet forwarded to the destination, abstract, claim 1.
SHRESTHA in view of Sherkin, XIANG, ADRANGI do not disclose, which Li discloses, to a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) of the UE for de-ciphering of the secured packet (para 94). 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 the invention disclosed by SHRESTHA to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing (USIM) of the UE for de-ciphering. This would convert the coded information into a normal data such that the UE can provide it the user associated with the UE for further action, para 94.
Claim(s) 24, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHRESTHA in view of Sherkin, XIANG, ADRANGI, Lin and CATOVIC et al., WO 2022178457 A1.
Referring to claim 24, SHRESTHA in view of Sherkin, XIANG, ADRANGI do not disclose, which CATOVIC discloses, inserting a store and forward support indicator in a control plane message directed to the serving network, wherein the store and forward support indicator indicates whether the user equipment supports the store and forward service via satellite access; and sending the control plane message to the serving network (para 79, 94).
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 the invention disclosed by SHRESTHA to implement these limitations and also one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it could provide utilizing the control plane with the serving network. This would ensure that the store and forward service is implemented after verifying that the UE supports it. When the UE associated with the serving network is connected the message would be provided using the control plane, para 79, 94.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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 2 further recites, in combination of claim 1 limitations,
receiving the home network container at a Non Terrestrial Network (NTN) by the NTN
gateway the second message request of the serving network;
storing, the NTN gateway, the home network container at the NTN gateway;
waiting, by the NTN gateway, for a first radio connection to an NTN satellite to be
established between the NTN gateway and the NTN satellite;
establishing after the first radio connection between the NTN gateway and the NTN satellite
is established:
forwarding the home network container from by the NTN gateway to the NTN
satellite, the home network container over the first radio connection;
receiving, the home network container at by the NTN satellite from the NTN gateway, the
home network container;
storing, by the NTN satellite, the home network container at the NTN satellite;
waiting, at the NTN satellite, for a second radio connection to the user equipment to be
established between the NTN satellite and the user equipment;
establishing after the second radio connection between the NTN satellite and the user
equipment; and is established:
forwarding, by the NTN satellite, the home network container from the NTN satellite
to the user equipment over the second radio connection, the home network container.
The prior art made of record do not teach or suggest claimed subject matter of claim 2 in combination of claim 1 limitations.
Therefore claim 2 and its dependent claims 3-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Conclusion
Limitations, integrity protecting, MAC, home network key, container for securing messages associated with NTN radio access network node is well-known in the art. Please see above prior art disclosing overlapped teachings of such limitations.
Pertinent prior arts: LAURIDSEN et al., US 20210092781 A1 discloses,
[0043] A mobile non-terrestrial access node may be an NTN node. The NTN may be an access network or at least a part of an access network of a communication system. The mobile non-terrestrial access node provides wireless access to wireless devices on the Earth surface in a coverage area of the mobile non-terrestrial access node.
[0003] Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) comprise low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) that provide wireless coverage to wireless devices from their respective trajectories above the earth surface.
[0078] send and receive and messages and communicate with service providers through a wireless connection 25 to a base station 24. The base station 24 may be connected to a network server 26 that allows communication between the mobile telephone network 11 and the internet 28. The system may include additional communication devices and communication devices of various types.
determining, by the home network, whether the user equipment supports the
store and forward service via satellite access; in an instance the user equipment supports the store and forward service:
The (e/g)NodeB is further connected to core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC). Depending on the system, the counterpart on the CN side can be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), packet data network gateway (P-GW), for providing connectivity of user devices (UEs) to external packet data networks, or mobile management entity (MME), etc, para 54
[0066] Typically, a network which is able to use “plug-and-play” (e/g)Node Bs, includes, in addition to Home (e/g)NodeBs (H(e/g)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW. A HNB Gateway (HNB-GW), which is typically installed within an operator's network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jorge L. Ortiz-Criado, can be reached at (571) 272-7624. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/HARESH N PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2496
