DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
The information disclosure statement submitted on November 25, 2024, has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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, 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, 4, 5, 13, 16, 17, 25, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Shaffer et al., US 8090377 B2, hereinafter “Shaffer,” in view of O'Neill, Jr., US 5920292 A, hereinafter “O'Neill.”
Consider claim 1. Shaffer discloses:
a method for configuring multi-network wireless communication of a user equipment (UE) (the limitation is in the preamble and it is not tied to the body of the claim but could still be read on the mobile endpoints (MEs) 40 that communicates with communication networks 20 and 30 and other networks or communication system components of fig. 1 -see column 2 lines 8-20), comprising:
identifying a travel route for travel of the UE from a start location to a destination location (fig. 2, column 8 lines 52-58); and
obtaining multi-network wireless coverage information for the travel route (column 10 lines 29-35), wherein the multi-network wireless coverage information includes terrestrial network (TN) wireless coverage information and non-terrestrial network (NTN) wireless coverage information (fig. 1, column 2 lines 8-20). Although Shaffer further discloses wherein mobile endpoints 40 (UE) include an interface 42, a processor 44 and memory module 46. Interface 42 may include any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for transmitting and/or receiving (therefore configured/receives configuration) communication signals to and from one or more communication networks, such as networks 20 and 30 (column 4 lines 7-11), suggesting wireless communication configuration for the UE for the travel route based on the multi-network wireless coverage information (fig. 1, column 2 lines 8-20, column 12 lines 25-31), he is silent regarding a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
O'Neill, in related art, discloses wherein it has been proposed to provide a combined cellular/satellite communications network that integrates a limited terrestrial based cellular network with a satellite communications network to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service. In the proposed system, terrestrial based cellular stations would be provided in high traffic areas, while an L-Band satellite communications network would provide service to remaining areas (column 1 lines 35-43), hence suggesting a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 4. Shaffer in view of O'Neill teaches claim 1; and O'Neill further suggests wherein the joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration indicates a region, along the travel route, in which the UE is to perform wireless data communication in a dual-connectivity mode using both a terrestrial network and a non-terrestrial network (column 1 lines 61-67).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 5. Shaffer in view of O'Neill teaches claim 4; and O'Neill further suggests wherein the joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration indicates a second region, along the travel route, in which the UE is to exit the dual-connectivity mode and perform wireless data communication using either the terrestrial network or the non-terrestrial network (column 1 lines 61-67).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 13. Shaffer discloses:
an apparatus for configuring multi-network wireless communication of a user equipment (UE) (the limitation is in the preamble and it is not tied to the body of the claim but could still be read on the mapping server 50, which may comprise any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for performing the functionality described herein as associated with the mapping server. In the illustrated embodiment, mapping server 50 includes an interface 52, a processor 54 and memory module 56. Interface 52 may include any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for transmitting and/or receiving communication signals to and from one or more communication networks, such as networks 20. Interface 52 may facilitate communications between mobile endpoints 40 and mapping server 50. Processor 54 may be a microprocessor, controller, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to perform functionality associated with mapping server 50- see column 4 lines 51-65; see also paragraph [0004] of the present application’s specification), comprising:
at least one memory (column 4 lines 54-56);
at least one transceiver (fig. 1, column 4 lines 56-59); and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver (fig. 1, column 4 lines 55-59), the at least one processor configured to:
identify a travel route for travel of the UE from a start location to a destination location (fig. 2, column 8 lines 52-58); and
obtain multi-network wireless coverage information for the travel route (column 10 lines 29-35), wherein the multi-network wireless coverage information includes terrestrial network (TN) wireless coverage information and non-terrestrial network (NTN) wireless coverage information (fig. 1, column 2 lines 8-20).
Although Shaffer further discloses wherein mobile endpoints 40 (UE) include an interface 42, a processor 44 and memory module 46. Interface 42 may include any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for transmitting and/or receiving (therefore configured/receives configuration) communication signals to and from one or more communication networks, such as networks 20 and 30 (column 4 lines 7-11), suggesting wireless communication configuration for the UE for the travel route based on the multi-network wireless coverage information (fig. 1, column 2 lines 8-20, column 12 lines 25-31), he is silent regarding a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
O'Neill, in related art, discloses wherein it has been proposed to provide a combined cellular/satellite communications network that integrates a limited terrestrial based cellular network with a satellite communications network to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service. In the proposed system, terrestrial based cellular stations would be provided in high traffic areas, while an L-Band satellite communications network would provide service to remaining areas (column 1 lines 35-43), hence suggesting a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 16. Shaffer in view of O'Neill teaches claim 13; and O'Neill further suggests wherein the joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration indicates a region, along the travel route, in which the UE is to perform wireless data communication in a dual-connectivity mode using both a terrestrial network and a non-terrestrial network (column 1 lines 61-67).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 17. Shaffer in view of O'Neill teaches claim 16; and O'Neill further suggests wherein wireless communication configuration indicates a second region, along the travel route, in which the UE is to exit the dual-connectivity mode and perform wireless data communication using either the terrestrial network or the non-terrestrial network (column 1 lines 61-67).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 25. Shaffer discloses:
a method for configuring multi-network wireless communication of a user equipment (UE) (the limitation is in the preamble and it is not tied to the body of the claim but could still be read on the mobile endpoints (MEs) 40 that communicates with communication networks 20 and 30 and other networks or communication system components of fig. 1 -see column 2 lines 8-20), comprising:
sending position and destination information from the UE to a network node (column 3 lines 24-30), the position and destination information indicating a start location of the UE and a destination location of the UE (fig. 2, column 8 lines 52-58).
Although Shaffer further discloses wherein mobile endpoints 40 (UE) include an interface 42, a processor 44 and memory module 46. Interface 42 may include any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for transmitting and/or receiving (therefore configured/receives configuration) communication signals to and from one or more communication networks, such as networks 20 and 30 (column 4 lines 7-11), suggesting applying the wireless communication configuration at the UE during travel of the UE from the start location to the destination location via the travel route (fig. 1, column 2 lines 8-20, column 12 lines 25-31), he is silent regarding a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
O'Neill, in related art, discloses wherein it has been proposed to provide a combined cellular/satellite communications network that integrates a limited terrestrial based cellular network with a satellite communications network to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service. In the proposed system, terrestrial based cellular stations would be provided in high traffic areas, while an L-Band satellite communications network would provide service to remaining areas (column 1 lines 35-43), hence suggesting a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Consider claim 28. Shaffer discloses:
an apparatus for configuring multi-network wireless communication of a user equipment (UE) (the limitation is in the preamble and it is not tied to the body of the claim but could still be read on the mapping server 50, which may comprise any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for performing the functionality described herein as associated with the mapping server. In the illustrated embodiment, mapping server 50 includes an interface 52, a processor 54 and memory module 56. Interface 52 may include any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for transmitting and/or receiving communication signals to and from one or more communication networks, such as networks 20. Interface 52 may facilitate communications between mobile endpoints 40 and mapping server 50. Processor 54 may be a microprocessor, controller, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to perform functionality associated with mapping server 50- see column 4 lines 51-65; see also paragraph [0004] of the present application’s specification), comprising:
at least one memory (column 4 lines 54-56);
at least one transceiver (fig. 1, column 4 lines 56-59); and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver (fig. 1, column 4 lines 55-59), the at least one processor configured to:
send position and destination information from the UE to a network node (column 3 lines 24-30), the position and destination information indicating a start location of the UE and a destination location of the UE (fig. 2, column 8 lines 52-58).
Although Shaffer further discloses wherein mobile endpoints 40 (UE) include an interface 42, a processor 44 and memory module 46. Interface 42 may include any suitable hardware, software or encoded logic for transmitting and/or receiving (therefore configured/receives configuration) communication signals to and from one or more communication networks, such as networks 20 and 30 (column 4 lines 7-11), suggesting applying the wireless communication configuration at the UE during travel of the UE from the start location to the destination location via the travel route (fig. 1, column 2 lines 8-20, column 12 lines 25-31), he is silent regarding a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
O'Neill, in related art, discloses wherein it has been proposed to provide a combined cellular/satellite communications network that integrates a limited terrestrial based cellular network with a satellite communications network to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service. In the proposed system, terrestrial based cellular stations would be provided in high traffic areas, while an L-Band satellite communications network would provide service to remaining areas (column 1 lines 35-43), hence suggesting a joint TN/NTN wireless communication configuration to the UE.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to consider O'Neill’s teachings in relation to the claimed invention, in order to provide communications for mobile users over a large geographical area where it may be impractical to provide cellular service as discussed by O'Neill therein.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 6-12, 14, 15, 18-24, 26, 27, 29, and 30 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.
Pertinent Prior Art
The following references, although not relied upon, are considered to be pertinent prior art since they disclose subject matter related to the invention claimed by the present application, i.e., determining coverage availability estimates of mobile non-terrestrial access node
US 20240233901 A1 US 11663911 B2 US 20220046529 A1
US 20220046529 A1 US 11083026 B2 US 10937231 B2
US 10260896 B2 US 9462436 B2 US 9446766 B2
US 9350853 B2 US 9055412 B2 US 8255158 B2
Conclusion
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Amancio González, whose telephone number is (571) 270-1106. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez, can be reached at (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/AMANCIO GONZALEZ/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
November 20, 2025