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 .
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on May 26, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Based on new ground of rejection, applicant’s argument submitted on 05/26/2026 are moot.
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 20claimed 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 1-3, 8-9, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Bengtsson et al. (US 2015/0141019, hereinafter Bengtsson) in view of Wang (CN 105934956, hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 1, Bengtsson discloses a method comprising:
determining, based on a first geolocation and a second geolocation of the user device, a vector parameter indicative of a directional movement of the user device toward the second network (para 0005; 0026, 0032-0036; 0065-0066; current location and location of connection point - a UE is in idle mode and has a velocity vector that includes current location, speed and direction. Based on a historical listing or mapping of connection points, the UE may select a connection point prior to a data session in order to minimize the chances that handover will be necessary. The network (i.e., base stations and the like) control connection point selection rather than the UE (mobile device). When a UE is idle, the base station typically does not know the location of the UE as long as the UE remains in the same cluster. When the UE moves into a new cluster, it typically reports to the base station that it is moving into a new cluster. Some embodiments of the invention provide that, prior to a data session or call, the UE reports its velocity vector (current location, speed and direction) to the base station. Then, the base station is able to, if it is characterized as a "small" cell in relation to the velocity vector of the UE, the base station can handover the connection to a larger cell); and sending, by the user device, based on the vector parameter and based on the traffic flow of the second network, a request to connect to the second network (para 0032; 0037; In order to keep network traffic flow, the mobile device may only communicate its location upon request and/or whenever large amounts of data must be transferred; When a UE already has a connection with the base station, the base station may determine that the signal strength from the UE is weak (or in need of more capacity than the base station can handle). The base station may then request the UE to identify any alternative cell or connection points. The base station may then request the UE to report its velocity vector (current location, speed and direction). The base station may then identify the best alternative connection point for handover based on the UE's velocity vector in relation to the connection point list (map). The list or map can be preprogrammed, learned by the base station and/or one or more UEs or a combination as discussed above).
Bengtsson does not explicitly disclose receiving by a user device, a network policy associated with the first geolocation of the user device; determining, based on the network policy, traffic flow of a first network and traffic flow of the second network.
In an analogous art, Wang discloses receiving by a user device (page 33; para 01 – UE receives policy information), a network policy associated with the first geolocation of the user device (page 12; para 01; page 14; last para and page 25; para 02); determining, based on the network policy, traffic flow of a first network and traffic flow of the second network (para 24; para 01; page 31; para 01; page 38; last para; page 39’ para 02; page 40; para 02; page 41; para 01; traffic flow for home network and visited network).It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson’s method/system by having Wang ’s disclosure in order to provide seamless service during handover.
Regarding claim 8, Bengtsson discloses a method comprising:
determining, based on a first geolocation and a second geolocation of the user device, a vector parameter indicative of a directional movement of the user device toward the second network (para 0005; 0026, 0032-0036; 0065-0066; current location and location of connection point - a UE is in idle mode and has a velocity vector that includes current location, speed and direction. Based on a historical listing or mapping of connection points, the UE may select a connection point prior to a data session in order to minimize the chances that handover will be necessary. The network (i.e., base stations and the like) control connection point selection rather than the UE (mobile device). When a UE is idle, the base station typically does not know the location of the UE as long as the UE remains in the same cluster. When the UE moves into a new cluster, it typically reports to the base station that it is moving into a new cluster. Some embodiments of the invention provide that, prior to a data session or call, the UE reports its velocity vector (current location, speed and direction) to the base station. Then, the base station is able to, if it is characterized as a "small" cell in relation to the velocity vector of the UE, the base station can handover the connection to a larger cell); and sending, by the user device, based on the vector parameter and based on the traffic flow of the second network, a second data traffic via the second network (para 0032; 0037; In order to keep network traffic flow, the mobile device may only communicate its location upon request and/or whenever large amounts of data must be transferred; When a UE already has a connection with the base station, the base station may determine that the signal strength from the UE is weak (or in need of more capacity than the base station can handle). The base station may then request the UE to identify any alternative cell or connection points. The base station may then request the UE to report its velocity vector (current location, speed and direction). The base station may then identify the best alternative connection point for handover based on the UE's velocity vector in relation to the connection point list (map). The list or map can be preprogrammed, learned by the base station and/or one or more UEs or a combination as discussed above).
Bengtsson does not explicitly disclose sending, by a user device, a first packet via a first network; receiving, based on a first geolocation of the user device, a network policy; determining based on the network policy, traffic flow of the first network and traffic flow of a second network; and the data traffic comprises of packets.
In an analogous art, Wang discloses receiving by a user device (page 33; para 01 – UE receives policy information), a network policy associated with the first geolocation of the user device (page 12; para 01; page 14; last para and page 25; para 02); determining, based on the network policy, traffic flow of a first network and traffic flow of the second network (para 24; para 01; page 31; para 01; page 38; last para; page 39’ para 02; page 40; para 02; page 41; para 01; traffic flow for home network and visited network) and data traffic comprises of packets (page 07; last para; page 18; para 02-03). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson’s method/system by having Wang ’s disclosure in order to provide seamless service during handover.
Regarding claim 15, Bengtsson discloses a method comprising:
determining, based on a first geolocation and a second geolocation of the user device, a vector parameter indicative of a directional movement of the user device toward the second network (para 0005; 0026, 0032-0036; 0065-0066; current location and location of connection point - a UE is in idle mode and has a velocity vector that includes current location, speed and direction. Based on a historical listing or mapping of connection points, the UE may select a connection point prior to a data session in order to minimize the chances that handover will be necessary. The network (i.e., base stations and the like) control connection point selection rather than the UE (mobile device). When a UE is idle, the base station typically does not know the location of the UE as long as the UE remains in the same cluster. When the UE moves into a new cluster, it typically reports to the base station that it is moving into a new cluster. Some embodiments of the invention provide that, prior to a data session or call, the UE reports its velocity vector (current location, speed and direction) to the base station. Then, the base station is able to, if it is characterized as a "small" cell in relation to the velocity vector of the UE, the base station can handover the connection to a larger cell); and sending, based on the vector parameter, data using at least one of the first network or the second network (para 0032; 0037; In order to keep network traffic flow, the mobile device may only communicate its location upon request and/or whenever large amounts of data must be transferred; When a UE already has a connection with the base station, the base station may determine that the signal strength from the UE is weak (or in need of more capacity than the base station can handle). The base station may then request the UE to identify any alternative cell or connection points. The base station may then request the UE to report its velocity vector (current location, speed and direction). The base station may then identify the best alternative connection point for handover based on the UE's velocity vector in relation to the connection point list (map). The list or map can be preprogrammed, learned by the base station and/or one or more UEs or a combination as discussed above).
Bengtsson does not explicitly disclose receiving, by a user device, based on a first geolocation of the user device, a network policy comprising a steering mode indicative of access to at least one of a first network or a second network; and sending data based on the steering mode using at least one of the first or the second network.
In an analogous art, Wang discloses receiving by a user device (page 33; para 01 – UE receives policy information), based on a first geolocation of the user device (page 12; para 01; page 14; last para and page 25; para 02); a network policy comprising a steering mode indicative of a access to at least one of a first network or a second network (page 23; last para and para 24; para 01; data transmission in home network and visited network) and sending data based on the steering mode using at least one of the first or the second network (page 22; para 02-03; and page 25; last para). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson’s method/system by having Wang ’s disclosure in order to provide seamless service during handover.
Regarding claims 2, and 16, Bengtsson does not explicitly disclose that wherein the first network is a 3GPP network and the second network is a non-3GPP network.
In an analogous art, Wang discloses wherein the first network is a 3GPP network (page 39; para 02) and the second network is a non-3GPP network (page 28; para 03). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson’s method/system by having Wang ’s disclosure in order to provide seamless service during handover.
Regarding claims 3, 9, and 17, Bengtsson discloses wherein the vector parameter comprises a speed associated with the user device and a direction of the user device (para 0033; 0036-0037; direction and speed).
Claims 4-5, 10-11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bengtsson/Wang in view of Xu (EP 4138443, hereinafter Xu).
Regarding claim 4, 10, and 18, Bengtsson/Wang does not explicitly disclose wherein the network policy comprises a steering mode and wherein the steering mode comprises an active-standby mode, a smallest delay mode, a load- balancing mode, a priority-based mode, and a redundant mode.
In an analogous art, Xu discloses wherein the network policy comprises a steering mode and wherein the steering mode comprises an active-standby mode, a smallest delay mode, a load- balancing mode, a priority-based mode (page 28; para 01-03), and a redundant mode (page 53; para 01). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson/Wang’s method/system by having Xu’s disclosure in order to improve the reliability of the communion system.
Regarding claims 5 and 11, Bengtsson/Wang does not explicitly disclose wherein the traffic flow of the first network and the traffic flow of the second network are indicated in the steering mode of the network policy.
In an analogous art, Xu discloses wherein the traffic flow of the first network and the traffic flow of the second network are indicated in the steering mode of the network policy. (page 28; para 01-03). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson/Wang’s method/system by having Xu’s disclosure in order to improve the reliability of the communion system.
Claims 6-7, 12-13, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bengtsson/Wang in view of Bellamkonda et al (US 2016/0029279, hereinafter Bella).
Regarding claims 6, 12, and 19, and Bengtsson/Wang does not expclitly disclose wherein the network policy further comprises an identifier indicative of boundary associated with the user device, and wherein the boundary is an area associated with the device.
In an analogous art, Bella discloses wherein the network policy further comprises an identifier indicative of boundary associated with the user device, and wherein the boundary is an area associated with the device (para 0025). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson/Wang’s method/system by having Bella’s disclosure in order to improve the reliability of the communion system.
Regarding claims 7, 13, and 20, Bengtsson/Wang does not expclitly disclose wherein the vector parameter indicative of the directional movement of the user device toward the second network is further determined based on the geolocation of the user device and the identifier indicative of the boundary associate with the user device.
In an analogous art, Bella discloses wherein the vector parameter indicative of the directional movement of the user device toward the second network is further determined based on the geolocation of the user device and the identifier indicative of the boundary associate with the user device (para 0025; and 0029). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson/Wang’s method/system by having Bella’s disclosure in order to improve the reliability of the communion system.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bengtsson/Wang in view of Nammi et al. (US 2013/0157710, hereinafter Nammi).
Regarding claim 14, Bengtsson/Wang does not explicitly disclose wherein the first packet and the second packet are part of the same data stream.
In an analogous art, Nammi discloses wherein the first packet and the second packet are part of the same data stream (para 0045 and 0059). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bengtsson /Wang’s method/system by having Nammi’s disclosure in order to provide seamless service during handover.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.).
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/SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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