DETAILED ACTION
RCE
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/04/2026 has been entered.
Response to Remark
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 05/07/26.
Independent claims have been amended.
Rejection to claim under 35 USC § 112 is withdrawn since it has been amended accordingly.
For claims 11-16, the previous 103 rejection over Abraham in view of Kreishan has been replaced with a new 103 rejection over Abraham in view of Kreishan and further in view of Lee.
The amended claim 2 is 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 for independent claims 1, 11, and 17, respectively.
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.
Claims 1 and 3-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham et al. (US 2020/0092798, “Abraham”) in view of Kreishan (US 2020/0314629, “Kreishan”) and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0369092, “Lee”).
Regarding claim 1, Abraham discloses a method for traffic offloading, the method comprising:
- detecting, by a proximity services controller provisioned in a preferred network (See ¶.169, monitoring for “when the controller of the mobile terminal detects all failed in searches for the last registered PLMN, home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on the SIM, it uses an MCC and/or MNC included in searched PLMNs to identify a roaming area corresponding to a current location”; See 180 Fig.1A, a controller; See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network), a dual subscriber identification module (SIM) dual subscriber (DSDS) device operating in a non-preferred network (See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses the limitation “a DSDS device operating in a preferred network and/or a non-preferred network”);
- locating, by the proximity services controller, from a plurality of monitored DSDS devices, a second DSDS device proximate to the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network (See ¶.16, attempting to camp on according to a period stored on the SIM using the checked list of PLMNs when the last registered PLMN in the identified roaming area is unavailable; See S10 Fig.3, detect failure in network access to last registered PLMN, home PLMN and PLMN stored on SIM; See ¶.9, detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), identifying a roaming area corresponding to a current location of a mobile terminal based on information included in PLMNs searched for in a terminal body, and performing roaming by accessing to one of successfully camped on PLMNs in the identified roaming area; See ¶.39 and Fig.2B, a plurality of mobile terminals in the PLMN 1 and PLMN 2, i.e. a preferred network and a visited network; See ¶.148-150, a method for acquiring information of a mobile terminal location using a Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) will be described. ¶.[0149] the WPS refers to a positioning technology based on a WLAN using Wi-Fi for tracking a location of the mobile terminal using a Wi-Fi module provided in the mobile terminal and a wireless Access Point (AP) for transmitting or receiving to and from the Wi-Fi module and radio (wireless) signals. ¶.[0150] the WPS may include a Wi-Fi positioning server, a mobile terminal, a wireless AP connected to the mobile terminal, and a database in which certain wireless AP information is stored; Examiners’ Note: Lee discloses the method of “how the proximity services controller locates a second DSDS device operating in the preferred network that is proximate to the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network”), wherein the second DSDS device operates in the preferred network (See 100 Fig.2B, UE located in PLMN 1, which is the preferred network; See ¶.159, the roaming process of the mobile terminal (UE) will be described with reference to FIG. 2B. When the mobile terminal is out of a service area of a BS (e.g., a home base station) of a PLMN 1, and enters a service area 203 of a BS (e.g., a visited base station) 270b of a PLMN 2, roaming in the visited base station 270b is available through a location registration. Here, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network, and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network. The PLMN 1 and the PLMN 2 may have an overlapping roaming (coverage) area and may roam in the visited base station of the overlapping roaming area; See further ¶.160-161); and
- enabling, by the proximity services controller, establishment of a sidelink communication between the second DSDS device and the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop for offloading data communications from the non-preferred network to the preferred network (See ¶.9, provided a network access method for a mobile terminal roaming service, the method including detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), identifying a roaming area corresponding to a current location of a mobile terminal based on information included in PLMNs searched for in a terminal body, and performing roaming by accessing to one of successfully camped on PLMNs in the identified roaming area; See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network, and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network. The PLMN 1 and the PLMN 2 may have an overlapping roaming (coverage) area and may roam in the visited base station of the overlapping roaming area; See S30 Fig.3 and ¶.166, perform roaming by connecting to one of the successfully camped PLMNs in the identified roaming area. Specifically, the controller checks whether there is a successfully camped on PLMN of the identified roaming area before, and tries to camp on the confirmed PLMN first; Examiner’s Note: Lee discloses the limitation “establishing a sidelink communication channel” and newly added limitations “such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop”).
Abraham does not explicitly disclose the limitations “a DSDS device operating in a non-preferred network” and “establishing a sidelink communication channel.”
However, Kreishan discloses the limitation “a DSDS device operating in a non-preferred network for offloading” (Kreishan, See ¶.24, the second wireless network is a default or preferred network assigned a higher priority to receive non-voice communications than the first wireless network over which to operate in the OFFLOAD mode and receive the non-voice wireless communications; See ¶.33-34, providing an offload function (via a uniquely configured supplemental SIM device) to switch data seamlessly between networks with preference to the designated network if/when coverage is available. [0034] A service provider profile in a SIM device that will include flags or indicators that the device's operating system will use to determine if the carrier profile will be used for offloading function or as a standard carrier service profile used in standard DSDS).
Abraham and Kreishan do not explicitly discloses what Lee discloses the limitation “locating a second DSDS device operating in the preferred network that is proximate to the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop and establishment of a sidelink communication between the second DSDS device and the DSDS device” (Lee, See ¶.7, mobile communication systems may provide direct communication (e.g., proximity-based services (ProSe), PC5, sidelink communication, or D2D communication) between terminals;
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See Fig.5 for proximity function after acquiring location information between PLMN A and PLMN B, which is equal to Abraham’s PLMN 1 network and PLMN 2 as a preferred network and a non-preferred network, respectively; See ¶.69, the ProSe service may include NCIS, public safety, PC5 discovery, direction communication, UE-to-UE relay, UE-to-network relay, and inter-PLMN communication. Alternatively, the UE subscription information may include information regarding whether an inter-PLMN for each ProSe service is supportable; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses “the DSDS devices”).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply “a DSDS device operating in a non-preferred network for offloading” as taught by Kreishan and the method of “locating the second DSDS device operating in the preferred network that is proximate to the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop and establishing a sidelink communication between the second device and the first device” as taught by Lee into the system of Abraham, so that it provides an offload function for a multi-SIM operation performed by a UE provided between a preferred network and a non-preferred network (Kreishan, See ¶.33) by using a direction communication service with the proximate/ProSe function and/or UE-to-UE/network relay (Lee, See Fig.3, Fig.5, ¶.69, and ¶.80).
Regarding claim 3, Abraham and Kreishan disclose “the plurality of monitored DSDS devices and the DSDS device (Kreishan, See ¶.34, a service provider profile in a SIM device that will include flags or indicators that the device's operating system will use to determine if the carrier profile will be used for offloading function or as a standard carrier service profile used in standard DSDS) operating in the non-preferred network are configured to switchable operate in one of the preferred network or the non-preferred network based on coverage (Abraham, See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network; See S30 Fig.3 and ¶.166, perform roaming by connecting to one of the successfully camped PLMNs in the identified roaming area. Specifically, the controller checks whether there is a successfully camped on PLMN of the identified roaming area before, and tries to camp on the confirmed PLMN first).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 4, Abraham does not explicitly disclose what Kreishan discloses “enabling, by the proximity services controller, discovery on the second DSDS device (Kreishan, See ¶.145, if the device is in proximity of available coverage, the device will initiate scanning for the offloading network; See ¶.32, a service provider profile in a SIM device that will include flags or indicators that the device's operating system will use to determine if the carrier profile will be used for offloading function or as a standard carrier service profile used in standard DSDS).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Abraham and Kreishan disclose “enabling, by the proximity services controller, discovery on the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network (Abraham, See ¶.9, detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), identifying a roaming area corresponding to a current location of a mobile terminal based on information included in PLMNs searched for in a terminal body, and performing roaming by accessing to one of successfully camped on PLMNs in the identified roaming area; Examiners’ Note: Kreishan discloses the DSDS device).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Abraham and Kreishan disclose “enabling, by the proximity services controller, the second DSDS device to send control signals for detection by the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network (Abraham, See ¶.7, a PLMN available for registering; See ¶.9, identifying a roaming area corresponding to a current location; See further ¶.47 and ¶.64; Kreishan, See ¶.32 for DSDS device).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 7, Abraham does not explicitly disclose what Kreishan discloses “the control signals are synchronization signals (Kreishan, See ¶.144 and ¶.163, synchronized with the geo location).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 8, Abraham and Kreishan disclose “transmitting, by the proximity services controller, proximity service availability signals to service provider provided DSDS devices (Abraham, See ¶.159, available through a location registration; Kreishan, See ¶.116, geo-location function where coverage is available; See ¶.145, proximity of available coverage).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, Abraham discloses “searching and registering for a roaming service (See ¶.7), but Abraham and Kreishan do not explicitly discloses what Lee discloses “registering, by the proximity services controller, the service provider provided DSDS devices requesting registration as relay hop devices (Lee, See 322 Fig.3, ¶.62, and ¶.93, ProSe communication request for sidelink, i.e. as a relay node).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 10, Abraham and Kreishan disclose “the registered service provider provided DSDS devices include the proximate DSDS device and the plurality of monitored DSDS devices (Abraham, See ¶.7, PLMN searching is performed by repeating procedures of sequentially acquiring PLMN identification information for all received frequencies until a PLMN available for registering on a base station is acquired and registering the acquired PLMN; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses DSDS devices).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, Abraham discloses a service provider network, comprising:
- service provider provided dual subscriber identification module (SIM) dual subscriber (DSDS) devices configured to operate in a service provider owned or controlled network (See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network; See ¶.6, a mobile communication provider provides a roaming service to a mobile terminal user. The roaming service refers to a service that allows a mobile terminal to get access to a wireless network of another mobile communication provider even when out of its normal coverage area of the subscribed mobile communication provider; See ¶.9, the method including detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM); Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses the limitation “DSDS devices”); and
- a proximity service controller located and configured to operate in the service provider owned or controlled network, the proximity service controller configured to (See Fig.2B, PLMN 2, non-preferred network or visited network; See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network, and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network. The PLMN 1 and the PLMN 2 may have an overlapping roaming (coverage) area and may roam in the visited base station of the overlapping roaming area):
- determine whether there is a service provider provided DSDS device from the service provider provided DSDS devices operating in the service provider owned or controlled network proximate to a DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network (See ¶.169, monitoring for when the controller of the mobile terminal detects all failed in searches for the last registered PLMN, home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on the SIM, it uses an MCC and/or MNC included in searched PLMNs to identify a roaming area corresponding to a current location; See 180 Fig.1A, a controller; See S10-S30 Fig3, detect failure in network access and identify current roaming and then access to identified roaming area; See Fig.6 for switching network; ¶.182, camp on a PLMN having the strongest signal strength among the found PLMNs); and
- enable the proximate service provider provided DSDS device to act as a relay hop for the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to offload traffic from the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to the service provider owned or controlled network (See ¶.9, provided a network access method for a mobile terminal roaming service, the method including detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), identifying a roaming area corresponding to a current location of a mobile terminal based on information included in PLMNs searched for in a terminal body, and performing roaming by accessing to one of successfully camped on PLMNs in the identified roaming area; See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network, and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network. The PLMN 1 and the PLMN 2 may have an overlapping roaming (coverage) area and may roam in the visited base station of the overlapping roaming area; See S30 Fig.3 and ¶.166, perform roaming by connecting to one of the successfully camped PLMNs in the identified roaming area. Specifically, the controller checks whether there is a successfully camped on PLMN of the identified roaming area before, and tries to camp on the confirmed PLMN first; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses the limitations “operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to offload traffic from the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to the service provider owned or controlled network”).
Abraham does not explicitly disclose the limitations “DSDS devices to offload traffic.” However, Kreishan discloses “DSDS devices to offload traffic.” (Kreishan, See Fig.1, multi-SIM and offload; See ¶.38, If using offload mode in DSDS (Dual SIM Dual Standby), the offload network will be designated for data service only network by default; the device will have a single offloading network active, and by default, it will be the designated non-voice data service network. The other network will be designated for voice and non-voice data; See ¶.24, the second wireless network is a default or preferred network assigned a higher priority to receive non-voice communications than the first wireless network over which to operate in the offload mode and receive the non-voice wireless communications; See Fig.3, offloading procedure between dual SIM, i.e. DSDS) and “operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to offload traffic from the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to the service provider owned or controlled network” (Kreishan, See ¶.25, switching from receiving the non-voice wireless communications from the first wireless network and the second wireless network depending on a location of the user equipment in a region of wireless coverage provided by the first wireless network. For example, if a second wireless network is available while the user equipment is in the region of wireless coverage provided by the first wireless network, then the user equipment enters the OFFLOAD mode to support the non-voice data communications between the user equipment and the remote network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply “DSDS devices to offload traffic” and the method of “operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to offload traffic from the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to the service provider owned or controlled network” as taught by Kreishan into the system of Abraham, so that it provides a way of providing an offload function (via a uniquely configured supplemental SIM device) to switch data seamlessly between networks with preference to the designated network if/when coverage is available (Kreishan, See ¶.33).
Kreishan discloses “the DSDS device”, but Abraham and Kreishan do not explicitly disclose the limitations “act as a relay hop for the DSDS device.” Lee discloses “act as a relay for the DSDS device (Lee, See ¶.69, the ProSe service may include NCIS, public safety, PC5 discovery, direction communication, UE-to-UE relay, UE-to-network relay, and inter-PLMN communication. Alternatively, the UE subscription information may include information regarding whether an inter-PLMN for each ProSe service is supportable). Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, Abraham discloses “initiate discovery on the proximate service provider provided DSDS (See ¶.9, detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN …; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses “the DSDS devices” as rejected in claim 1).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 13, Abraham discloses “initiate discovery on the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network (See ¶.9, detecting all failed searches for a last registered PLMN, a home PLMN, and PLMNs stored on a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), identifying a roaming area/country corresponding to a current location of a mobile terminal based on information included in PLMNs searched for in a terminal body, and performing roaming by accessing to one of successfully camped on PLMNs in the identified roaming area/country; See ¶.15, automatically registering the corresponding PLMN as a preferred PLMN in the identified roaming area/country upon successfully camping on the last registered PLMN in the identified roaming area/country; See ¶.159, the PLMN 1 may be a home network or a preferred network, and the PLMN 2 may be a visited network or a non-preferred network. The PLMN 1 and the PLMN 2 may have an overlapping roaming (coverage) area and may roam in the visited base station 270b of the overlapping roaming area; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses “the DSDS devices” as rejected in claim 1).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 14, Abraham discloses “permit the proximate service provider provided DSDS device to send device-to-device control signals for detection by the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network (See ¶.7, searching and registering for a roaming service; See ¶.56, receiving a broadcast signal; Examiner’s Note: Kreishan discloses “the DSDS devices” as rejected in claim 1).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claims 15 and 16, they are claims corresponding to claims 7 & 9, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims.
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham in view of Kreishan and Lee and further in view of Fadell (US 2010/0017506, “Fadell”).
Regarding claim 17, it is a method claim corresponding to the claim 11, except the limitation “from the DSDS device operating in the paying-for-use network”, however, Kreishan discloses the DSDS device and Fadell discloses “paying-for-use network” (Fadell, See ¶.23, a network to which access is on a pay to use basis. For example, a pay-to-use network may include a network to which access is provided by an Internet Service Provider).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “paying-for-use network” as taught by Fadell into the system of Abraham, Kreishan, and Lee, so that it provides a way of including any suitable communications network or data network such as a pay-to-use network, to and from which electronic device may transfer data (Fadell, See ¶.23).
Regarding claim 18, Abraham, Kreishan, and Fadell disclose “enabling, by the proximity manager, discovery on the proximate DSDS device operating in the service provider owned network (Abraham, See fig.2B and ¶.159, a home network or a preferred network); and enabling, by the proximity manager, discovery on the service provider provided DSDS (Kreishan, See ¶.145, if the device is in proximity of available coverage, the device will initiate scanning for the offloading network; See ¶.32, A service provider profile in a SIM device that will include flags or indicators that the device's operating system will use to determine if the carrier profile will be used for offloading function or as a standard carrier service profile used in standard DSDS) operating in the service provider paying-for-use network (Fadell, See ¶.23, a pay-to-use network). Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 17.
Regarding claim 19, it is a claim corresponding to the claims 6 & 7, except the limitations “the pay-to-use network (Fadell, See ¶.23)” and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claim 20, it is a claim corresponding to the claim 9 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Allowable Subject Matters
Claim 2 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed have been considered. But, in view of the applicant’s amendment to the claims, examiner has clarified and remapped the rejection to the newly added claim limitations, using the prior art of record in the current prosecution of the claims.
At pages 8-9, with respect to claim 1, applicant’s key argument is that “Kreishan does not disclose any "communication between the second DSDS device and the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop for offloading data communications from the non-preferred network to the preferred network," as recited in amended claim 1.
Further, applicant argues that “the direct communication between devices described in Lee is not "between the second DSDS device and the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop for offloading data communications from the non-preferred network to the preferred network," as recited in amended claim 1.”
In reply, the limitations “communication between the second DSDS device and the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device operates as a relay hop for offloading data communications from the non-preferred network to the preferred network” explicitly read on:
¶.[0025] of Kreishan discloses “in accordance with still further embodiments, embodiments herein include switching from receiving the non-voice wireless communications from the first wireless network and the second wireless network depending on a location of the user equipment in a region of wireless coverage provided by the first wireless network. For example, if a second wireless network is available while the user equipment is in the region of wireless coverage provided by the first wireless network, then the user equipment enters the OFFLOAD mode to support the non-voice data communications between the user equipment and the remote network.” [emphasis added].
¶.[0033]-[0034] of Kreishan discloses “providing an offload function (via a uniquely configured supplemental SIM device) to switch data seamlessly between networks with preference to the designated network if/when coverage is available. [0034] A service provider profile in a SIM device that will include flags or indicators that the device's operating system will use to determine if the carrier profile will be used for offloading function or as a standard carrier service profile used in standard DSDS.”
¶.[0036] of Kreishan discloses “if the wireless carrier (service provider) profile and corresponding DSDS SIM device is used for data offloading, the device (user equipment) will be in OFFLOAD mode for the specific network.”
¶.[0043] of Kreishan discloses “user equipment enters an OFFLOAD mode to offload data traffic from a first service provider network (such as large cell region of wireless coverage) to a second service provider network (such as a small cell region of wireless coverage, which is a more cost effective network); offloading as described herein preserves user experience and provides seamless data service across different networks; via programming of a SIM device or other configuration settings, a respective service provider can select the policy for which network is used for offloading data and which network is used for voice; the OFFLOAD mode and unique manner in which to identify presence of a network can be implemented to preserve battery and power usage on the device by limiting both unwanted scanning and needless alternating between wireless networks; further embodiments herein can include implementation of the OFFLOAD mode to offload user equipment to a partner's wireless network without user intervention.”
¶.[0145] of Kreishan discloses “if the device is in proximity of available coverage, the device will initiate scanning for the offloading network.”
¶.[0155] of Kreishan discloses “the communication manager uses the current location of the user equipment to identify if the user equipment resides within a region of wireless coverage associated with the OFFLOAD network.”
¶.[0158] of Kreishan discloses “the communication manager continuously compares the received updated location of the user equipment to the different regions of wireless coverage to determine when an OFFLOAD condition to the second wireless network is possible.” [emphasis added].
¶.[0186] of Kreishan discloses “the communication manager compares a current location of the user equipment with existing data in a geolocation table (network availability information) for network coverage to determine if the user equipment is inside a corresponding wireless coverage area provided by the offload network (secondary network) as specified by a corresponding carrier profile.”
¶.[0069] of Lee discloses “the AMF may obtain the UE subscription information from the UDM. For example, the UE subscription information may include information regarding a ProSe capability of the UE and information regarding a ProSe service available for the UE. The information regarding the ProSe capability of the UE may include a radio access technology (RAT) type (e.g., LTE, NR, or the like) supported by the UE and information indicating whether an inter-PLMN is supportable. The ProSe service may include NCIS, public safety, PC5 discovery, direction communication, UE-to-UE relay, UE-to-network relay, and inter-PLMN communication. Alternatively, the UE subscription information may include information regarding whether an inter-PLMN for each ProSe service is supportable.” [emphasis added].
In other words, Kreishan discloses and/or suggests “communication between the second DSDS device and the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network such that the second DSDS device for offloading data communications from the non-preferred network to the preferred network” and Lee discloses the function of “a UE operates as a relay hop between UE-to-UE and/or UE-to-Network.” Therefore, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jung H Park whose telephone number is 571-272-8565. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7:00 AM-3:00 PM.
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/JUNG H PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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