DETAILED ACTION
Response to Remark
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 01/28/26.
Independent claim 1 and the related dependent claims have been amended.
Rejection to claim under 35 USC § 112 is withdrawn since it has been amended accordingly, however, the amended claim 2 has a new 112 issue.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 2, it is not clear how and/or where the second DSDS device forwards data received over the sidelink communication to the preferred network after enabling of offloading data communication from the non-preferred network to the preferred network. The second DSDS is already located at the preferred network, but in claim 2, the second DSDS forwards data received over the sidelink communication to the preferred network. Does the second DSDS forward the uplink data to a network node? Or the second DSDS forwards or offload the data to another DSDS device in the same preferred network as a relay node?
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 1-10 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 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”).
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 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; 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 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 (Lee, See Fig.3, Fig.5, and ¶.80).
Regarding claim 2, Abraham does not explicitly disclose what Kreishan and Lee disclose “forwarding, by the second DSDS device in response to the enabling, data received over the sidelink communication to the preferred network (Kreishan, See ¶.12, mobile service providers to offload data traffic on to available cost-effective networks, ii) MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) and wireless service providers to offload data traffic from the MNO (Mobile Network Operator) network for cost efficient roaming, iii) an offload mode that enhances user experience and provides high bandwidth data service; the offload mode enhances user experience for offloading networks, iv) appearance of a single network to user equipment in which the user doesn't have to be concerned with network selection and corresponding wireless coverage, v) via the offload mode as described herein, the carrier (service provider) can select the policy for which network is used for offloading data and which network is used for voice, and vi) the offload mode as described herein preserves a user device's battery and power usage by limiting unwanted scanning, displays of information, and unwanted alternating between networks, and so on; 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; See Fig.4 for offloading of UE between two different networks; See ¶.155, the communication manager receives an identifier (value=N2-BS1) assigned to the wireless station N2-BS1 when creating wireless communication link 428-1. In such an instance, 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. Because the communication manager does not detect that the user equipment resides within a region of wireless coverage associated with network 190-2 in this example, the communication manager uses the wireless communication link 428-1 to communicate both voice and non-voice type data communications. For example, a first portion of wireless communication link 428-1 supports voice communications with remote communication device 155-1; a second portion of wireless communication link 428-2 supports non-voice data communications with the one or more server resources 195; Examiner’s Note; Lee discloses the sidelink communication and a new 112 issue applies to this amended claim 2).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
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.
Claims 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham in view of Kreishan.
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 be a relay hop for the DSDS device operating outside of the service provider owned or controlled network to offload traffic 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: roaming from PLMN 1 to PLMN 2 shown in Fig.2B is equated to the limitation “act as a relay hop to offload traffic”).
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).”
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” 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).
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 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 “paying-for-use network”, however, 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 and Kreishan, 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
At page 10, with respect to claim 1, applicant argues that “Lee does not describe locating a second DSDS device proximate to the DSDS device” by asserting that,
“Lee teaches providing "direct communication between subscriber UEs of different mobile network operators." (¶.[0078]). Lee describes receiving location information of the first UE, however, Lee does not describe locating any device that is geographically proximate to the device operating in the non-preferred network. In Lee, the "ProSe Communication Create Request message" includes "service information (e.g., an ID of the UE 201, ID(s) of counterpart UE(s) 301, an HPLMN ID of the UE 201, and HPLMN ID(s) of the counterpart UE(s) 301)." (¶.[0083]). That is, in Lee, the second UE is already known because it is the device that the first UE wants to communicate with.”
In reply, the limitations “locating a second DSDS device proximate to the DSDS device” explicitly read on:
¶.[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.”
¶.[0145] of Kreishan discloses “If the device is in proximity of available coverage, the device will initiate scanning for the offloading network.”
¶.[0029] of Lee discloses “receiving, from an AMF, location information regarding the first UE; determining whether to update the inter-PLMN communication information, based on the location information regarding the first UE; in case that it is determined to update the inter-PLMN communication information, transmitting, to the second ProSe function belonging to the second PLMN.” [emphasis added]
¶.[0048] of Lee discloses “the ProSe function refers to a logical function for performing an operation of a network necessary to provide a proximity service. One or more ProSe functions may be present in a public land mobile network (PLMN) and may be deployed to serve a specific area or to serve specific UEs. The ProSe function may perform a direct provisioning function for providing information necessary for the UE to use a ProSe service. The direct provisioning function refers to a function of provisioning necessary information to the UE for a direct discovery function used for UEs in proximity to directly discover each other or a direct communication function used for device-to-device (D2D) direct communication. Also, the ProSe function may perform a function of managing a name or code used for direct discovery to support the direct discovery function of the UE. In addition, the ProSe function may trigger a corresponding function so that the UE may perform the direct discovery function, and may also provide a charging function or a security-related function for using the ProSe service.” [emphasis added].
¶.[0087] of Lee discloses “the ProSe function may transmit a ProSe Provisioning Request message to the ProSe function of the PLMN B. The ProSe Provisioning Request message may include information regarding a radio resource to be used by the for direct communication. The information regarding the radio resource may be determined based on a location of the UE A 201 and a service to be used by the UE A 201.”
¶.[0109] of Lee discloses “the base station may perform a procedure due to the movement of the UE B 301. For example, the base station may report information regarding a location of the UE 301 to a serving AMF 502 of the UE B 301.”
¶.[0113] of Lee discloses “the ProSe function may transmit a ProSe Provisioning Update Request message to the ProSe function of the PLMN A. The ProSe Provisioning Update Request message may include updated information regarding a radio resource used by the UE B 301 for direct communication.”
¶.[0104] of Lee discloses “the first ProSe function may receive information regarding a location of the first UE from the AMF. When the information regarding the location of the first UE changes, such as a case where the first UE moves, the first ProSe function may receive information regarding the changed location of the first UE from the AMF. The first ProSe function may determine whether to update the inter-PLMN communication information based on the information regarding the location of the first UE. That is, the first ProSe function may update the inter-PLMN communication information based on information regarding a radio resource available at the changed location of the first UE.” [emphasis added].
¶.[0130] of Lee discloses “In this case, a first ProSe function indicates a ProSe function belonging to a first PLMN, and a second ProSe function indicates a ProSe function belonging to a second PLMN. In this regard, the first ProSe function may be a ProSe function capable of supporting an inter-PLMN or an inter-PLMN for each ProSe service. [emphasis added].
In other words, as shown in Fig.5 of Lee, PLMN A and PLMN B comprising ProSe function are equal to Abraham’s PLMN 1 network and PLMN 2 as a preferred network and a non-preferred network. As the cited Figure and paragraphs show above, a first ProSe function indicates a ProSe function belonging to a first PLMN, and a second ProSe function indicates a ProSe function belonging to a second PLMN. The ProSe (proximity-based service) function is capable of supporting an inter-PLMN for each ProSe service, that is, supporting proximity service for two different networks between PLMN A and PLMN B as a preferred network and a non-preferred network [emphasis added]. That is, Kreishan discloses the method of scanning a proximity coverage for a DSDS device and Lee discloses the direct provisioning function in order to have the necessary location information to the UE for a direct discovery function used for UEs in proximity to directly discover each other or a direct communication function used for device-to-device (D2D) direct communication in an inter-PLMN networks, i.e. between PLMN 1 and PLMN 2 networks comprising a preferred network/a home network and a non-preferred network/a visited network.
Therefore, ordinary skill in the art applies the method of “locating a second DSDS device operating in the preferred network that is proximate to the DSDS device operating in the non-preferred network and establishing a sidelink communication between the two DSDS devices” as taught by Kreishan and Lee into the system of Abraham in order to provide an offload function for a multi-SIM operation performed by a UE provided between a preferred network and a non-preferred network by using a direction sidelink communication service with the proximate/ProSe function. Therefore, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
At pages 10-11, applicant argues that “the direct communication between devices described in Lee is not “for offloading data communication from the non-preferred network to the preferred network” as recited in claim 1” by asserting that
“Applicant teaches, in paragraph [0042], that "DSDS device 3300 can act as a relay hop and forward or offload traffic from the DSDS device 3400 using the sidelink channel 3500 for transmission over the first network 3100." By contrast, Lee describes that "UEs 201 and 301 may support direct communication" and that a "UE A 201 is a UE subscribed to a mobile network operator PLMN A, and a UE B 301 is a UE subscribed to a mobile network operator PLMN B." (¶.[0080]). Thus, in Lee, the sidelink communication terminates at the peer UE and replaces use of the mobile networks, rather than acting as an intermediate relay for forwarding data communications to a network. Accordingly, Lee does not describe a UE operating as a relay hop to offload traffic to a different network. Accordingly, Lee does not teach at least these elements of amended claim 1. Abraham and Kreishan do not remedy the deficiencies of Lee with respect to these elements. For at least these reasons, Abraham, Kreishan, and Lee, alone and in combination, do not disclose each of the elements of amended claim 1.”
In reply, applicant’s statement saying “Applicant teaches, in paragraph [0042], that "DSDS device 3300 can act as a relay hop and forward or offload traffic from the DSDS device 3400 using the sidelink channel 3500 for transmission over the first network 3100” is cited in the amended claim 2. However, the examiner applies a new 112 issue for the amended claim 2 because the second DSDS device is already located in a preferred network and the second DSDS device forwards or offload data received over the sidelink channel to its own the preferred network. See the 112 rejection for claim 2.
The limitations “DSDS device acts as a relay hop and forward or offload traffic from the DSDS device using the sidelink channel for transmission over the first network, which is a preferred network” cited in claim 2 read on:
¶.[0012] of Kreishan discloses “mobile service providers to offload data traffic on to available cost-effective networks, ii) MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) and wireless service providers to offload data traffic from the MNO (Mobile Network Operator) network for cost efficient roaming, iii) an offload mode that enhances user experience and provides high bandwidth data service; the offload mode enhances user experience for offloading networks, iv) appearance of a single network to user equipment in which the user doesn't have to be concerned with network selection and corresponding wireless coverage, v) via the offload mode as described herein, the carrier (service provider) can select the policy for which network is used for offloading data and which network is used for voice, and vi) the offload mode as described herein preserves a user device's battery and power usage by limiting unwanted scanning, displays of information, and unwanted alternating between networks, and so on.”
See ¶.[0034] of Kreishan discloses “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.”
In other words, Kreishan discloses that mobile service providers offload data traffic on to available cost-effective networks such as MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) and MNO (Mobile Network Operator) network for cost efficient roaming and Lee discloses the function of ProSe which provides a proximity service between the second UE in PLMN 1 as a preferred network and the first UE in PLMN 2 as a non-preferred network for D2D sidelink communication. The one of UEs in PLMN 1 and/or PLMN 2 acts as a relay node for a sidelink communication and the UE may forward or offload the data to another relay node within the preferred network and/or sends the data to the network node such as a base station or a controller as uplink operation. Therefore, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JUNG H PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411