DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Applicant amended claim 11 in the amendment filed on 02/05/2026.
The claims 1-13 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
A. Applicant argues that Keshavarz does not disclose a deployment of a candidate configuration, of at least one radio access equipment of a communication network.
In reply, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Examiner notes that the claim limitation recites “at least” one equipment of a communication network. Accordingly, the “at least” one radio equipment can be interpreted to include one or more equipment of the network which can be the entire network.
Keshavarz discloses KPIs reflecting the quality of the newly deployed network based on the performance data of the network elements (page 17, lines 9-13). Accordingly, the cited prior art reference discloses a deployment of a candidate configuration, of at least one radio access equipment of a communication network.
B. Applicant argues that Keshavarz does not disclose historical data comprising at least topographical information relating to radio access equipment existing in the geographical area.
In reply, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Keshavarz discloses obtaining information including performance data and configuration data relating to the configuration of network elements (cell 105) at a certain point in time or a certain interval and cluster performance data for the at least one cluster (page 10, line 1-page 11, line 5; page 12, line 20-page 13, line 3). Keshavarz further discloses using information on a network environment property of network elements in a Radio Access Network and network element geographical information to form a cluster (geographical area) of network elements as input to a prediction model to predict network performance of the Radio Access Network (page 8, lines 17-20). Accordingly, Keshavarz discloses network element geographical information of the cluster.
C. Applicant argues that Keshavarz does not disclose measurements of at least one performance indicator of the communication network in the geographical area.
In reply, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Keshavarz discloses obtaining information associated with a plurality of network element 103 (communication network) including performance data comprises information relating to the performance of the network element 103, for example relating to network traffic in a cell 105, such as throughput of the network (performance of the communication network), number of active users in the network, coverage and interference level of a cell. The performance data collection is performed at different collecting intervals (page 10, lines 1-26). Accordingly, the performance data associated with each cell of the communication network is collected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 11-12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claims lack the necessary physical articles or objects to constitute a machine or a manufacture within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 101. They are clearly not a series of steps or acts to be a process nor are they a combination of chemical compounds to be a composition of matter. As such, they fail to fall within a statutory category. The device of claim 11 comprising modules as per the specification and therefore fails the definition of a machine within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 101 (A machine is a "concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices.", MPEP 2106.03 (I)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. There is no support for the amended claim 11. Paragraph 0208 and 0215 disclose a device comprising “a module for obtaining data” and “a module for determining a metric” but does not support “a hardware computing machine configured to predict”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KESHAVARZ HEDAYATI et al (WO 2022/119485 A1) (hereinafter KESHAVARZ).
With respect to claim 1, KESHAVARZ teaches a method for evaluating a deployment of a candidate configuration, of at least one radio access equipment of a communication network at a location, referred to as a site, in a geographical area (Abstract; page 17, lines 8-13 disclose prediction of KPIs to be use in the planning phase of a newly RAN deployment) wherein the method comprises: obtaining network data, referred to as historical data, relating to the network in the geographical area, the historical data comprising at least topographical information relating to radio access equipment existing in the geographical area before the deployment of the candidate configuration at the location level, referred to as sites, and measurements of at least one performance indicator of the communication network in the geographical area during an elapsed time period, referred to as a reference period (page 10, line 1-page 11, line 5 disclose obtaining information including performance data and configuration data relating to the configuration of network elements (cell 105) at a certain point in time or a certain interval; page 12, line 20-page 13, line 3 disclose determining cluster performance data for the at least one cluster, wherein the cluster performance data is based on the performance data of the at least one network element associated with the cluster. The cluster performance data is obtained by aggregating the performance data aggregated over a certain timeframe for each network element with the performance data aggregated over the same timeframe for the other network elements assigned to the same cluster); and predicting a variation of the at least one performance indicator of the communication network in the geographical area, induced by the deployment, the variation being predicted at least from the historical network data and topographical information relating to the candidate configuration, and from a previously learned prediction model, the prediction model being implemented by an artificial intelligence module configured to receive as input data the historical network data and the topographical information of the candidate configuration and produce as output data the variation of the at least one performance indicator (page 16, line 9 – page 17, line 13 disclose training a prediction model for predicting RAN performance by using information associated with the network elements of the RAN. The trained prediction model can then be used to predict KPIs of the RAN, such as Mean Active Dedicated EPS Bearer Utilization or other suitable KPIs. The same device 101 or a further device can calculate the KPIs of the same RAN by using information associated with the network elements of the RAN obtained at a time period different from the time period the information used for the training were obtained. These two sets of KPIs, i.e. the predicted KPIs and the calculated KPIs, can be compared. If their values differ more than a certain threshold, a notification can be sent to a network system administrator that can take an action, such as adding new base stations to increase capacity; comparing the two sets of KPIs determine the performance variation).
The limitations of claim 11 are rejected in the analysis of claim1 above, and the claim
is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim12 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim
is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim13 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim
is rejected on that basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 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.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEIKH T NDIAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-3914. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOON H HWANG can be reached at 571-272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHEIKH T NDIAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
4/13/2026
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