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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/06/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 28-34 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 28-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al (20160330077) in view of Zhang et al (20210160128).
Regarding claim 28, Jin et al discloses, a method comprising:
receiving, from the client device, the customer data including a password, and a service set identifier (SSID) utilized to register for virtual wireless services (¶ 0093-0094, the selected virtual L2 network may be identified by the network name and/or Extended SSID (ESSID) “WTRU1-WLAN”. The virtual network's security, authentication and encryption type may also be set-up specifically for WTRU 702 based on its profile and capabilities. WTRU 702 and AP 704 may also exchange authentication request message, 722, and authentication response message, 724 and association request message, 726, and association response message, 728);
selecting a virtual router being executed by at least one of a remote computing system or a base station based on a virtual wireless network for which the customer is registered, the virtual wireless network being identified by the SSID (¶ 0089, 0093-0095, the controller 608 may configure the switches and routers in network 606 so that each WTRU 610 and 612 can have a user-specific virtual router, creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses identified as “WTRU1-R01” in this example; and/or once this logical router identity is configured on router 712, the network may ensure that there is a forwarding path between AP 704 and router 712, or more specifically, between the virtual AP WTRU1-WLAN (residing on AP 704) and the logical router instance WTRU1-R01) and;
transmitting, to the virtual router, a provision message including the SSID, the provision message enabling the base station to begin authentication of a wireless access point based on a connection being requested by the client device (¶ 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Jin et al does not specifically disclose in detail, transmitting, to the client device, the registration page, including content utilizable by a customer to provide customer data; receiving, from the client device, the customer data including a username, a password, and a service set identifier (SSID) utilized to register for virtual wireless services.
In the same field of endeavor, Zhang et al discloses in more detail,
receiving, from a client device, a request for a registration page (¶ 0009, needed to sign up a communication device for use of wireless services such as WiFi™ is an undesirable impediment to using network services. Typically, a user of a network access plan would like to be able to open a respective application such as a browser and be provided immediate);
transmitting, to the client device, the registration page, including content utilizable by a customer to provide customer data (¶ 0009, needed to sign up a communication device for use of wireless services such as WiFi™ is an undesirable impediment to using network services. Typically, a user of a network access plan would like to be able to open a respective application such as a browser and be provided immediate); transmitting, to the client device, the registration page, including content utilizable by a customer to provide customer data (¶ 0009, 0073, 0083);
receiving, from the client device, the customer data including a username, a password, and a service set identifier (SSID) utilized to register for virtual wireless services (¶ 0019, manually provide the access credentials username, password, etc. to establish a secured communication link, ¶ 0083, configuration information 191 including information such as a username, password, SSID name, etc. and ¶ 0087, During a process of establishing the wireless communication link with access point 105-2, potentially unbeknownst to the user 108-1, the communication device 120-1 uses the information in the configuration information 191 to establish the wireless communication link in accordance with a protocol such as EAP). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claim invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the device of Jin et al by specifically adding feature in order to enhance system performance to respective user and service provider can overcome hurdles associated with configuring a respective communication device to support secured wireless access when accessing a network through a wireless access point. A communication device manufacturer can program a respective newly manufactured device with credentials enabling the user to use wireless access points managed by a respective service provider as taught by Zhang et al.
Regarding claim 29, Jin et al and Zhang et al disclose in claim 28 further, Zhang et al discloses, wherein the customer data includes payment data utilized by the customer to enable the client device to access the virtual wireless network (¶ 0009, 0100).
Regarding claim 30, Jin et al and Zhang et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the customer data includes address data associated with an address to be utilized by the customer to access the virtual wireless services (¶ 0093-0095, 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 31, Jin et al and Zhang et al disclose in claim 28 further, Zhang et al discloses, wherein the provision message includes the username and the password (¶ 0009, 0073, 0083, see detail in claim 28), and Jin discloses, enable the base station to begin authentication of the virtual router to be utilized to provide the virtual wireless network via the wireless access point (¶ 0093-0094, the selected virtual L2 network may be identified by the network name and/or Extended SSID (ESSID) “WTRU1-WLAN”. The virtual network's security, authentication and encryption type may also be set-up specifically for WTRU 702 based on its profile and capabilities. WTRU 702 and AP 704 may also exchange authentication request message, 722, and authentication response message, 724 and association request message, 726, and association response message, 728, and ¶ 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 32, Jin and Zhang et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the provision message includes a name of the virtual wireless network, and the name enables the base station to begin the authentication of the virtual router to be utilized to provide the virtual wireless network via the wireless access point (¶ 0093-0095, 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 33, Jin et al and Zhang et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the provision message enables the base station to provide access to the client device to a local wireless network (¶ 0093-0095, 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 34, Jin et al and Zhang et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the provision message enables the base station to provide access to the client device to a Wi-Fi network (¶ 0093-0094, the selected virtual L2 network may be identified by the network name and/or Extended SSID (ESSID) “WTRU1-WLAN”. The virtual network's security, authentication and encryption type may also be set-up specifically for WTRU 702 based on its profile and capabilities. WTRU 702 and AP 704 may also exchange authentication request message, 722, and authentication response message, 724 and association request message, 726, and association response message, 728, and ¶ 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Claim(s) 28-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al (20160330077) in view of Wynn et al (20160066187).
Regarding claim 28, Jin et al discloses, a method comprising:
receiving, from the client device, the customer data including a password, and a service set identifier (SSID) utilized to register for virtual wireless services (¶ 0093-0094, the selected virtual L2 network may be identified by the network name and/or Extended SSID (ESSID) “WTRU1-WLAN”. The virtual network's security, authentication and encryption type may also be set-up specifically for WTRU 702 based on its profile and capabilities. WTRU 702 and AP 704 may also exchange authentication request message, 722, and authentication response message, 724 and association request message, 726, and association response message, 728);
selecting a virtual router being executed by at least one of a remote computing system or a base station based on a virtual wireless network for which the customer is registered, the virtual wireless network being identified by the SSID (¶ 0089, 0093-0095, the controller 608 may configure the switches and routers in network 606 so that each WTRU 610 and 612 can have a user-specific virtual router, creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses identified as “WTRU1-R01” in this example; and/or once this logical router identity is configured on router 712, the network may ensure that there is a forwarding path between AP 704 and router 712, or more specifically, between the virtual AP WTRU1-WLAN (residing on AP 704) and the logical router instance WTRU1-R01) and;
transmitting, to the virtual router, a provision message including the SSID, the provision message enabling the base station to begin authentication of a wireless access point based on a connection being requested by the client device (¶ 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Jin et al does not specifically disclose in detail, transmitting, to the client device, the registration page, including content utilizable by a customer to provide customer data; receiving, from the client device, the customer data including a username, a password, and a service set identifier (SSID) utilized to register for virtual wireless services.
In the same field of endeavor, Wynn discloses in more detail,
receiving, from a client device, a request for a registration page (¶ 0169-0170, the digital device 102 retrieves one or more network access pages from the authentication server 108);
transmitting, to the client device, the registration page, including content utilizable by a customer to provide customer data (¶ 0169-0170, the digital device 102 retrieves one or more network access pages from the authentication server 108 and the digital device 102 provides the network credential to the network device 104 to obtain network access to the communication network 114. In one example, the credential request response module 206 retrieves one or more forms from the authentication server 108, populates the forms with one or more network credentials, and provides the completed forms to the authentication server 108.);
receiving, from the client device, the customer data including a username, a password, and a service set identifier (SSID) utilized to register for virtual wireless services (¶ 0149, 0181, 0496, the credential request 400 may be a DNS string having a structure that comprises a location identifier 402, a sequence identifier 404, a signature 406, the DDID 408, a service set identifier (SSID) 410, and a version identifier 412. The user may input the SSID (e.g., identify the service provider or hotspots) into the network credential software. The user may also input the network credentials within the network credential software. After the network credential software has obtained the DDID, SSID, and network credentials, the network credential software may upload the information to the credential server 116 which stores the information within a network record and the virtual network communication module 2512 provides a venue attendee or any user one or more wireless network identifiers and/or login information. The wireless network identifiers may identify any wireless network. For example, the wireless network may include an SSID and/or BSSID. The login information may comprise username, password, and/or login procedure information (e.g., to automatically provide information to an access point to allow access to a wireless network). For example, the login information may allow the venue attendee device (e.g., via a client on the venue attendee device) to auto-fill forms, click buttons, check boxes, click-through pages, and/or automatically provide inputs to web pages to provide to the access point to obtain wireless network access).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claim invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the device of Jin et al by specifically adding feature in order to enhance system performance to the method enables using a digital device to select and access an available wireless network from available wireless networks based on rules to achieve satisfactory quality of service as taught by Wynn et al.
Regarding claim 29, Jin et al and Wynn et al disclose in claim 28 further, Wynn et al discloses, wherein the customer data includes payment data utilized by the customer to enable the client device to access the virtual wireless network (¶ 0149, 0181, 0496).
Regarding claim 30, Jin et al and Wynn et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the customer data includes address data associated with an address to be utilized by the customer to access the virtual wireless services (¶ 0093-0095, 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 31, Jin et al and Wynn et al disclose in claim 28 further, Wynn et al discloses, wherein the provision message includes the username and the password (¶ 0149, 0181, 0496, see detail in claim 28), and Jin discloses, enable the base station to begin authentication of the virtual router to be utilized to provide the virtual wireless network via the wireless access point (¶ 0093-0094, the selected virtual L2 network may be identified by the network name and/or Extended SSID (ESSID) “WTRU1-WLAN”. The virtual network's security, authentication and encryption type may also be set-up specifically for WTRU 702 based on its profile and capabilities. WTRU 702 and AP 704 may also exchange authentication request message, 722, and authentication response message, 724 and association request message, 726, and association response message, 728, and ¶ 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 32, Jin and Wynn et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the provision message includes a name of the virtual wireless network, and the name enables the base station to begin the authentication of the virtual router to be utilized to provide the virtual wireless network via the wireless access point (¶ 0093-0095, 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 33, Jin et al and Wynn et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the provision message enables the base station to provide access to the client device to a local wireless network (¶ 0093-0095, 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Regarding claim 34, Jin et al and Wynn et al disclose in claim 28 further, Jin et al discloses, wherein the provision message enables the base station to provide access to the client device to a Wi-Fi network (¶ 0093-0094, the selected virtual L2 network may be identified by the network name and/or Extended SSID (ESSID) “WTRU1-WLAN”. The virtual network's security, authentication and encryption type may also be set-up specifically for WTRU 702 based on its profile and capabilities. WTRU 702 and AP 704 may also exchange authentication request message, 722, and authentication response message, 724 and association request message, 726, and association response message, 728, and ¶ 0128, the AP 1404 and WTRU 1402 may also complete authentication and association procedures 1426, as well as 802.1X authentication and/or 802.11 key exchange 1428, for WTRU 1402. At this point, WTRU1 is attached to the virtual WLAN (SSID=WTRU1-WLAN) and ¶ 0095, at this point, WTRU 702 is attached to the network via AP 704. In addition to the logical L2 network allocated to WTRU 702, a logical L3 network may also be configured for WTRU 702, at 732. The configuration of the logical L3 network, 732, may include: selecting an IPv6 prefix (e.g. PrefWTRU1::/64); selecting an L3 anchor or physical anchoring point to provide IP connectivity, identified as router 712 in this example; creating a logical instance of an L3 router or a virtual router logical entity (e.g. L2 and L3 link local addresses) identified as “WTRU1-R01”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-27 and 35-40 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/KHAWAR IQBAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643