DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to claims filed on 18 December 2023.
Claims 1-18 are pending for examination.
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 .
Priority
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8 January 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 32 CFR 1.84(l), because Figures 1-7 are not sufficiently defined such that every line, number, and letter is durable, clean, black, sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly think and well-defined. None of the lines of any of the figures appear to be solid, and many letters in the figures, especially Figures 3-5 are illegible. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
¶ 39 — “ping-pang” should read as “ping-pong”.
Appropriate correction is required.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
The claims are objected to because they include reference characters which are not enclosed within parentheses.
Reference characters corresponding to elements recited in the detailed description of the drawings and used in conjunction with the recitation of the same element or group of elements in the claims should be enclosed within parentheses so as to avoid confusion with other numbers or characters which may appear in the claims. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11-13, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Peng et al. (US 12,185,421, hereinafter Peng).
Regarding Claim 1, Peng discloses a method for a handover between a private network and a public network based on cloud communications, comprising:
101, receiving, by a cloud communication server, measurement information reported by a cloud communication terminal (Fig. 3 and 13:21-28 disclose a wireless client detecting a network status, including signal strength, signal quality, network type, latency, network speed, or other parameters);
102, determining, by the cloud communication server based on the measurement information and a network used by the cloud communication terminal, whether the cloud communication terminal satisfies a network handover condition (Fig. 4 and 14:9-24 disclose a cloud SIM card server determining whether it is necessary to assign a cloud SIM card to a wireless client after analyzing the use records of specific SIM card operators at the location (including records of dynamic network card switches, signal strength, signal quality, network type, latency, and speed) — thus, at least implying that the cloud SIM card server may determine that assigning a cloud SIM card to the wireless client is unnecessary);
103, in response to determining that the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition, assigning, by the cloud communication server, a cloud SIM card to the cloud communication terminal, wherein the cloud communication terminal establishes a data connection in a target network based on the cloud SIM card (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
104, in response to receiving an information indicative of a successful establishment of the data connection in the target network from the cloud communication terminal, releasing, by the cloud communication server, the cloud SIM card used by the cloud communication terminal in a source network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
wherein the cloud communication terminal is provided with an authentication card for sending authentication information and at least one cloud SIM card for a data communication (Note: this limitation does not appear to be directed to limiting a method by a cloud communication server; thus, this feature does not define the scope of the claimed method).
Regarding Claim 11, Peng discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in response to a failure to receive the information indicative of the successful establishment of the data connection in the target network fed back by the cloud communication terminal within a first predetermined time period upon an assignment of the cloud SIM card, sending to the cloud communication terminal, by the cloud communication server, an information indicative of enabling the cloud SIM card for the data communication in the source network to establish a data connection in the source network, wherein the cloud communication terminal continuously uses the source network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
suspending, by the cloud communication server, the cloud SIM card for the data communication in the source network in the cloud communication terminal prior to a successful network handover of the cloud communication terminal (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 12, Peng discloses the method according to claim 11, further comprising:
stopping, by the cloud communication server, a network handover within a second predetermined time period upon the failure of the network handover (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claims 13 and 16, though of varying scope, the limitations of claims 13 and 16 are substantially similar or identical to those of claim 1 and 11, and are rejected under the same reasoning. Additionally, Peng discloses wherein the cloud communication terminal periodically reports the measurement information (6:13-18), and wherein a cloud SIM card issued by a network is used for authentication and data communication (4:33-43 and 5:1-11).
Regarding Claims 17 and 18, though of varying scope, the limitations of claims 17 and 18 are substantially similar or identical to those of claims 1 and 13, and are rejected under the same reasoning.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2-9 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peng as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Dharmadhikari (US 2021/0410025).
Regarding Claim 2, Peng discloses the method according to claim 1.
Peng may not explicitly disclose wherein when the source network is the public network and the target network is the private network, the step of receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal comprises:
receiving, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the public network reported by the cloud SIM card; and/or
receiving, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the public network reported by the authentication card;
wherein the measurement information comprises cell location information and a signal strength.
However, in analogous art, Dharmadhikari discloses wherein when the source network is the public network and the target network is the private network (Fig. 1 and ¶ 22 disclose a first core network and/or a second core network can be a public or private Wide Area Networks (WAN)s, Local Area Networks (LAN)s (e.g., Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, etc.); thus, first core network is disclosed as a private network, and a second core network is disclosed as a public network), the step of receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal comprises:
receiving, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the public network reported by the cloud SIM card (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and/or
receiving, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the public network reported by the authentication card (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
wherein the measurement information comprises cell location information and a signal strength (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Dharmadhikari to modify Peng in order to provide for wireless client to switch from using a private network to using a public network. One would have been motivated to do this, because such network types are old and well known in the art as well as coexistence of different network types, such that a particular network, depending on its use and location, may be a preferred network (Dharmadhikari ¶ 26).
Regarding Claim 3, Peng-Dharmadhikari disclose the method according to claim 2, wherein when the source network is the public network and the target network is the private network, the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the measurement information and the network used by the cloud communication terminal, whether the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition comprises:
1021, determining, by the cloud communication server based on the cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within a coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
1022, in response to determining that the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network, determining, by the cloud communication server, that the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 4, Peng-Dharmadhikari disclose the method according to claim 2, wherein when the source network is the public network and the target network is the private network, the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the measurement information and the network used by the cloud communication terminal, whether the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition comprises:
102-1, determining, by the cloud communication server based on the cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within a coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)),
102-2, in response to determining that the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network, acquiring, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the private network reported by the cloud communication terminal (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)), and
102-3, determining, by the cloud communication server, whether the signal strength in the measurement information of the private network is greater than a first strength value/signal strength in the measurement information of the public network, and determining, by the cloud communication server, that the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition in response to determining that the signal strength is greater than the first strength value/the signal strength in the measurement information (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 5, Peng-Dharmadhikari disclose the method according to claim 3, wherein the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network comprises:
1020a, in response to determining, based on the cell location information in the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a peripheral zone of the coverage area of the private network, sending to the cloud communication terminal, by the cloud communication server, information of a first time interval for reporting the measurement information (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
1020b, receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the first time interval, and sending, to the cloud communication terminal, information of a second time interval for reporting the measurement information in response to determining, based on the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a critical zone between a coverage area of the public network and the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
1020c, receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the second time interval, and sending, to the cloud communication terminal, information of a third time interval for reporting the measurement information in response to determining, based on the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within an edge zone of the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
1020d, receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the third time interval, and determining, based on the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
wherein the first time interval is greater than the second time interval, and the second time interval is greater than the third time interval (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 6, Peng-Dharmadhikari disclose the method according to claim 3, wherein the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network comprises:
1020a', in response to determining, based on the cell location information in the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a peripheral zone of the coverage area of the private network, sending to the cloud communication terminal, by the cloud communication server, information of a first time interval for reporting the measurement information (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
1020b', receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the first time interval, and sending, to the cloud communication terminal, information of a second time interval for reporting the measurement information in response to determining, based on the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a critical zone between a coverage area of the public network and the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
l020c', receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the second time interval, and determining, based on the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 7, Peng-Dharmadhikari disclose the method according to claim 4, wherein the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network comprises:
1020a, in response to determining, based on the cell location information in the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a peripheral zone of the coverage area of the private network, sending to the cloud communication terminal, by the cloud communication server, information of a first time interval for reporting the measurement information (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
1020b, receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the first time interval, and sending, to the cloud communication terminal, information of a second time interval for reporting the measurement information in response to determining, based on the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a critical zone between a coverage area of the public network and the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
1020c, receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the second time interval, and sending, to the cloud communication terminal, information of a third time interval for reporting the measurement information in response to determining, based on the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within an edge zone of the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
1020d, receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the third time interval, and determining, based on the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
wherein the first time interval is greater than the second time interval, and the second time interval is greater than the third time interval (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 8, Peng-Dharmadhikari disclose the method according to claim 4, wherein the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network comprises:
1020a', in response to determining, based on the cell location information in the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a peripheral zone of the coverage area of the private network, sending to the cloud communication terminal, by the cloud communication server, information of a first time interval for reporting the measurement information (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
1020b', receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the first time interval, and sending, to the cloud communication terminal, information of a second time interval for reporting the measurement information in response to determining, based on the measurement information, that the cloud communication terminal is within a critical zone between a coverage area of the public network and the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)); and
1020c', receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal based on the second time interval, and determining, based on the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Regarding Claim 9, Peng discloses the method according to claim 1, [where,] the step of receiving, by the cloud communication server, the measurement information reported by the cloud communication terminal comprises:
receiving, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the [source] network reported by the cloud SIM card (Fig. 4 and 14:16-22 disclose the cloud SIM card server determining whether it is necessary to assign a cloud SIM card to the wireless client after analyzing the use records of specific SIM card operators at the location (including records of dynamic network card switches, signal strength, signal quality, network type, latency, and speed)); and/or
receiving, by the cloud communication server, measurement information of the [target] network reported by the authentication card (Note: this is an alternative limitation that need not be taught for disclosed subject matter to be within the scope of the instant claim);
wherein the measurement information comprises cell location information and a signal strength (Fig. 4 and 14:11-16 disclose that the wireless client may detect the current network status and may report it to the cloud SIM card server including the network location information; 14:16-22 disclose the report as including signal strength).
Peng may not explicitly disclose wherein when the source network is the private network and the target network is the public network.
However, in analogous art, Dharmadhikari discloses wherein when the source network is the private network and the target network is the public network (Fig. 1 and ¶ 22 disclose a first core network and/or a second core network can be a public or private Wide Area Networks (WAN)s, Local Area Networks (LAN)s (e.g., Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, etc.); thus, first core network is disclosed as a private network, and a second core network is disclosed as a public network).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Dharmadhikari to modify Peng in order to provide for wireless client to switch from using a private network to using a public network. One would have been motivated to do this, because such network types are old and well known in the art as well as coexistence of different network types, such that a particular network, depending on its use and location, may be a preferred network (Dharmadhikari ¶ 26).
Regarding Claim 10, Peng discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining, by the cloud communication server based on the measurement information and the private network used by the cloud communication terminal, whether the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition comprises:
determining, by the cloud communication server based on cell location information in the measurement information, whether the cloud communication terminal is within an edge zone of a coverage area of the private network;
in response to determining that the cloud communication terminal is within the edge zone of the coverage area of the private network, sending, by the cloud communication server, a first request for acquiring QoS information to the cloud communication terminal, and acquiring the QoS information acquired by the cloud communication terminal based on the first request; and
determining, by the cloud communication server, whether the QoS information is greater than a predetermined threshold, and determining that the cloud communication terminal satisfies the network handover condition in response to determining that the QoS information is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold.
Peng may not explicitly disclose wherein when the source network is the private network and the target network is the public network.
However, in analogous art, Dharmadhikari discloses wherein when the source network is the private network and the target network is the public network (Fig. 1 and ¶ 22 disclose a first core network and/or a second core network can be a public or private Wide Area Networks (WAN)s, Local Area Networks (LAN)s (e.g., Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, etc.); thus, first core network is disclosed as a private network, and a second core network is disclosed as a public network).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Dharmadhikari to modify Peng in order to provide for wireless client to switch from using a private network to using a public network. One would have been motivated to do this, because such network types are old and well known in the art as well as coexistence of different network types, such that a particular network, depending on its use and location, may be a preferred network (Dharmadhikari ¶ 26).
Regarding Claim 14, Peng discloses the method according to claim 13.
Peng may note explicitly disclose wherein when the source network is the public network and the target network is the private network, the step of periodically reporting, by the cloud communication terminal, the measurement information to the cloud communication server comprises:
in response to approaching a coverage area of the private network, receiving, by the cloud communication terminal, information of an nth time interval for reporting the measurement information from the cloud communication server, and reporting the measurement information to the cloud communication server based on the nth time interval, wherein the nth time interval is determined by the cloud communication server according to a distance between a location of the cloud communication terminal indicated by cell location information and the coverage area of the private network;
wherein n is a natural number greater than 0.
However, in analogous art, Dharmadhikari discloses wherein when the source network is the public network and the target network is the private network (Fig. 1 and ¶ 22 disclose a first core network and/or a second core network can be a public or private Wide Area Networks (WAN)s, Local Area Networks (LAN)s (e.g., Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, etc.); thus, a first core network is disclosed as a private network, and a second core network is disclosed as a public network), the step of periodically reporting, by the cloud communication terminal, the measurement information to the cloud communication server comprises:
in response to approaching a coverage area of the private network, receiving, by the cloud communication terminal, information of an nth time interval for reporting the measurement information from the cloud communication server, and reporting the measurement information to the cloud communication server based on the nth time interval, wherein the nth time interval is determined by the cloud communication server according to a distance between a location of the cloud communication terminal indicated by cell location information and the coverage area of the private network (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II));
wherein n is a natural number greater than 0 (Note: this limitation is contingent on a condition being satisfied, and since this claim encompasses where the condition isn’t satisfied, this limitation may not be reached to disclose subject matter within the scope of the claim — see MPEP 2111.04(II)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 15 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest the ordered combination of all of the features of at least dependent claim(s) 10. Specifically, the prior art of record fails to disclose determining that a terminal is located at a coverage edge and requesting additional quality of service information when determining whether to assign a cloud SIM card to the terminal in ordered combination with all the other features of at least any one of the independent claims.
The prior art cited above were found to be the closest prior art to the claimed invention. However, none of the references cited above disclosed where a terminal may receive a request for quality of service information after having already provided a network server with a measurement report upon the terminal being determined to be in an edge zone of the a coverage area.
Thus, at least dependent claims 10 and 15 would be allowed over the prior art of record if rewritten in independent form. Therefore, claims 10 and 15 are objected.
Conclusion
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of the action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS R CAIRNS whose telephone number is (571)270-0487. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM ET M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MARCUS SMITH can be reached at (571) 270-1096. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Thomas R Cairns/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468