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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the amendment filed on July 8, 2026, in which:
Claims 1, 11, 12, and 14 are currently amended.
Claims 1-12 and 14 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows.
Response to Arguments
On pages 9-10 of the applicant’s remarks, the applicant argues that Xing fails to teach “determining a cooperation flow, comprising a series of one-to-one instances of exchange between at least three operators, including the first operator, the second operator, and the at least third operator.” The examiner respectfully disagrees. Xing Fig. 4, Fig. 5, [0060]-[0062], [0076]-[0077] explains the Operator A receiving a profile for the UEs operating under Operator B and receiving a profile for the UEs under Operator C, each with a pre-defined agreement which sets for the relative shares of spectrum for each operator. Operator A then determines the resources to allocate to Operator B and C based on the collected information. The operation occurs in one to one instance between Operator A and Operator B and again between Operator A and Operator C which are two instances occurring in series among the three operators. Therefore, the examiner respectfully maintains the rejection as further explained below.
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.
Claim(s) 1-12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-20130178225-A1 (herein “Xing”).
Claims 1, 11, 12, and 14
Consider claim 1, Xing teaches A method comprising:
provisioning a first communication resource by a management entity of a first operator to a management entity of a second operator in an infrastructure comprising at least a third operator (see Xing Fig. 4, [0076]-[0077] note MME Operator A allocating resources to Operator B and Operator C), the provisioning being implemented by the management entity of the first operator and comprising:
receiving a cooperation index relating to a previous instance of provision of a second resource by the management entity of the second operator and of a third resource by a management entity of the at least a third operator (see Xing Fig. 4, Fig. 5, [0057]-[0059], [0076]-[0077] note Operator A collecting profiles of the UEs operating under Operator B (and Operator C) and pre-defined agreement which sets forth relative shares of the spectrum for each operator),
determining a cooperation flow, comprising a series of one-to-one instances of exchange between at least three operators, including the first operator, the second operator, and the at least third operator, depending on the received cooperation index and on a datum relating to a fourth resource provided to the management entity of the first operator by the management entity of the second operator or of the at least a third operator (see Xing Fig. 4, Fig. 5, [0060]-[0062], [0076]-[0077] note Operator A collecting profiles of the UEs operating under Operator B (and Operator C) and pre-defined agreement which sets forth relative shares of the spectrum for each operator and determining the resources to allocate to Operator B based on the collected information (UE profiles and pre-defined agreement)), and
provisioning the first resource to the management entity of the second operator depending on the determined cooperation flow (see Xing Fig. 5, [0063], [0076]-[0077] note based on the collected information, allocate resources to Operator B).
Claim(s) 11, 12, and 14 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 1.
Claim 2
Consider claim 2, Xing teaches wherein the cooperation index comprises a maximum cooperation flow rate corresponding to an amount of the second and third resources received from the management entities of the second operator and of the at least a third operator (see Xing [0029], [0063] note the information that is collected is used for making new decisions for the next round of coordination decisions, where operators need to enable sufficient data rates for their individual users).
Claim 3
Consider claim 3, Xing teaches wherein the cooperation index is specific to each management entity of the infrastructure (see Xing Fig. 5, [0060] note pre-defined agreements for each operator).
Claim 4
Consider claim 4, Xing teaches wherein the cooperation flow is further determined depending on a datum relating to a fifth resource provided by the management entity of the second operator to the management entity of the at least a third operator (see Xing Fig. 4, [0060]-[0063] note coordination of multiple operators by the master MME/Operator A where the information is fed back to the MME for making decisions for the next round of decisions).
Claim 5
Consider claim 5, Xing teaches wherein the cooperation flow is determined depending on a number of operators participating in the provision of the first resource (see Xing Fig. 4, [0060]-[0062] note coordination of multiple operators by the master MME/Operator A).
Claim 6
Consider claim 6, further comprising, following provision of the first resource, transmitting, to a mediation entity, a message containing information relating to the first resource and an identifier of the management entity of the second operator (see Xing [0063] note after the execution of the coordination decision, each operator providing feedback, measurements and performance reports, to the master MME/Operator A for making decisions for the next round).
Claim 7
Consider claim 7, Xing teaches comprising, prior to receipt of the cooperation index, receiving information relating to mutual provision of the second and third resources by the management entities of the operators of the infrastructure (see Xing [0057]-[0059], [0076] note receiving the UE profiles used for the MME multi-operator coordination).
Claim 8
Consider claim 8, Xing teaches wherein the cooperation flow is determined depending on an amount of the first resource and on an amount of the fourth resource (see Xing [0060] note allocating of suitable shared frequency band/channels for each EUTRAN).
Claim 9
Consider claim 9, Xing teaches wherein the cooperation index is determined depending on a cooperation index determined during a previous instance of provision of a resource (see Xing [0063] note after the execution of the coordination decision, each operator providing feedback, measurements and performance reports, to the master MME/Operator A for making decisions for the next round).
Claim 10
Consider claim 10, Xing teaches wherein the first resource and the fourth resource are identical (see Xing [0060] note allocating of suitable shared frequency band/channels for each EUTRAN).
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
