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 .
Claim Interpretation
MPEP §2111.04 recites “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. For example, assume a method claim requires step A if a first condition happens and step B if a second condition happens. If the claimed invention may be practiced without either the first or second condition happening, then neither step A or B is required by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim. If the claimed invention requires the first condition to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires step A. If the claimed invention requires both the first and second conditions to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires both steps A and B.”
Claim 12 is a method claim and contains contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. The limitation starting with “if a sensor in data communication with the at least one processor detected a data transfer while iteratively applying various conditions to the data transfers” (in line 1). See MPEP 2111.04 subsection II.
Since this are contingent limitations not required to occur, they are not required by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim. Applicant is encouraged to require the conditions of the limitation to occur within the claim language or otherwise rewrite the claim language to avoid using contingent claiming. The prior art mapping was mapped to address the claim language, including the contingent limitations, however the contingent limitations are not included in the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim scope, so they cannot be relied upon to distinguish the claim scope from the prior art.
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.
(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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Khafizov et al. (US 20220239395 A1, hereinafter Khafizov).
Claim 1: Khafizov teaches A computing apparatus (Fig. 10, element 103, Fig. 15) comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 15, element 1520) in data communication with a memory (Fig. 15, element 1530) storing processor executable code for configuring the at least one processor to ([0112], “Memory 1530 may include any type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions for execution by processor 1520, and/or any type of non-volatile storage device that may store information for use by processor 1520”):
receive a plurality of network parameters (Fig. 11, element 1102, 1104, Fig. 10, element 1002, [0067], “base station 103 may determine a particular set of actions 205 to perform. For example, ROS 105 may provide one or more sector models 201 associated with sector 101 to base station 103 (and/or to some other device or system that communicates with base station 103, such as an orchestration platform), and base station 103 may determine actions 205 based on the received sector models 201”, Fig. 3, [0039], “sector model 201 may include RF and/or interference metrics 301… Quality of Service (“QoS”) metrics 303, energy consumption metrics 305, RAN configuration parameters 307, inter-sector information 309, locale features 311”, [0040], “ RF metrics 301 may include RSRP values, RSRQ values, RSSI values, SINR values, CQI values, or other indicators of RF signal quality or strength”, [0043], “QoS metrics 303 may include metrics relating to latency, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and/or other metrics related to network layer performance, application layer performance, or other “higher” layer performance (e.g., performance at a layer above a physical layer and/or a data link layer)”, [0045], “RAN configuration parameters 307 may include a transmission power associated with a particular channel 109, a transmission power of RF signals sent from a particular base station 103 to a particular UE 107”);
establish datalink connections between at least two devices under test (Fig. 10, [0069], “base station 103 may determine that sub-sector 1003-1 includes an office building in which a relatively large quantity of UEs 107 are located during particular hours of the day and/or days of the week. Accordingly, base station 103 may determine that channel propagation metrics associated with sub-sector 1003-1 should be increased to meet the estimated, predicted, etc. demand”, [0070], “ base station 103 may allocate additional power to RF transmissions directed toward sub-sector 1003-1, may modify a beamforming configuration (e.g., tilt angle and/or azimuth angle) to point one or more antennas toward sub-sector 1003-1, allocate additional power to RF transmissions directed toward particular UEs 107 located within sub-sector 1003-1”, Fig. 11, element 1114, [0024], “ A “channel,” as used herein, may refer to RF transmissions between a particular base station 103 and UE 107 (e.g., “downlink” RF signals transmitted from base station 103 to UE 107 and/or “uplink” RF signals transmitted from UE 107 to base station 103)”);
iteratively apply various conditions to data transfers between the at least two devices according to the plurality of network parameters (Fig. 10, [0070], “base station 103 may implement (at 1004) actions 205 to improve channel propagation metrics at sub-sector 1003-1… base station 103 may allocate additional power to RF transmissions directed toward sub-sector 1003-1, may modify a beamforming configuration (e.g., tilt angle and/or azimuth angle) to point one or more antennas toward sub-sector 1003-1, allocate additional power to RF transmissions directed toward particular UEs 107 located within sub-sector 1003-1”, [0072], “actions 205 may include any suitable actions to modify (e.g., increase) channel propagation metrics associated with a particular sector 101 or sub-sectors thereof …base station 103 may initiate a handover of a given UE 107 when base station 103 determines that UE 107 is located in, or is heading towards, a sub-sector that is associated with relatively low channel propagation metrics”, [0069], “base station 103 may determine that sub-sector 1003-1 includes an office building in which a relatively large quantity of UEs 107 are located during particular hours of the day and/or days of the week. Accordingly, base station 103 may determine that channel propagation metrics associated with sub-sector 1003-1 should be increased to meet the estimated, predicted, etc. demand”, Fig.11, elements 1108, 1110, 1112, 1114, [0073-0076], wherein ROS 105 may evaluate metrics based on real-word and/or simulated metrics and/or attributes of one or more sectors 101 in order to generate one or more clusters, classifications, or the like, which may be reflected by sector models 201. [0079], “ROS 105 may evaluate attributes of one or more sectors 101 to determine whether to perform actions to enhance channel propagation metrics with such sectors 101”, [0081], “As shown in FIG. 11, some or all of process 1100 may be performed and/or repeated iteratively … the results of implementing (at 1114) particular actions in response to particular channel propagation models 203 associated with particular sector models 201 may be evaluated. Further, the associations between sector models 201, channel propagation models 203, and sets of actions/parameters 205 may be modified (e.g., strengthened or weakened) based on whether particular actions 205 improved channel propagation metrics within sector 101”);
and produce a report of one or more data transfer metrics measured while iteratively applying the various conditions ([0029], “ROS 105 may generate one or more scores, classifiers, or the like, and/or may perform a suitable similarity analysis to determine a measure of similarity between attributes of a set of sector models and attributes of a given sector 101”, [0042], “ROS 105 may receive the measurement reports and/or other suitable RF metrics 301 from UEs 107 (e.g., via an API or other suitable communication pathway), and/or from base stations 103”, [0041], “ROS 105, a given base station 103, and/or some other device or system may receive a RSRP value from a particular UE 107 (e.g., indicating a RSRP value associated with a particular channel 109 between UE 107 and a particular base station 103), and the RSRP value may be compared to a transmit power associated with the particular channel 109 (e.g., a power at which base station 103 transmitted a reference signal for which UE 107 measured or determined the RSRP value) … path loss (and/or other channel propagation metrics) may be determined as a function of geographical location”, [0073-0076], wherein ROS 105 may evaluate metrics based on real-word and/or simulated metrics and/or attributes of one or more sectors 101 in order to generate one or more clusters, classifications, or the like, which may be reflected by sector models 201).
Claim 8 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Khafizov further teaches generating one or more simulated IP network flows (Fig. 3, Fig. 11, [0064], “each sector model 201-channel propagation model 203 pair may be associated with one or more sets of actions/parameters 205, as each particular set of actions/parameters 205 may have been determined (e.g., based on real-world results and/or simulated results) as increasing the performance (e.g., increasing channel propagation metrics) of one or more sectors 101”, [0075], “channel propagation metrics may be generated or received based on a simulation of a RAN (e.g., in which channel conditions between one or more UEs 107 and one or more base stations 103 are simulated)”, [0076], “The channel propagation metrics may also include an indication of a geographical location at which such channel propagation metrics were measured and/or simulated”, [0079], “ROS 105 may evaluate attributes of one or more sectors 101 to determine whether to perform actions to enhance channel propagation metrics with such sectors 101. For example, such evaluation may be performed during a “network planning” phase,
in which simulations are performed in a simulated environment to analyze various configurations or configuration changes to a RAN”, [0043], “QoS metrics 303 may reflect QoS metrics associated with a particular sector 101 over a particular period of time. For example, QoS metrics 303 may include metrics relating to latency, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, and/or other metrics related to network layer performance, application layer performance, or other “higher” layer performance (e.g., performance at a layer above a physical layer and/or a data link layer)”, [0048], “a given sector 101 may be associated with one or more sector models 201 …ROS 105 may determine that a particular sector 101, that exhibits a particular set of RF metrics 301, a particular set of QoS metrics 303… a first set of locale features 311 ”);
iteratively applying various conditions to the one or more simulated IP network flows between the at least two devices according to the plurality of network parameters (Fig. 10, [0067], “base station 103 may determine a particular set of actions 205 to perform. For example, ROS 105 may provide one or more sector models 201 associated with sector 101 to base station 103 (and/or to some other device or system that communicates with base station 103, such as an orchestration platform), and base station 103 may determine actions 205 based on the received sector models 201”, [0069], “base station 103 may determine that sub-sector 1003-1 includes an office building in which a relatively large quantity of UEs 107 are located during particular hours of the day and/or days of the week. Accordingly, base station 103 may determine that channel propagation metrics associated with sub-sector 1003-1 should be increased to meet the estimated, predicted, etc. demand”, Fig. 11, [0073-0076], wherein ROS 105 may evaluate metrics based on real-word and/or simulated metrics and/or attributes of one or more sectors 101 in order to generate one or more clusters, classifications, or the like, which may be reflected by sector models 201. [0079], “ROS 105 may evaluate attributes of one or more sectors 101 to determine whether to perform actions to enhance channel propagation metrics with such sectors 101”, [0081], “Process 1100 may additionally include determining (at 1112) a set of actions 205 based on the identified channel propagation model 203 and sector model 201 for sector 101”).
Claim 14 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Khalilov further teaches generate one or more simulated IP network flows including the at least two devices (Fig. 3, [0064], “each sector model 201-channel propagation model 203 pair may be associated with one or more sets of actions/parameters 205, as each particular set of actions/parameters 205 may have been determined (e.g., based on real-world results and/or simulated results) as increasing the performance (e.g., increasing channel propagation metrics) of one or more sectors 101”, [0075], “channel propagation metrics may be generated or received based on a simulation of a RAN (e.g., in which channel conditions between one or more UEs 107 and one or more base stations 103 are
simulated)”, [0076], “The channel propagation metrics may also include an indication of a geographical location at which such channel propagation metrics were measured and/or simulated”, [0079], “ROS 105 may evaluate attributes of one or more sectors
101 to determine whether to perform actions to enhance channel propagation metrics with such sectors 101. For example, such evaluation may be performed during a “network planning” phase, in which simulations are performed in a simulated environment to analyze various configurations or configuration changes to a RAN”, [0043], “QoS metrics 303 may reflect QoS metrics associated with a particular sector 101 over a particular period of time. For example, QoS metrics 303 may include metrics relating to latency, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, and/or other metrics related to network layer performance, application layer performance, or other “higher” layer performance (e.g., performance at a layer above a physical layer and/or a data link
layer)”, [0048], “a given sector 101 may be associated with one or more sector models 201 …ROS 105 may determine that a particular sector 101, that exhibits a particular set of RF metrics 301, a particular set of QoS metrics 303… a first set of locale features 311 ”, Fig. 11, [0073-0076], wherein ROS 105 may evaluate metrics based on real-word and/or simulated metrics and/or attributes of one or more sectors 101 in order to generate one or more clusters, classifications, or the like, which may be reflected by sector models 201. [0081], “As shown in FIG. 11, some or all of process 1100 may be performed and/or repeated iteratively ”).
Claim 15: Khafizov teaches the network modeling system of Claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to iteratively apply various conditions to the one or more data flows according to the plurality of network parameters (Fig. 10, [0067], “base station 103 may determine a particular set of actions 205 to perform. For example, ROS 105 may provide one or more sector models 201 associated with sector 101 to base station 103 (and/or to some other device or system that communicates with base station 103, such as an orchestration platform), and base station 103 may determine actions 205 based on the received sector models 201”, [0069], “base station 103 may determine that sub-sector 1003-1 includes an office building in which a relatively large quantity of UEs 107 are located during particular hours of the day and/or days of the week. Accordingly, base station 103 may determine that channel propagation metrics associated with sub-sector 1003-1 should be increased to meet the estimated, predicted, etc. demand”, [0070], “ base station 103 may allocate additional power to RF transmissions directed toward sub-sector 1003-1, may modify a beamforming configuration (e.g., tilt angle and/or azimuth angle) to point one or more antennas toward sub-sector 1003-1, allocate additional power to RF transmissions directed toward particular UEs 107 located within sub-sector 1003-1”, Fig. 11, [0073-0076], wherein ROS 105 may evaluate metrics based on real-word and/or simulated metrics and/or attributes of one or more sectors 101 in order to generate one or more clusters, classifications, or the like, which may be reflected by sector models 201).
Claim 2: Khalilov teaches the computing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to produce a model of datalink behavior as defined by the plurality of network flow and RF synthetic environment parameters (Fig. 3, [0064], “each sector model 201-channel propagation model 203 pair may be associated with one or more sets of actions/parameters 205, as each particular set of actions/parameters 205
may have been determined (e.g., based on real-world results and/or simulated results) as increasing the performance (e.g., increasing channel propagation metrics) of one or more sectors 101 …actions/parameters 205 may include modifying RF signal transmit power of one or more antennas and/or base stations 103 (e.g., on a per-UE basis and/or on some other basis)”, [0039], “sector model 201 may include RF and/or interference metrics 301… Quality of Service (“QoS”) metrics 303, energy consumption metrics 305, RAN configuration parameters 307, inter-sector information 309, locale features 311”, [0045], “RAN configuration parameters 307 may include parameters such as an indication of quantity and/or position (e.g., geographical position) of physical infrastructure hardware (e.g., antennas, radios, data centers, or the like) associated with one or more RANs in sector 101” ).
Claim 9 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8 and claim 2.
Claim 16 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 15 and claim 2.
Claim 3: Khafizov teaches the computing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein: the at least one processor is further configured to receive at least one mission scenario; and iteratively applying various conditions to the data transfers includes applying the at least one mission scenario (Fig. 11, element 1102, 1104, 1114, Fig. 10, [0064], “each sector model 201-channel propagation model 203 pair may be associated with one or more sets of actions/parameters 205 … actions/parameters 205 may include modifying RF signal transmit power of one or more antennas and/or base stations 103 (e.g., on a per-UE basis and/or on some other basis), modifying beamforming parameters (e.g., modifying a coverage area of one or more base stations 103), and/or other suitable actions to enhance the propagation of RF signals to appropriate locations”, [0067], “ROS 105 may provide one or more sector models 201associated with sector 101 to base station 103”.).
Claim 10 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8 and claim 3.
Claim 17 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 15 and claim 3.
Claim 4: Khafizov teaches the computing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to emulate one or more IP network traffic events while iteratively applying various conditions to the data transfers and RF synthetic environment (Fig. 11, [0079], “valuation may be performed during a “network planning” phase … such evaluation may be performed on a “live” or “deployed” RAN to identify sectors 101 that are exhibiting channel propagation metrics … such evaluation may be performed on a “live” or “deployed” RAN to enhance the overall operation of the RAN”. Fig. 9, Fig.10, [0064], “each sector model 201-channel propagation model 203 pair may be associated with one or more sets of actions/parameters 205, as each particular set of actions/parameters 205 may have been determined (e.g., based on real-world results and/or simulated results) as increasing the performance (e.g., increasing channel propagation metrics) of one or more sectors 101 … actions/parameters 205 may include modifying RF signal transmit power of one or more antennas and/or base stations 103
(e.g., on a per-UE basis and/or on some other basis), modifying beamforming parameters (e.g., modifying a coverage area of one or more base stations 103), and/or other suitable actions to enhance the propagation of RF signals to appropriate locations”, [0069], “base station 103 may determine that sub-sector 1003-1 includes an office building in which a relatively large quantity of UEs 107 are located during particular hours of the day and/or days of the week. Accordingly, base station 103 may determine that channel propagation metrics associated with sub-sector 1003-1 should be increased to meet the estimated, predicted, etc. demand”).
Claim 5: Khafizov teaches the computing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive RF signals from one or more real emitters (Fig. 15, element 1550, 1560, [0114], “Communication interface 1560 may include any transceiver-like mechanism that enables device 1500 to communicate with other devices and/or systems”) in data communication with the at least one processor, providing a synthetic environment (Fig. 1, Fig. 10, [0024], “A “channel,” as used herein, may refer to RF transmissions between a particular base station 103 and UE 107 (e.g., “downlink” RF signals transmitted from base station 103 to UE 107 and/or “uplink” RF signals transmitted from UE 107 to base station 103)”).
Claim 11 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8 and claim 5.
Claim 18 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 15 and claim 5.
Claim 6: Khafizov teaches the computing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine if adversarial synthetic sensors emulated by the at least one processor detected a data transfer while iteratively applying various conditions to the data transfers and RF environment ([0028], “base stations 103 and/or UEs 107
communicatively coupled to respective base stations 103 may “push” such information to ROS 105 (e.g., via the API) on a periodic or intermittent basis, upon the occurrence of trigger events (e.g, …, one or more Quality of Service (“QoS”) metrics exceeding a threshold value, a connection or disconnection of one or more UEs 107 to one or more base stations 103, and/or other events)”, [0043], “QoS metrics 303 may include metrics relating to latency, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and/or other metrics related to network
layer performance, application layer performance, or other “higher” layer performance (e.g., performance at a layer above a physical layer and/or a data link layer)”, [0079], “valuation may be performed during a “network planning” phase … such evaluation may be performed on a “live” or “deployed” RAN to identify sectors 101 that are exhibiting channel propagation metrics … such evaluation may be performed on a “live” or “deployed” RAN to enhance the overall operation of the RAN).
Claim 12 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8 and claim 6.
Claim 19 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 15 and claim 6.
Claim 7: Khafizov teaches the computing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the plurality of network parameters comprises at least one environmental parameter, and at least one network traffic parameter (Fig. 10, [0082], “ such actions 205 may include the identification of increased demand for wireless service at a given location within sector 101”, [0039], “sector model 201 may include RF and/or interference metrics 301… Quality of Service (“QoS”) metrics 303, energy consumption metrics 305, RAN configuration parameters
307, inter-sector information 309, locale features 311”, [0043], “QoS metrics 303 may include metrics relating to latency, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss … or other “higher” layer performance (e.g., performance at a layer above a physical layer and/or a data
link layer)”, [0045], “RAN configuration parameters 307 may include a transmission power associated with a particular channel 109, a transmission power of RF signals sent from a particular base station 103 to a particular UE 107, a transmission power of RF
signals sent by base station 103”).
Claim 13 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8 and claim 7.
Claim 20 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 15 and claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form. The closest prior art reference is Soulhi et al. (US 20220408284 A1, hereinafter Soulhi), which describes a system of virtualized architecture for system parameter identification and network component configuration with reinforcement learning.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONGHONG ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)272-4089. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 9:00 am - 5:00pm.
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/Y.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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