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 Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because claim 14 claims a computer-readable storage medium. Paragraph 0471 states that The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium. It is suggested to insert the word “non-transitory” before “computer-readable storage medium”.
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)(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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Niu et al (2025/0088925).
Regarding claim 1, Niu discloses a method, comprising: obtaining satellite coverage information of a terminal device (see user equipment in figure 1), wherein the satellite coverage information comprises information indicating a time period in which the terminal device is not covered by the satellite network (see the time information of the coverage hole associated with the serving satellite in paragraph 0099); determining, based on satellite coverage information of the terminal device, at least one cycle of a periodic registration cycle of the terminal device, an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle, or a periodic tracking area update (TAU) cycle (see TAU and eDRX in paragraphs 0138-0139); and sending the at least one cycle to the terminal device (see The UE negotiates with the core network about a discontinuous-listening cycle parameter, where one discontinuous-listening cycle contains multiple PTWs. In an embodiment, the UE negotiates with the core network about the discontinuous-listening cycle parameter through a NAS procedure (for example, an Attach procedure, a TAU procedure, or a Registration procedure) in paragraph 0145).
Regarding claim 2, Niu discloses wherein a time period corresponding to the periodic TAU cycle or the period registration cycle comprises the time period in which the terminal device is not covered by the satellite network (see determining the execution time information of the certain operation includes at least one of determining the execution time information of the certain operation based on the time information of a coverage hole associated with a history camping cell in paragraph 0048; the core network may indicate a list of the execution time information of the certain operation to the UE through a NAS message. The execution time information of the certain operation includes the start time, the duration, or the end time of the coverage hole or the certain operation. The NAS message may be, for example, an ATTACH ACCEPT message or a TRACKING AREA UPDATE (TAU) ACCEPT message in paragraph 0135 and registration in paragraph 0145).
Regarding claim 3, Niu discloses sending indication information to an access network device based on the satellite coverage information, wherein the indication information indicates the access network device to execute a procedure of releasing the terminal device (see the communication method applied to the first communication node also includes that the RRC layer of the first communication node reports the execution time information of the certain operation to the non-access stratum (NAS) of the first communication node (user equipment), a second communication node (access network device such as a base station mentioned in paragraph 0063), or a core network in paragraph 0052; RRC release procedure in paragraphs 0086, 0168).
Regarding claim 4, Niu discloses determining first duration based on the satellite coverage information of the terminal device, wherein the first duration is duration after the terminal device enters an idle state and before the terminal device enters a sleep state; and sending the first duration to the terminal device (see figure 5 and The runtime of T3412 is updated to a duration that covers the duration of the coverage hole or the certain operation in paragraph 0121).
Regarding claim 5, Niu discloses sending a cause value to the terminal device, wherein the cause value indicates that the terminal device skips performing uplink transmission during sleep (see The duration in which the PSM (power saving mode) mechanism is in a sleep state may be construed as the duration of T3412 in paragraph 0059 and figure 7).
Regarding claim 6, Niu discloses determining a maximum waiting time based on the information indicating the time period in which the terminal device is not covered by the satellite network (see Each PTW parameter includes one PTW start time and one PTW duration or includes one PTW start time and one PTW end time. The PTW start time may be absolute time or an offset value, for example, an offset value relative to the start time of the previous PTW in paragraph 0145. Note that the offset value is equivalent to the maximum waiting time).
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.
Claims 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu in view of Hietakahti (WO 2020/156674 A1).
Regarding claims 7, 13, and 14, Niu discloses a communication apparatus and a communication method, comprising: the UE negotiates with the core network about a discontinuous-listening cycle parameter list (that contains multiple discontinuous-listening cycle parameters) through a NAS procedure (for example, an Attach procedure, a TAU procedure, or a Registration procedure) (see paragraph 0151) and a time period in which a terminal device is not covered by a satellite network (see when a UE is in a coverage hole, cell measurement or cell selection by the UE is futile and results in unnecessary UE power consumption. In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method for executing the operation of disabling a cell search when the UE is in a coverage hole, saving UE power consumption in paragraph 0039) but doesn't specifically disclose receiving a periodic registration cycle from a mobility management network element; and performing periodic registration based on the periodic registration cycle. However, Hietakahti discloses this feature (see an ongoing 5G Non Access Stratum (NAS) procedure for a UE is the registration update. Registration updates can be caused by a UE moving to a new area. This type of update is a Mobility Registration Update. Registration updates can also be caused by expiry of a network issued periodic registration update timer. This type of update is a Periodic Registration Update on page 11, line 32 to page 12, line 2; a Periodic Registration Update cycle on page 15, lines 14-15). The claim would have been obvious because a person of ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp. If this leads to the anticipated success, it is likely the product not of innovation but of ordinary skill and common sense.
Regarding claim 8, Hietakahti discloses a Periodic Registration Update cycle (see page 15, lines 14-15) and Niu discloses satellite coverage information of the terminal device, and the satellite coverage information indicates a time period in which the terminal device is covered by the satellite network and/or the time period in which the terminal device is not covered by the satellite network (see determining the execution time information of the certain operation includes at least one of determining the execution time information of the certain operation based on the time information of a coverage hole associated with a history camping cell in paragraph 0048; the core network may indicate a list of the execution time information of the certain operation to the UE through a NAS message. The execution time information of the certain operation includes the start time, the duration, or the end time of the coverage hole or the certain operation. The NAS message may be, for example, an ATTACH ACCEPT message or a TRACKING AREA UPDATE (TAU) ACCEPT message in paragraphs 0135 and registration in paragraph 0145).
Regarding claim 9, Hietakahti discloses wherein before the receiving the periodic registration cycle from the mobility management network element, the method further comprises: sending a mobility registration update request to the mobility management network element (see a UE moves from one registration area to another, it may be required to send a registration update to the network on page 1, lines 15-16) and Niu discloses the satellite coverage information indicates the time period in which the terminal device is covered by the satellite network and/or the time period in which the terminal device is not covered by the satellite network (see determining the execution time information of the certain operation includes at least one of determining the execution time information of the certain operation based on the time information of a coverage hole associated with a history camping cell in paragraph 0048).
Regarding claim 10, Niu discloses receiving first duration from the mobility management network element, wherein the first duration is duration after the terminal device enters an idle state and before the terminal device enters a sleep state, and the first duration is determined based on the satellite coverage information of the terminal device (see figure 5 and The runtime of T3412 is updated to a duration that covers the duration of the coverage hole or the certain operation in paragraph 0121).
Regarding claim 11, Niu discloses receiving a cause value from the mobility management network element, wherein the cause value is discontinuous satellite coverage (see LEO satellites keep moving. One LEO satellite can provide coverage in only one area for only a certain time period. FIG. 2 is a diagram of the scenario of a coverage hole based on an embodiment of the present application. For example, an LEO satellite covers an area at time T0 and moves out of this area at time T1. If no other LEO satellite covers this area at time T1, a coverage hole occurs in this area at time T1. The coverage hole is present until another LEO satellite covers this area at time T2 in paragraph 0038).
Regarding claim 12, Niu discloses wherein the cause value further indicates that the terminal device skips performing uplink transmission during sleep; and the method further comprises: when there is an uplink transmission requirement, determining, based on the cause value, to skip performing uplink transmission (see The duration in which the PSM (power saving mode) mechanism is in a sleep state may be construed as the duration of T3412 in paragraph 0059 and figure 7. Note that during sleeping no data will be transmitted even there is data stored in the buffer ready to be transmitted because the transmitter is in a sleep state).
Conclusion
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/BRIAN D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475