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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 4, 12, 15 and 20, filed June 11, 2026, have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any ground of rejection applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The new ground of rejection is found in paragraphs 212-215 and 245-246 as well as Table 2 of previously relied upon Purkayastha et al. (US 2017/0230104) as outlined in the detailed rejections to follow.
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, 2, 4, 10-13, 15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Purkayastha et al. (US 2017/0230104).
Regarding claims 1 and 20, Purkayastha et al. disclose a satellite communication method and a communication apparatus (Figure 4 and paragraph 234, UT 400), comprising:
at least one processor (Figure 4, control processor 420); and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the communication apparatus to perform operations (Figure 4 and paragraph 124, the processing circuit 442 (e.g., in the form of a processor) executes code stored in the memory device 444 to perform some or all of these operations) comprising:
receiving, by a terminal device, first information (Figure 11 and Paragraph 225, A source NAC 1106 sends control signaling 1108 to the UT 1102 [terminal device]. This control signaling 1108 may include, for example, measurement information and tune-away control information (e.g., tune-away definitions) [first information]; Figure 12 and paragraph 235, a source NAC 1206 sends control signaling 1208 to the UT 1202. This control signaling 1208 may include, for example, measurement information and tune-away control information (e.g., tune-away definitions) [first information]) wherein the first information comprises information associated with first duration (Paragraph 204, Signaling may be employed to allow a UT to tune-away for inter-satellite and inter-cell/beam sensing. This signaling can be used to define tune-away periods [first duration] for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites; Paragraphs 214 and 222, tune-away time [first duration]), the first duration indicates duration from a moment at which a first beam stops a service to a moment from which a second beam provides a service (Paragraph 204, tune-away periods for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites; Paragraph 214, tune-away time from one beam to another of the same satellite; Paragraph 222, inter-cell tune-away time and an inter-satellite tune-away time; Paragraphs 200-201, UT tune time for UT to stop listening to a cell/beam and start listening to another cell/beam whether from the same satellite or from one satellite to another satellite), and the first beam and the second beam are beams on satellites (Paragraph 200-201, UT stop listening to a cell/beam and start listening to another cell/beam whether from the same satellite or from one satellite to another satellite; Paragraph 204, inter-satellite and inter-cell/beam sensing…UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites);
receiving, by the terminal device, scheduling information corresponding to the second beam before the moment at which the first beam stops the service (Paragraphs 212-215 and Table 2 show satellite and cell transition table which dictates timing for the UT to switch between beams of respective satellites; Paragraph 212, A transition table may indicate, for each cell (e.g., beam), the frequency (e.g., the nominal radio frequency or frequency band) of the cell. A transition table may also indicate the Cell ID of each Cell (or Beam ID of each beam); Paragraph 214, The entries for this table include Satellite IDs, Beam IDs, Beam Frequencies (Freq), Start Times, and End Time. This table could also be referred to as a satellite and beam transition table. TAbeam denotes the tune-away time from one beam to another of the same satellite; Paragraph 215, the table may be sent in a signaling message by the GN to the UT it is serving, at any time before the UT is handed-off to the next satellite; Table 2 corresponds to scheduling information received by the terminal device and the UT receiving Table 2 before hand-off corresponds to the terminal device receiving scheduling information before the first beam stops the first service; Exact timings [Paragraph 212] are provided in Table 2, and the UT receiving this table before hand-off further indicates its receipt of scheduling information before the first beam stops the first service); and
communicating, by the terminal device, with a network device by using the second beam based on the first duration (Figure 11 and 12, handoff at steps 1114 and 1222 and further communication between UT and target in subsequent steps).
Regarding claim 2, Purkayastha et al. disclose wherein the first information comprises a first timer, and the first timer indicates the first duration (Paragraph 204, tune-away periods [first duration] for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites; Paragraphs 214 and 222, tune-away time [first duration]).
Regarding claim 4, Purkayastha et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises: skipping, by the terminal device, monitoring signal from the network device that is located on a satellite within timer of the first duration (Paragraph 246, Using the tune-away periods or dual receive capability, the UT detects the presence of the next cell/beam specified in the satellite and cell transition table. If the UT detects the next cell/beam successfully, a normal inter-cell/beam handoff is executed without any signaling between the UT and the GN; Normal inter-cell/beam handoff without any signaling between the UT and GN indicates skipping the monitoring of signaling from the network device. During a portion of the tune-away period [TAbeam of Table 2 and paragraph 214], the UT senses/monitors/detects presence of the next cell/beam. Once successful in sensing/monitoring/detecting the presence of the next cell/beam, the remainder of time is used to perform handoff until the end time [Table 2] without any signaling. This is because, according to paragraph 245, the exact timing of handoff is known).
Regarding claim 10, Purkayastha et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining, by the terminal device, a first periodicity, wherein the first periodicity indicates a periodicity of the first duration (Paragraph 204, Signaling may be employed to allow a UT to tune-away for inter-satellite and inter-cell/beam sensing. This signaling can be used to define tune-away periods [first duration] for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites); and
the communicating, by the terminal device, with a network device by using the second beam based on the first duration comprises:
communicating, by the terminal device, with the network device by using the second beam based on the first duration and the first periodicity (Figure 11 and 12, handoff at steps 1114 and 1222 and further communication between UT and target in subsequent steps).
Regarding claim 11, Purkayastha et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, control information (Paragraph 268 and figure 15, step 1B, UT receives radio connection reconfiguration including handoff activation time); and activating, by the terminal device, [[the]] a first timer based on the control information; or activating, by the terminal device, [[the]] a second timer and [[the]] a third timer based on the control information (Paragraph 268, The UT 1502 starts timer T-4).
Regarding claim 12, Purkayastha et al. disclose a satellite communication method, comprising:
determining, by a network device (Figures 11 and 12, source NAC 1106/1206), first information (Figure 11 and Paragraph 225, A source NAC 1106 sends control signaling 1108 to the UT 1102 [terminal device]. This control signaling 1108 may include, for example, measurement information and tune-away control information (e.g., tune-away definitions) [first information]; Figure 12 and paragraph 235, a source NAC 1206 sends control signaling 1208 to the UT 1202. This control signaling 1208 may include, for example, measurement information and tune-away control information (e.g., tune-away definitions) [first information]) wherein the first information comprises information associated with first duration (Paragraph 204, Signaling may be employed to allow a UT to tune-away for inter-satellite and inter-cell/beam sensing. This signaling can be used to define tune-away periods [first duration] for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites; Paragraphs 214 and 222, tune-away time [first duration]), the first duration indicates duration from a moment at which a first beam stops a service to a moment from which a second beam provides a service (Paragraph 204, tune-away periods for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites; Paragraph 214, tune-away time from one beam to another of the same satellite; Paragraph 222, inter-cell tune-away time and an inter-satellite tune-away time; Paragraphs 200-201, UT tune time for UT to stop listening to a cell/beam and start listening to another cell/beam whether from the same satellite or from one satellite to another satellite), and the first beam and the second beam are beams on satellites (Paragraph 200-201, UT stop listening to a cell/beam and start listening to another cell/beam whether from the same satellite or from one satellite to another satellite; Paragraph 204, inter-satellite and inter-cell/beam sensing…UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites);
sending, by the network device, the first information to a terminal device (Figure 11 and 12, source NAC 1106/1206 sends tune-away control information to UT 1102/1202 in step 1108/1208); and
sending, by the network device, scheduling information corresponding to the second beam before the moment at which the first beam stops the service (Paragraphs 212-215 and Table 2 show satellite and cell transition table which dictates timing for the UT to switch between beams of respective satellites; Paragraph 212, A transition table may indicate, for each cell (e.g., beam), the frequency (e.g., the nominal radio frequency or frequency band) of the cell. A transition table may also indicate the Cell ID of each Cell (or Beam ID of each beam); Paragraph 214, The entries for this table include Satellite IDs, Beam IDs, Beam Frequencies (Freq), Start Times, and End Time. This table could also be referred to as a satellite and beam transition table. TAbeam denotes the tune-away time from one beam to another of the same satellite; Paragraph 215, the table may be sent in a signaling message by the GN [comprises source NAC as the network device] to the UT it is serving, at any time before the UT is handed-off to the next satellite; Table 2 corresponds to scheduling information received by the terminal device and the UT receiving Table 2 before hand-off corresponds to the terminal device receiving scheduling information before the first beam stops the first service; Exact timings [Paragraph 212] are provided in Table 2, and the UT receiving this table before hand-off further indicates its receipt of scheduling information before the first beam stops the first service).
Regarding claim 13, Purkayastha et al. disclose wherein the first information comprises a first timer, and the first timer indicates the first duration (Paragraph 204, tune-away periods [first duration] for a UT to sense other cells/beams of the same satellite or other satellites; Paragraphs 214 and 222, tune-away time [first duration]).
Regarding claim 15, Purkayastha et al. disclose wherein the method further comprises: skipping, by the network device that is located on a satellite, sending signal to the terminal device within timer of the first duration (Paragraph 246, Using the tune-away periods or dual receive capability, the UT detects the presence of the next cell/beam specified in the satellite and cell transition table. If the UT detects the next cell/beam successfully, a normal inter-cell/beam handoff is executed without any signaling between the UT and the GN; Normal inter-cell/beam handoff without any signaling between the UT and GN indicates skipping the sending of signaling from the network device. During a portion of the tune-away period [TAbeam of Table 2 and paragraph 214], the UT senses/monitors/detects presence of the next cell/beam. Once successful in sensing/monitoring/detecting the presence of the next cell/beam, the remainder of time is used to perform handoff until the end time [Table 2] without any signaling. This is because, according to paragraph 245, the exact timing of handoff is known).
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) 3 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Purkayastha et al. as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Treesh (US 2019/0044611).
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Treesh: wherein the first information comprises a second timer and a third timer, the second timer indicates duration for which the first beam provides the service (Treesh, Paragraph 37, satellite beam providing network service at different times for different durations), the third timer indicates duration of a periodicity of the first beam (Treesh, Paragraph 37, time periods that satellite beam is candidate for providing service), and the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the first duration based on the duration for which the first beam provides the service and the duration of the periodicity of the first beam (Treesh, Paragraph 26, the beam handover manager 125 schedules the handover(s) by communicating a respective message to each aircraft 130 indicating some or all of the selected satellite beam(s) and the time to handover to each).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Treesh in order to predict network conditions for handover (Treesh, Title).
Claim(s) 5, 6, 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Purkayastha et al. as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Roy et al. (US 2021/0136641).
Regarding claim 5, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the network device is located on a satellite (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 133, a particular satellite may be controlled by a particular entity (e.g., a network access controller, NAC) in a GN. Thus, a GN may have several NACs (e.g., implemented by the GN controller 250 of FIG. 2), each of which controls a corresponding one of the satellites controlled by the GN; Paragraph 223, a source NAC that controls a first satellite and a target NAC that controls a second satellite), and the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, ephemeris information of the second beam (Purkayastha et al., Figure 11 and paragraph 232, the target NAC 1116 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1102; Figure 12 and paragraph 244, the target NAC 1220 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1202), wherein the ephemeris information of the second beam indicates ephemeris information corresponding to a case in which the second beam provides the service for the terminal device (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 211, a UT may use the ephemeris data for a given satellite to determine where to point the UT's antenna (antennas) at a given point in time); and synchronizing, by the terminal device, with the network device the ephemeris information (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 188, UT 1002 may receive satellite ephemeris information via the GN 1004 and use the satellite ephemeris information to synchronize to a satellite; Paragraph 232, the UT 1102 may use the ephemeris information to synchronize with the second satellite).
Purkayastha et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Roy et al.: the terminal device receiving global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning information (Roy et al., Paragraph 29, UE can also estimate the satellite's movement using the PVT information in GNSS; Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT) and synchronizing with the network device based on the GNSS positioning information (Roy et al., Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT; Paragraph 33, Upon obtaining the handover time T, the timing advance (TA) of the target cell TATGT can then be calculated by the UE to achieve synchronization in the target cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Roy et al. in order to perform synchronized handover between satellites without performing random access in the target cell (Roy et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 6, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the network device is located on a terrene (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 133, a particular satellite may be controlled by a particular entity (e.g., a network access controller, NAC) in a GN. Thus, a GN may have several NACs (e.g., implemented by the GN controller 250 of FIG. 2), each of which controls a corresponding one of the satellites controlled by the GN; Paragraph 223, a source NAC that controls a first satellite and a target NAC that controls a second satellite; Abstract, GN being a ground network [terrene]), and the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, ephemeris information of the second beam (Purkayastha et al., Figure 11 and paragraph 232, the target NAC 1116 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1102; Figure 12 and paragraph 244, the target NAC 1220 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1202), wherein the ephemeris information of the second beam indicates ephemeris information corresponding to a case in which the second beam provides the service for the terminal device (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 211, a UT may use the ephemeris data for a given satellite to determine where to point the UT's antenna (antennas) at a given point in time); and synchronizing, by the terminal device, with the network device the ephemeris information (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 188, UT 1002 may receive satellite ephemeris information via the GN 1004 and use the satellite ephemeris information to synchronize to a satellite; Paragraph 232, the UT 1102 may use the ephemeris information to synchronize with the second satellite).
Purkayastha et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Roy et al.: the terminal device receiving global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning information (Roy et al., Paragraph 29, UE can also estimate the satellite's movement using the PVT information in GNSS; Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT) and common timing advance information (Roy et al., Paragraph 33, Upon obtaining the handover time T, the timing advance (TA) of the target cell TATGT can then be calculated by the UE to achieve synchronization in the target cell), and synchronizing with the network device based on the GNSS positioning information and the common timing advance information (Roy et al., Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT; Paragraph 33, Upon obtaining the handover time T, the timing advance (TA) of the target cell TATGT can then be calculated by the UE to achieve synchronization in the target cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Roy et al. in order to perform synchronized handover between satellites without performing random access in the target cell (Roy et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 16, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the network device is located on a satellite (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 133, a particular satellite may be controlled by a particular entity (e.g., a network access controller, NAC) in a GN. Thus, a GN may have several NACs (e.g., implemented by the GN controller 250 of FIG. 2), each of which controls a corresponding one of the satellites controlled by the GN; Paragraph 223, a source NAC that controls a first satellite and a target NAC that controls a second satellite), and the method further comprises: sending, by the network device, ephemeris information of the second beam (Purkayastha et al., Figure 11 and paragraph 232, the target NAC 1116 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1102; Figure 12 and paragraph 244, the target NAC 1220 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1202), wherein the ephemeris information of the second beam indicates ephemeris information corresponding to a case in which the second beam provides the service for the terminal device (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 211, a UT may use the ephemeris data for a given satellite to determine where to point the UT's antenna (antennas) at a given point in time); and synchronizing the terminal device with the network device based on the ephemeris information (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 188, UT 1002 may receive satellite ephemeris information via the GN 1004 and use the satellite ephemeris information to synchronize to a satellite; Paragraph 232, the UT 1102 may use the ephemeris information to synchronize with the second satellite).
Purkayastha et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Roy et al.: the network device sending global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning information (Roy et al., Paragraph 29, UE can also estimate the satellite's movement using the PVT information in GNSS; Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT) and the terminal device synchronizing with the network device based on the GNSS positioning information (Roy et al., Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT; Paragraph 33, Upon obtaining the handover time T, the timing advance (TA) of the target cell TATGT can then be calculated by the UE to achieve synchronization in the target cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Roy et al. in order to perform synchronized handover between satellites without performing random access in the target cell (Roy et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 17, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the network device is located on a terrene (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 133, a particular satellite may be controlled by a particular entity (e.g., a network access controller, NAC) in a GN. Thus, a GN may have several NACs (e.g., implemented by the GN controller 250 of FIG. 2), each of which controls a corresponding one of the satellites controlled by the GN; Paragraph 223, a source NAC that controls a first satellite and a target NAC that controls a second satellite; Abstract, GN being a ground network [terrene]), and the method further comprises: sending, by the network device, ephemeris information of the second beam (Purkayastha et al., Figure 11 and paragraph 232, the target NAC 1116 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1102; Figure 12 and paragraph 244, the target NAC 1220 sending ephemeris information to the UT 1202), wherein the ephemeris information of the second beam indicates ephemeris information corresponding to a case in which the second beam provides the service for the terminal device (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 211, a UT may use the ephemeris data for a given satellite to determine where to point the UT's antenna (antennas) at a given point in time); and synchronizing the terminal device with the network device based on the ephemeris information (Purkayastha et al., Paragraph 188, UT 1002 may receive satellite ephemeris information via the GN 1004 and use the satellite ephemeris information to synchronize to a satellite; Paragraph 232, the UT 1102 may use the ephemeris information to synchronize with the second satellite).
Purkayastha et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Roy et al.: the network device sending global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning information (Roy et al., Paragraph 29, UE can also estimate the satellite's movement using the PVT information in GNSS; Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT) and common timing advance information (Roy et al., Paragraph 33, Upon obtaining the handover time T, the timing advance (TA) of the target cell TATGT can then be calculated by the UE to achieve synchronization in the target cell), and synchronizing the terminal device with the network device based on the GNSS positioning information and the common timing advance information (Roy et al., Paragraph 34, UE 501 determines the propagation delay associated with the reference signals (RS) received from source (TSRC) and target (TTGT), by using satellite ephemeris data and as well as GNSS position, PVT; Paragraph 33, Upon obtaining the handover time T, the timing advance (TA) of the target cell TATGT can then be calculated by the UE to achieve synchronization in the target cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Roy et al. in order to perform synchronized handover between satellites without performing random access in the target cell (Roy et al., Abstract).
Claim(s) 8, 9 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Purkayastha et al. as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Ma et al. (US 2021/0258897).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Ma et al.: wherein the first beam corresponds to a first bandwidth configuration, the second beam corresponds to a second bandwidth configuration, and the first bandwidth configuration is the same as the second bandwidth configuration (Ma et al., Paragraphs 51-5264, 68, 112, multiple beams may be assigned the same BWP/frequency).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Ma et al. in order to provide high spectral efficiency (Ma et al., Paragraph 51).
Regarding claim 9, Purkayastha et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Ma et al.: wherein the first beam corresponds to a first bandwidth configuration, the second beam corresponds to a second bandwidth configuration, and the first bandwidth configuration is different from the second bandwidth configuration (Paragraph 51, a satellite may be configured as a single cell with N beams and M bandwidth parts (BWPs). Each antenna or antenna array on the satellite forms a fixed beam, and switching between intra-satellite beams is usually the same as BWP switching, thus avoiding cell handover overhead).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Purkayastha et al. with the cited disclosure from Ma et al. in order to avoid handover overhead (Ma et al., Paragraph 51).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21 and 22 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: regarding claim 21 (with further dependent claim 22), the prior art discloses overlapping beams between which a UE switches or performs handoff. The prior art does not disclose or adequately suggest that the beams overlap, in position or direction, at a same moment, and a duration for which the first beam provides the service and a duration for which the second beam provides the service are consistent.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
August 11, 2026
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