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 .
The Examiner thanks the Applicant for the well-prepared amendment. The Examiner appreciates the Applicant’s effort to carefully analyze the Office action and make appropriate arguments and amendments.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 responded on July 28, 2026 are pending, claim 3 is amended,.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 8, filed July 28, 2026, with respect to 35 U.S. have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 3 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments, see pg. 9-10, filed July 28, 2026, with respect to 35 U.S.C. §103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued Liu in view of Chen failing to disclose in claim 1 "execute a control procedure in which a resource reservation is provisionally accepted before actual reservation of non-terrestrial network (NTN) resources, then the resources of the NTN partial path are actually reserved, and the NTN partial path is concatenated with the previously reserved TN partial path". However, claim 1 does not positively recite this limitation. Furthermore, claim is not clear whether first and second node located in TN or NTN and a path includes TN and NTN or one of TN or NTN.
Applicant also argue Liu in view of Chen failing to disclose "without waiting for resources of a first partial path in the non-terrestrial network to actually be reserved for the path". Chen discloses in [0724-0725] If the change of a SpCell is concerned in the path switching procedure, the path switching can be performed in the procedure of a traditional inter-cell handover (i.e. without waiting for a first partial path in the NTN). It does not exclude or further define which condition without waiting for a first partial path in the NTN. Because claim 1 does not well define how to execute "a path" and which network that each entity is located.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10, and 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (WO 2024/060178 A1, hereinafter "Liu") in view of Chen et al. (US 2024/0179611 A1, hereinafter "Chen").
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses a control apparatus (Liu, Fig. 10 1000) comprising:
at least one memory (Liu, Fig. 10 1030); and
at least one processor (Liu, Fig. 10 1040) coupled to the at least one memory and configured to:
receive a request for a resource reservation in a non-terrestrial network for a path from a first node to a second node that passes through a terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network, from the first node, the second node, a communication node belonging to the path, a management node in the non-terrestrial network, or another controller associated with the terrestrial network (Liu, [0165] the communications manager may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to a relay node (i.e. management node) associated with an NTN, a request to relay communications between the UE (i.e. first node) and a network entity (i.e. second node) associated with a terrestrial network);
in response to the request, transmit a response indicating acceptance of the resource reservation (Liu, [0165] from the relay node associated with the NTN, a first indication of a resource for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity associated with the terrestrial network based on transmitting the request to relay communications);
establish one or more links in the non-terrestrial network and reserve resources for the first partial path (Liu, [0165] communications manager 720 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for communicating, via the relay node associated with the NTN, one or more messages with the network entity associated with the terrestrial network using the resource); and
control concatenation of the first partial path in the non-terrestrial network with a second partial path for which resources have previously been reserved in the terrestrial network (Liu, [0124] the resource used by UE 115-a for transmission of the request 325 may be indicated or configured by a previously connected network entity 105).
Liu does not explicitly disclose transmit a response indicating acceptance of the resource reservation without waiting for resources of a first partial path in the non-terrestrial network to actually be reserved for the path.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses transmit a response indicating acceptance of the resource reservation without waiting for resources of a first partial path in the non-terrestrial network to actually be reserved for the path (Chen, [0714, 0724-0725] the first message indicates a first conditional reconfiguration for a CHO of the fourth node, the first conditional reconfiguration comprising a configuration for an indirect-path transmission via the third node; If the change of a SpCell is concerned in the path switching procedure, the path switching can be performed in the procedure of a traditional inter-cell handover (i.e. without waiting for resources)).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 2, Liu discloses wherein the response indicates to the first node, the second node, the communication node, the management node, or the other controller that the resource reservation in the non-terrestrial network for the path has been accepted but not yet completed (Liu, [0088] outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105).
Regarding claim 3, Liu discloses wherein the terrestrial network includes a first terrestrial network between the first node and the non-terrestrial network (Liu, [0145] the network entity 105-c may be associated with a terrestrial network and the relay node 605 may be associated with an NTN. UE 115-b may, in some cases, request relaying from the terrestrial network via the NTN), and
the response causes completion of a resource reservation for the second partial path in the first terrestrial network (Liu, [abstract] The UE may use the one or more resources for communicating one or more messages with the terrestrial network entity via the relay node).
Regarding claim 4, Liu discloses wherein the terrestrial network includes a second terrestrial network between the non-terrestrial network and the second node (Liu, [0145] the network entity (i.e. second node) 105-c may be associated with a terrestrial network and the relay node 605 may be associated with an NTN. UE 115-b may, in some cases, request relaying from the terrestrial network via the NTN), and the at least one processor is configured to transmit a request for a resource reservation in the second terrestrial network to a node in the second terrestrial network or a controller associated with the second terrestrial network, either directly or through a node in the non-terrestrial network (Liu, [0156] At 655, UE 115-b and network entity 105-c may communicate, via the relay node 605, one or more messages (e.g., uplink messages, downlink messages) using the resource for relaying communications. For example, the relay node 605 may relay the one or more messages (e.g., uplink messages, downlink messages) between UE 115-b and network entity 105-c).
Regarding claim 5, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to instruct one or more nodes in the non-terrestrial network to perform a route switch to concatenate the first partial path with the second partial path.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to instruct one or more nodes in the non-terrestrial network to perform a route switch to concatenate the first partial path with the second partial path (Chen, [0712] the first node experiences a switch from a direct-path transmission to an indirect-path transmission, where the direct path is a link of direct communication between the first node and the second node).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 6, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to instruct the first node, the second node, the communication node, the management node, or the other controller, either directly or through a node in the non-terrestrial network, to perform a route switch to concatenate the first partial path with the second partial path.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to instruct the first node, the second node, the communication node, the management node, or the other controller, either directly or through a node in the non-terrestrial network, to perform a route switch to concatenate the first partial path with the second partial path (Chen, [0712] the first node experiences a switch from a direct-path transmission to an indirect-path transmission, where the direct path is a link of direct communication between the first node and the second node).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 7, Liu discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit to the first node, the second node, the communication node, the management node, or the other controller, either directly or through a node in the non-terrestrial network, a notification indicating that the resource reservation for the first partial path has actually been completed or that the first partial path is available (Liu, [abstract] The relay node may output, for the UE, an indication of one or more resources to be used for relayed communications with the terrestrial network. The UE may use the one or more resources for communicating one or more messages with the terrestrial network entity via the relay node).
Regarding claim 8, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the notification causes a node in the terrestrial network to perform a route switch to concatenate the second partial path in the terrestrial network with the first partial path in the non-terrestrial network.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the notification causes a node in the terrestrial network to perform a route switch to concatenate the second partial path in the terrestrial network with the first partial path in the non-terrestrial network(Chen, [0712] the first node experiences a switch from a direct-path transmission to an indirect-path transmission, where the direct path is a link of direct communication between the first node and the second node).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 9, Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to complete an overall resource reservation for the path by concatenating the first partial path with the second partial path.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses w wherein the at least one processor is configured to complete an overall resource reservation for the path by concatenating the first partial path with the second partial path (Chen, [0038-39] a first reference signal resource is used for evaluating a first measurement result; a sidelink signal is used for evaluating a second measurement result; herein, the first message indicates a switch from a direct path to an indirect path when a first condition is satisfied).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 10, Liu discloses wherein the request includes a timeliness requirement (Liu, Fig. 24 2405 Output a second indication of one or more resources for communicating an SSB or a discovery signal associated with the non-terrestrial network, the one or more resources comprising a window having a time off set and a ~ Doppler offset) but does not explicitly disclose a timeliness requirement indicating by when the resources of the path need to be secured, and the at least one processor is configured to determine whether or not to accept the request based on the timeliness requirement.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses a timeliness requirement indicating by when the resources of the path need to be secured, and the at least one processor is configured to determine whether or not to accept the request based on the timeliness requirement (Chen, [0002, 0010] a method and device in wireless communications for reducing traffic interruption, enhancing traffic continuity, and improving the reliability and security; In order to prevent unrestricted waiting or attempts of the remote UE, it is necessary to set a timer, and issues such as how to control this timer, namely, when should the timer be stopped, and how to deal with the timer upon its expiration all shall be addressed. If handled improperly, the delay will be too long or the communications may be interrupted).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 12, Liu discloses a communication node (Liu, Fig. 10 1000) comprising:
at least one memory (Liu, Fig. 10 1030); and
at least one processor (Liu, Fig. 10 1040) coupled to the at least one memory and configured to:
transmit a request for a resource reservation for a path from the communication node to another node or from the other node to the communication node that passes through a terrestrial network and a non-terrestrial network, to a node belonging to the path, a first controller associated with the terrestrial network, or a second controller associated with the non-terrestrial network (Liu, [0165] the communications manager 720 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to a relay node associated with an NTN, a request to relay communications between the UE and a network entity (i.e. second node) associated with a terrestrial network);
receive a response indicating acceptance of the resource reservation (Liu, [0165] from the relay node associated with the NTN, a first indication of a resource for relaying communications between the UE and the network entity associated with the terrestrial network based on transmitting the request to relay communications); and
after receiving the response, receive a notification indicating that resource reservation for the path or the first partial path has actually been completed or that the path or the first partial path is available (Liu,[0165] communications manager 720 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for communicating, via the relay node associated with the NTN, one or more messages with the network entity associated with the terrestrial network using the resource).
Liu does not explicitly disclose which is returned without waiting for resources of a first partial path in the non-terrestrial network to actually be reserved for the path.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses which is returned without waiting for resources of a first partial path in the non-terrestrial network to actually be reserved for the path (Chen, [0714, 0724-0725] the first message indicates a first conditional reconfiguration for a CHO of the fourth node, the first conditional reconfiguration comprising a configuration for an indirect-path transmission via the third node; If the change of a SpCell is concerned in the path switching procedure, the path switching can be performed in the procedure of a traditional inter-cell handover).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claim 13, Liu discloses wherein the response indicates that resource reservation in the non-terrestrial network for the path has been accepted but not yet completed (Liu, [0088] outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105).
Regarding claim 14, Liu discloses wherein the request includes a timeliness requirement (Liu, Fig. 24 2405 Output a second indication of one or more resources for communicating an SSB or a discovery signal associated with the non-terrestrial network, the one or more resources comprising a window having a time off set and a ~ Doppler offset) but does not explicitly disclose a timeliness requirement indicating by when the resources of the path need to be secured.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses a timeliness requirement indicating by when the resources of the path need to be secured (Chen, [0002, 0010] a method and device in wireless communications for reducing traffic interruption, enhancing traffic continuity, and improving the reliability and security; In order to prevent unrestricted waiting or attempts of the remote UE, it is necessary to set a timer, and issues such as how to control this timer, namely, when should the timer be stopped, and how to deal with the timer upon its expiration all shall be addressed. If handled improperly, the delay will be too long or the communications may be interrupted).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified relaying wireless communications between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks disclosed by Liu and path switch disclosed by Chen with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the reliability and security (Chen, [0002]).
Regarding claims 15-20, these claims recite "a method performed by a control apparatus" that disclose similar steps as recited by the apparatus of claims 1-2, 5 and 7-9, thus are rejected with the same rationale applied against claims 1-2, 5 and 7-9 as presented above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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.
Claim 11 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Liu et al. (WO 2024/060178 A1, hereinafter "Liu") in view of Chen et al. (US 2024/0179611 A1, hereinafter "Chen") and further in view of Dong (US 2023/0308958 A1, hereinafter "Dong") as applied to the claim above.
Liu in view of Chen, Dong discloses the signal quality of the serving cell of the NTN is continuously decreased and there is no NTN cell suitable for access around the serving cell of the NTN, it is very necessary to detect whether there is a TN cell satisfying the handover condition around the serving cell of the NTN, and the timing of the measurement timer may be increased to increase a possibility of detecting the TN cell satisfying the handover condition by the UE in [0133] but fails to teach alone or in combination "wherein the at least one processor is configured to establish the one or more links in the non-terrestrial network and reserve the resources for the first partial path while satisfying the timeliness requirement".
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.
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/LUNA WEISSBERGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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