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 .
Specification
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 26-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. Claim 26 recites the limitation " transmit, by the first user device, a paging message to the user device" in line 16. The original specification does not describe this limitation. At the bottom of page 6, the specification recites “transmitting by the first network device, a paging message to the user device”. Therefore, claim 26 is rejected. Independent claims 37 and 45 are rejected for the same reason of rejecting claim 26. Dependent claims 27-36 and 38-44 are rejected for depending from claim 26 or 37. Corrections to independent claims 26, 37, and 45 are required to be consistent with the specification.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 26-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 26 recites the limitation "the first user device" in line 16. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 27-36 and 43-44 are rejected for depending from claim 26.
Claim 37 recites the limitation "the first user device" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 28-42 are rejected for depending from claim 26.
Claim 45 recites the limitation "the first user device" in line 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 43 recites the limitation "the method in claim 32 in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 44 is rejected for depending from claim 43.
Corrections to claims 26, 37,43, and 45 are required to be consistent with the specification.
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) 26-30, 37- 40 and 45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US 20210352714 A1) in view of GENG et al. (US 20230093240 A1).
Regarding claim 26, Gao et al. teach A system comprising:
a user device for non-terrestrial network communication (UE 302 in Gao Fig. 3A, Gao [0062] the serving cell 304 may provide system information to the UE 302... the serving cell 304 may utilize a GEO satellite );
a first network device of a first non-terrestrial network for non-terrestrial network communication (Gao [0062] the serving cell 304 may be a BS that covers a larger geographic area ..., the serving cell 304 may utilize a GEO satellite);
a second network device of a second non-terrestrial network for non-terrestrial network communication (Gao [0062] the target cell 306 may be a micro cell... the target cell 306 may utilize a non-GEO satellite); and
a plurality of processors (Gao [0030] The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented), wherein respective ones of the plurality of processors, when executing computer-executable instructions, are configured to perform the following operations:
transmit, by the first user device, a paging message to the user device (Gao [0063] At operation 312, the serving cell 304 may send a paging message to the UE 302.), the paging message causing the user device to initiate a random access procedure with the second network device (Gao [0063] The paging message may cause the UE 302 to begin a process of determining a target cell to which the UE 302 may participate in further communications , [0069] At operation 316, the UE 302 may send a random access preamble to the target cell 306);
receive, at the user device, the paging message from the first network device (Gao [0063] At operation 312, the serving cell 304 may send a paging message to the UE 302);
in response to the paging message, initiate, by the user device, the random access procedure with the second network device (Gao [0069] At operation 316, the UE 302 may send a random access preamble to the target cell 306) to establish a radio resource connection with the second network device (Gao [0069] Transmission of this random access preamble may indicate to the target cell 306 that the UE 302 is seeking to perform random access to the target cell 306);
receive, by the second network device, the random access procedure request from the user device (Gao [0069] Transmission of this random access preamble may indicate to the target cell 306 that the UE 302 is seeking to perform random access to the target cell 306);
transmit, from the second network device, the random access procedure response to the user device (Gao [0070] At operation 318, the target cell 306 may send a random access response to the UE 302); and
based on the random access procedure response, transmit, from the second network device, user data to the user device (Gao [0073] the target cell 306 may begin to send DL data to the UE 302 from the network).
Gao et al. do not teach
transmit, from the first network device, information identifying the user device to the second network device;
receive, by the second network device from the first network device, information identifying the user device;
obtain, by the second network device, user plane data associated with the user device.
In a similar endeavor, GENG et al. teach
transmit, from the first network device, information identifying the user device to the second network device (GENG [0018] The first network device sends a context response message to the second network device);
receive, by the second network device from the first network device, information identifying the user device (GENG [0018] The first network device sends a context response message to the second network device);
obtain, by the second network device, user plane data associated with the user device GENG ([0018]-[0019] the context response message includes the capability information of the terminal device... the second network device may obtain the capability information of the terminal device in the foregoing manner, to learn of whether the terminal device supports the NTN and the TN, so that the second network device better serves the terminal device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Gao et al. by incorporating GENG context response message to transfer user plane data to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have enabled communication between the second network and the user device.
Regarding claim 27, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches The system according to claim 26, wherein respective ones of the plurality of processors, when executing computer-executable instructions, are configured to perform the following operations:
before terminating the radio resource connection with the second network device, receive, by the user device, information identifying a cell of the first non-terrestrial network from the second network device (Gao [0038] a serving cell with a relatively larger coverage area, Gao [0045] a UE may select a target cell based on information received from a serving cell);
terminate, by the user device, the radio resource connection with the second network device (Gao [0033] after completing the data or signaling transmission under the RRC connection, the UE may revert or redirect back to the cell covering a larger area to receive paging); and
monitor, by the user device, paging messages of the cell of the first non-terrestrial network (Gao [0033] after completing the data or signaling transmission under the RRC connection, the UE may revert or redirect back to the cell covering a larger area to receive paging).
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the system according to claim 27, wherein the paging message comprises an indication of at least one cell of the second non-terrestrial network (Gao [0064] the paging message may include a list of assistant cells (e.g., an assistant cell list) for the UE to re-select to and to which the UE may initiate random access, Gao [0065] the paging message may include a target cell identifier to which the UE may initiate random access).
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the system according to claim 28, wherein respective ones of the plurality of processors, when executing computer-executable instructions, are configured to perform the following operations:
in response to receiving the paging message, obtain, by the user device, preconfigured information about the second network device (Gao [0062] This system information may indicate a configuration for the UE 302 and/or for the UE's 302 relationship with the network (e.g., be configuration information), with the serving cell 304 and/or the target cell 306) with which to initiate the random access procedure (Gao [0065] the paging message may include a target cell identifier to which the UE may initiate random access).
Regarding claim 30, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the system according to claim 29, wherein the first non-terrestrial network is based on geostationary Earth orbit satellites and the second non-terrestrial network is based on low-Earth orbit satellites (Gao [0062] the serving cell 304 may utilize a GEO satellite while the target cell 306 may utilize a non-GEO satellite).
Regarding claim 37, Gao et al. teach A method for non-terrestrial network communication, the method comprising:
transmitting, by the first user device, a paging message to the user device (Gao [0063] At operation 312, the serving cell 304 may send a paging message to the UE 302.), the paging message causing the user device to initiate a random access procedure with the second network device (Gao [0063] The paging message may cause the UE 302 to begin a process of determining a target cell to which the UE 302 may participate in further communications , [0069] At operation 316, the UE 302 may send a random access preamble to the target cell 306);
receiving, at the user device, the paging message from the first network device (Gao [0063] At operation 312, the serving cell 304 may send a paging message to the UE 302);
in response to the paging message, initiating, by the user device, the random access procedure with the second network device (Gao [0069] At operation 316, the UE 302 may send a random access preamble to the target cell 306) to establish a radio resource connection with the second network device (Gao [0069] Transmission of this random access preamble may indicate to the target cell 306 that the UE 302 is seeking to perform random access to the target cell 306);
receiving, by the second network device, the random access procedure request from the user device (Gao [0069] Transmission of this random access preamble may indicate to the target cell 306 that the UE 302 is seeking to perform random access to the target cell 306);
transmitting, from the second network device, the random access procedure response to the user device (Gao [0070] At operation 318, the target cell 306 may send a random access response to the UE 302); and
based on the random access procedure response, transmit, from the second network device, user data to the user device (Gao [0073] the target cell 306 may begin to send DL data to the UE 302 from the network).
Gao et al. do not teach
transmitting, from a first network device, information identifying a user device to the second network device;
receiving, by a second network device from the first network device, information identifying the user device;
obtaining, by the second network device, user plane data associated with the user device;
In a similar endeavor, GENG et al. teach
transmitting, from the first network device, information identifying the user device to the second network device (GENG [0018] The first network device sends a context response message to the second network device);
receiving, by the second network device from the first network device, information identifying the user device (GENG [0018] The first network device sends a context response message to the second network device);
obtaining, by the second network device, user plane data associated with the user device GENG ([0018]-[0019] the context response message includes the capability information of the terminal device... the second network device may obtain the capability information of the terminal device in the foregoing manner, to learn of whether the terminal device supports the NTN and the TN, so that the second network device better serves the terminal device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Gao et al. by incorporating GENG context response message to transfer user plane data to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have enabled communication between the second network and the user device.
Regarding claim 38, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the method according to claim 37, further comprising:
before terminating the radio resource connection with the second network device, receiving, by the user device, information identifying a cell of the first non-terrestrial network from the second network device (Gao [0038] a serving cell with a relatively larger coverage area, Gao [0045] a UE may select a target cell based on information received from a serving cell);
terminating, by the user device, the radio resource connection with the second network device (Gao [0033] after completing the data or signaling transmission under the RRC connection, the UE may revert or redirect back to the cell covering a larger area to receive paging); and
monitoring, by the user device, paging messages of the cell of the first non-terrestrial network (Gao [0033] after completing the data or signaling transmission under the RRC connection, the UE may revert or redirect back to the cell covering a larger area to receive paging).
Regarding claim 39, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the method according to claim 38, wherein the paging message comprises an indication of at least one cell of the second non-terrestrial network (Gao [0064] the paging message may include a list of assistant cells (e.g., an assistant cell list) for the UE to re-select to and to which the UE may initiate random access, Gao [0065] the paging message may include a target cell identifier to which the UE may initiate random access)..
Regarding claim 40, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the method according to claim 39, further comprising:
in response to receiving the paging message, obtain, by the user device, preconfigured information about the second network device (Gao [0062] This system information may indicate a configuration for the UE 302 and/or for the UE's 302 relationship with the network (e.g., be configuration information), with the serving cell 304 and/or the target cell 306) with which to initiate the random access procedure (Gao [0065] the paging message may include a target cell identifier to which the UE may initiate random access).
Regarding claim 45, Gao et al. teach A system comprising:
a user device for non-terrestrial network communication (UE 302 in Gao Fig. 3A, Gao [0062] the serving cell 304 may provide system information to the UE 302... the serving cell 304 may utilize a GEO satellite );
a first network device of a first non-terrestrial network for non-terrestrial network communication (Gao [0062] the serving cell 304 may be a BS that covers a larger geographic area ..., the serving cell 304 may utilize a GEO satellite);
a second network device of a second non-terrestrial network for non-terrestrial network communication (Gao [0062] the target cell 306 may be a micro cell... the target cell 306 may utilize a non-GEO satellite); and
a plurality of processors(Gao [0030] The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented),, wherein respective ones of the plurality of processors, when executing computer-executable instructions, are configured to perform the following operations:
transmit, by the first user device, a paging message to the user device (Gao [0063] At operation 312, the serving cell 304 may send a paging message to the UE 302.), the paging message causing the user device to initiate a random access procedure with the second network device (Gao [0063] The paging message may cause the UE 302 to begin a process of determining a target cell to which the UE 302 may participate in further communications , [0069] At operation 316, the UE 302 may send a random access preamble to the target cell 306);
receive, at the user device, the paging message from the first network device (Gao [0063] At operation 312, the serving cell 304 may send a paging message to the UE 302);
in response to the paging message, initiate, by the user device, the random access procedure with the second network device (Gao [0069] At operation 316, the UE 302 may send a random access preamble to the target cell 306) to establish a radio resource connection with the second network device (Gao [0069] Transmission of this random access preamble may indicate to the target cell 306 that the UE 302 is seeking to perform random access to the target cell 306);
receive, by the second network device, the random access procedure request from the user device (Gao [0069] Transmission of this random access preamble may indicate to the target cell 306 that the UE 302 is seeking to perform random access to the target cell 306);
transmit, from the second network device, the random access procedure response to the user device (Gao [0070] At operation 318, the target cell 306 may send a random access response to the UE 302); and
transmit, from the core network to the second network device, a user data to be transmitted to the user device by the second network device; and
transmit, from the second network device, the user date to the user device (Gao [0073] the target cell 306 may begin to send DL data to the UE 302 from the network).
Gao et al. do not teach
a core network;
transmit, from the first network device, information identifying the user device to the second network device;
receive, by the second network device from the first network device, information identifying the user device;
obtain, by the second network device, user plane data associated with the user device;
transmit, from the core network, paging information associated with the user device to the first network device;
In a similar endeavor, GENG et al. teach
a core network GENG [0064] A core network device in embodiments of this application is a device in a core network (CN) that provides service support for a terminal device.);
transmit, from the first network device, information identifying the user device to the second network device (GENG [0018] The first network device sends a context response message to the second network device);
receive, by the second network device from the first network device, information identifying the user device (GENG [0018] The first network device sends a context response message to the second network device);
obtain, by the second network device, user plane data associated with the user device GENG ([0018]-[0019] the context response message includes the capability information of the terminal device... the second network device may obtain the capability information of the terminal device in the foregoing manner, to learn of whether the terminal device supports the NTN and the TN, so that the second network device better serves the terminal device).;
transmit, from the core network, paging information associated with the user device to the first network device (GENG [0085] the AMF may send a paging message to each access network device included in a TA list of the UE 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Gao et al. by incorporating GENG context response message to transfer user plane data to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have enabled communication between the second network and the user device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 31-36 and 41-42 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 31, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. teaches the system according to claim 30, but do not teach
wherein respective ones of the plurality of processors, when executing computer-executable instructions, are configured to perform the following operations:
receive, by the first network device from a core network, mapping information providing a mapping between a tracking area of the first non-terrestrial network and tracking areas of the second non-terrestrial network; and
transmit, by the first network device, the mapping information to the user device.
Regarding claim 32, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. does not teach the system according to claim 31, wherein respective ones of the plurality of processors, when executing computer-executable instructions, are configured to perform the following operations:
transmit, by the second network device, information identifying the cell of the first non- terrestrial network to the user device for the user device to use the information to monitor paging messages of the cell of the first non-terrestrial network.
Regarding claim 33, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. does not teach the system according to Claim 32, further comprising: a core network for non-terrestrial communication configured to:
receive data to be sent to a user device;
transmit paging information associated with the user device to the first network device; and
transmit to the second network device the user data to be transmitted to the user device by the second network device.
Regarding claim 34, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. does not teach the system according to claim 33, wherein the core network is configured to maintain mapping information providing the mapping between the tracking area of the first non-terrestrial network and tracking areas of the second non-terrestrial network.
Regarding claim 35, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. does not teach the system according to claim 34, wherein the core network is configured to transmit, based on the mapping information, an indication to the first network device that the user device can be paged by the first network device.
Regarding claim 36, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. does not teach the system according to claim 35, wherein the core network is configured to transmit the user data to a plurality of second network devices of the second non- terrestrial network.
Regarding claim 41, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. but does not teach the method according to claim 40, further comprising:
receiving, by the first network device from a core network, mapping information providing a mapping between a tracking area of the first non-terrestrial network and tracking areas of the second non-terrestrial network; and
transmitting, by the first network device, the mapping information to the user device.
Regarding claim 42, the combination of Gao et al. and GENG et al. does not teach the method according to claim 41, further comprising:
transmitting, by the second network device, information identifying the cell of the first non-terrestrial network to the user device for the user device to use the information to monitor paging messages of the cell of the first non-terrestrial network.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAID M ELNOUBI whose telephone number is (571)272-9732. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:30AM to 6:00PM ET.
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/SAID M ELNOUBI/Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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