Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims from pending
Application No. 18/748,041
Claims from U.S.
Patent No. 12,081,311
1. A method of operating one or more processors in a network to schedule data transmission via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, via the constellation, a message transmitted by a user equipment (UE) device, wherein the message identifies a version of a two-line element (TLE) stored on the UE device; generating a forward link traffic grant for the UE device based on the version of the TLE stored on the UE device; and controlling a gateway to transmit, based on the forward link traffic grant, forward link data to the UE device via the constellation.
12. A method of operating one or more processors in a satellite communications network to schedule forward link data transmissions via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, via the constellation, a registration request transmitted by a user equipment device, wherein the registration request identifies a geographic location of the user equipment device and a two-line element (TLE) identifier that identifies a version of a TLE that is stored on the user equipment device; receiving a forward link traffic request for the user equipment device, wherein the forward link traffic request includes forward link data; generating a forward link traffic grant for the user equipment device based on the forward link traffic request, the geographic location of the user equipment device, and the TLE identifier; and controlling a gateway to transmit the forward link data to the user equipment device via the constellation based on the forward link traffic grant.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant comprises: identifying, based on the version of the TLE stored on the UE device, a communications satellite in the constellation having a signal beam that overlaps the UE device.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant comprises: identifying, using the TLE identified by the TLE identifier, a communications satellite in the constellation having a signal beam that overlaps the geographic location.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein controlling the gateway to transmit the forward link data comprises controlling the gateway to transmit the forward link data via the communications satellite.
12. … controlling a gateway to transmit the forward link data to the user equipment device via the constellation based on the forward link traffic grant.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant further comprises: receiving a thermal constraint associated with the communications satellite; generating a thermal model for the communications satellite; generating a predicted temperature based on the thermal model and the thermal constraint; and assigning the communications satellite to the UE device when the predicted temperature is less than a threshold temperature.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant further comprises: receiving a thermal constraint associated with the communications satellite; generating a thermal model for the communications satellite; generating a predicted temperature for the communications satellite based on the thermal model and the thermal constraint; and assigning the communications satellite to the user equipment device when the predicted temperature is less than a threshold temperature.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant comprises buffering the forward link traffic grant for a later forward link transmission cycle when the predicted temperature exceeds the threshold temperature.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant comprises buffering the forward link traffic grant for a later forward link transmission cycle when the predicted temperature exceeds the threshold temperature.
6. The method of claim 4 further comprising, when the predicted temperature exceeds the threshold temperature: identifying, based on the version of the TLE stored on the UE device, an additional communications satellite in the constellation having an additional signal beam that overlaps the UE device, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant further comprises: generating an additional thermal model for the additional communications satellite, generating an additional predicted temperature for the additional communications satellite based on the additional thermal model, and assigning the additional communications satellite to the UE device when the additional predicted temperature is less than the threshold temperature.
17. The method of claim 15 further comprising, when the predicted temperature exceeds the threshold temperature: identifying, using the TLE identified by the TLE identifier, an additional communications satellite in the constellation having an additional signal beam that overlaps the geographic location, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant further comprises: generating an additional thermal model for the additional communications satellite, generating an additional predicted temperature for the additional communications satellite based on the additional thermal model, and assigning the additional communications satellite to the user equipment device when the additional predicted temperature is less than the threshold temperature.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from an operator of the constellation, an additional TLE that is more recent than the TLE stored on the UE device; and storing the additional TLE in a database.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving, from an operator of the constellation, an additional TLE that is more recent than the TLE identified by the TLE identifier; and storing the additional TLE in a database.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the forward link traffic grant comprises generating the forward link traffic grant based on a priority of the forward link data.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the forward link traffic grants comprises: generating first forward link traffic grants having a first message priority prior to second forward link traffic grants having a second message priority that is less than the first message priority; ordering the first forward link traffic grants on a first-come-first serve basis; and ordering the second forward link traffic grants on a first-come-first serve basis.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein controlling the gateway to transmit the forward link data to the UE device comprises controlling the gateway to transmit the forward link data to the UE Device prior to transmitting additional forward link data to an additional UE device, the additional forward link data having higher priority than the forward link data.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the forward link traffic grants comprises: generating first forward link traffic grants having a first message priority prior to second forward link traffic grants having a second message priority that is less than the first message priority; ordering the first forward link traffic grants on a first-come-first serve basis; and ordering the second forward link traffic grants on a first-come-first serve basis.
10. An electronic device comprising: storage circuitry that stores a satellite almanac; one or more processors configured to generate a message that identifies a version of the satellite almanac stored on the storage circuitry; and one or more antennas configured to transmit the message to a server via a gateway and a constellation of communications satellites, and receive forward link data from the gateway via the constellation.
12. A method of operating one or more processors in a satellite communications network to schedule forward link data transmissions via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, via the constellation, a registration request transmitted by a user equipment device, wherein the registration request identifies a geographic location of the user equipment device and a two-line element (TLE) identifier that identifies a version of a TLE that is stored on the user equipment device; receiving a forward link traffic request for the user equipment device, wherein the forward link traffic request includes forward link data; generating a forward link traffic grant for the user equipment device based on the forward link traffic request, the geographic location of the user equipment device, and the TLE identifier; and controlling a gateway to transmit the forward link data to the user equipment device via the constellation based on the forward link traffic grant.
11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the forward link data is received by the one or more antennas according to a schedule, the schedule being generated by the server based on the version of the satellite almanac identified by the message.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: identifying, when the user equipment device is outside of the coverage area of the terrestrial network wireless communications equipment, a geographic location of the user equipment, wherein the registration request identifies the geographic location; and receiving, from a communications satellite in the constellation of communications satellites, forward link data scheduled for the communications satellite based on the geographic location and the version of the TLE stored on the storage circuitry, wherein the forward link data comprises an emergency response message generated by an emergency services provider.
12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the schedule is generated by the server based on a priority level of the forward link data.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the forward link traffic grants comprises: generating first forward link traffic grants having a first message priority prior to second forward link traffic grants having a second message priority that is less than the first message priority; ordering the first forward link traffic grants on a first-come-first serve basis; and ordering the second forward link traffic grants on a first-come-first serve basis.
13. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the satellite almanac comprises a two-line element (TLE) and the message identifies a version of the TLE.
12. A method of operating one or more processors in a satellite communications network to schedule forward link data transmissions via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, via the constellation, a registration request transmitted by a user equipment device, wherein the registration request identifies a geographic location of the user equipment device and a two-line element (TLE) identifier that identifies a version of a TLE that is stored on the user equipment device…
14. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the message comprises a registration request.
12. A method of operating one or more processors in a satellite communications network to schedule forward link data transmissions via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, via the constellation, a registration request transmitted by a user equipment device, wherein the registration request identifies a geographic location of the user equipment device and a two-line element (TLE) identifier that identifies a version of a TLE that is stored on the user equipment device…
15. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the message further identifies a geographic location of the electronic device.
12. A method of operating one or more processors in a satellite communications network to schedule forward link data transmissions via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, via the constellation, a registration request transmitted by a user equipment device, wherein the registration request identifies a geographic location of the user equipment device and a two-line element (TLE) identifier that identifies a version of a TLE that is stored on the user equipment device…
17. A method of operating a communications system comprising: routing, using a constellation of communications satellites, a message from a user equipment (UE) device to a gateway, wherein the message identifies a version of a satellite almanac stored on the UE device; and transmitting, using the constellation, forward link data to the UE device based on the version of the satellite almanac identified by the message.
19. A method of operating a user equipment device to communicate with a gateway via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising: receiving, from terrestrial network wireless communications equipment, a two-line element (TLE) associated with the communications satellite when the user equipment device is within a coverage area of the terrestrial wireless communications equipment; storing the TLE on storage circuitry; receiving, when the user equipment device is outside of the coverage area of the terrestrial network wireless communications equipment, a broadcast signal from the constellation of communications satellites; and transmitting, in response to the receiving the broadcast signal, a registration request to the gateway via the constellation of communications satellites, wherein the registration request identifies a version of the TLE stored on the storage circuitry.
20. … receiving, from a communications satellite in the constellation of communications satellites, forward link data scheduled for the communications satellite based on the geographic location and the version of the TLE stored on the storage circuitry…
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the satellite almanac includes a two-line element (TLE), the message identifies a version of the TLE, and the constellation transmits the forward link data to the UE device based on the version of the TLE.
19. …a registration request to the gateway via the constellation of communications satellites, wherein the registration request identifies a version of the TLE stored on the storage circuitry.
20. …receiving, from a communications satellite in the constellation of communications satellites, forward link data scheduled for the communications satellite based on the geographic location and the version of the TLE stored on the storage circuitry…
Claims 1-15 and 17-18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 7, 12-17 and 19-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,081,311. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the subject matter of claims 1-15 and 17-18 of the pending Appl. No. 18/748,041 and the subject matter of claims 7, 12-17 and 19-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,081,311 disclose a similar scope of invention. The similar scope of invention is related to receiving, via the constellation, a message transmitted by a user equipment (UE) device, wherein the message identifies a version of a two-line element (TLE) stored on the UE device; generating a forward link traffic grant for the UE device based on the version of the TLE stored on the UE device; and controlling a gateway to transmit, based on the forward link traffic grant, forward link data to the UE device via the constellation. While the claims are not verbatim copies, they are clearly identical in scope.
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 .
This office action is a response to an application filed on 06/19/2024 in which claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 06/19/2024 has been considered by the examiner. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2010/0091699) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Wu” in view of Do et al. (US 2013/0267218), hereinafter “Do”.
As to claim 10, Wu teaches an electronic device (Wu, Fig. 1, a subscriber terminal) comprising:
storage circuitry (Wu, Fig. 5, a computer to perform the invention (subscriber terminal) includes a storage device and memory);
one or more processors configured to (Wu, Fig. 5, [0039]-[0040], the computer to perform the invention (subscriber terminal) includes a processor) generate a message (Wu, Fig. 1, [0021], “multiple subscriber terminal 130 may request information from network 120 through Gateway 115 and satellite 105”. Fig. 3, [0029], “At process block 305, a bandwidth request is received at a scheduler from, for example, a client's browser”); and
one or more antennas configured to (Wu, Fig. 1, [0020], the subscriber terminal includes multiple antennas)
transmit the message to a server via a gateway and a constellation of communications satellites (Wu, Fig. 1, [0021], “multiple subscriber terminal 130 may request information from network 120 through Gateway 115 and satellite 105”. Fig. 3, [0029], “At process block 305, a bandwidth request is received at a scheduler from, for example, a client's browser”. [0018], Satellites 105), and
receive forward link data from the gateway via the constellation (Wu, Fig. 1, [0021], “data may be transmitted from Gateway 115 through satellite 105 to one of the subscriber terminals 130 using bandwidth requested from the subscriber terminal 130 and allocated by a scheduler at Gateway 115”).
Wu teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu does not explicitly teach the following underlined features: regarding claim 10, storage circuitry that stores a satellite almanac;
a message that identifies a version of the satellite almanac stored on the storage circuitry.
However, Do teaches storage circuitry that stores a satellite almanac (Do, [0050], “Storage is provided for the almanac storage manager 332 in almanac storage 338. Almanac cache 340 provides storage for almanac cache manager 340”);
a message that identifies a version of the satellite almanac stored on the storage circuitry (Do, [0016], “The apparatus provides…a relevant version”, [0017], “reporting almanac versions and almanac identifications by a mobile station to a server”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu to have the features, as taught by Do, in order to minimize mobile downloading traffic and time by reducing unnecessary almanac revisions (Do, [0047]).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2010/0091699) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Wu” in view of Do et al. (US 2013/0267218), hereinafter “Do” and further in view of Mukae (US 2022/0363416).
Wu teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu does not explicitly teach the following underlined features: regarding claim 13, wherein the satellite almanac comprises a two-line element (TLE) and the message identifies a version of the TLE.
As to claim 13, Do teaches wherein the satellite almanac comprises a version (Do, [0010], the almanac version and almanac identification held by the mobile station).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu to have the features, as taught by Do, in order to minimize mobile downloading traffic and time by reducing unnecessary almanac revisions (Do, [0047]).
Wu and Do teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu and Do do not explicitly teach the following underlined features: regarding claim 13, a two-line element (TLE) and the message identifies a version of the TLE.
However, Mukae teaches a two-line element (TLE) and the message identifies a version of the TLE (Mukae, [0187], [0195], the orbital elements of satellites are in a format called two-line elements (TLE), where satellite information includes an almanac. Do discloses the almanac version).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu and Do to have the features, as taught by Mukae, in order to provide precise satellite information along with the attention focused on the distribution method (Mukae, [0196]-[0197]).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2010/0091699) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Wu” in view of Do et al. (US 2013/0267218), hereinafter “Do” and further in view of Edge (US 2021/0144669).
Wu and Do teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu and Do do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 14, wherein the message comprises a registration request.
As to claim 14, Edge teaches wherein the message comprises a registration request (Edge, Fig. 22, [0474], “receive a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Registration Request message from the UE via the SV and a satellite NodeB (sNB)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu and Do to have the features, as taught by Edge, in order to predict an SV orbital motion in advance, where by knowing the future locations of an SV, it may be possible to determine in advance the duration of radio coverage by the SV for any location on the Earth and the duration of accessibility by the SV to any earth station (Edge, [0097]).
Wu and Do teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu and Do do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 15, wherein the message further identifies a geographic location of the electronic device.
As to claim 15, Edge teaches wherein the message further identifies a geographic location of the electronic device (Edge, Fig. 22, [0474], “receive a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Registration Request message from the UE via the SV and a satellite NodeB (sNB), the NAS Registration Request message including an indication of a fixed serving cell and a fixed tracking area (TA) for the UE, which may be the identities of the fixed serving cell and fixed TA or may be the location of the UE”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu and Do to have the features, as taught by Edge, in order to predict an SV orbital motion in advance, where by knowing the future locations of an SV, it may be possible to determine in advance the duration of radio coverage by the SV for any location on the Earth and the duration of accessibility by the SV to any earth station (Edge, [0097]).
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2010/0091699) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Wu” in view of Do et al. (US 2013/0267218), hereinafter “Do” and further in view of McNamara et al. (US 2011/0143774), hereinafter “McNamara”.
Wu and Do teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu and Do do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 16, the one or more processors being configured to update, via terrestrial-based wireless communications equipment, the satellite almanac after receiving the forward link data.
As to claim 16, McNamara teaches the one or more processors being configured to update, via terrestrial-based wireless communications equipment, the satellite almanac after receiving the forward link data (McNamara, Fig. 2, [0037], “A GPS almanac is used to determine GPS satellites with which to communicate. The GPS almanac and ephemeris data includes an approximate location of each GPS satellite at a certain time with respect to the approximate location of the mobile communication device. The information may be periodically updated from the network. The almanac is valid for approximately 180 days, and is updated and stored on the mobile communication device as needed. The mobile communication device correlates the ephemeris data and the approximate location with the almanac, and determines a set of satellites from which to receive GPS signals”. The mobile communication device receives GPS signals from the satellite. The assistance data is received from GMLC or SUPL server with the ephemeris data for the satellite and GPS almanac, where the almanac is periodically updated from the network and stored on the mobile communication device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu and Do to have the features, as taught by McNamara, in order to improve the ability to locate and receive signals from GPS satellites (McNamara, [0023]).
As to claim 17, Wu teaches a method of operating a communications system comprising (Wu, Fig. 1, [0021], Fig. 3, [0029], a method for providing bandwidth grants at a scheduler in the satellite system 100. [0018], Satellites 105):
routing, using a constellation of communications satellites (Wu, Fig. 1, [0018], Satellites 105), a message from a user equipment (UE) device to a gateway (Wu, Fig. 1, [0021], “multiple subscriber terminal 130 may request information from network 120 through Gateway 115 and satellite 105”. Fig. 3, [0029], “At process block 305, a bandwidth request is received at a scheduler from, for example, a client's browser”); and
transmitting, using the constellation, forward link data to the UE device (Wu, Fig. 1, [0021], “data may be transmitted from Gateway 115 through satellite 105 to one of the subscriber terminals 130 using bandwidth requested from the subscriber terminal 130 and allocated by a scheduler at Gateway 115”. Fig. 3, [0029], “providing bandwidth grants”, [0032], “the scheduler may grant bandwidth to the client”).
Wu teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu does not explicitly teach the following underlined features: regarding claim 17, wherein the message identifies a version of a satellite almanac stored on the UE device; and
transmitting based on the version of the satellite almanac identified by the message.
However, Do teaches wherein the message identifies a version of a satellite almanac stored on the UE device (Do, [0016], “The apparatus provides…a relevant version”, [0017], “reporting almanac versions and almanac identifications by a mobile station to a server”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu to have the features, as taught by Do, in order to minimize mobile downloading traffic and time by reducing unnecessary almanac revisions (Do, [0047]).
Wu and Do teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Wu and Do do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 17, transmitting based on the version of the satellite almanac identified by the message.
However, McNamara teaches transmitting based on the version of the satellite almanac identified by the message (McNamara, Fig. 2, [0037], “A GPS almanac is used to determine GPS satellites with which to communicate. The GPS almanac and ephemeris data includes an approximate location of each GPS satellite at a certain time with respect to the approximate location of the mobile communication device. The information may be periodically updated from the network. The almanac is valid for approximately 180 days, and is updated and stored on the mobile communication device as needed. The mobile communication device correlates the ephemeris data and the approximate location with the almanac, and determines a set of satellites from which to receive GPS signals”. The mobile communication device receives GPS signals from the satellite based on ephemeris of the satellite and GPS almanac, which are periodically updated from the network and stored on the mobile communication device. Do discloses that the almanac includes a corresponding version).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wu and Do to have the features, as taught by McNamara, in order to improve the ability to locate and receive signals from GPS satellites (McNamara, [0023]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-12 and 18-20 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. A Terminal Disclaimer is also required to overcome the Double Patenting Rejections discussed above.
Claims 1-9 would be allowable in response to a Terminal Disclaimer to overcome the Double Patenting Rejections discussed above.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter, since no prior arts were found to disclose the features of the claims as shown below.
Wu et al. (US 2010/0091699) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Wu”, Do et al. (US 2013/0267218), hereinafter “Do” and McNamara et al. (US 2011/0143774), hereinafter “McNamara” are the closest prior arts found after examiner’s thorough search.
Regarding independent claim 1, Wu discloses a method for providing bandwidth grants at a scheduler in the satellite system 100 and multiple satellites (Wu, Fig. 1, [0018], [0021], Fig. 3, [0029]). Wu recites in [0021], “multiple subscriber terminal 130 may request information from network 120 through Gateway 115 and satellite 105” and in [0029], “At process block 305, a bandwidth request is received at a scheduler from, for example, a client's browser”. Wu further recites in [0021] “data may be transmitted from Gateway 115 through satellite 105 to one of the subscriber terminals 130 using bandwidth requested from the subscriber terminal 130 and allocated by a scheduler at Gateway 115”, in [0029], “providing bandwidth grants”, and in [0032], “the scheduler may grant bandwidth to the client”.
Regarding independent claim 1, Do recites in [0016] “The apparatus provides…a relevant version” and in [0017], “reporting almanac versions and almanac identifications by a mobile station to a server”.
Regarding independent claim 1, McNamara recites in [0037] “A GPS almanac is used to determine GPS satellites with which to communicate. The GPS almanac and ephemeris data includes an approximate location of each GPS satellite at a certain time with respect to the approximate location of the mobile communication device. The information may be periodically updated from the network. The almanac is valid for approximately 180 days, and is updated and stored on the mobile communication device as needed. The mobile communication device correlates the ephemeris data and the approximate location with the almanac, and determines a set of satellites from which to receive GPS signals”. The mobile communication device receives GPS signals from the satellite based on ephemeris of the satellite and GPS almanac, which are periodically updated from the network and stored on the mobile communication device. Do discloses that the almanac includes a corresponding version.
However, regarding independent claim 1, Wu, Do and McNamara either alone or in combination fail to teach or suggest the underlined claimed features of “A method of operating one or more processors in a network to schedule data transmission via a constellation of communications satellites, the method comprising:
receiving, via the constellation, a message transmitted by a user equipment (UE) device, wherein the message identifies a version of a two-line element (TLE) stored on the UE device;
generating a forward link traffic grant for the UE device based on the version of the TLE stored on the UE device; and
controlling a gateway to transmit, based on the forward link traffic grant, forward link data to the UE device via the constellation” when taking in context of claim 1 as a whole. Therefore, allowable over the prior art of record, when interpreted in accordance with the present specification description.
Conclusion
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/RICARDO H CASTANEYRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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