CTNF 18/770,981 CTNF 100625 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Information Disclosure Statement 06-52 AIA The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/14/2024 was filed after the mailing date of the present application on 07/12/2024 . The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Specification 07-29 AIA The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: “ the terminal device 110 may determine whether the identity associated with the CN device that the first NTN device 120-1 connects with matches with an identity the terminal device 110 ” – See [¶0056] lacks continuation regarding “ an identity the terminal device 110 ” (unfinished phrase) . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1-9, 11, and 13-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shrestha et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0038832 (hereinafter Shrestha) . Regarding Claim 1 , Shrestha teaches in Fig. 3 an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (“ UE 104 includes various processors (e.g., 358, 364, 366, and 380), antennas 352a-r (collectively 352), transceivers 354a-r (collectively 354), which include modulators and demodulators, and other aspects, which enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., retrieved from data source 362) and wireless reception of data (e.g., provided to data sink 360). UE 104 includes controller/processor 380, which may be configured to implement various functions ” – See [¶0058]), cause the apparatus to: receive, from a non-terrestrial network device, information related to a set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices (“ during service link availability, while the UE 104 is in a coverage area of one or more NTN entities (e.g., satellites 140a, 140b, and 140c) ” – See [¶0094] and Fig. 6A for the “ UE to perform satellite/cell selection and reselection ” from, – See [¶0096] e.g., as shown in Fig. 7, “ the UE 704 receive NTN information of one or more NTN entities . . . from the NTN entity 706 ” – See [¶0098] whereby “ the NTN information is NTN information one or more neighboring NTN entities ” – See [¶0100] and “ the NTN information may be UE-specific, satellite specific, cell specific, QoS specific, uplink and downlink data specific, and/or logical channel specific ” – See [¶0101]; whereby “ the obtaining the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises obtaining a broadcast system information block (SIB), ” – See [¶0128] as specified in 3GPP technical specifications 1 ), wherein the information indicates at least one of: an expected time when each candidate non-terrestrial network device in the set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices connects with a corresponding candidate core network device, information associated with the candidate core network device ( e.g. , “ the network decides based on the UE's subscription, the UE's priority, and/or a network capability such as whether multiple satellites and/or ground stations are available . . . whether the UE 704 will track and monitor the same NTN entity or a different NTN for the response downlink data, and indicates to the UE 704, ” – See [¶0118] i.e. , the UE obtains information about the CNs available to each candidate NTN device, e.g. , from its broadcasted SIB 2 ) and memory usage information of each candidate non-terrestrial network device (“ the NTN information is a data storage quota of the NTN entity 706. The data storage quota is maximum amount of UE that the NTN entity 706 stores ” – See [¶0102] and/or “ the NTN information is a storage duration quota of the NTN entity 706 ” whereby “[t] he storage duration quota may be a maximum time duration that the NTN entity 706 stores UE data before discarding the data ”– See [¶0103]); and transmit data to a target non-terrestrial network device that is selected from the set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices based on the information (“ the UE 704 selects an NTN entity to access and send uplink data to ” and “ the selection is based on the NTN information received ” – See [¶0104]). Therefore, Claim 1 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 2 , dependent from Claim 1, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to: determine whether information associated with a core network device with which the non-terrestrial network device connects indicated in the information supports an identity selected by the apparatus (UE may “ determine a physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing ” – See [¶0081] “ while the UE 104 is in a coverage area of one or more NTN entities (e.g., satellites 140a, 140b, and 140c) ” – See [¶0094] and each “ satellite 140 . . . serv [es] as the cellular Uu link between a UE 104 and . . . the 5G core network 190 ” – See [¶0088] and Fig. 5B, whereby “ the NTN information may be broadcast to the UE 704 in a system information block (SIB), such as in a SIB1 or other SIB carrying serving satellite information ” – See [¶0099] whereby SIB1 carries PLMN information regarding the core networks the NTN device connects to as explained in Footnote 2; in addition, UE cell selection based on PLMN the UE is registered or preconfigured with, e.g. , in the USIM, is standardized in 3GPP – See, e.g. , 3GPP TS 38.300 V17.5.0 (2023-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall Description; Stage 2 (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.300), describing, at page 67, UE’s criteria for the determination as “ suitable cell is one for which the measured cell attributes satisfy the cell selection criteria; the cell PLMN is the selected PLMN, registered or an equivalent PLMN; the cell is not barred or reserved and the cell is not part of a tracking area which is in the list of ‘forbidden tracking areas for roaming ’”; therefore, because the information related to a set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices is satellite and cell specific, as explained in Regarding Claim 1 supra , the UE may determine whether information associated with a core network device with which the non-terrestrial network device connects indicated in the information supports an identity selected by the apparatus , i.e. , one of the PLMN the UE is registered with 3 ). Therefore, Claim 2 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 3 , dependent from Claim 2, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that an identity associated with the core network device indicated in the information associated with the core network device matches with the identity selected by the apparatus (“ In the case of NTN wireless communications, the NTN entity 140 may be a serving cell for the UE 104 via a communication link 516 referred to as a service link ” – See [¶0087] once the UE selects a suitable cell within the satellite coverage, as explained in Regarding Claim 2, supra ), determine a total transmission delay between the apparatus and the core network device based on when the non-terrestrial network device serves the apparatus and the expected time when the non-terrestrial network device connects with the core network device (“ the UE 704 checks the data storage duration information of the NTN entity ” – See [¶0106] whereby “ the storage duration quota may be the duration that the NTN entity 706 waits to receive response downlink data message for the UE data from the ground station before the NTN entity 706 discards the data ” and “ correspond to a time duration that the UE 704 waits for the response downlink data before reattempting the UL data transmission, ” – See [¶0103] i.e. , the transmission delay between when the NTN device serves the apparatus in the UL and the expected time when the NTN connects with the core network device 4 ; to this delay may be added that “[u] plink signals from the UEs experience a round trip delay (RTD) that is generally a sum of the delay on the service link plus the delay on the feeder link. The maximum RTD is typically around 541.46 ms for GEO satellites, 25.77 ms for LEO satellites at 600 km altitude, and 41.77 ms for LEO satellites at 1200 km altitude. UE speed can typically be ignored in comparison with speed of LEO satellite, ” i.e. , the RTD for NTN with transparent payload 5 – See [¶0089] and Fig. 5A, i.e. , the UE may determine the total transmission delay between the apparatus and the core network device by adding the NTN quota duration in store-and-forward mode with the RTD with transparent payload, for a more precise calculation 6 ); and determine whether the total transmission delay is larger than a delay threshold (the UE determines “[i] f the uplink data of the UE 704 is not delay sensitive and the data storage duration of the NTN entity 706 is sufficient ” – See [¶0106]; or “[i] f the uplink data of the UE 704 is delay sensitive and the data storage duration of the NTN entity 706 is insufficient, the UE 704 may leave the cell and try to find another suitable cell, ”– See [¶0089] e.g. , “ the UE 704 may reselect to an NTN entity with a shortest feeder link availability time, a largest data storage duration ” – See [¶0109] using application specific delay thresholds, e.g. , “ delivery of delay-tolerant applications, such as NB-IoT, are a major mMTC use case and benefit from architectures based on the use of regenerative payloads in the satellite and support for store and forward operation where satellite access can remain operational even at times when the satellite is not connected to a ground station ” – See [¶0092]). Therefore, Claim 3 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 4 , dependent from Claim 3, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the total transmission delay is not larger than the delay threshold (“ the obtaining the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises obtaining dedicated signaling indicating the one or more of: the amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store or the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0129]), determine the non-terrestrial network device to be the target non-terrestrial network device (as shown in Fig. 8, the UE “ then proceeds to step 810 with selecting one of the one or more NTN entities based on the information, ” – See [¶0131] e.g. , “ initiating random access with an NTN entity of the one or more NTN entities ” – See [¶0132]); and transmit the data to the non-terrestrial network device (“ then proceeds to step 815 with outputting uplink data to the NTN entity ” – See [¶0137] and “ monitoring a response to the uplink data for the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0140]). Therefore, Claim 4 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 5 , dependent from Claim 1, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to: determine a subset of candidate non-terrestrial network devices from the set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices ( e.g. , when “ the barring information is received together with the NTN information ” – See [¶0110] and “ barring information may indicate satellites or cells that the UE 704 is barred from accessing ” then “[t] he UEs may follow the barring information when performing satellite/cell selection ” – See [¶0111]; see also § 16.14.3.1, 3GPP TS 38.300, at page 180, stating “ The UE can determine the network type (terrestrial or non-terrestrial) implicitly by the existence of cellBarredNTN in SIB1 ” and The NTN ephemeris is provided in SIB19 ” ), wherein each one in the subset of candidate non-terrestrial network devices connects to a target core network device that is associated with information supporting an identity selected by the apparatus (the “ UE to perform satellite/cell selection and reselection and logical channel prioritization based on the information about the satellites ” – See [¶0096] whereby “ the obtaining the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises obtaining a broadcast system information block (SIB), ” – See [¶0128] e.g. , SIB1 includes both cell barring information, indicating whether the UE is allowed to access the NTN entity, and associated PLMN information, so the UE may select the subset of serving cells/satellites served by a CN identified with a PLMN the UE is either allowed or instructed to access 7 , as explained in Regarding Claim 1 supra , at least because “ the network decides whether the UE 704 will track and monitor the same NTN entity or a different NTN for the response downlink data, and indicates to the UE 704 . . . based on the UE’s subscription ” and “ whether multiple satellites [registered with the network] . . are available ” – See [¶0118]; see also § 8.2, 3GPP TS 38.300, at page 64-65, describing identifying a specific network entity within the “ NR Cell Global Identifier (NCGI): used to identify NR cells globally ” wherein “[t] he PLMN ID included in the NCGI should be the first PLMN ID within the set of PLMN IDs associated to the NR Cell Identity in SIB1, ” §16.14.1, at page 177, stating: “ For NTN, the following applies in addition to Network Identities as described in clause 8.2: A Tracking Area corresponds to a fixed geographical area. Any respective mapping is configured in the RAN; ” and “ A Mapped Cell ID as specified in clause 16.14.5 ,” §16.14.3 stating, at page 180 “[t] he network may broadcast multiple Tracking Area Codes (TACs) per PLMN in an NR NTN cell ” and § 16.14.5, at page 182, indicating that “ The mapping between Mapped Cell IDs and geographical areas is configured in the RAN and Core Network ” and “ NOTE 3: As described in TS 23.501 [3], the User Location Information may enable the AMF to determine whether the UE is allowed to operate at its present location. Special Mapped Cell IDs or TACs may be used to indicate areas outside the serving PLMN's country ” and further that the “ gNB reports the broadcasted TAC(s) of the selected PLMN to the AMF, ” i.e. , the NTN device knows which PLMN/network identity the UE selects and reports it to its CN; see also Footnote 7, supra ) determine total transmission delays for each candidate non-terrestrial network device in the subset of candidate non-terrestrial network devices (“the UE 704 may use the cell only for a registration update procedure ” – See [¶0106] e.g. , “ obtaining assistance information from a serving NTN entity indicating information of one or more neighboring NTN entities, wherein the information includes a frequency, a cell identifier (ID), an amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store, a duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data, a next feeder link availability time, a time of a next visit to store and forward service area, of the one or more neighboring NTN entities, or a combination thereof ” – See [¶0149], whereby, e.g. , “ the storage duration quota may . . .correspond to a time duration that the UE 704 waits for the response downlink data before reattempting the UL data transmission, ” – See [¶0103] i.e. , the UE either determines the total delay for each candidate NTN device in the subset using the a duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data in the assistance information or calculates a more precise duration including the timing offsets indicated in Footnote 5 based on a next feeder link availability time and other NTN configuration information received in a SIB as explained in Regarding Claim 1 and Footnote 1 supra ) and select a candidate non-terrestrial network device with a shortest total transmission delay in the subset of candidate non-terrestrial network devices to be the target non-terrestrial network device (“ the UE 704 uses the assistance information of the neighboring cells to perform cell reselection. For example, the UE 704 may reselect to an NTN entity with a shortest feeder link availability time, ” – See [¶0109] i.e. , the earliest to download MO data to the CN, based on information about “ next feeder link availability of [each] neighboring satellites ” – See [¶0108]). Therefore, Claim 5 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 6 , dependent from Claim 1, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices also includes a further non-terrestrial network device, and the information further indicates at least one of: a further expected time when the further non-terrestrial network device connects with a further core network device and information associated with the further core network device (“ the UE 704 receives assistance information of neighboring satellites ” too, e.g. , “ cell ID of the neighboring satellites, a data storage quota of the neighboring satellites, a data storage duration of the neighboring satellites, a next feeder link availability of the neighboring satellites, and/or a next revisit time to a store and forward service area of the neighboring satellites ( e.g., based on a fixed reference location on the Earth's surface) ” – See [¶0108], i.e. , the UE receives expected next feeder link time for other/further NTN devices from the serving cell/NTN device, and also cell ID of the neighboring satellites pointing to the serving AMF/CN; alternatively each further NTN broadcasts its own SIB1 and SIB 19 including such information). Therefore, Claim 6 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 7 , dependent from Claim 6, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is caused to: determine whether the information associated with the further core network device supports the identity selected by the apparatus (because “ UE 704 may receive the downlink response data from a different NTN entity than the NTN entity 706 to which the UE 704 uploaded the uplink data, ” – See [¶0116] e.g. , the further non-terrestrial network device, but the further core network device, i.e., “ the network decides whether the UE 704 will track and monitor the same NTN entity or a different NTN for the response downlink data, . . . based on the UE's subscription ” – See [¶0118], if the further core network is different from the core network, then when the UE selects a serving cell of the further NTN device, the selected PLMN in that cell must be supported by the further core network; otherwise said, the further core network must recognize the UE’s subscription to service from the selected PLMN; see also Footnote 7 for an example of how an AMF performs this operation as a regulatory requirement). Therefore, Claim 7 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 8 , dependent from Claim 7, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a further identity associated with the further core network device indicated in the information associated with the further core network device matches with the identity selected by the apparatus ( e.g. , verifying that the UE selected PLMN is allowed to operate in the current UE location while served by the further CN, while the further CN may be the same as the current CN/AMF or not, as explained in Regarding Claim 7 and Footnote 7 supra ) determine a further total transmission delay between the apparatus and the further core network device based on when the further non-terrestrial network device serves the apparatus, and the further expected time when the further non-terrestrial network device connects with the further core network device (“ assistance information from a serving NTN entity indicating information of one or more neighboring NTN entities . . . includes a duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data, a next feeder link availability time, a time of a next visit to store and forward service area ” – See [¶0149] so the UE may calculate the total transmission delay for a further NTN entity as provided by the standards – See, e.g. , Footnote 5); and determine whether the further total transmission delay is larger than the delay threshold (“ selecting an NTN entity to initiate random access with based on the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0219] e.g. , “ an NTN entity with a longer data storage duration when the UE has delay sensitive uplink data ” – See [¶0221] i.e. , determining the further total transmission delay is larger than the delay threshold of the delay sensitive uplink data). Therefore, Claim 8 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 9 , dependent from Claim 8, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the total transmission delay is larger than the delay threshold and the further total transmission delay is not larger than the delay threshold (“ obtaining the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises obtaining . . . the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0208] including “ the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the downlink UE data and . . . the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the uplink UE data ” – See [¶0208]) determine the further non-terrestrial network device as the target non-terrestrial network device (“ selecting an NTN entity with a shorter data storage duration when the UE had uplink data with a delay target ” – See [¶0220]; and transmit the data to the further non-terrestrial network device (“ initiate random access with based on the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0219] and “ outputting uplink data to one of the one or more NTN entities ” – See [¶0227]). Therefore, Claim 9 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 11 , dependent from Claim 9, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination to transmit the data to the non-terrestrial network device or the further non-terrestrial network device, transmit the data and the delay threshold to the selected non-terrestrial network device; or transmit the delay threshold to the selected non-terrestrial network device (“ If the uplink data of the UE 704 is delay sensitive and the data storage duration of the NTN entity 706 is insufficient . . . the UE 704 may use the cell only for a registration update procedure and request a large data storage duration for the NTN entity 706 ,” – See [¶0106] i.e. , send only the delay threshold to the selected non-terrestrial network device). Therefore, Claim 11 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 13 , dependent from Claim 1, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information comprises one of: an absolute timing of the expected time ( e.g. , “ the UE 704 may be configured with the next visit satellite visit time or a wake up time to monitor the response downlink data ” – See [¶0117]), a relative timing of the expected time ( e.g. , “ the NTN information is a storage duration quota of the NTN entity 706” which is “the duration that the NTN entity 706 waits to receive response downlink data message for the UE data from the ground station before the NTN entity 706 discards the data ” – See [¶0102]), or a location information to determine the expected time. Therefore, Claim 13 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 14 , dependent from Claim 1, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a terminal device (“ the NTN entity 140 may be a serving cell for the UE 104 via a communication link 516 referred to as a service link” and with a terrestrial gateway (e.g., a satellite dish) via a feeder link ” – See [¶0087]), and wherein the non-terrestrial network device has a discontinuous connection with the apparatus and its corresponding core network device (“ When a satellite 140 moves and the UE 104 is outside of the coverage area 110b of the satellite 140 is referred to as discontinuous coverage. Further, when a satellite 140 may not have a feeder link connectivity to a ground station is referred to as intermittent coverage ” – See [¶0090]). Therefore, Claim 14 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 15 , Shrestha teaches in Fig. 3 an apparatus, e.g. , “ the BS 102 deployed on the satellite 140 ” – See [¶0087] comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (as shown in Fig. 11, “ communications device 1100 is a network entity, such as BS 102” – See [¶0194] wherein “ one or more processors 1110 are coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1140 via a bus 1170. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/ memory 1140 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by the one or more processors 1110, cause the one or more processors 1110 to perform the method 900 ” – See [¶00196]), cause the apparatus to: transmit, to a terminal device, information related to a set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices (“ the method 900 further includes outputting assistance information from a serving NTN entity indicating information of one or more neighboring NTN entities ” – See [¶0175] including “ cell barring indication indicating whether one or more of the one or more NTN entities are barred for UEs that support store and forward operation ” – See [¶0180]), wherein the information indicates at least one of: an expected time when each candidate non-terrestrial network device connects with a corresponding candidate core network device (“ wherein the information includes . . . a next feeder link availability time, a time of a next visit to store and forward service area, of the one or more neighboring NTN entities ” – See [¶0175]), information associated with the candidate core network device, memory usage information of each candidate non-terrestrial network device (“an amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store, a duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data” – See id .) Therefore, Claim 15 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 16 , dependent from Claim 15, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the set of candidate non-terrestrial network devices also includes a further non-terrestrial network device (“ the method 900 further includes obtaining an indication of an NTN the UE expects a response to uplink data from ” – See [¶0176] and/or “ the method 900 further includes outputting an indication of an NTN entity for the UE to monitor a response to uplink data ” – See [¶0178]), and the information further indicates at least one of: a further expected time when the further non-terrestrial network device connects with a further core network device and information associated with the further core network device (when “ the UE 704 may indicate that the UE 704 will monitor and receive the response downlink data from any NTN entity that can deliver the response downlink data the earliest . . . the UE 704 may be configured with the next satellite visit time or a wake up time to monitor the response downlink data ” – See [¶0117]). Therefore, Claim 16 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 17 , dependent from Claim 15, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to: transmit, to the terminal device, at least one of the followings: link budget information of the non-terrestrial network device (“ the obtaining the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises obtaining dedicated signaling indicating the one or more of: the amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store or the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ,” – See [¶0129] i.e. , link budget) and the further non-terrestrial network device (“ an NTN entity to initiate random access with based on the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0142]). Therefore, Claim 17 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 18 , dependent from Claim 15, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to: receive data from the terminal device; and forward the data to the core network device (“ while the satellite 140c orbits the globe, the satellite 140c collects uplink data from UEs 104, stores the uplink data, and offloads the uplink to the ground station (gateway 505 or base station 102) and receives the response downlink data ” – See [¶0095] and Fig. 6B). Therefore, Claim 18 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 19 , dependent from Claim 15, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to: receive data and a delay threshold for data transmission from the terminal device (“ when an uplink grant is received, the UE 704 may select a logical channel configured with store and forward data storage quota and/or data storage duration that meets the data storage quota and/or data storage duration of the NTN entity 706 ” – See [¶0107], i.e. , “ the storage amount and/or duration is associated with a . . . QoS target of the data ”– See [¶0096] e.g. , when “ each logical channel is configured with whether or not the logical channel is subject to a store and forward data storage quota and/or data storage duration ” – See [¶0107]; and “ outputting an indication for each of a plurality of logical channels whether the one or more of: the amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store or the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data applies to the logical channel ” – See [¶0148]); and forward the data and the delay threshold to the core network device (“ The satellite 140c stores the uplink data packets ” and “ during feeder link availability, the satellite 140c is connected to the ground station, for example to the gateway 505 or base station 102 and the satellite 140c now forwards the data packets to the ground station ” – See [¶0094] whereby “ the NTN entity 140 may relay signaling between the BS 102 and UE 104 via the communication links 516, 518 . . . via feeder link ” – See [¶0087] e.g. , an explicit indication of QoS of UE data, including delay threshold or implicitly, because “ the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data is logical channel specific ” – See [¶0244] and “ 5GC 190 may include various functional components, including: an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192 ” – See [¶0044] and “ AMF 192 provides, for example, quality of service (QOS) flow and session management ” – See [¶0045] i.e. , each transmitted logical channel is associated with a delay threshold based on QoS and the CN/AMF recognizes the QoS). Therefore, Claim 19 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 20 , dependent from Claim 15, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises a non-terrestrial network device that has a discontinuous connection with the terminal device and the core network device (“ when a satellite 140 may not have a feeder link connectivity to a ground station is referred to as intermittent coverage ” and “[w] hen a satellite 140 moves and the UE 104 is outside of the coverage area 110b of the satellite 140 is referred to as discontinuous coverage ” – See [¶0090]). Therefore, Claim 20 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 21 , Shrestha teaches a method, e.g. , in Fig. 8, comprising the steps performed by the apparatus in Claim 1, recited with the same language. Because Claim 1 is anticipated by Shrestha, Claim 21 is anticipated by Shrestha. Regarding Claim 22 , Shrestha teaches a method, e.g. , in Fig. 9, comprising the steps performed by the apparatus in Claim 15, recited with the same language. Because Claim 15 is anticipated by Shrestha, Claim 22 is also anticipated by Shrestha. In sum, Claims 1-9, 11, and 13-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102 (a)(2) as anticipated by Shrestha . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over Shrestha as applied to Claim 8 and 11 above, and further in view of Luo et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0345338 (hereinafter Luo) . Regarding Claim 10 , dependent from Claim 8, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that both the total transmission delay and the further total transmission delay are not larger than the delay threshold, select the non-terrestrial network device or the further non-terrestrial network device for transmitting the data based on at least one of: memory usage information of the non-terrestrial network device and the further non-terrestrial network device (“ the outputting the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises outputting the amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store ” – See [¶0170] and “ selecting a different NTN entity when the amount of uplink data at the UE is larger than the amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store ” – See [¶0133] and/or “ requesting a larger amount of uplink data the NTN entity when the amount of uplink data at the UE is larger than the amount of UE data the NTN entity is configured to store ” – See [¶0134]), or link budget information of the non-terrestrial network device and the further non-terrestrial network device (“ the obtaining the information of the one or more NTN entities comprises obtaining the duration the NTN entity is configured to store the UE data ” – See [¶0138] and “selecting an NTN entity with a shorter data storage duration” – See [¶0143]). However, Shrestha does not explicitly teach a determination that both the total transmission delay and the further total transmission delay are not larger than the delay threshold. Lou teaches “ cell selection method and apparatus, to resolve problems of excessive power consumption and large overheads caused by frequent satellite beam handover performed by UE ” – See [¶0004] whereby “[a] terminal device performs measurement based on measurement configuration information of N cells, and determines M candidate cells based on a measurement result” – See [¶0005] and “[t] he metric value of the candidate cell indicates time in which the network device corresponding to the candidate cell serves the terminal device ” – See [¶0007] or “ a weighted sum of the remaining coverage duration of the candidate cell and the remaining coverage duration of the network device corresponding to the candidate cell ” – See [¶0008]. Luo, like Shrestha, teaches that the UE may receive relevant information about satellite cells through SIBs and performs measurements based on 3GPP technical specifications – See , e.g. , [¶0101] (SIB1 and TS 38.304 in the 3GPP protocol 8 ), to access an NTN device in a “ regenerative architecture ” wherein “ the NTN device may be used as a base station to establish an N2 interface connection or an Ng interface connection to an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity in a core network, to provide a radio access service for a terminal device ” – See [¶0124] and Fig. 4, and “[d] ifferent network devices may be connected to a same core network device, or may be connected to different core network devices ” –See [¶0179] and Fig. 10. The UE in Leo “ may determine the start time at which the network device covers the first geographical region as an earliest time point in start time at which all the cells cover the first geographical region, and may determine the end time at which the network device covers the first geographical region as a latest time point in end time at which all the cells cover the first geographical region ,” i.e. , “ the coverage time information of all the cells of the network device ” – See [¶0156]. Furthermore, like in Shrestha, the “ terminal device selects a target cell from the M candidate cells based on the first information ” –See [¶0197] whereby here, “ the terminal device may [] obtain the first information . . . based on ephemeris information of a network device corresponding to a cell, movement information of the network device, a coverage parameter of each cell of the network device, a coverage parameter of the network device, and the like, may determine a coverage region of each cell of the network device based on the movement information of the network device corresponding to the cell, the coverage parameter of each cell of the network device, and the like, and may determine a coverage region of the network device based on the movement information of the network device corresponding to the cell, the coverage parameter of the network device, and the like ” – See [¶0199] i.e. , may determine a metric related to the “ remaining coverage duration of the network device ” – See [¶0215]. Luo further teaches a determination that both the total transmission delay and the further total transmission delay are not larger than the delay threshold (“ the terminal device may select a candidate cell with a metric value less than a threshold as the target cell ” and “ if metric values of a plurality of candidate cells are less than a threshold, the terminal device may select a candidate cell with a smallest metric value therefrom as the target cell ” or “ the terminal device may select any candidate cell with a metric value less than a threshold as the target cell ”– See [¶0220] including cases wherein “ the network device corresponding to the candidate cell and a network device corresponding to a serving cell of the terminal device are on a same orbital plane ” or “ on different orbital planes ” by using a different “ metric value of the candidate cell ” – See [¶0242] i.e. , a case of a serving NTN device and a further NTN device like in Shrestha). Thus, Shrestha and Luo each teaches a UE’s selection (of a candidate cell) between two NTN devices based on metric values related to satellite parameters informed to the UE. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the metric used for NTN device selection in Luo by determining whether the metric is not larger than a threshold for both devices, could have been substituted in for the total transmission delay taught in Shrestha because both are metrics related to satellite service time to the UE. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the substitution through techniques known in the art. Finally, the substitution achieves the predictable result of allowing the UE to same power by making fewer reselections when considering more detailed coverage parameters, as taught in Luo. Therefore, Claim 10 is obvious over Shrestha in view of Luo. Regarding Claim 12 , dependent from Claim 11, anticipated by Shrestha, Shrestha further teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination of both the total transmission delay and the further total transmission delay (determining the total transmission delay for the serving NTN and the further NTN as explained in Regarding Claim 8, supra , “ when the UE had uplink data with a delay target ” – See [¶0143]). However, Shrestha does not teach that both total transmission delays are larger than the delay threshold. Luo further teaches that “ if metric values of the M candidate cells are all greater than a threshold, the terminal device may select a candidate cell with a smallest metric value therefrom as the target cell ” – See [¶0220]; accord with Shrestha:[¶0143] (“ selecting an NTN entity with a shorter data storage duration when the UE had uplink data with a delay target ”). Because the metric in Luo can be substituted in for total transmission delay in Shrestha through techniques available to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present application, as explained in Regarding Claim 10 supra , the combination of Shrestha and Luo further teaches select the non-terrestrial network device or the further non-terrestrial network device for transmitting the data based on the total transmission delay and the further total transmission delay. In addition, Luo, by referencing 3GPP TS 38.304, also teaches provide, to an application layer of the apparatus an indication, to select the non-terrestrial network device or the further non-terrestrial network device for transmitting the data – See 3GPP TS 38.304, at page 17, describing the manual selection of a PLMN, as explained in Footnote 8. Therefore, Claim 12 is obvious over Shrestha in view of Luo. In sum, Claims 10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C §103 as obvious over Shrestha in view of Luo . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : Qiao et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0260480 discloses method and apparatus for wireless communications wherein candidate core network satellite network element set is a subset of the plurality of core network satellite network elements, and determines, from the candidate core network satellite network element set, a core network satellite network element set corresponding to the terminal based on an identifier of the access network satellite network element, an identifier of the terminal, and/or a location of the terminal; Ou, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0038834 discloses methods, systems, and apparatuses are provided for handling Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) store and forward (S&F) configurations in a wireless communication system; Rune et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0300700 teaches a method performed by a wireless device for cell selection in a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) includes obtaining information indicating an expected time for the wireless device to be served in at least one cell and determining whether to perform a cell selection or reselection procedure based at least in part on the information; Li et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2026/0122557 discloses terminal devices having NTN capabilities, and the NTN capabilities of the first-type terminal device and the second-type terminal device are not completely the same, facilitating the improvement of the possibility of successful communication of terminal devices; Hu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2026/0113800 discloses satellite successfully receives mobile-originated (MO) data sent by the terminal device, wherein the MO data is transmitted by using a storage and forwarding mode of the first satellite; and the terminal device caching the MO data; Yin et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0151126 discloses systems and methods for timing enhancement in store and forward mode; Qaise et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0330236 discloses a terminal device attaches successfully to the non-terrestrial cellular data communication network via one of the one or more base-stations, estimating terminal location data based on arrival times of at least three reference timing signals received at the terminal device from different positions taken by the one or more airborne or spaceborne base stations; Mao et al, WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO2025010573 discloses instructing an authorized terminal to use a storage and forwarding function, and the storage and forwarding function is used for transmitting data of the terminal in a storage and forwarding manner during NTN access; Li et al., EPO Patent Application Publication No. EP 4429343 discloses a method and apparatus for interaction between a terminal and a core network, applicable to an internet of things (IoT) non-terrestrial network (NTN) discontinuous coverage scenario; 3GPP TS 23.501 V18.2.2 (2023-07), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 18)”; 3GPP TS 22.261 V19.3.0 (2023-06), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Service requirements for the 5G system; Stage 1 (Release 19) (as per the IDS); 3GPP TS 38.300 V17.5.0 (2023-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall Description; Stage 2 (Release 17)”; 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.5.0 (2023-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (as per the IDS); 3GPP TR 38.821 V16.2.0 (2023-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Solutions for NR to support non-terrestrial networks (NTN) (Release 16)”; 3GPP TS 38.304 V17.5.0 (2023-06)., “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state (Release 17)”; 3GPP RAN Rel-19 Workshop, RWS-230178, Title: “NR and IoT NTN,” Source: Qualcomm Incorporated, June 2023; ITU-R, Report ITU-R M.2514-0, Title: “Vision, requirements and evaluation guidelines for satellite radio interface(s) of IMT-2020,” September 2022; Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCIA GHEORGHE GRADINARIU whose telephone number is (571)272-1377. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478 /JOSEPH E AVELLINO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 2 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 3 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 4 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 5 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 6 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 7 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 8 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 9 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 10 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 11 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 12 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 13 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 14 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 15 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 16 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 17 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 18 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 19 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 20 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 21 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 22 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 23 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 24 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 25 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 26 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 27 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 28 Art Unit: 2478 Application/Control Number: 18/770,981 Page 29 Art Unit: 2478 1 See, e.g. , 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.5.0 (2023-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331), describing, at page 486-487, the system information block SIB19 that “ contains satellite assistance information for NTN access ” including ntn-Config that “Provides parameters needed for the UE to access NR via NTN access such as Ephemeris data, common TA parameters, k_offset, validity duration for UL sync information and epoch ” and ntn-NeighCellConfigList and ntn-NeighCellConfigListExt providing neighbours ntn-Config parameters. 2 See, e.g., 3GPP TS 38.331, describing, at page 49-50, UE actions upon receiving SIB1, stating, “ if the cellAccessRelatedInfo contains an entry of a selected . . . PLMN and in case of PLMN the UE is either allowed or instructed to access the PLMN via a cell for which at least one CAG ID is broadcast . . . use plmn-IdentityList, trackingAreaCode, trackingAreaList, and cellIdentity for the cell as received in the corresponding PLMN-IdentityInfo containing the selected PLMN .” 3 See Specification [¶0056] describing the required determination as “ the terminal device 110 may determine whether an operator of the CN device that the satellite will connect with is the one selected by the terminal device 110 which is identified by the PLMN of the terminal device 110 ” but the identity may be NPN or AMF – See, e.g. , Spec.:[¶0054]. The Specification does not disclose the purpose of this identity, why the match is important. 4 In accord with examples found in Specification:[¶0063] (“ The total delay ” is the difference between “ the terminal device 110 sends MO data ” and when “ the MO data is forwarded to CN ” based on “ information to the terminal device 110 via SIB or dedicated RRC ”) 5 See, e.g. , § 16.14.2.1, 3GPP TS 38.300, at page 178-179, describing specific timing offsets to accommodate the propagation delay in NTNs, including Service link RTT, Feeder link RTT and the RTT between “ the uplink synchronization reference point (RP) ” and the NTN payload ( Common TA ). 6 Because the calculation is based on information received by the UE in SIB (19), including a next feeder link availability time, the UE can determine/estimate the total transmission delay based on the time difference between the MO UL transmission to the NTN device and its next feeder link availability time – See 7 See, e.g. , 3GPP TS 23.501 V18.2.2 (2023-07), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 18)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.501) describes in § 5.4.11 integration of NT satellite access in 5GC, specifying, at page 129, that “ to ensure that the regulatory requirements are met, the network may be configured to enforce that the selected PLMN is allowed to operate in the current UE location by verifying the UE location during Mobility Management and Session Management procedures. In this case, when the AMF receives a NGAP message containing User Location Information for a UE using NR satellite access, the AMF may decide to verify the UE location. If the AMF determines based on the Selected PLMN ID and ULI (including Cell ID) received from the gNB that it is not allowed to operate at the present UE location the AMF should reject any NAS request with a suitable cause value .”; see also 3GPP TS 22.261 V19.3.0 (2023-06), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Service requirements for the 5G system; Stage 1 (Release 19)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 22.261), at page 22, stating “ UEs supporting satellite access shall support optimized network selection and reselection to PLMNs with satellite access, based on home operator policy ,” at page 36, “[a] n IoT device which is able to access a 5G PLMN in direct network connection mode using a 3GPP RAT shall have a 3GPP subscription ,” and §6.22, at page 41-42, describing the unified access control framework applicable to inbound roamers to a PLMN. 8 3GPP TS 38.304 V17.5.0 (2023-06)., “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.304), describing, at page 16, the PLMN selection by a UE as “ based on the list of PLMN identities in priority order, the particular PLMN may be selected either automatically or manually. Each PLMN in the list of PLMN identities is identified by a 'PLMN identity'. In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE can receive one or multiple 'PLMN identity' in a given cell. The result of the PLMN selection performed by NAS (see TS 23.122 [9]) is an identifier of the selected PLMN ,” and, at page 17, that “ the UE shall search for the strongest cell and read its system information, in order to find out which PLMN(s) the cell belongs to and any associated CAG(s) ” and “ each found PLMN (see the PLMN reading in TS 38.331 [3]) shall be reported to the NAS ” which is a higher layer at the UE, and “[o] nce the UE has selected a PLMN, the cell selection procedure shall be performed in order to select a suitable cell of that PLMN to camp on ”; in addition, it is possible to “ support manual CAG selection ” whereby “the UE shall upon request by NAS report available CAG-ID(s) together with their manual CAG selection allowed indicator . . . and PLMN(s) to the NAS. If NAS has selected a CAG and provided this selection to AS, the UE shall search for an acceptable or suitable cell belonging to the selected CAG to camp on ” and a CAG is an identified for a closed access group inside a PLMN.
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