DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
4. Claims 1-3, 12-13, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marupaduga, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0225196 (hereinafter Marupaduga).
Regarding claim 1, Marupaduga discloses a method (disclosed is a method, according to [0021], [0023], Figs. 2-3), comprising:
roaming, by at least one user equipment comprising at least one processor, within at least one signal coverage region corresponding to at least one roaming radio network node (a UE may hand over to a roaming access node, according to [0021], [0023]);
based on user equipment roaming information usable by the at least one user equipment to facilitate roaming delivery of traffic according to at least one quality-of-service, determining, by the at least one user equipment, at least one of the at least one roaming radio network node that is configured to deliver traffic with respect to the at least one user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service to result in at least one determined roaming radio network node (based on network performance information of roaming 5G core networks that a UE may receive service from according to quality-of-service metrics, the UE selects a roaming access node that is determined to be able to support wireless data services, according to [0021]-[0025], [0036]-[0037], Figs. 2 [steps 202, 204, and 206] and 3); and
facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, establishing, with at least one of the at least one determined roaming radio network node, a connection that is capable of facilitating delivery of traffic according to the at least one quality-of-service to result in an established connection (the UE generates and transmits a request, to handover to the selected roaming access node, to a home access node, whereupon said UE establishes a connection with said selected roaming access node, according to [0022], [0026], [0038]-[0039], Figs. 2 [steps 208 and 209] and 3).
Regarding claim 13, Marupaduga discloses a user equipment, comprising at least one processor configured to process executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations (disclosed is a UE, comprising a processor that is configured to execute software stored on the UE’s memory, according to [0018]), comprising:
receiving, from a first radio network node, user equipment roaming information to be usable by the user equipment to facilitate roaming delivery of traffic with respect to at least one second radio network node according to at least one quality-of-service associated with the user equipment (the UE receives, from a home access node [“a first radio network node”], network performance information of roaming 5G core networks that a UE may receive service from, via candidate roaming access nodes [“at least one second radio network node”], according to quality-of-service metrics, according to [0021]-[0025], [0036]-[0037], Figs. 2 [steps 202 and 204] and 3);
roaming within at least one signal coverage region corresponding to at least one of the at least one second radio network node (the UE may hand over to a roaming access node, according to [0021], [0023]);
based on the user equipment roaming information, determining at least one of the at least one second radio network node that is configured to deliver traffic with respect to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service to result in at least one determined roaming radio network node (based on the received network performance information of roaming 5G core networks that a UE may receive service from according to quality-of-service metrics, the UE selects a roaming access node that is determined to be able to support wireless data services, according to [0021]-[0025], [0036]-[0037], Figs. 2 [step 206] and 3); and
establishing with at least one of the at least one determined roaming radio network node, a connection that is capable of facilitating delivery of traffic according to the at least one quality-of-service to result in an established connection (the UE establishes a connection with the selected roaming access node, according to [0026], [0039], Fig. 3).
Claim 17 recites the non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment (the UE comprises a physical memory that stores software that is executed by a processor, according to [0018]), cause the operations of the user equipment that are recited in claim 13 to be performed, and is therefore rejected on the same grounds as claim 13.
Regarding claim 2, Marupaduga discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: facilitating, by at least one user equipment, receiving, from a home radio network node corresponding to a home radio network with which the at least one user equipment is associated, the user equipment roaming information (the UE receives the network performance information of roaming 5G core networks that a UE may receive service from, from the home access node, according to [0021], [0024], Figs. 2 [steps 202 and 204] and 3).
Regarding claim 3, Marupaduga discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the at least one roaming radio network node corresponds to a radio network that is not associated with the at least one user equipment (roaming access nodes, rather than being associated with the home network, are instead associated with roaming network(s), according to [0017], Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 12, Marupaduga discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the at least one quality-of-service is associated with the at least one user equipment based on at least one subscription corresponding to the at least one user equipment (premium wireless services are accessed by a user via a subscription, according to [0003]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 4-5, 8, 14, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga as applied to claims 1, 13, and 17 above, in view of Gustafsson et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0266806 (hereinafter Gustafsson).
Regarding claim 4, Marupaduga discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority corresponding to the at least one quality-of-service.
Gustafsson discloses that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority corresponding to the at least one quality-of-service (an RPI (roaming priority indication) is associated with a wireless device, according to Abstract, whereby said RPI is based on a Quality of Service Class Identifier (QCI), according to [0055]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga with Gustafsson such that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority corresponding to the at least one quality-of-service.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Marupaduga and Gustafsson discloses all the limitations of claim 4.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose that the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, receiving, from the at least one roaming radio network node, the at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one roaming radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the at least one user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority.
Gustafsson discloses that the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, receiving, from the at least one roaming radio network node, the at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one roaming radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the at least one user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority (a WNN (wireless network node) of a neighbor network provides an indication that said neighbor network that supports RPI functionality, according to [0029]-[0030], [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson with Gustafsson such that the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, receiving, from the at least one roaming radio network node, the at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one roaming radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the at least one user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
Regarding claim 8, Marupaduga discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one of: at least one user equipment roaming class indication indicative of at least one user equipment roaming class associated with at least one roaming priority associated with the at least one user equipment, and wherein the at least one roaming priority corresponds to the at least one quality-of-service, or at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier associated with at least one non-terrestrial radio network node.
Gustafsson discloses that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one of: at least one user equipment roaming class indication indicative of at least one user equipment roaming class associated with at least one roaming priority associated with the at least one user equipment, and wherein the at least one roaming priority corresponds to the at least one quality-of-service, or at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier associated with at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (an RPI is associated with a wireless device, according to Abstract, whereby said RPI is based on a Quality of Service Class Identifier, according to [0055]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga with Gustafsson such that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one of: at least one user equipment roaming class indication indicative of at least one user equipment roaming class associated with at least one roaming priority associated with the at least one user equipment, and wherein the at least one roaming priority corresponds to the at least one quality-of-service, or at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier associated with at least one non-terrestrial radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
Regarding claim 14, Marupaduga discloses all the limitations of claim 13.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose that determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one second radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one determined roaming radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority indication.
Gustafsson discloses that determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one second radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one determined roaming radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority indication (a WNN of a neighbor network provides an indication that said neighbor network that supports RPI functionality, according to [0029]-[0030], [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga with Gustafsson such that determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one second radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one determined roaming radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority indication.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
Regarding claim 18, Marupaduga discloses all the limitations of claim 17.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one of: at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment, wherein the at least one roaming priority corresponds to the at least one quality-of-service, at least one user equipment roaming class indication indicative of at least one user equipment roaming class associated with the at least one roaming priority, or at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier associated with at least one non-terrestrial radio network node.
Gustafsson discloses that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one of: at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment, wherein the at least one roaming priority corresponds to the at least one quality-of-service, at least one user equipment roaming class indication indicative of at least one user equipment roaming class associated with the at least one roaming priority, or at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier associated with at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (an RPI is associated with a wireless device, according to Abstract, whereby said RPI is based on a Quality of Service Class Identifier, according to [0055]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga with Gustafsson such that the user equipment roaming information comprises at least one of: at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment, wherein the at least one roaming priority corresponds to the at least one quality-of-service, at least one user equipment roaming class indication indicative of at least one user equipment roaming class associated with the at least one roaming priority, or at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier associated with at least one non-terrestrial radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
8. Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga in view of Gustafsson as applied to claim 5 above, in view of Tamura et al., WO 2024150683 A1 (hereinafter Tamura).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Marupaduga and Gustafsson discloses all the limitations of claim 5.
Neither Marupaduga nor Gustafsson expressly discloses that the at least one roaming priority indication is received via at least one of: at least one master information block signal broadcast by the at least one roaming radio network node, or at least one system information block signal broadcast by the at least one roaming radio network node.
Tamura discloses that the at least one roaming priority indication is received via at least one of: at least one master information block signal broadcast by the at least one roaming radio network node, or at least one system information block signal broadcast by the at least one roaming radio network node (a RAN broadcasts a System Information Block that specifies a roaming priority order for a various disaster roaming PLMNs, according to page 12 lines 44-46).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson with Tamura such that the at least one roaming priority indication is received via at least one of: at least one master information block signal broadcast by the at least one roaming radio network node, or at least one system information block signal broadcast by the at least one roaming radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to accommodate roaming in the event that a disaster condition occurs (Tamura: Abstract).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Marupaduga, Gustafsson, and Tamura discloses all the limitations of claim 6. Additionally, Marupaduga discloses that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises at least one terrestrial radio network node (the roaming access node is a terrestrial base station, according to [0019], Fig. 1 [element 141]).
9. Claims 9-10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga in view of Gustafsson as applied to claims 8 and 18 above, further in view of Broszeit et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication 2026/0121739 (hereinafter Broszeit).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Marupaduga and Gustafsson discloses all the limitations of claim 8.
Neither Marupaduga nor Gustafsson expressly discloses that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node; determining, by the at least one user equipment, that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication; and based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
Broszeit discloses that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (disclosed is a LEO (low earth orbit) satellite that comprises an eNB, according to [0086], whereby the LEO satellite is part of a satellite access network that may be roamed to, according to [0081], [0091], [0162]), and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises:
facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (a new MME (which is located in the LEO satellite, according to [0086]) transmits an Authentication Request, comprising parameters that identify the satellite PLMN and its corresponding type, to a UE, according to [0102]-[0103], Fig. 1 [step 5a]);
determining, by the at least one user equipment, that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication (the parameters received by the UE in the Authentication Request indicate that the access network is a satellite access network, according to [0103]); and
based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node (after successful authentication, the UE attaches to the new MME, according to [0120], Fig. 1 [steps 5a, 5b, 21, and 22]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson with Broszeit such that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node; determining, by the at least one user equipment, that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication; and based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide data connectivity where terrestrial coverage is not available (Broszeit: [0081]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Marupaduga, Gustafsson, and Broszeit discloses all the limitations of claim 9. Additionally, Marupaduga discloses that the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node further comprises:
determining, by the at least one user equipment, at least one first signal strength corresponding to at least one terrestrial radio network node to result in at least one determined first signal strength (the UE measures the respective signal strengths for a plurality of roaming access nodes, according to [0021], Fig. 2 [step 203]);
determining, by the at least one user equipment, at least one second signal strength corresponding to the at least one determined roaming radio network node to result in at least one determined second signal strength (the UE measures the respective signal strengths for a plurality of roaming access nodes, according to [0021], Fig. 2 [step 203]);
determining, by the at least one user equipment, that the at least one determined first signal strength equals or exceeds the at least one determined second signal strength (the UE compares the respective signal strengths of roaming access nodes (it’s necessarily the case that, when comparing a pair of strengths, that either one will exceed the other, or they’ll be equal), according to [0022], Fig. 2 [step 206]);
determining, by the at least one user equipment, that the at least one terrestrial radio network node is not configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the at least one user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service (the UE determines that a given roaming access node has a signal strength that is insufficient for wireless data services, according to [0025]); and
based on the at least one terrestrial radio network node being determined to not be configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the at least one user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service, disregarding, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one determined first signal strength being determined to equal or exceed the at least one determined second signal strength (if the signal strength for a given roaming access node is determined to be insufficient for wireless data services, then that roaming access node is deemed to not be a candidate roaming access node (regardless of what its signal strength is in relation to those of other roaming access nodes), according to [0025]).
Neither Marupaduga nor Gustafsson discloses further determining, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
Broszeit discloses further determining, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node (after successful authentication, the UE attaches to the new MME, according to [0120], Fig. 1 [steps 5a, 5b, 21, and 22]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson as modified by Broszeit with Broszeit by further determining, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide data connectivity where terrestrial coverage is not available (Broszeit: [0081]).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Marupaduga and Gustafsson discloses all the limitations of claim 18.
Neither Marupaduga nor Gustafsson expressly discloses that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node; determining that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication; and based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
Broszeit discloses that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (disclosed is a LEO satellite that comprises an eNB, according to [0086], whereby the LEO satellite is part of a satellite access network that may be roamed to, according to [0081], [0091], [0162]), and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises:
receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (a new MME (which is located in the LEO satellite, according to [0086]) transmits an Authentication Request, comprising parameters that identify the satellite PLMN and its corresponding type, to a UE, according to [0102]-[0103], Fig. 1 [step 5a]);
determining that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication (the parameters received by the UE in the Authentication Request indicate that the access network is a satellite access network, according to [0103]); and
based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node (after successful authentication, the UE attaches to the new MME, according to [0120], Fig. 1 [steps 5a, 5b, 21, and 22]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson with Broszeit such that the at least one roaming radio network node comprises at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node; determining that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication; and based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide data connectivity where terrestrial coverage is not available (Broszeit: [0081]).
10. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga in view of Gustafsson as applied to claim 8 above, further in view of Qian et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0002868 (hereinafter Qian).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Marupaduga and Gustafsson discloses all the limitations of claim 8.
Neither Marupaduga nor Gustafsson expressly discloses facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, the at least one user equipment roaming class indication to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection.
Qian discloses facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, the at least one user equipment roaming class indication to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection (a mobile terminal requests a QoS rating with the network that said mobile terminal is roaming to, according to Abstract, [0025], [0030], Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson with Qian by facilitating, by the at least one user equipment, transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, the at least one user equipment roaming class indication to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate efficient information transmission in mobile networks (Qian: [0004]-[0009]).
11. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga as applied to claim 13 above, in view of Broszeit.
Regarding claim 15, Marupaduga discloses all the limitations of claim 13.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose that the at least one second radio network node comprises at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node; determining, by the user equipment, that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication; and based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining, by the user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
Broszeit discloses that the at least one second radio network node comprises at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (disclosed is a LEO satellite that comprises an eNB, according to [0086], whereby the LEO satellite is part of a satellite access network that may be roamed to, according to [0081], [0091], [0162]), and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises:
receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node (a new MME (which is located in the LEO satellite, according to [0086]) transmits an Authentication Request, comprising parameters that identify the satellite PLMN and its corresponding type, to a UE, according to [0102]-[0103], Fig. 1 [step 5a]);
determining, by the user equipment, that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication (the parameters received by the UE in the Authentication Request indicate that the access network is a satellite access network, according to [0103]); and
based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining, by the user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node (after successful authentication, the UE attaches to the new MME, according to [0120], Fig. 1 [steps 5a, 5b, 21, and 22]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga with Broszeit such that the at least one second radio network node comprises at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, and wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: receiving, from the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node, at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication indicative of the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node; determining, by the user equipment, that the user equipment roaming information comprises the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication; and based on the user equipment roaming information being determined to comprise the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication, determining, by the user equipment, the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide data connectivity where terrestrial coverage is not available (Broszeit: [0081]).
12. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga in view of Broszeit as applied to claim 13 above, further in view of Gustafsson, further in view of Qian.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Marupaduga and Broszeit discloses all the limitations of claim 15. Additionally, Marupaduga discloses the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node further comprises:
determining at least one first signal strength corresponding to at least one terrestrial radio network node to result in at least one determined first signal strength (the UE measures the respective signal strengths for a plurality of roaming access nodes, according to [0021], Fig. 2 [step 203]);
determining at least one second signal strength corresponding to the at least one determined roaming radio network node to result in at least one determined second signal strength (the UE measures the respective signal strengths for a plurality of roaming access nodes, according to [0021], Fig. 2 [step 203]);
determining that the at least one determined first signal strength equals or exceeds the at least one determined second signal strength (the UE compares the respective signal strengths of roaming access nodes (it’s necessarily the case that, when comparing a pair of strengths, that either one will exceed the other, or they’ll be equal), according to [0022], Fig. 2 [step 206]);
based on the at least one terrestrial radio network node being determined to not be configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service, disregarding, by the user equipment, the at least one determined first signal strength being determined to equal or exceed the at least one determined second signal strength (if the signal strength for a given roaming access node is determined to be insufficient for wireless data services, then that roaming access node is deemed to not be a candidate roaming access node (regardless of what its signal strength is in relation to those of other roaming access nodes), according to [0025]).
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose receiving, from the at least one terrestrial radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment; based on the at least one roaming priority indication, determining that the at least one terrestrial radio network node is not configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service; further determining the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node; transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, at least one user equipment roaming class indication, indicated by the user equipment roaming information, to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection.
Broszeit discloses further determining the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node (after successful authentication, the UE attaches to the new MME, according to [0120], Fig. 1 [steps 5a, 5b, 21, and 22]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Broszeit with Broszeit by further determining the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node corresponding to the at least one transmitted non-terrestrial radio network node indication to be the at least one determined roaming radio network node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide data connectivity where terrestrial coverage is not available (Broszeit: [0081]).
Neither Marupaduga nor Broszeit expressly discloses receiving, from the at least one terrestrial radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment; based on the at least one roaming priority indication, determining that the at least one terrestrial radio network node is not configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service; transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, at least one user equipment roaming class indication, indicated by the user equipment roaming information, to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection.
Gustafsson discloses receiving, from the at least one terrestrial radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment (an RPI associated with a wireless device is obtained, according to Abstract, [0029]-[0030], [0037]);
based on the at least one roaming priority indication, determining that the at least one terrestrial radio network node is not configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service (it may be determined that a given wireless network node does not support RPI functionality, according to [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Broszeit with Gustafsson receiving, from the at least one terrestrial radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative of at least one roaming priority associated with the user equipment; based on the at least one roaming priority indication, determining that the at least one terrestrial radio network node is not configured to accommodate delivery of traffic with respect to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
Neither Marupaduga, Broszeit, nor Gustafsson expressly discloses transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, at least one user equipment roaming class indication, indicated by the user equipment roaming information, to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection.
Qian discloses transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, at least one user equipment roaming class indication, indicated by the user equipment roaming information, to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection (a mobile terminal requests a QoS rating with the network that said mobile terminal is roaming to, according to Abstract, [0025], [0030], Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Broszeit as modified by Gustafsson with Qian by transmitting, to the at least one determined roaming radio network node, at least one user equipment roaming class indication, indicated by the user equipment roaming information, to be usable by the at least one determined roaming radio network node to facilitate the establishing the established connection.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate efficient information transmission in mobile networks (Qian: [0004]-[0009]).
13. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marupaduga in view of Gustafsson as applied to claim 18 above, further in view of Broszeit.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Marupaduga and Gustafsson discloses all the limitations of claim 18.
Marupaduga does not expressly disclose failing to establish a connection, capable of facilitating roaming delivery of traffic corresponding to the at least one quality-of-service, with the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node associated in the user equipment roaming information with the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier to result in non-establishment of a non-terrestrial roaming connection, wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: based on the non-establishment of the non-terrestrial roaming connection, receiving, from at least one roaming terrestrial radio network node, at least one roaming priority indication indicative that the at least one roaming terrestrial radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority.
Broszeit discloses failing to establish a connection, capable of facilitating roaming delivery of traffic corresponding to the at least one quality-of-service, with the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node associated in the user equipment roaming information with the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier to result in non-establishment of a non-terrestrial roaming connection (the Attach procedure between the UE and the satellite network may fail, according to [0087]),
wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises:
based on the non-establishment of the non-terrestrial roaming connection, receiving, from at least one roaming terrestrial radio network node, at least one indication indicative that the at least one roaming terrestrial radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the user equipment (while unable to access the satellite network, the mobile subscriber accesses a terrestrial network, according to [0139]-[0140]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson with Broszeit by failing to establish a connection, capable of facilitating roaming delivery of traffic corresponding to the at least one quality-of-service, with the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node associated in the user equipment roaming information with the at least one non-terrestrial radio network node identifier to result in non-establishment of a non-terrestrial roaming connection, wherein the determining of the at least one determined roaming radio network node comprises: based on the non-establishment of the non-terrestrial roaming connection, receiving, from at least one roaming terrestrial radio network node, at least one indication indicative that the at least one roaming terrestrial radio network node is configured to facilitate communicating traffic with the user equipment.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide data connectivity where terrestrial coverage is not available (Broszeit: [0081]).
Neither Marupaduga nor Broszeit expressly discloses that the indication is a roaming priority indication, such that traffic is communicated to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority.
Gustafsson discloses that the indication is a roaming priority indication, such that traffic is communicated to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority (an RPI is associated with a wireless device, according to Abstract, whereby said RPI is based on a Quality of Service Class Identifier (QCI), according to [0055]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Marupaduga as modified by Gustafsson as modified by Broszeit with Gustafsson such that the indication is a roaming priority indication, such that traffic is communicated to the user equipment according to the at least one quality-of-service corresponding to the at least one roaming priority. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to facilitate session continuity for wireless devices (Gustafsson: [0003]-[0006]).
Conclusion
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW W GENACK whose telephone number is (571)272-7541. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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/MATTHEW W GENACK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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