DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,107,739 (referred to as P739). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because:
Re claim 1:
Claim 1 merely broadens the scope of claim 1 of P739. It is well settled that broadening the scope of claims would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the narrower issued claims. In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982) and In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Re claim 2: Claim 2 is substantially similar to claim 2 of P739.
Re claim 3: Claim 3 is substantially similar to claim 3 of P739.
Re claim 4: Claim 4 is substantially similar to claim 4 of P739.
Re claim 5: Claim 5 is substantially similar to claim 5 of P739.
Re claim 6: Claim 6 is substantially similar to claim 6 of P739.
Re claim 7: Claim 7 is substantially similar to claim 15 of P739.
Re claim 8: Claim 8 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Re claim 9: Claim 9 is substantially similar to claim 9 of P739.
Re claim 10: Claim 10 is substantially similar to claim 10 of P739.
Re claim 11: Claim 11 is substantially similar to claim 11 of P739.
Re claim 12: Claim 12 is substantially similar to claim 15 of P739.
Re claim 13: Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Re claim 14: Claim 14 is substantially similar to claim 13 of P739.
Re claim 15: Claim 15 is substantially similar to claim 14 of P739.
Re claim 16: Claim 16 is substantially similar to claim 15 of P739.
Re claim 17: Claim 17 is substantially similar to claim 15 of P739.
Re claim 18: Claim 18 is disclosed in claim 1 of P739.
Re claim 19: Claim 19 is substantially similar to claim 19 of P739.
Re claim 20: Claim 20 is substantially similar to claim 20 of P739.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-6,8-11,13-16,19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616).
Re claim 1:
Altman discloses a system, comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising (Para.[0253] executed or performed by a computer and Para.[0254] memory):
determining a first quality of service (QoS) level for a mobile device at a first location within a communications network (Para.[0105] (c) collecting data and/or receiving data and/or analyzing data pertaining to the QoS of the wireless connectivity along Route 1, or communication performance, or IP connection performance, and generating a metric or an estimate QoS score or parameters set or vector indicating the QoS of the wireless connectivity along Route 1, or receiving such analyzed data from a remote server, or contributing data for such analysis by another device or by a remote server);
determining that the first QoS level has degraded below a threshold QoS level (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Para.[0106] Such determinations may be performed, for example, if the system already knows, or predicts, that the user intends to consume large amount of wireless data along the route, or would require to have a reliable high-speed wireless connection along the way…based on a user request to select the route that has a better, faster and/or more reliable wireless connection or connections or above certain QoS or other communications or applications QoE thresholds or levels or ranges);
in response to the determining, selecting an action to be performed at the mobile device, wherein the action increases a QoS level for the mobile device above the threshold QoS level (Para.[0101] a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Para.[0106] Such determinations may be performed, for example, if the system already knows, or predicts, that the user intends to consume large amount of wireless data along the route, or would require to have a reliable high-speed wireless connection along the way…based on a user request to select the route that has a better, faster and/or more reliable wireless connection or connections or above certain QoS or other communications or applications QoE thresholds or levels or ranges);
providing, by the system and to the mobile device, information indicative of the action, wherein the action is to be performed at the mobile device (Para.[0102] In some embodiments, route modification or adjustment or replacement, may present to the driver or operator of the vehicle a message indicating a suggestion to modify or adjust or replace the route, and the reason for such suggestion (e.g., to ensure high-quality HD video streaming); and may actuate such modification only if the driver or operator signals his consent or approval and Para.[0103] In other embodiments, the system may be pre-configured to automatically or autonomously perform such route adjustments);
determining that the mobile device has moved to a second location (Para.[0055] the Multi-link Agent 185 may decide on any combination of such or other dynamic actions, either in the used or available connections or in the manipulation or adaptation or modification of the content to be transmitted so that it results in another format or bandwidth, so that the dynamic actions would result in optimizing or maximizing or attempting to do so either with regard to the delivery reliability, or to lower the delivery latency, or to increase the delivery bandwidth or through-put, for any specific sensor or application or device, or for any combination of sensors and/or applications, for transmission into and/or from the vehicle, for any period of time and/or geo-location en-route and Para.[0059] In some embodiments, the association or allocation may be performed dynamically, and may be re-performed at pre-defined time intervals (e.g., every 5 or 10 or 30 or 60 or N seconds), or at pre-defined geographic distances or locations);
measuring a second QoS level of the mobile device at the second location (Para.[0121] The generated map (which may be dynamically updated and modified by the system in real time) may provide to the user application-level quality or QoS or Quality Indicators, as well as quantitative view of the bonded communication and Para.[0150] This collection center may share with the other services raw information or processed information; for example, data that was analyzed and matched to time and date criteria, to performance or other indicators or levels or measurements or statistics from other networks or other connections, accumulated and analyzed over time, matched with a geographic location or geo-spatial location and Para.[0128] Therefore, predictions or evaluations or estimates of the IP communication map, communications performance, QoS and QoE and their correlation to geo-location and time, may become more accurate as the correlations become more tight or coupled); and
retaining respective information indicative of the first QoS level, the second QoS level, first data indicative of the first location, and second data indicative of the second location (Para.[0130] [0130] In some embodiments, data about link, network, operator, geo-location, time-of-day, dates, areas, towers antenna, base stations, base transceiver station, access points, network elements, IoT infrastructure, VSIM operators or similar data may be collected from (or by) the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent and/or by other units (e.g., a remote server, or a consuming device such as smartphone or tablet or vehicular unit). The data may be used to construct a “profile” or a map or a “bonded communication map” of the available communications performance in two dimensions, or in three dimensions (e.g., indicating also mountains and valleys in a three-dimensional manner), or in four dimensions (e.g., indicating also the passage of time), with regard to of each or all of the networks and operators and providers and towers according to the usage, utilization and measured performance of a single device being used and aggregated statistics of multiple of such bonding devices, being in the area at the same time or at different times and Para.[0131] Such profile or data may be used for subsequent bonding, or by other communication devices to predict or evaluate the performance that they will experience (e.g., in a four dimensional manner) when moving through this mapped area, to predict or to estimate to what level or mark of performance to try and utilize for each one of its communication links that may have appeared in the map, or to update existing maps used by other vehicles).
As shown above, Altman discloses updating the mobile location and updating the QoS information at different locations. Altman does not explicitly disclose a determination the mobile has moved to a second location. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the determination step would occur when the system is updating the QoS information at the different locations, which would include a second location.
Re claim 2:
Altman discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise determining the threshold QoS level based at least in part on a type of application currently executing on the mobile device (Para.[0106] Such determinations may be performed, for example, if the system already knows, or predicts, that the user intends to consume large amount of wireless data along the route, or would require to have a reliable high-speed wireless connection along the way; e.g., based on detecting that the user has already commenced playback of a streaming high-definition (HD) or 3D or AR/VR immersive video, or based on analysis of prior trips of that particular user (e.g., to that particular destination, or to other destinations) in which the user has consumed large amount of wireless data during the trip (e.g., larger than a pre-defined threshold value), or based on a user request to select the route that has a better, faster and/or more reliable wireless connection or connections or above certain QoS or other communications or applications QoE thresholds or levels or ranges).
Re claim 3:
Altman discloses the system of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise: determining the type of the application currently executing on the mobile device is an augmented reality application (Para.[0106] if the system already knows, or predicts, that the user intends to consume large amount of wireless data along the route, or would require to have a reliable high-speed wireless connection along the way; e.g., based on detecting that the user has already commenced playback of a streaming high-definition (HD) or 3D or AR/VR immersive video); and
selecting the action as a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location, wherein a predicted future QoS for the second location is related to a reduction of a latency at the second location (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Para.[0190] For example, video watching or uploading (including live video from the vehicle); for the passengers' infotainment; many times more than a single passenger; especially demanding are 360 degrees video, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) video. For high-quality immersive experience, a very low latency is desired – where AR and VR are time sensitive and Fig.3 and Para.[0123] various points-of-interest).
As shown above, Altman discloses modifying a route to meet the requirements of an application. Altman does not explicitly disclose the first location has a reduced latency.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the first location in Altman would have a reduced latency in order to meet the application’s needs as suggested by Altman and because a high latency is considered a trigger for modifying a route so the modified route would have a lower latency (Altman Para.[0101]).
Re claim 4:
Altman discloses the system of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise: determining the type of the application currently executing on the mobile device is a voice application (Para.[0126] In some embodiments, optionally, names or graphical representations or indicators of particular applications (e.g., YouTube, Netflix, Skype, Facebook) or of particular types of applications (e.g., Streaming Video; Streaming Audio; VoIP; Mapping, video uplink streaming, etc.) may be shown at or near each route segment in the generated map, indicating which application(s) and/or which type(s) of application(s) are expected to have sufficient bandwidth in that route segment); and
selecting the action as a movement of the device from the first location to the second location (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Fig.3 and Para.[0123] various points-of-interest and Para.[0105] (b) determining that there exist at least two routes to travel to said destination point),
wherein a predicted future QoS for the second location is related to a change in a voice quality at the second location (Para.[0126] In some embodiments, optionally, names or graphical representations or indicators of particular applications (e.g., YouTube, Netflix, Skype, Facebook) or of particular types of applications (e.g., Streaming Video; Streaming Audio; VoIP; Mapping, video uplink streaming, etc.) may be shown at or near each route segment in the generated map, indicating which application(s) and/or which type(s) of application(s) are expected to have sufficient bandwidth in that route segment and Para.[0119] The communication in Route Segment 2 would be inadequate for high-quality streaming audio but would be adequate for Voice Over IP communications")).
As shown above, Altman discloses modifying a route in response to inadequate quality. Altman also discloses showing which modified route has adequate quality for voice. Altman does not explicitly disclose the second action is related to a change in voice quality.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the second action in Altman would related to a change in voice quality when quality metrics for a voice application are not adequate in order to meet the application’s needs (Altman Para.[0101]).
Re claim 5:
Altman discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the providing the information indicative of the action comprises facilitating an output, at the mobile device, of a suggested navigation from the first location to the second location (Para.[0101] a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Fig.3 and Para.[0123] various points-of-interest and Para.[0105] (b) determining that there exist at least two routes to travel to said destination point).
Re claim 6:
Altman discloses the system of claim 5, wherein the providing the information indicative of the action comprises facilitating a rendering, via a display of the device, a predicative map for user-guided navigation (Para.[0087] Display of the communication routes may be done in various ways; for example, by displaying the expected uplink/downlink goodput and/or delay/latency and/or any other QoS or performance or cost related parameters, for a particular route-segment).
Re claim 8: Claim 8 is rejected on the same grounds of rejections set forth in claim 1.
Re claim 9:
Altman discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the selecting the first corrective action to be performed at the mobile device comprises: determining an application executing on the mobile device is a time sensitive application (Para.[0190] For example, video watching or uploading (including live video from the vehicle); for the passengers' infotainment; many times more than a single passenger; especially demanding are 360 degrees video, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) video. For high-quality immersive experience, a very low latency is desired – where AR and VR are time sensitive); and
selecting the first corrective action as a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location based on the application executing on the mobile device being the time sensitive application, and wherein the first corrective action decreases an amount of latency within the communications network (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs).
As shown above, Altman discloses modifying a route to meet the requirements of an application. Altman does not explicitly disclose the action decreases latency.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the second location in Altman would have a decreased latency in order to meet the application’s needs as suggested by Altman and because a high latency is considered a trigger for modifying a route so the modified route would have a lower latency (Altman Para.[0101]).
Re claim 10:
Altman discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the first corrective action to be performed at the mobile device comprises: determining, by the processing system, an application executing on the mobile device is a non-time sensitive application (Para.[0126] In some embodiments, optionally, names or graphical representations or indicators of particular applications (e.g., YouTube, Netflix, Skype, Facebook) or of particular types of applications (e.g., Streaming Video; Streaming Audio; VoIP; Mapping, video uplink streaming, etc.) may be shown at or near each route segment in the generated map, indicating which application(s) and/or which type(s) of application(s) are expected to have sufficient bandwidth in that route segment – where VoIP is non-time sensitive); and
selecting, by the processing system, the first corrective action as a movement of the mobile device from the first location to the second location based on the application executing on the mobile device being the non-time sensitive application, and wherein the first corrective action increases a quality of a voice communication within the communications network (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs).
As shown above, Altman discloses modifying a route in response to inadequate quality. Altman also discloses showing which modified route has adequate quality for voice. Altman does not explicitly disclose the action increases a quality of voice communication.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the action in Altman increases quality of voice communication because the modified route is generated in response to inadequate quality and increases the quality in order to meet the application’s needs (Altman Para.[0101]).
Re claim 11:
Altman discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the providing the information indicative of the first corrective action comprises facilitating an output, at the mobile device, of an electronic mapping application that indicates alternative navigation routes (Para.[0101] a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Para.[0087] Display of the communication routes may be done in various ways; for example, by displaying the expected uplink/downlink goodput and/or delay/latency and/or any other QoS or performance or cost related parameters, for a particular route-segment).
Re claim 13: Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds of rejections set forth in claim 1.
Re claim 14:
Altman discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first location comprises a first latency amount and the second location comprises a second latency amount, and wherein the operations further comprise: selecting the second location based on the second latency amount being less than the first latency amount and based on a type of application executing on the mobile device being categorized as a time sensitive application (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Para.[0190] For example, video watching or uploading (including live video from the vehicle); for the passengers' infotainment; many times more than a single passenger; especially demanding are 360 degrees video, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) video. For high-quality immersive experience, a very low latency is desired – where AR and VR are time sensitive).
As shown above, Altman discloses modifying a route to meet the requirements of an application. Altman does not explicitly disclose a second location having a second latency less than the first latency.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the second location in Altman would have a reduced latency in order to meet the application’s needs as suggested by Altman and because a high latency is considered a trigger for modifying a route so the modified route would have a lower latency (Altman Para.[0101]).
Re claim 15:
Altman discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first location comprises a first voice quality level and the second location comprises a second voice quality level, and wherein the operations further comprise: selecting the second location based on the second voice quality level being a better voice quality than the first voice quality level (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs) and
based on a type of application executing on the mobile device being categorized as a non-time sensitive application (Para.[0126] In some embodiments, optionally, names or graphical representations or indicators of particular applications (e.g., YouTube, Netflix, Skype, Facebook) or of particular types of applications (e.g., Streaming Video; Streaming Audio; VoIP; Mapping, video uplink streaming, etc.) may be shown at or near each route segment in the generated map, indicating which application(s) and/or which type(s) of application(s) are expected to have sufficient bandwidth in that route segment – where VoIP is non-time sensitive).
As shown above, Altman discloses modifying a route in response to inadequate quality. Altman also discloses showing which modified route has adequate quality for voice. Altman does not explicitly disclose the second location has a second voice quality being better than a first voice quality.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the second location has a better voice quality than a current location in Altman because the modified route is generated in response to inadequate quality and increases the quality in order to meet the application’s needs (Altman Para.[0101]).
Re claim 16:
Altman discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise predicting future QoS values at a plurality of locations within the communication network (Para.[0118] The display may represent the current time, future time, or past time in relation to the corresponding communication levels. For example, the communication map can show the predicted communication levels, in color-based graphical legend, over potential travelling routes from geo-location to geo-destination).
Re claim 19:
Altman discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, the operations further comprising determining the threshold QoS level as a function a type of application executing on the mobile device (Para.[0101] Based on such determination or estimation or prediction or evaluation, of a reduced video quality or increased artifacts or lower bitrate communication or increased delays or increased latency or excessive buffering delays or other Quality of Experience injuries, a different travel route segment may be chosen or recommended or selected by a Vehicle Route Modification Unit 207 (or by a Route Segment Selector module) of the Bonding/Multi-Link Agent 200 (or of the vehicular mapping/navigation system, or associated therewith), or a modified travel route or a replacement travel route may be automatically generated and suggested to the driver, in which a better or more-satisfactory communications allows the passenger or passengers in that vehicle to satisfy their and the applications' communication needs and Para.[0190] For example, video watching or uploading (including live video from the vehicle); for the passengers' infotainment; many times more than a single passenger; especially demanding are 360 degrees video, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) video. For high-quality immersive experience, a very low latency is desired).
As shown above, Altman discloses QoS level as a function of the type of application. Altman also discloses uses QoE thresholds. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that a threshold QoS level is determined as a function of the type of application.
Re claim 20:
Altman discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the threshold QoS level comprises a latency value (Para.[0168] The behavior or the momentary performance of the communication links or paths, of each one of them or of several of them or all of them combined, may dynamically change based on various conditions; at very short period of times (several microseconds, several milliseconds) or at longer periods of time (tens of milliseconds, hundreds of milliseconds, seconds, and even minutes or longer). Such changes in behavior or performance of links or transceivers or modems may be described in terms of bandwidth, good-put, throughput, error rate, packet loss rate, latency or delay).
Claim(s) 7,12, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616) in view of Safavi (US 20150373565).
Re claim 7:
As discussed above, Altman meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Altman discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the providing the information indicative of the action comprises providing a (Para.[0118] The display may represent the current time, future time, or past time in relation to the corresponding communication levels. For example, the communication map can show the predicted communication levels, in color-based graphical legend, over potential travelling routes from geo-location to geo-destination and Para.[0102] In some embodiments, route modification or adjustment or replacement, may present to the driver or operator of the vehicle a message indicating a suggestion to modify or adjust or replace the route, and the reason for such suggestion (e.g., to ensure high-quality HD video streaming); and may actuate such modification only if the driver or operator signals his consent or approval and Para.[0103] In other embodiments, the system may be pre-configured to automatically or autonomously perform such route adjustments).
Altman does not explicitly disclose providing a heat map.
Safavi discloses providing a heat map showing predicted future QoS values for a plurality of locations within the communication network (Para.[0075] s discussed, the predicted QoE values represented by QoE map 600 represent predicted QoE values for a particular service at a particular time. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the predicted QoE values represented by QoE heat map 600 are location specific. The particular service for which predicted QoEs are illustrated on FIG. 6 may vary according to service).
Altman and Safavi are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Altman to include a heat map as taught by Safavi in order to improve quality of experience (Safavi Para.[0002]).
Re claim 12: Claim 12 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 7.
Re claim 17: Claim 17 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 7.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altman (US 20210114616) in view of Safavi (US 20150373565) as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Harpur (US 20200162331).
Re claim 18:
As discussed above, Altman in view of Safavi meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Altman does not explicitly disclose the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the predicting is responsive to an expected crowding of communication devices at the first location.
Harpur discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the predicting is responsive to an expected crowding of communication devices at the first location (Para.[0018] The generated bandwidth density model may then be used to determine quality of communication service parameters with respect to locations within the geographical space, and this information may in turned be used to instruct users (e.g., individuals with portable communication devices) to move to particular locations (e.g., away from a region of high crowd density and/or to a location with higher communication bandwidth) within the geographical space (so as provide an optimized geographic positioning of the users for optimized quality of communication service)).
Altman and Harpur are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Altman to include location becoming crowded as taught by Harpur in order to move users to location with higher communication bandwidth (HJarpur Para.[0018]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Rahman (US 20200329340) discloses sending directions to a UE to a location with better quality.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD SAJID ADHAMI whose telephone number is (571)272-8615. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Prosecution Insights