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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) was/were submitted on 8/15/24. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 9-10 and 15-16 is/are objected to because of the following informalities: change “NAS timer” “the NAS timer” for consistency. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim(s) 21 is/are objected to because of the following informalities: it is suggested to change “wherein first” in line 1 to “wherein the first” for consistency. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 8-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 8, it is unclear what “the satellite” is referring to since there are two instances of “a satellite” in claim 8. Claims 9-13 fails to resolve the deficiency of claim 8 and are thus rejected under similar rationale. Claim 14 recite similar limitations of claim 8 and is thus rejected under similar rationale. Claims 15-19 fails to resolve the deficiency of claim 14 and are thus rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim(s) 14, the boundaries of “determining a value of a non-access stratum (NAS) timer” is/are unclear because the claim(s) does not provide a discernable boundary on what performs the function(s). The recited function(s) does not follow from the structure recited in the claim, i.e., a transceiver or a processor, so it is unclear whether the function(s) requires some other structure or is simply a result of operating the UE in a certain manner. Thus one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to draw a clear boundary between what is and is not covered by the claim(s). See MPEP 2173.05(g) for more information. Claims 15-19 fails to resolve the deficiency of claim 14 and are thus rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim(s) 15, the boundaries of “the value of NAS timer is determined” is/are unclear because the claim(s) does not provide a discernable boundary on what performs the function(s). The recited function(s) does not follow from the structure recited in the claim, i.e., a transceiver or a processor, so it is unclear whether the function(s) requires some other structure or is simply a result of operating the UE in a certain manner. Thus one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to draw a clear boundary between what is and is not covered by the claim(s). See MPEP 2173.05(g) for more information.
Regarding claim(s) 16, the boundaries of “the first information is reset to have a specific value” and “the value of NAS timer is determined” is/are unclear because the claim(s) does not provide a discernable boundary on what performs the function(s). The recited function(s) does not follow from the structure recited in the claim, i.e., a transceiver or a processor, so it is unclear whether the function(s) requires some other structure or is simply a result of operating the UE in a certain manner. Thus one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to draw a clear boundary between what is and is not covered by the claim(s). See MPEP 2173.05(g) for more information.
Regarding claim(s) 19, the boundaries of “the NAS timer is determined” is/are unclear because the claim(s) does not provide a discernable boundary on what performs the function(s). The recited function(s) does not follow from the structure recited in the claim, i.e., a transceiver or a processor, so it is unclear whether the function(s) requires some other structure or is simply a result of operating the UE in a certain manner. Thus one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to draw a clear boundary between what is and is not covered by the claim(s). See MPEP 2173.05(g) for more information.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 8-9, 12-13, 14-15, and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20210105064 by Faccin et al. (hereinafter Faccin) (IDS filed 8/15/24) in view of US 20250055628 by Yao et al. (hereinafter Yao).
Regarding claim 14, Faccin teaches a user equipment (UE) communicating with a communication network via a satellite (¶ 94, wireless communication device 700 may be a user equipment (UE)…configured to wirelessly communicate with a base station, as illustrated in any one or more of FIGS. 1-6; ¶ 60, non-terrestrial RAN 404 may include a satellite 410a operating as a base station (e.g., gNB) to serve one or more UEs 412 within a satellite coverage area; ¶ 65, when messages are exchanged between the UE 412 and the CN 418 via the non-terrestrial RAN 404; ¶ 59, wireless communication system 400 may be a 5G wireless communication system (5GS)), the UE comprising:
a transceiver (fig. 7, transceiver 710);
and a processor configured to (fig. 7, processor 704; processors 704…configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure):
identify that the UE is in communication with the communication network via a satellite (¶ 94, wireless communication device 700 may be a user equipment (UE)…configured to wirelessly communicate with a base station, as illustrated in any one or more of FIGS. 1-6; ¶ 60, non-terrestrial RAN 404 may include a satellite 410a operating as a base station (e.g., gNB) to serve one or more UEs 412 within a satellite coverage area; ¶ 65, when messages are exchanged between the UE 412 and the CN 418 via the non-terrestrial RAN 404; ¶ 59, wireless communication system 400 may be a 5G wireless communication system (5GS); ¶ 75, when the UE 502 attaches to a base station (e.g., satellite gNB) within a non-terrestrial RAN, the UE 502 may select an extended timer duration; ¶ 66-70);
wherein the received first information is not considered in determining a value of a non-access stratum (NAS) timer (¶ 28, The NAS timers within the UE…may be configured with different durations (e.g., either a normal duration, an extended duration, reduced duration, etc.). A NAS timer duration may be selected, for example, based on one or more aspects such as the type of RAN (e.g., terrestrial or non-terrestrial) to which a UE is connected, one or more UE capabilities, and/or RAN types within a registration area that the UE is located in; ¶ 29, the UE…may each select a respective duration (e.g., normal, extended, or reduced) for a set of one or more timers (e.g., NAS timers) based on the type of RAN (or RAT) of the base station to which the UE is attached; ¶ 125; ¶ 129; ¶ 135; ¶ 139. As shown in these paragraphs, the selection/determination of a duration/value of NAS timer(s) is not dependent on any sort of received first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Faccin’s teachings with Faccin’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is handling delays introduced by high latency links in non-terrestrial networks for non-access stratum (NAS) mobility management and session management procedures (Faccin abstract).
Although Faccin teaches the communication network and the satellite (Faccin ¶ 75, a base station (e.g., satellite gNB)), Faccin does not explicitly disclose and receive, from the communication network, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite.
Yao in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches receive, from a communication network, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of a gNB (¶ 93, after the UE 106 is connected with the base station 102, the base station 102 may configure the parameters for operating the PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH with the UE 106 in the coverage enhancement mode. The base station 102 may transmit the coverage enhancement mode configuration parameters for PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH to the UE 106; ¶ 33, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”; ¶ 3, wireless communication networks such as the 5G new radio (NR) systems…need to extend the communication range or coverage; ¶ 2, This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically, to methods that enable wireless communication devices to extend their communication range or coverage; ¶ 30, wireless communication system includes a base station 102A). By modifying Faccin’s teachings of the communication network and the satellite with Yao’s teachings of receive, from a communication network, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of a gNB, the modification results in receive, from the communication network, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Faccin’s teachings with Yao’s above teachings. The motivation is enhancing the coverage of NR systems for coverage-limited wireless devices (Yao abstract). Known work in one field of endeavor (Yao prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Faccin prior art) based on design incentives (enhance the coverage of NR systems for coverage-limited wireless devices) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 15, the combination teaches the UE of claim 14, wherein the value of NAS timer is determined based on a type of satellite access (Faccin ¶ 28, The NAS timers within the UE…may be configured with different durations (e.g., either a normal duration, an extended duration, reduced duration, etc.). A NAS timer duration may be selected, for example, based on one or more aspects such as the type of RAN (e.g., terrestrial or non-terrestrial) to which a UE is connected, one or more UE capabilities, and/or RAN types within a registration area that the UE is located in; ¶ 76, The UE capabilities (e.g., network type indication) may further indicate a set of one or more satellite types within the non-terrestrial network type supported by the UE 502. For example, the UE capabilities may indicate whether the UE 502 may support communication with LEO, MEO, and/or GEO satellites).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faccin’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is handling delays introduced by high latency links in non-terrestrial networks for non-access stratum (NAS) mobility management and session management procedures (Faccin abstract).
Regarding claim 18, the combination teaches the UE of claim 14, wherein the communication network comprises an evolved packet system (EPS) or fifth generation (5GS) network (Faccin ¶ 60, non-terrestrial RAN 404 may include a satellite 410a operating as a base station (e.g., gNB) to serve one or more UEs 412 within a satellite coverage area; ¶ 65, when messages are exchanged between the UE 412 and the CN 418 via the non-terrestrial RAN 404; ¶ 59, wireless communication system 400 may be a 5G wireless communication system (5GS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faccin’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is handling delays introduced by high latency links in non-terrestrial networks for non-access stratum (NAS) mobility management and session management procedures (Faccin abstract).
Regarding claim 19, the combination teaches the UE of claim 14, wherein the NAS timer is determined as an extended NAS timer (Faccin ¶ 29, the UE…may each select a respective duration (e.g., normal, extended, or reduced) for a set of one or more timers (e.g., NAS timers) based on the type of RAN (or RAT) of the base station to which the UE is attached; ¶ 75, when the UE 502 attaches to a base station (e.g., satellite gNB) within a non-terrestrial RAN, the UE 502 may select an extended timer duration; ¶ 28, The NAS timers within the UE…may be configured with different durations (e.g., either a normal duration, an extended duration, reduced duration, etc.)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faccin’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is handling delays introduced by high latency links in non-terrestrial networks for non-access stratum (NAS) mobility management and session management procedures (Faccin abstract).
Claims 8-9 and 12-13 recite similar limitations of claims 14-15 and 18-19, respectively and are thus rejected under similar rationale.
Claim(s) 10 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Faccin and Yao and in further view of US 20180146438 by Yi et al. (hereinafter Yi).
Regarding claim 16, the combination teaches the UE of claim 14, and wherein the value of NAS timer is determined based on at least one of a type of satellite access or the reset first information (Faccin ¶ 28, The NAS timers within the UE…may be configured with different durations (e.g., either a normal duration, an extended duration, reduced duration, etc.). A NAS timer duration may be selected, for example, based on one or more aspects such as the type of RAN (e.g., terrestrial or non-terrestrial) to which a UE is connected, one or more UE capabilities, and/or RAN types within a registration area that the UE is located in; ¶ 76, The UE capabilities (e.g., network type indication) may further indicate a set of one or more satellite types within the non-terrestrial network type supported by the UE 502. For example, the UE capabilities may indicate whether the UE 502 may support communication with LEO, MEO, and/or GEO satellites).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faccin’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is handling delays introduced by high latency links in non-terrestrial networks for non-access stratum (NAS) mobility management and session management procedures (Faccin abstract).
Although the combination teaches the first information, the combination does not explicitly disclose the first information is reset to have a specific value.
Yi in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches the concept of information related to coverage enhancement is reset (¶ 8, a method for resetting, by a user equipment (UE), a transmit power control (TPC) command in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving an accumulated TPC command from a network, and resetting the accumulated TPC command if a repetition number or a coverage enhancement (CE) level changes; ¶ 64, TPC mechanism may be applied when a UE is in enhanced coverage; ¶ 95, UE may reset the received TPC (by setting f_c(i) or g_c(i) to zero)). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the first information with Yi’s teachings of the concept of information related to coverage enhancement is reset, the modification results in the first information is reset to have a specific value.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Yi’s above teachings. The motivation is satisfying a need to adjust various features according to coverage enhancement (Yi ¶ 5). Known work in one field of endeavor (Yi prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Faccin prior art) based on design incentives (satisfying a need to adjust various features according to coverage enhancement) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 10 recite similar limitations of claim 16 and is thus rejected under similar rationale.
Claim(s) 11 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Faccin and Yao and in further view of US 20220210670 by Kawasaki.
Regarding claim 17, the combination teaches the UE of claim 14.
Although the combination teaches the first information, the combination does not explicitly disclose the first information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits.
Kawasaki in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits (¶ 173). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the first information with Kawasaki’s teachings of information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits, the modification results in the first information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Kawasaki’s above teachings. The motivation is connection can be appropriately managed in a case that a state of a UE is changed as initiated by a network (Kawasaki ¶ 12). Known work in one field of endeavor (Kawasaki prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Faccin prior art) based on design incentives (connection can be appropriately managed in a case that a state of a UE is changed as initiated by a network) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 11 recite similar limitations of claim 17 and is thus rejected under similar rationale.
Claim(s) 20-21 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20250055628 by Yao et al. (hereinafter Yao) in view of US 20210105064 by Faccin et al. (hereinafter Faccin) (IDS filed 8/15/24).
Regarding claim 20, Yao teaches a method of operating a communication network (¶ 30, wireless communication system includes a base station 102A),
the communication network communicating with user equipment (UE) via a gNB (¶ 33, the base station 102A may facilitate communication between the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network 100; ¶ 33, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”; ¶ 30, wireless communication system includes a base station 102A), the method comprising:
generating, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the gNB (¶ 93, after the UE 106 is connected with the base station 102, the base station 102 may configure the parameters for operating the PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH with the UE 106 in the coverage enhancement mode);
and transmitting, to the UE, the first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the gNB (¶ 93, base station 102 may transmit the coverage enhancement mode configuration parameters for PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH to the UE 106).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yao’s teachings with Yao’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is enhancing the coverage of NR systems for coverage-limited wireless devices (Yao abstract).
Although Yao teaches the communication network communicating with user equipment (UE) via a gNB, generating, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the gNB, and transmitting, to the UE, the first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the gNB, Yao does not explicitly disclose the communication network communicating with user equipment (UE) via a satellite, generating, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite, and transmitting, to the UE, the first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite.
Faccin in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a gNB being a satellite (¶ 60, non-terrestrial RAN 404 may include a satellite 410a operating as a base station (e.g., gNB) to serve one or more UEs 412 within a satellite coverage area; ¶ 75, when the UE 502 attaches to a base station (e.g., satellite gNB) within a non-terrestrial RAN, the UE 502 may select an extended timer duration). By modifying Yao’s teachings of the communication network communicating with user equipment (UE) via a gNB, generating, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the gNB, and transmitting, to the UE, the first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the gNB with Faccin’s teachings of a gNB being a satellite, the modification results in the communication network communicating with user equipment (UE) via a satellite, generating, first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite, and transmitting, to the UE, the first information indicating about enhanced coverage of the satellite.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yao’s teachings with Faccin’s above teachings. The motivation is managing delays in terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (Faccin ¶ 2).
Regarding claim 21, the combination teaches the method of claim 20, wherein first information indicating is determined by the communication network (Yao ¶ 93, after the UE 106 is connected with the base station 102, the base station 102 may configure the parameters for operating the PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH with the UE 106 in the coverage enhancement mode; ¶ 30, wireless communication system includes a base station 102A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Yao’s above teachings. The motivation is enhancing the coverage of NR systems for coverage-limited wireless devices (Yao abstract).
Regarding claim 24, the combination teaches the method of claim 20, wherein the communication network comprises an evolved packet system (EPS) or fifth generation (5GS) network (Yao ¶ 30, wireless communication system includes a base station 102A; ¶ 3, wireless communication networks such as the 5G new radio (NR) systems; ¶ 33, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Yao’s above teachings. The motivation is enhancing the coverage of NR systems for coverage-limited wireless devices (Yao abstract).
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao and Faccin and in further view of US 20180146438 by Yi et al. (hereinafter Yi).
Regarding claim 22, the combination teaches the method of claim 20.
Although the combination teaches the first information (Yao ¶ 93, base station 102 may transmit the coverage enhancement mode configuration parameters for PDSCH, PDCCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH to the UE 106), the combination does not explicitly disclose the first information is reset to have a specific value.
Yi in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches the concept of information related to coverage enhancement is reset (¶ 8, a method for resetting, by a user equipment (UE), a transmit power control (TPC) command in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving an accumulated TPC command from a network, and resetting the accumulated TPC command if a repetition number or a coverage enhancement (CE) level changes; ¶ 64, TPC mechanism may be applied when a UE is in enhanced coverage; ¶ 95, UE may reset the received TPC (by setting f_c(i) or g_c(i) to zero)). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the first information with Yi’s teachings of the concept of information related to coverage enhancement is reset, the modification results in the first information is reset to have a specific value.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Yi’s above teachings. The motivation is satisfying a need to adjust various features according to coverage enhancement (Yi ¶ 5). Known work in one field of endeavor (Yi prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Yao prior art) based on design incentives (satisfying a need to adjust various features according to coverage enhancement) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao and Faccin and in further view of US 20220210670 by Kawasaki.
Regarding claim 23, the combination teaches the method of claim 20.
Although the combination teaches the first information, the combination does not explicitly disclose the first information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits.
Kawasaki in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits (¶ 173). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the first information with Kawasaki’s teachings of information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits, the modification results in the first information comprises a RestrictEC information element (IE) which is represented by a bit or two bits.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Kawasaki’s above teachings. The motivation is connection can be appropriately managed in a case that a state of a UE is changed as initiated by a network (Kawasaki ¶ 12). Known work in one field of endeavor (Kawasaki prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Yao prior art) based on design incentives (connection can be appropriately managed in a case that a state of a UE is changed as initiated by a network) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20200396000 discloses based on an non-terrestrial mode and/or access network information indicating access network type such as GEO, determining/selecting a NAS timer period.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER P CHAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7152. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 A.M - 6 P.M. ET M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER P CHAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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