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
Applicant’s claim to priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to foreign applications filed on March 23, 2022 and August 16, 2022 is acknowledged. However, the subject matter disclosed in claims 16-30, is not disclosed in the foreign applications in the manner required by 35 U.S.C. 112(a). Accordingly, claims 16-30 are not entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the foreign application for this subject matter. See MPEP 2163.
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.
Claim 16-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sadique et al (US 2022/0232463, hereinafter Sadique).
Regarding claim 16, Sadique discloses a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, configuration information including an indicator indicating whether the terminal is allowed to disable a satellite next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) capability (configuration setting for the UE can be sent by the AMF to the UE, Para [0166], the configuration setting can prioritize NTN NG-RAN over terrestrial NG-RAN or can disable NTN NG-RAN, Para [0165], obvious variation to one of ordinary skill if NTN NG-RAN has priority over terrestrial NG-RAN then the UE wouldn’t be allowed to disable satellite access or it is given an indicate to disable, which means the UE is allowed to do it); transmitting, to the AMF entity, a REGISTRATION REQUEST message (UE initiates a registration procedure, NAS request and AMF receives request from the UE, Para [0138, 139], UE sends registration request to AMF, Para [0128]); and receiving, from the AMF entity, REGISTRATION REJECT message including a cause value indicating whether a satellite NG-RAN is allowed in a public land mobile network (PLMN) (the AMF may send a registration reject, Para [0128], AMF sends NAS response which can be a registration reject with cause, Para [0140], the cause can be NG-RAN access is not allowed, 5GC on first PLMN does not allow satellite NG-RAN access to the UE, Para [0130]).
Regarding claims 17, 21, 25 and 29, Sadique discloses the method/terminal/AMF of claim 16/20/24/28, further comprising: in case that the indicator indicates that the terminal is allowed to disable the satellite NG-RAN capability and the cause value indicates that the satellite NG-RAN is not allowed in the PLMN, disabling the satellite NG-RAN capability and searching for a suitable cell in another tracking area (in response to the rejection, UE stops attempting registration for NTN access and searches for terrestrial access on same PLMN, Para [0130], UE performs searches for terrestrial networks, Para [0170]).
Regarding claims 18, 22, 26 and 30, Sadique discloses the method/terminal/AMF of claim 16/20/24/28, further comprising: in case that the indicator indicates that the terminal is not allowed to disable the satellite NG-RAN capability, ignoring the cause value (UE can resume PLMN search for NTN access for multiple reasons, Para [0131], obvious to one of ordinary skill, in one case the UE prioritizes the NTN NG-RAN over terrestrial NG-RAN, Para [0165], or this case is it is not allowed to disable satellite capability).
Regarding claims 19, 23 and 27, Sadique discloses the method/terminal of claim 17/21/25, further comprising: starting a timer for a subsequent PLMN selection based on the disabling of the satellite NG-RAN capability (search timer for the UE to perform searching for terrestrial networks, Para [0170], UE starts search after stopping search for NTN access after the rejection with cause message, Para [0130], obvious to one of ordinary skill to start search timer when starting a new search).
Regarding claim 20, Sadique discloses a method performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: transmitting, to a terminal, configuration information including an indicator indicating whether the terminal is allowed to disable a satellite next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) capability (configuration setting for the UE can be sent by the AMF to the UE, Para [0166], the configuration setting can prioritize NTN NG-RAN over terrestrial NG-RAN or can disable NTN NG-RAN, Para [0165], obvious variation to one of ordinary skill if NTN NG-RAN has priority over terrestrial NG-RAN then the UE wouldn’t be allowed to disable satellite access or it is given an indicate to disable, which means the UE is allowed to do it); receiving, from the terminal, a REGISTRATION REQUEST message (UE initiates a registration procedure, NAS request and AMF receives request from the UE, Para [0138, 139], UE sends registration request to AMF, Para [0128]); and transmitting, to the terminal, REGISTRATION REJECT message including a cause value indicating whether a satellite NG-RAN is allowed in a public land mobile network (PLMN) (the AMF may send a registration reject, Para [0128], AMF sends NAS response which can be a registration reject with cause, Para [0140], the cause can be NG-RAN access is not allowed, 5GC on first PLMN does not allow satellite NG-RAN access to the UE, Para [0130]).
Regarding claim 24, Sadique discloses a terminal (UE, Fig. 3) in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: a transceiver and a controller (communication circuits and processor, Fig. 3) coupled with the transceiver and configured to: receive, from an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, configuration information including an indicator indicating whether the terminal is allowed to disable a satellite next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) capability (configuration setting for the UE can be sent by the AMF to the UE, Para [0166], the configuration setting can prioritize NTN NG-RAN over terrestrial NG-RAN or can disable NTN NG-RAN, Para [0165], obvious variation to one of ordinary skill if NTN NG-RAN has priority over terrestrial NG-RAN then the UE wouldn’t be allowed to disable satellite access or it is given an indicate to disable, which means the UE is allowed to do it); transmit, to the AMF entity, a REGISTRATION REQUEST message (UE initiates a registration procedure, NAS request and AMF receives request from the UE, Para [0138, 139], UE sends registration request to AMF, Para [0128]); and receive, from the AMF entity, REGISTRATION REJECT message including a cause value indicating whether a satellite NG-RAN is allowed in a public land mobile network (PLMN) (the AMF may send a registration reject, Para [0128], AMF sends NAS response which can be a registration reject with cause, Para [0140], the cause can be NG-RAN access is not allowed, 5GC on first PLMN does not allow satellite NG-RAN access to the UE, Para [0130]).
Regarding claim 28, Sadique discloses an access and mobility management function (AMF, Para [0007]) entity in a wireless communication system, the AMF entity comprising: a transceiver and a controller (transceiver and processor, inherent) coupled with the transceiver and configured to: transmit, to a terminal, configuration information including an indicator indicating whether the terminal is allowed to disable a satellite next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) capability (configuration setting for the UE can be sent by the AMF to the UE, Para [0166], the configuration setting can prioritize NTN NG-RAN over terrestrial NG-RAN or can disable NTN NG-RAN, Para [0165], obvious variation to one of ordinary skill if NTN NG-RAN has priority over terrestrial NG-RAN then the UE wouldn’t be allowed to disable satellite access or it is given an indicate to disable, which means the UE is allowed to do it); receive, from the terminal, a REGISTRATION REQUEST message (UE initiates a registration procedure, NAS request and AMF receives request from the UE, Para [0138, 139], UE sends registration request to AMF, Para [0128]); and transmit, to the terminal, REGISTRATION REJECT message including a cause value indicating whether a satellite NG-RAN is allowed in a public land mobile network (PLMN) (the AMF may send a registration reject, Para [0128], AMF sends NAS response which can be a registration reject with cause, Para [0140], the cause can be NG-RAN access is not allowed, 5GC on first PLMN does not allow satellite NG-RAN access to the UE, Para [0130]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN CUNNINGHAM whose telephone number is (571) 272-1765. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 7:30-18:00 (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached on (571) 272-3155. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN M CUNNINGHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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