Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 18/883,397

AIR-GROUND INTEGRATED WIRELESS DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD FOR WIDE-AREA INTERNET OF THINGS

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Sep 12, 2024
Priority
Mar 20, 2024 — CN 202410316622.9 +1 more
Examiner
HUQ, FARZANA B
Art Unit
2455
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Harbin Institute of Technology
OA Round
2 (Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
366 granted / 459 resolved
+21.7% vs TC avg
Strong +31% interview lift
Without
With
+31.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
483
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
15.7%
-24.3% vs TC avg
§103
45.8%
+5.8% vs TC avg
§102
10.8%
-29.2% vs TC avg
§112
20.3%
-19.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 459 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . This office correspondence is in response to the amendment filed on July 20, 2026. Claims 1-10 are amended. Claims 11-13 are newly added. Examiner withdraws 35 USC 101 rejection as necessary corrections were made to the claims. Claims 1-13 are pending. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/20/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-Final rejection dated 05/12/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection. Ding discloses integrated sensing and communication services, and in particular, to data analytics for integrated sensing and communication services in 3GPP networks. Various input and output parameters related to sensing service analytics are provided by defining the sensing data at different processing stages of various sensing devices. Additionally, a service producer receives, from a service consumer, an analytics identifier (ID) that corresponds to a sensing service and a set of input parameters related to the sensing service. The service producer obtains analytics information based on the analytics ID and the set of input parameters. The service producer sends a second message including the analytics information to the service consumer. Kammachi Sreedhar discloses encode a protocol data unit set into or along a stream, wherein the protocol data unit set contains at least one protocol data unit; and encode an importance field within a header extension; wherein the importance field indicates whether there is at least one dependency between the protocol data unit set and at least one other protocol data unit set. After carefully reviewing the prior arts, the rejection is sustained for this claim with the prior arts of record. For at least the foregoing reasons, claims 2-13 depend from one of the respective independent claim, and rendered obvious by the combination of the prior arts Ding and Kammachi Sreedhar for at least the same reasons by virtue of their dependencies. Examiner respectfully sustains the rejections. Furthermore, as it is Applicant's right to continue to claim as broadly as possible their invention, it is also the Examiner's right to continue to interpret the claim language as broadly as possible. It is the Examiner's position that the detailed functionality that allows Applicant’s invention to overcome the prior art used in the rejection, fails to differentiate in detail how these features are unique. By the rejection above, the applicant must submit amendments to the claims in order to distinguish over the prior art use in the rejection that discloses different features of Applicant's claimed invention. Applicant has not yet submitted claims drawn to limitations, which distinguishes over the prior art or to significantly narrow definition/scope of the claims and supply arguments commensurate in scope with the claims implies the Applicant intends broad interpretation be given to the claims. It is requested that Applicant clearly and distinctly define the claimed invention. 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. 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. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ding et al. (US Publication 2026/0113244) hereafter Ding, in view of Wan et. al. (US Publication 2021/0258089) hereafter Wan, in further view of Kammachi Sreedhar et al. (US Publication 2024/0259454) Kammachi. As per claim 1, Ding discloses an air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, comprising: a data acquisition subsystem configured to acquire data and transmit the data (paragraphs 127, 135, 184: traffic usage reporting, QoS handling, and packet buffering); an information relay subsystem disposed on an unmanned aerial vehicle and configured to receive the data from the data acquisition subsystem (paragraphs 40-43, 89: receive inputs for relaying related messages); a network access subsystem configured to receive the data from the information relay subsystem via a 5G network (paragraphs 44, 97, 102-103: connects with 5G-enabled UEs with air interface network access); a flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle configured to control flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle (paragraphs 8, 89: analyze flight sensing information); a power supply system configured to supply power to the information relay subsystem (paragraphs 97, 195, 264: power measurement); and a shell of a data relay system containing the information relay subsystem and the power supply system (paragraph 62, 126, 137: route data traffic to proper destination). Although, Ding discloses data analytics for sensing services but fails to expressly disclose unmanned aerial vehicle configured to control flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle. However, in the same field of endeavor, Wan further elaborately discloses the claimed limitation of a flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle configured to control flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle (paragraphs 108-111: flight plan is provided to the UAV). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Wans’ teaching of with Ding. One would be motivated to dynamically increase the capacity and provide coverage for flight path and relay communications the UAV and network in accordance with the network protocol. Although, Wan-Ding discloses flight system with data analytics for sensing services but fail to expressly disclose data acquisition subsystem. However, in the same field of endeavor, Kammachi discloses data acquisition subsystem (paragraphs 162, 164: audio video streaming). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kammachis’ teaching of PDU set handling in a communication network with Wan-Ding. One would be motivated to greatly improve QoS policy and integrated packet handling for data transmission efficiency. As per claim 2, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the data acquisition subsystem comprises a sensor information acquisition module, a LoRa data transmission terminal module and video coding module (paragraphs 197, 264, 273: sensing service and a set of parameters); the sensor information acquisition module uses an RS485 bus and an MODBUS-RTU protocol interface to support a temperature and humidity sensor, a wind speed sensor and an illumination sensor (paragraphs 43-44, 194-195); the LoRa data transmission terminal module is connected to the sensor information acquisition module by means of the RS485 bus (paragraphs 189, 265); and the video coding module is divided into layer (paragraphs 102, 182, 260). Although, Wan-Ding disclose data analytics for sensing services but fails to expressly discloses an H264 video coding module, and the H264 video coding module is divided into an NAL layer and a VCL layer. However, in the same filed of endeavor, Kammachi discloses an H264 video coding module, and the H264 video coding module is divided into an NAL layer and a VCL layer (paragraphs 97, 211, 221). The same motivation that was utilized in the combination of claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 2. As per claim 3, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the NAL layer splits a frame into a plurality of packets for transmission, and each Ethernet packet is no more than 1500 bytes in a transmission process (paragraphs 54, 264, 338; Kammachi: 380). The same motivation that was utilized in the combination of claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 3. As per claim 4, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things wherein the VCL layer is responsible for compressing original video data, and dynamically setting a compression ratio according to service requirements and link characteristics to achieve adaptive transmission (paragraphs 260; Kammachi: 380). The same motivation that was utilized in the combination of claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 4. As per claim 5, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things wherein the information relay subsystem comprises hardware components and internal software; and the hardware components comprise a LoRa communication module, a WiFi network card, a central controller and a 5G module (paragraphs 89, 197, 264). As per claim 6, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein flow design of the internal software is as follows: M1: polling sensor data with the central controller, and storing the sensor data; M2: applying an Aodv multi-hop routing protocol; M3: performing data analysis and processing by the central controller; and M4: supporting public network data transmission and private network data transmission (paragraphs 194, 127, 136, 187). As per claim 7, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the network access subsystem is composed of a 5G base station, a 5G core network and a service server, and a Socket network for public network data transmission and a private communication network system for private network data transmission are arranged separately (paragraphs 253, 264); the private communication network system is composed of a 5G Pico base station, a 5G core network and a service server (paragraphs 92, 153, 264); the Socket network communication process comprises: Q1, server monitoring: making the server in a state of waiting for connection, and monitoring a network state in real time (paragraphs 89-91); Q2, a client request: making a connection request by a client socket, firstly defining a socket of a target server by the client socket, defining an IP address and port number of the server socket, and then making a connection request to the server socket (paragraphs 126, 131); and Q3, connection confirmation: when the server socket receives the connection request of the client socket, responding to the request of the client socket, establishing a new thread, sending configuration information of the server socket to a client, and once the client confirms the information, establishing communication connection therefrom; and further, making the server socket still in a monitoring state, and continuing to receive connection requests from other clients (paragraphs 51, 61-64, 131). As per claim 8, Ding in view of Wan, disclose the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the flight control system of the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises: a flight control circuit board, configured to control a fixed wing, a multiple rotor, an intelligent vehicle and a movable robot architecture; and Raspberry Pi, acquiring information from the flight control circuit board, and sending the information to a ground station by in the form of UDP; the Raspberry Pi cooperate to form flight control hardware (paragraphs 231, 244, 255; Wan: paragraphs 108-111), a LoRa communication module transmits position data to the flight control circuit board according to communication protocol, and the Raspberry Pi acquires information from the flight control circuit board and sends data to the ground station via UDP; a ground terminal inputs flight control instructions and sends the flight control instructions to the Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi outputs control signals to drive electric motors of the unmanned aerial vehicle (paragraphs 197, 264, 273). Although, Ding discloses flight with data analytics for sensing services but fails to expressly disclose a communication module transmits position data to the Pixhawk flight control circuit board according to MAVLink communication protocol, and acquires information from the Pixhawk flight control circuit board and sends data to the ground station via UDP; a ground terminal inputs flight control instructions and sends the flight control instructions and outputs control signals to the Pixhawk flight control circuit board, and the Pixhawk flight control circuit board converts the control signals into PWM signals to drive electric motors of the unmanned aerial vehicle. However, in the same field of endeavor, Wan discloses the claimed limitation of a communication module transmits position data to the Pixhawk flight control circuit board according to MAVLink communication protocol, and acquires information from the Pixhawk flight control circuit board and sends data to the ground station via UDP (paragraphs 111-113, 119-121); a ground terminal inputs flight control instructions and sends the flight control instructions and outputs control signals to the Pixhawk flight control circuit board, and the Pixhawk flight control circuit board converts the control signals into PWM signals to drive electric motors of the unmanned aerial vehicle (paragraphs 63, 71, 114). The same motivation that was utilized in the combination of claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 8. As per claim 9, Ding discloses the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the power supply system uses a three-port 5521 mobile power supply to supply power to the LoRa communication module, the 5G module and a Jetson NX development board, and the WiFi network card is powered and driven by the central controller (paragraphs 102-103, 192, 264-265). Although, Ding discloses data analytics for sensing services but fails to expressly disclose air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system, the 5G module and a Jetson NX development board, and the WiFi network card is powered and driven by the central controller. However, in the same field of endeavor, Wan further elaborately discloses the claimed limitation of air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system, the 5G module and a Jetson NX development board, and the WiFi network card is powered and driven by the central controller (paragraphs 32, 65, 69). The same motivation that was utilized in the combination of claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 9. As per claim 10, Ding discloses the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the shell of the data relay system has a 5-hole and 2-layer structure as follows: four 5G patch antennas are placed in four holes on the shell separately, and a LoRa radio frequency antenna is placed in the other hole (paragraphs 32-33, 194-197); a ventilation opening is reserved in the shell, and the shell is divided into an upper layer area and a lower layer area; the upper layer of the shell is configured to allow the sensor information acquisition module, the LoRa data transmission terminal module, the H264 video coding module, the LoRa communication module, the WiFi network card, the central controller and the 5G module to be placed; and a power supply with a power of 12V is placed at the lower layer of the shell; the ventilation opening reserved in the shell is configured to prevent an abnormal operation of the central controller and the 5G module caused by excessive temperature (paragraphs 89, 118, 195, 264; Kammachi: paragraphs 97, 211, 221). Wan discloses a power supply with a power of 12V, the ventilation opening reserved in the shell is configured to prevent an abnormal operation (paragraphs 34, 70, 116). The same motivation that was utilized in the combination of claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 10. As per claim 11, Ding discloses the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide- area Internet of Things, wherein the upper layer area and the lower layer area of the shell of the data relay system are physically isolated; and the 5G patch antennas and the LoRa radio frequency antenna are respectively arranged in independent holes of the shell, and their hardware installation positions are separated from each other (paragraphs 89, 140, 189). As per claim 12, Ding discloses the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide-area Internet of Things, wherein the network access subsystem further comprises a 5G Pico base station configured for private network data transmission; and a communication link of the 5G Pico base station is configured with a physical SIM card, and the physical SIM card stores three groups of parameters for hardware authentication including a SUPI, an authentication key, and an authentication OP (paragraphs 12 (table-US-00001, 92, 95-96, 266). As per claim 13, Ding discloses the air-ground integrated wireless data transmission system for wide- area Internet of Things, wherein wherein the information relay subsystem comprises an edge computing development board acting as a central controller; and the edge computing development board integrates a multi-core heterogeneous computing architecture comprising a plurality of compute unified device architecture (CUDA) cores, a plurality of tensor cores, and dual deep learning accelerator engines configured to process the data acquired by the data acquisition subsystem (paragraphs 106, 133-134, 153). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cameron Byrne et al. (US Publication 2021/0399791) discloses An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is disclosed. The UAV includes a flight system, a communications system, and a processing system. The communications system includes a cellular radio configured to support multiple contemporaneous communications connections, including at least a first communications connection with a cellular radio access network, at least a second communications connection with a second UAV in a set of one or more UAVs, and at least a third communications connection with a user equipment (UE) in a set of one or more UEs. The processing system is configured to control the flight system and relay communications between the cellular radio access network, the set of one or more UAVs, and the set of one or more UEs, in accordance with a mesh network protocol. Badic et al. (US Publication 2024/0373418) discloses a local server includes a controller configured to select a processing function for processing offload, and receive, from a traffic filter, target data that originates from a local network; and a processing platform comprising one or more processors and configured to apply the processing function to the target data to obtain processed data; and wherein the controller is further configured to send the processed data to a remote server for remote processing. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARZANA B HUQ whose telephone number is (571)270-3223. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 8:30-5:30 ET. 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, Emmanuel L Moise can be reached at 571-272-3865. 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. /FARZANA B HUQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 12, 2024
Application Filed
May 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 20, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 21, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
80%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+31.2%)
3y 3m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 459 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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