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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 3, 11, and 17 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 claims 3, 11, and 17, the phrase "wherein a radio site that has already upgraded submits the no activity bid" renders the claim indefinite because neither these claims nor the claims upon which the depend refer to radio websites upgrading anything and there is no context for “already upgraded” which makes the limitation "wherein a radio site that has already upgraded submits the no activity bid" unable to be interpreted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office Action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 9, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0296627 A1) (hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a method of performing maintenance on a wireless network (Paragraph 0003 discloses an apparatus and method for a Base Station (BS) of a wireless communication system to perform an auction process on the basis of bidding prices presented by Relay Stations (RSs), to select one or more RSs to operate in an active mode), the method comprising:
receiving, by a first radio site of a set of radio sites, an indication that a network service activity is to be performed, wherein the set of radio sites comprises neighbor radio sites each having coverage zones overlapping with or adjacent to a coverage zone of another radio site of the set of radio sites (Figure 1B illustrates RSs adjacent to a coverage zone of another RS. Figures 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0088 and 0090 disclose in step 550, the BS transmits to the corresponding RS information about an allowed delay value and an allowed data rate for the current service for the user. In step 615, the RS receives the location information and the power sensing threshold value of the user from a BS);
generating, by each radio site of the set of radio sites, an activity bid, wherein the activity bid is selected from the list of bids consisting of: a numerical value between a minimum value and a maximum value, a no activity bid having a numerical value below the minimum value, and a busy bid having a numerical value above the maximum value (Figure 6 and paragraph 0090 disclose in step 670, the RS determines the improvement amount of the QoS on the basis of the subcarrier redistribution, and transmits the determined amount as a bidding value to the BS);
selecting, from the set of radio sites, a radio site having a highest activity bid for performing the network service activity (Figure 5 and paragraph 0088 disclose in step 555, the BS receives bidding prices from RSs and orders the RS having the high bidding price to operate in an active mode); and
either: based on at least the selected radio site not having the busy bid, performing the network service activity for the selected radio site; or based on at least the selected radio site having the busy bid, completing the network service activity for the selected radio site (Figure 5 and paragraph 0088 disclose in step 555, the BS receives bidding prices from RSs and orders the RS having the high bidding price to operate in an active mode).
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses a system comprising:
a processor; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions that are operative upon execution by the processor (Figures 10A and 10B and paragraph 0099 discloses the RS includes a controller. Under the control of the controller 1015, the MS manager 1010 performs the operations of the RS illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8. The controller 1015 performs corresponding operations on the basis of information received from the MS manager 1010. The RS of 0099 inherently has a computer-readable medium storing instructions that are operative upon execution by the processor as it is performs the operations of the RS illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8 which require both a processor and computer-readable medium storing instruction accessible by the processor) to:
receive, by a first radio site of a set of radio sites, an indication that a network service activity is to be performed, wherein the set of radio sites comprises neighbor radio sites each having coverage zones overlapping with or adjacent to a coverage zone of another radio site of the set of radio sites (Figure 1B illustrates RSs adjacent to a coverage zone of another RS. Figures 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0088 and 0090 disclose in step 550, the BS transmits to the corresponding RS information about an allowed delay value and an allowed data rate for the current service for the user. In step 615, the RS receives the location information and the power sensing threshold value of the user from a BS);
generate, by each radio site of the set of radio sites, an activity bid, wherein the activity bid is selected from the list of bids consisting of: a numerical value between a minimum value and a maximum value, a no activity bid having a numerical value below the minimum value, and a busy bid having a numerical value above the maximum value (Figure 6 and paragraph 0090 disclose in step 670, the RS determines the improvement amount of the QoS on the basis of the subcarrier redistribution, and transmits the determined amount as a bidding value to the BS);
select, from the set of radio sites, a radio site having a highest activity bid for performing the network service activity (Figure 5 and paragraph 0088 disclose in step 555, the BS receives bidding prices from RSs and orders the RS having the high bidding price to operate in an active mode); and
either: based on at least the selected radio site not having the busy bid, perform the network service activity for the selected radio site; or based on at least the selected radio site having the busy bid, complete the network service activity for the selected radio site (Figure 5 and paragraph 0088 disclose in step 555, the BS receives bidding prices from RSs and orders the RS having the high bidding price to operate in an active mode).
Regarding claim 15, Lee discloses one or more computer storage devices having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, upon execution by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations (Figures 10A and 10B and paragraph 0099 discloses the RS includes a controller. Under the control of the controller 1015, the MS manager 1010 performs the operations of the RS illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8. The controller 1015 performs corresponding operations on the basis of information received from the MS manager 1010. The RS of 0099 inherently has one or more computer storage devices having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, upon execution by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations as it is performs the operations of the RS illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8 which require both a processor and computer storage having computer-executable instructions stored thereon) comprising:
receiving, by a first radio site of a set of radio sites, an indication that a network service activity is to be performed, wherein the set of radio sites comprises neighbor radio sites each having coverage zones overlapping with or adjacent to a coverage zone of another radio site of the set of radio sites (Figure 1B illustrates RSs adjacent to a coverage zone of another RS. Figures 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0088 and 0090 disclose in step 550, the BS transmits to the corresponding RS information about an allowed delay value and an allowed data rate for the current service for the user. In step 615, the RS receives the location information and the power sensing threshold value of the user from a BS);
generating, by each radio site of the set of radio sites, an activity bid, wherein the activity bid is selected from the list of bids consisting of: a numerical value between a minimum value and a maximum value, a no activity bid having a numerical value below the minimum value, and a busy bid having a numerical value above the maximum value (Figure 6 and paragraph 0090 disclose in step 670, the RS determines the improvement amount of the QoS on the basis of the subcarrier redistribution, and transmits the determined amount as a bidding value to the BS);
selecting, from the set of radio sites, a radio site having a highest activity bid for performing the network service activity (Figure 5 and paragraph 0088 disclose in step 555, the BS receives bidding prices from RSs and orders the RS having the high bidding price to operate in an active mode); and
either: based on at least the selected radio site not having the busy bid, performing the network service activity for the selected radio site; or based on at least the selected radio site having the busy bid, completing the network service activity for the selected radio site (Figure 5 and paragraph 0088 disclose in step 555, the BS receives bidding prices from RSs and orders the RS having the high bidding price to operate in an active mode).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4-8, 10, 12-14, 16, and 18-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 3, 11, and 17 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office Action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Considering claims 2, 10, and 16, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of for each radio site of the set of radio sites, except the selected radio site, setting a timer; and upon expiration of the timer, generating new activity bids, and using the new activity bids to select a new radio site from the set of radio sites for performing the network service activity in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claims 2, 10, and 16.
Considering claims 3, 11, and 17, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein a radio site that has already upgraded submits the no activity bid in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claims 3, 11, and 17.
Considering claims 4, 12, and 18, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of determining, by each radio site not submitting the no activity bid or the busy bid, the numerical value as inversely related to expected traffic for the radio site for an upgrade period in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claims 4, 12, and 18.
Considering claims 5, 13, and 19, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of based on at least two or more radio sites submitting equal numerical values, selecting from among the two or more radio sites randomly in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claims 5, 13, and 19.
Considering claims 6, 14, and 20, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein selecting the radio site is performed as a peer-to-peer decision, without involving an orchestrator outside the set of radio sites in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claims 6, 14, and 20.
Considering claim 7, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein the network service activity comprises an activity selected from the list consisting of: frequency retuning, a software upgrade, maintenance, and a hardware upgrade in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 7.
Considering claim 8, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Lee, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of prior to performing the network service activity, triggering a handover for each user equipment (UE) being served by the selected radio site and having available coverage from another radio site in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 8.
Claims 5, 13, and 19 are also allowed by virtue of their dependency on claims 4, 12, and 18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
Johnson et al. (U.S. Patent No. 5,917,897 A) discloses a system and method for controlling a telecommunication network in accordance with economic incentives;
Bigham et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0043764 A1) discloses intelligent control of radio resources in a wireless network;
Haldeman et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0140446 A1) discloses call-based advertising;
Suba et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0138378 A1) discloses an apparatus, system, and method for exchanging lead information;
Cordray et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0094981 A1) discloses dynamically deployable self-configuring distributed network management system;
Nentwig et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0157910 A1) discloses radio resource sharing;
Dutton et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0040568 A1) discloses adaptive power conservation in storage clusters;
Smith et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0203435 A1) discloses methods and systems for dynamic spectrum arbitrage;
Dotzler et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0051452 A1) discloses load-aware dynamic cell selection with interference coordination by fractional reuse for cellular multi-user networks;
Gill et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0306234 A1) discloses a network node, endpoint node and method of receiving an interest message; and
Dawson et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,202,194 B1) discloses radio access network (RAN) affiliation list propagation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to MARK G. PANNELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4245. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (Mountain Time).
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, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/Mark G. Pannell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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