Detailed Action
The office action is in response to the communications filed on 09/19/2024.
Notice of 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 .
Claims Status
Claims 2-4 and 23-14 have been cancelled.
Claims 1, 5-22, and 25 are pending in this application.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s preliminary amendment, filed 09/19/2024, has been entered and considered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/19/2024 and 04/04/2025 are is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Prior Art Made of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al. (Publication No. US 20210321322), the prior art discloses allowing the wireless device to be back on the first cell as soon as it detects that the wireless device has left a vicinity of the first location in the first cell; see column 1 lines 59-61,
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 14, 16-21, and 25 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dai et al. (Publication Patent No. US 2024/0284553, hereinafter referred to as Dai).
Regarding claim 1, Dai discloses a user equipment (UE) supporting a first radio access technology (RAT) network and a second RAT network, the UE comprising (A UE performs operations associated with fast recovery after exiting a coverage hole, wherein the fast recovery comprises disconnecting from a second RAT service and re-connecting to a first RAT service; see figure 6 & ¶ 79.):
processing circuitry configured to monitor whether a position of the UE has changed from a first position to obtain a monitoring result (The UE disconnect from a first RAT service after sensing that the UE has entered the coverage hole [first position]; see figure 6 step 610.),
a network connected to the UE switching from the first RAT network to the second RAT network based on the UE moving to the first position (Use a connection to a second RAT service while in the coverage hole [first position] in association with disconnecting from the first RAT service; see figure 6 step 620.), and
perform a re-connection operation to the first RAT network based on the monitoring result (After sensing that the UE has exited the coverage hole, disconnect from the second RAT service and reconnect to the first RAT service; see figure 6 steps 630-640.).
Regarding claim 14, Dai discloses that the re-connection operation of claim 17 includes attempting a re-connection to a base station that provides the first RAT network based on connection history information (After exiting the coverage hole, prioritize NR frequencies based at least in part on a history of recent camping information (in a database); see ¶ 73.).
Regarding claim 16, Dai discloses a plurality of sensors of claim 1 are configured to perform a sensing operation related to movement of the UE, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to monitor whether the position of the UE has changed from the first position including determining whether the UE has left the first position based on a sensing value generated using at least one sensor (Sensing that the UE has exited [left] the coverage hole [first position] includes sensing that the UE has exited the coverage hole based at least in part on a determination that one or more sensor values no longer satisfy [change] the coverage hole threshold; see ¶ 85.),
the at least one sensor being included among a sensor set corresponding to a type of the first position, and the at least one sensor being among the plurality of sensors (The one or more sensor values include one or more of a signal strength value, an accelerometer value, a proximity sensor value [position type], a barometric pressure value, a light sensor value, a positioning value [position type], a microphone input value, or any combination thereof; see ¶ 86).
Regarding claim 17, Dai discloses an operation method of a user equipment (UE) supporting a first radio access technology (RAT) network and a second RAT network, the method comprising (A UE performs operations associated with fast recovery after exiting a coverage hole, wherein the fast recovery comprises disconnecting from a second RAT service and re-connecting to a first RAT service; see figure 6 & ¶ 79.):
switching from the first RAT network to the second RAT network based on the UE moving to a first position, the switching including switching communication from a first base station to a second base station (The UE disconnect [switching] from a first RAT service after sensing that the UE has entered the coverage hole [first position]; see figure 6 step 610. Use a connection [switching communication] to a second RAT service while in the coverage hole [first position] in association with disconnecting from the first RAT service; see figure 6 step 620.),
the first base station being based on the first RAT network, and the second base station being based on the second RAT network (The first RAT service comprises New Radio (e.g. 5G) service, while the second RAT service comprises LTE service; see figure 5 block 504/502.);
monitoring whether a position of the UE has changed to obtain a monitoring result; and
performing a re-connection operation to the first RAT network based on the monitoring result (After sensing that the UE has exited the coverage hole, disconnect from the second RAT service and reconnect to the first RAT service; see figure 6 steps 630-640.).
Regarding claim 18, Dai discloses that the UE of claim 17 is configured to monitored whether the position of the UE has changed comprises determining whether the UE has left the first position based on at least one of: movement of the UE (Sensing that the UE has entered/exited the coverage hole is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [indicators], wherein the one or more sensor values include one or more of an accelerometer value or a positioning value; see ¶¶ 85-86.), or signals received from the second base station.
Regarding claim 19, Dai discloses that the re-connection operation of claim 17 comprises starting the re-connection operation in response to determining that the monitoring result indicates that the UE has left the first position (After sensing [monitoring] that the UE has exited the coverage hole, disconnect from the second RAT service and reconnect to the first RAT service, wherein sensing that the UE has entered/exited the coverage hole is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [result]; see figure 6 steps 630-640 & ¶ 85.).
Regarding claim 20, Dai discloses that the re-connection operation of claim 19 comprises attempting a re-connection to the first base station based on information about a previous connection to the first base station (After exiting the coverage hole, prioritize NR frequencies based at least in part on a history of recent camping information (in a database); see ¶ 73.).
Regarding claim 21, Dai discloses that the re-connection operation of claim 17 comprises suspending start of the re-connection operation in response to determining that the monitoring result indicates that the UE has maintained the first position (The UE disconnect from a first RAT service after sensing that the UE has entered a coverage hole [first position], wherein sensing that the UE has entered/exited the coverage hole is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [result]; see figure 6 step 610 & ¶ 85. Therefore, the UE continue to camp under [suspend start of the re-connection operation] the second RAT service based at least in part on a determination that one or more sensor values [monitoring results] no longer satisfy [maintained] the coverage hole threshold [first position]; see ¶ 85.).
Regarding claim 25, Dai discloses an operation method of a user equipment (UE), the method comprising (A UE performs operations associated with fast recovery after exiting a coverage hole, wherein the fast recovery comprises disconnecting from a second RAT service and re-connecting to a first RAT service; see figure 6 & ¶ 79.):
performing communication based on a primary radio access technology (RAT) network in a normal state (Communicating with the first RAT service while under coverage [normal state]; see figure 5 numeral 505);
switching from the primary RAT network to a secondary RAT network based on the UE moving to a first position (The UE disconnect [switching] from a first RAT service after sensing that the UE has entered the coverage hole [first position]; see figure 6 step 610.);
transitioning from the normal state to a switch state based on the switching (Use a connection to a second RAT service [switch state] while in the coverage hole [first position] in association with disconnecting from the first RAT service; see figure 6 step 620.);
monitoring whether the UE has left the first position in the switch state to obtain a monitoring result; and determining whether to transition from the switch state to a re-connectable state based on the monitoring result, the re-connectable state being a state for a re-connection operation to the primary RAT network (After sensing [monitoring] that the UE has exited [left] the coverage hole, disconnect [determine] from the second RAT service and reconnect to the first RAT service; see figure 6 steps 630-640. Sensing that the UE has entered/exited [changed] the coverage hole [first position] is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [indicators], wherein the sensor values include RSRP [RF signal]; see ¶¶ 63/66.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under AIA 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 5-9 and 15 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai et al. (Publication Patent No. US 2024/0284553, hereinafter referred to as Dai) in view of Lee et al. (Publication No. US 2019/0313471, hereinafter referred as Lee).
Regarding claim 5, Dai discloses that the UE of claim 1 is configured to monitor whether the position of the UE has changed from the first position including determining whether the UE has left the first position based on values of a plurality of indicators, the values of the plurality of indicators being generated using radio frequency (RF) signals (Sensing that the UE has entered/exited the coverage hole is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [indicators], wherein the sensor values include RSRP [RF signal]; see ¶¶ 63/85.).
Dai discloses the sensor values includes RSRP [RF signal], but fails to explicitly disclose receiving the RF signal from the second base station. However, in analogous art, Lee discloses that the UE determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) [RF signal] from a second location (e.g. B); see figure 6. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the determination mechanism of Lee in order to determine when the UE move from the first location (e.g. A) to the second location (e.g. B).
Regarding claim 6, Dai discloses that the plurality of indicators of claim 5 comprise at least one of a global cell identifier (ID), a physical cell ID, a frequency band, a bandwidth, received signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), a number of resource blocks, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a rank indicator (RI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a modulation order, a block error rate (BLER), transmission power, a Doppler frequency, or a delay spread (The sensor values include RSRP [RF signal]; see ¶¶ 63).
Regarding claim 7, Dai discloses that the UE of claim 5 further comprises: a plurality of sensors configured to generate a plurality of sensing values by performing a sensing operation related to movement of the UE (Sensing that the UE has entered/exited [movement] the coverage hole is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [indicators]; see ¶ 85.),
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to monitor whether the position of the UE has changed from the first position including determining whether the UE has left the first position based on the plurality of sensing values (Sensing that the UE has entered the coverage hole includes sensing that the UE has entered the coverage hole based at least in part on a determination that one or more sensor values have satisfied a coverage hole threshold, and sensing that the UE has exited the coverage hole includes sensing that the UE has exited the coverage hole based at least in part on a determination that one or more sensor values no longer satisfy the coverage hole threshold; see ¶ 85.).
Regarding claim 8, Dai discloses the plurality of sensors of claim 7 comprise at least one of a gyroscopic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a linear acceleration sensor, or a geomagnetic sensor (The one or more sensor values include one or more of an accelerometer value; see ¶ 86.).
Regarding claim 9, Dai discloses that the UE of claim 5 re-connection operation including starting the re-connection operation to the first RAT network in response to determining that the UE has left the first position (After sensing [monitoring] that the UE has exited the coverage hole, disconnect from the second RAT service and reconnect to the first RAT service, wherein sensing that the UE has entered/exited the coverage hole is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [result]; see figure 6 steps 630-640 & ¶ 85.).
Regarding claim 15, Dai discloses that the UE of claim 1 is configured to monitor whether the position of the UE has changed from the first position including determining whether the UE has left the first position based on values of an indicator set corresponding to a type of the first position, the values of the indicator set being generated using radio frequency (RF) signals received from the network (Sensing that the UE has entered/exited [changed] the coverage hole [first position] is based at least in part on a determination of one or more sensor values [indicators], wherein the sensor values include RSRP [RF signal]; see ¶¶ 63/66.)
Dai discloses the sensor values includes RSRP [RF signal], but fails to explicitly disclose receiving the RF signal from the second RAT network. However, in analogous art, Lee discloses that the UE determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) [RF signal] from a second location (e.g. B); see figure 6. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the determination mechanism of Lee in order to determine when the UE move from the first location (e.g. A) to the second location (e.g. B).
Claims 10-12 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai et al. ( Publication Patent No. US 2024/0284553, hereinafter referred to as Dai) in view of Chen et al. (Publication No. US 2023/0164660, hereinafter referred as Chen) and further in view of Lee et al. (Publication No. US 2019/0313471, hereinafter referred as Lee).
Regarding claim 10, Dai discloses that the UE of claim 1 is configured to monitor whether the position of the UE has changed from the first position including (The UE may determine that it has entered/exited [changed] the coverage hole [first position] at least in part on a determination that one or more sensor values; see ¶¶ 63/66.);
providing, to the position change confirmation model executed by the processing circuitry, an input including first data periodically generated in a period in which communication is based on the RAT network (The UE may use machine learning [confirmation model] and/or stored configuration information to determine from a combination of sensor values [first data] whether [change] the UE has entered/exited the coverage hole [position], wherein one of the sensor values includes RSRP [communication]; see ¶ 66.).,
or second data generated by filtering the first data, and determining, based on an output of the position change confirmation model, whether the UE has left the first position .
Dai discloses using the machine learning for determining whether the UE enter/exit the coverage hole, but fails to explicitly disclose a memory storing a position change confirmation model, the position change confirmation model being based on a neural network. However, in analogous art, Chen discloses that the Feature Extraction Union component may receive sensor information (e.g., from one or more sensors of UE 110) and RF signal information (e.g., from a RF circuit or transceiver of UE 110) to convert the sensor information and RF information, based on a pre-trained neural network model, to union feature metrics as outputs that is provided to the Environment Classifier Union component, wherein the Environment Classifier Union component may, with adaptive machine learning implemented, identify different environments according to outputs of the Feature Extraction Union component; see figure 4 & ¶ 29. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the neural network of Chen in order to enable the Action Union component may perform decision making over UE-based multi-RAT cell steering strategies according to outputs of the Environment Classifier Union component as well as UE information; see ¶ 29.
Dai discloses the sensor values includes RSRP [RF signal], but fails to explicitly disclose communication is based on the second RAT network is performed. However, in analogous art, Lee discloses that the UE determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) [RF signal] from a second location (e.g. B); see figure 6. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the determination mechanism of Lee in order to determine when the UE move from the first location (e.g. A) to the second location (e.g. B).
Regarding claim 11, Dai discloses the first data of claim 10 comprises values of a plurality of indicators generated using radio frequency (RF) signals (Determine a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) parameter, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter, and/or a CQI parameter, among other examples; see ¶ 40.).
Dai discloses the sensor values includes RSRP [RF signal], but fails to explicitly disclose that the RF signals received based on the second RAT network. However, in analogous art, Lee discloses that the UE determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) [RF signal] from a second location (e.g. B); see figure 6. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the determination mechanism of Lee in order to determine when the UE move from the first location (e.g. A) to the second location (e.g. B).
Regarding claim 12, Dai discloses a plurality of sensors of claim 10 configured to generate a plurality of sensing values by performing a sensing operation related to movement of the UE, wherein the first data comprises the plurality of sensing values (The UE may determine that it has entered/exited [changed] the coverage hole [first position] at least in part on a determination that one or more sensor values, wherein the values may include a signal strength value, an accelerometer value, a proximity sensor value, a barometric pressure value, a light sensor value, a positioning value, a microphone input value, or any combination thereof; see ¶¶ 62/63/66.).
Claim 13 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai, Chen, Lee, and further in view of Hamabe et al. (Publication No. US 2010/0267378, hereinafter referred as Hamabe).
Regarding claim 13, Dai discloses a plurality of sensors of claim 10 determining one or more sensing values, but fails to explicitly disclose that the second data comprises a variation between past data of the first data and current data of the first data. However, in analogous art, Hamabe discloses that switching to a different frequency may be performed at a momentum, when the difference between the reception quality Q1 [past] of the common pilot signal of the target frequency RF1 of the inter-frequency handover and the reception quality Q2 [current] of the common pilot signal of the current frequency RF2 satisfies the relationship; see ¶ 103. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the switching mechanism of Hamabe in order to avoid radio link failure.
Claim 22 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai et al. ( Publication Patent No. US 2024/0284553, hereinafter referred to as Dai) in view of Chen et al. (Publication No. US 2023/0164660, hereinafter referred as Chen) and further in view of Lee et al. (Publication No. US 2019/0313471, hereinafter referred as Lee).
Regarding claim 22, Dai discloses that the monitoring operation of claim 17 comprises: generating values of a plurality of indicators using radio frequency (RF) signals (The UE may determine that the one or more sensor values [plurality of indicators] no longer satisfy the coverage hole threshold, wherein the sensor values include RSRP [RF signal]; see ¶¶ 63/66.);
providing an input including the values of the plurality of indicators to a position change confirmation model (The UE may use machine learning and/or stored configuration information to determine from a combination of sensor values the coverage; see ¶ 66.),
the position change confirmation model being based on a neural network; and determining whether the UE has left the first position based on an output of the position change confirmation model (The UE may use machine learning and/or stored configuration information to determine from a combination of sensor values whether [change] the UE has exited a coverage hole [position]; see ¶ 66.).
Dai discloses using the machine learning for determining whether the UE enter/exit the coverage hole, but fails to explicitly disclose that the position change confirmation model being based on a neural network. However, in analogous art, Chen discloses that the Feature Extraction Union component may receive sensor information (e.g., from one or more sensors of UE 110) and RF signal information (e.g., from a RF circuit or transceiver of UE 110) to convert the sensor information and RF information, based on a pre-trained neural network model, to union feature metrics as outputs that is provided to the Environment Classifier Union component, wherein the Environment Classifier Union component may, with adaptive machine learning implemented, identify different environments according to outputs of the Feature Extraction Union component; see figure 4 & ¶ 29. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the neural network of Chen in order to enable the Action Union component may perform decision making over UE-based multi-RAT cell steering strategies according to outputs of the Environment Classifier Union component as well as UE information; see ¶ 29.
Dai discloses the sensor values includes RSRP [RF signal], but fails to explicitly disclose receiving the RF signal from the second base station. However, in analogous art, Lee discloses that the UE determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) [RF signal] from a second location (e.g. B); see figure 6. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dai with the determination mechanism of Lee in order to determine when the UE move from the first location (e.g. A) to the second location (e.g. B).
Conclusion
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/H.R/Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/KEVIN T BATES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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