DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s response filed on 08/05/2026 has been entered and made of record.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Inventions I, claims 1-5 and 11-15, and withdrawn of Inventions II, claims 6-10 and 16-20, in the reply filed on 08/05/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Status
No claim is/are amended.
No new claim is/are added.
Claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang et al. (WO 2019091221 A1), hereinafter “Tang”, in view of Han et al. (“A Novel Mobile Core Network Architecture for Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network”), hereinafter “Han”.
Per claim 1 and 11:
Regarding claim 11, Tang teaches ‘A communication apparatus’ (Tang: [FIG.9]: “Session management function network element”); ‘comprising at least one processor’ (Tang: [FIG.9]: “processor”); ‘one or more memories’ (Tang: [FIG.9]: “memory”); ‘coupled to the at least one processor’ (Tang: [0224]: “An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor”); ‘wherein the one or more memories store programming instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform operations’ (Tang: [0218]: “the memory 42 is configured to store program instructions, the processor 41 is configured to read program instructions in the memory 42, and execute the method”);
‘comprising:
Obtaining an identifier list, wherein the identifier list comprises identification information of one or more terminal devices that access a network through a satellite in a satellite backhaul manner’ (Tang: [FIG.3]: “SMF network element”: “S301. Generate the user list corresponding to the first virtual LAN”; [0007]: “the user list includes an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses the local area network or an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses the first virtual local area network in the local area network”). However, Tang fails to expressly teach ‘through a satellite in a satellite backhaul manner’;
‘configuring a forwarding rule for a user plane network element on the satellite to forward, to an internal interface, a data packet whose destination address is included in an address of the terminal device corresponding to the identifier list’ (Tang: [0024]: “a session management function network element sends a user list and a forwarding rule to a user plane function network element, where the user list includes an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses a local area network or an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses a first virtual local area network in a local area network, and the forwarding rule is used to instruct the user plane function network element to send the received Ethernet broadcast frame to the terminal device in the user list”, UPF forwarding data packet with destination address corresponding to terminal device in the user (identifier) list to a local area network (an internal interface)). However, Tang fails to expressly teach ‘a user plane network element on the satellite’.
Han in the same field of endeavor teaches ‘through a satellite in a satellite backhaul manner’ (Han: [FIG.2]: “
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”, UE accesses UPF on satellite in a satellite backhaul manner); ‘a user plane network element on the satellite’ (discussed in element above).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Han’s teaching with that of Tang in order to improve the flexibility of user access and expand the effective coverage of Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network (Han: [Abstract]: “Loading the functions of base station on satellite can improve the flexibility of user access and expand the effective coverage of Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network”).
Regarding claim 1, claim 1 recites the method implemented by the apparatus according to claim 11 (see rejection of claim 11 above).
Per claim 2 and 12:
Regarding claim 12, combination of Tang and Han teaches the apparatus according to claim 11 (discussed above).
Combination of Tang and Han ‘wherein the terminal device is a terminal device that is allowed to perform local switching in the satellite’ (Tang: [0024]: “the user list includes an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses a local area network or an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses a first virtual local area network in a local area network, and the forwarding rule is used to instruct the user plane function network element to send the received Ethernet broadcast frame to the terminal device in the user list”. Han: [FIG.2]: “
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”; local switching in 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 combine Han’s teaching of UPF on satellite with that of Tang in order to improve the flexibility of user access and expand the effective coverage of Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network (Han: [Abstract]: “Loading the functions of base station on satellite can improve the flexibility of user access and expand the effective coverage of Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network”).
Regarding claim 2, claim 2 recites the method implemented by the apparatus according to claim 12 (see rejection of claim 12 above).
Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination of Tang and Han, in view of Kim et al. (US 20230292380 A1), hereinafter “Kim”.
Per claim 3 and 13:
Regarding claim 13, combination of Tang and Han teaches the apparatus according to claim 11 (discussed above).
Combination of Tang and Han does not expressly teach, but Kim in the same field of endeavor teaches ‘wherein the satellite backhaul manner is geostationary orbit satellite backhaul’ (Kim: [FIG.7]: block 7-12: “Backhaul Network_02 (satellite(GEO) network)”; [0048]: “geosynchronous earth orbits (GEO)) of the satellite for the backhaul connection”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim’s teaching with that of combination of Tang and Han in order to differentiate satellite connection via satellite category (Kim: [0071]: “In the case that there is a backhaul interface using satellite connection, the UPF 5-01 includes, in a message requesting the N4 association setup with the SMF 5-02, a satellite category list (i.e., when the UPF is connected with other UPFs in the user plane via L3 communication, each satellite category information for all connected UPFs) composed of a satellite category (e.g., LEO, MEO, GEO) per its L3 interface”).
Regarding claim 3, claim 3 recites the method implemented by the apparatus according to claim 13 (see rejection of claim 13 above).
Claims 4-5 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination of Tang and Han, in view of Dao et al. (US 20200045753 A1), hereinafter “Dao”.
Per claim 4 and 14:
Regarding claim 14, combination of Tang and Han teaches the apparatus according to claim 11 (discussed above).
Combination of Tang and Han teaches ‘determining the identifier list based on a first identifier list of at least one terminal device that needs to perform communication’ (Tang: [0134]: “the 5MF network element generates the user list corresponding to the first virtual local area network”, determine identifier (user) list based on the local area network. Han: [FIG.3]: step 7: “AM_PolicyControl_PDUSession_REQUEST”, SMF receives request for a UE that needs to perform communication). However, combination of Tang and Han fails to expressly teach ‘a first identifier list of at least one terminal device that needs to perform communication’;
‘a second identifier list of at least one terminal device that accesses the network through satellite backhaul’ (Tang: [0024]: “the user list includes an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses a local area network or an identifier of at least one terminal device that accesses a first virtual local area network in a local area network, and the forwarding rule is used to instruct the user plane function network element to send the received Ethernet broadcast frame to the terminal device in the user list”. Han: [FIG.2]: “
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”; local switching in 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 combine Han’s teaching of UPF on satellite with that of Tang in order to improve the flexibility of user access and expand the effective coverage of Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network (Han: [Abstract]: “Loading the functions of base station on satellite can improve the flexibility of user access and expand the effective coverage of Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Network”).
Dao in the same field of endeavor teaches ‘a first identifier list of at least one terminal device that needs to perform communication’ (Dao: [FIG.4A]: Step 1: “AF”-> “NEF”: “GC Session Establishment Request”, Step 3: “NEF”-> “SMF”: “GC Session Establishment Request”; [0068]: “The GC Session establishment request message 502 may include GC session information including any combination of the following information … a list of UE IDs (such as External UE ID, or GPSI (Generic Public Subscription Identifier))”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Dao’s teaching with that of combination of Tang and Han to determine the identifier list based on a first identifier list of at least one terminal device that needs to perform communication, and a second identifier list of at least one terminal device that accesses the network through satellite backhaul in order to support group communications (Dao: [0006]: “a method for managing a group communications (GC) session”).
Regarding claim 4, claim 4 recites the method implemented by the apparatus according to claim 14 (see rejection of claim 14 above).
Per claim 5 and 15:
Regarding claim 15, combination of Tang, Han and Dao teaches the apparatus according to claim 14 (discussed above).
Combination of Tang and Han does not expressly teach, but Dao teaches ‘receiving the first identifier list from an application function network element’ (Dao: [FIG.4A]: Step 1: “AF”-> “NEF”: “GC Session Establishment Request”, Step 3: “NEF”-> “SMF”: “GC Session Establishment Request”; [0068]: “The GC Session establishment request message 502 may include GC session information including any combination of the following information … a list of UE IDs (such as External UE ID, or GPSI (Generic Public Subscription Identifier))”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Dao’s teaching with that of combination of Tang and Han in order to support group communications (Dao: [0006]: “a method for managing a group communications (GC) session”).
Regarding claim 5, claim 5 recites the method implemented by the apparatus according to claim 15 (see rejection of claim 15 above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20230209402 A1 see [0056]-[0072];
US 20200059977 A1 see [FIG.2], [0039]-[0054];
US 20220322462 A1 see [0078];
US 20250008309 A1 see [0151];
US 20240098806 A1 see [FIG.2B]-[FIG.2C], [0148];
US 20240377374 A1 see [0069], [0096].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUOXING FAN whose telephone number is (703)756-1310. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/G.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2462
/YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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