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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-7, 9-12, 14-16, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joong et al. US 20040133806 in view of Schmidt US 20150245358.
Regarding claim 1, A method comprising: receiving, at a network access point associated with a network, a request for access to the network associated with a user device (a terminal, Figure 3, element 204, obtains access to the WLAN, element 202, by first sending a request, Figure 3, element 402, to an access point, Figure 3, element 206 for requesting services, para. 0032); determining, based on an analysis of a signal between the user device and the network access point, transmitting a query to an authentication server, wherein the query comprises an identifier and wherein the authentication server is configured to grant or deny access to the network based on at least a comparison to a threshold (the access point sends an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Request message, Figure 3, element 404, to the terminal for requesting its credentials, para. 0032, sends the terminal's credentials in a RADIUS Authentication Request message, Figure 3, element 410, to a wireless local area service node (WSN) for granting access to the terminal, para. 0033, the WSN forwards the RADIUS Authentication Request message in a RADIUS Authentication Request message to the H-AAA, Figure 2, element 210, the H-AAA uses the terminal's credentials for authenticating and authorizing the terminal and if the terminal is not authorized for accessing services in the WLAN and 3G WWAN, the H-AAA denies the access and the message is rejected, if the terminal fails to perform authentication for a determined number of time with in a certain time limit the terminal will be put in a "doubtful" list and if the terminal fails to perform more than a threshold value then it will be put on a "bad list", para. 0034); receiving an access signal indicative of access grant or denial from the authentication server; and transmitting, to the user device and based on the request for access and the access signal, a response associated with the request for access to the networks (if the terminal is authorized, the H-AAA responds to the RADIUS Authentication Request message with a RADIUS Accept Response message, Figure 3, element 414, and terminal receives EAP success message, element 420).
Joong does not disclose a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) associated with the request; and the SNR, comparison of the SNR to a SNR threshold. Schmidt discloses a network could comprise a Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server during the extensible authentication protocol (EAP) authentication phase when the UE exchanges EAP messages over the 802.11 radio link, and correspondingly, the access point exchanges EAP messages with an AAA server using remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS) protocol, para. 0056. Schmidt discloses UE measurements including the RSSI as an estimate of the received signal strength relative to an estimated noise floor power, para. 0064. Schmidt discloses when the UE is attempting to associate, it will transmit an authentication request to the access point that will allow the access point to know that the UE is in the coverage area, the access point can use the RSSI of these received frames to predict the instantaneous DL throughput that the UE might get in the WLAN, para. 0084 and exchanging of EAP messaging can be included as part of the UE attempting to associate, para. 0272. Before the filing of the invention it would have been obvious to modify Joong to include Schmidt’s EAP messaging and UE authentication process to associate with an access point. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so to optimize the performance of the individual UE and to allow the mobility decision to be tailored to the UE's current channel condition, para. 0060.
Regarding claim 2, The method of claim 1, wherein the request for access is associated with an open, public network (a Multiple Access Environment, Figure 1, element 200, that integrates a Wireless Local Area Network, element 202 and a Third Generation Wireless Wide Area Network, element 201).
Regarding claim 3, The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a media access control (MAC) address associated with the network access point (the access point sends an Extensible Authentication Protocol Request message to the terminal for requesting its credentials such as MAC address, and the terminal replies to the message with an EAP Response message including its credentials and the access point sends the terminal's credentials in a RADIUS Authentication Request message for granting access to the terminal, para. 0032, 0033).
Regarding claim 5, The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating, based on grant of access to the network, an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) over local area network (LAN) process (the access point grants access to the WLAN to the terminal and thus sends the key information in an EAP Success message to the terminal and the terminal accesses the WLAN, para. 0037).
Regarding claim 6, The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the query to the authentication server is an access request as part of an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) management system (the WSN forwards the RADIUS Authentication Request message in a RADIUS Authentication Request message to the H-AAA, Figure 2, element 210, the H-AAA uses the terminal's credentials for authenticating and authorizing the terminal, para. 0034).
Regarding claim 7, The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the query to the authentication server is an access request as part of a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) protocol (the access point sends the terminal's credentials in a RADIUS Authentication Request message, Figure 3, element 410, to a wireless local area service node (WSN) for granting access to the terminal, para. 0033, the WSN forwards the RADIUS Authentication Request message in a RADIUS Authentication Request message to the H-AAA, Figure 2, element 210, the H-AAA uses the terminal's credentials for authenticating and authorizing the terminal, para. 0034).
Claims 9-12, 14-16, 18-20 are rejected under the same rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 8, 13, 17 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Some are described below:
Mestanov et al. US 20160374118 discloses generating a Fast Initial Link Setup including Mobility Domain information and/or the exchange of such a frame between a network node and a wireless communication device to enable the wireless communication device to determine whether to associate with the network node through a full authentication procedure or through a reduced authentication procedure.
Toner et al US 20140105051 discloses Extensible Authentication Protocol to allow for authentication of a mobile wireless device with a wireless local area network access point to enable internet connectivity via the WLAN access point which maintains a backend authentication server such as a RADIUS server, to provide authentication and access control mechanisms.
Olson et al. US 20070197206 discloses the diagnostic manager determines if it has received a problem report and generates and transmits an RF measurement request including signal attribute information such as signal strength, SN triggering authentication tests such as Authentication Authorization and Account (AAA) tests.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELANIE JAGANNATHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3163. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marcus Smith can be reached at 571-270-1096. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MELANIE JAGANNATHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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