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 Status
This office action is in response to the communication(s) filed on 10/04/2024.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are currently presenting for examination.
Claim(s) 1, 8, and 17 is/are independent claim(s).
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim(s) 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,143,306 (hereinafter referred to as Patent '06). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the instant claims merely rephrase and omit limitations from the patented claims, where both claim sets have overlapping scope.
Regarding claim 1, Patent '61 discloses A method, comprising: assigning, by a processing system including a processor, a priority to each respective data traffic flow of a plurality of data traffic flows (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 1-4), wherein the plurality of data traffic flows are received at a radio access network (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 4-5), wherein the each respective data traffic flow is for radio communication between the radio access network and respective user equipment (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 5-8), wherein the each respective data traffic flow can be classified as a large data traffic flow or a small data traffic flow (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 8-10), wherein the assigning the priority comprises assigning a relatively lower priority to the each respective data traffic flow responsive to a classifying of the each respective data traffic flow as a large data traffic flow and assigning a relatively higher priority to the each respective data traffic flow responsive to a classifying of the each respective data traffic flow as a small data traffic flow (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 10-17), wherein the assigning the priority further comprises assigning the each respective data traffic flow to a predetermined Quality of Service (QoS) class of the radio access network (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 17-21), wherein the predetermined QoS class has a predetermined priority (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 21-23), and wherein the assigning the priority further comprises assigning a weight to the each respective data traffic flow according to the classifying so that the each respective data traffic flow classified as a large data traffic flow has a lower weight within the predetermined QoS class (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 22-27); and communicating, by the processing system, the each respective data traffic flow to the respective user equipment, wherein the communicating is responsive to an assigning of communication resources to the each respective data traffic flow (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 33-35), and wherein the communication resources are assigned according to an assigned priority of the each respective data traffic flow (Patent ’06, claim 1, line(s) 35-36).
Regarding claim 2, Patent '61 discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the each respective data traffic flow can be classified according to a predetermined size criterion (Patent ’06, claim 2).
Regarding claim 3, Patent '61 discloses the method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, by the processing system, a threshold value as the predetermined size criterion; and comparing, by the processing system, a size of the each respective data traffic flow with the threshold value to classify the each respective data traffic flow as a large data traffic flow or a small data traffic flow (Patent ’06, claim 3).
Regarding claim 4, Patent '61 discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring, by the processing system, performance of the radio access network for radio communication between the radio access network and respective user equipment; and updating, by the processing system, a priority assigned to the each respective data traffic flow responsive to the monitoring (Patent ’06, claim 4).
Regarding claim 5, Patent '61 discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the processing system, a relative congestion level of the radio access network; and classifying, by the processing system, the each respective data traffic flow as a large data traffic flow or a small data traffic flow only in response to the relative congestion level of the radio access network exceeding a congestion threshold (Patent ’06, claim 5).
Regarding claim 6, Patent '61 discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring, by the processing system, performance of the radio access network for radio communication between the radio access network and respective user equipment; and adjusting, by the processing system, the weight assigned to the each respective data traffic flow according to the monitoring (Patent ’06, claim 6).
Regarding claim 7, Patent '61 discloses the method of claim 1, wherein each respective user equipment comprises a respective smart phone (Patent ’06, claim 7).
Regarding claim 8, Patent '61 discloses a radio access network, comprising: a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 1-5): adjusting a priority of a data flow (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 6), wherein the data flow is for radio communication between the radio access network and user equipment (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 6-8), wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow is to produce an adjusted priority (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 8-10), wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow comprises reducing relative priority of the data flow responsive to a classifying of the data flow as a large data flow (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 10-13), wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow further comprises assigning the data flow to a Quality of Service class (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 13-15), wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow further comprises adjusting weights of data flows assigned to the Quality of Service class (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 15-18), and wherein the adjusting the weights comprises adjusting the weights according to the classifying of the data flow to produce the adjusted priority so that large data flows assigned to the Quality of Service class have a relatively lower priority and small data flows assigned to the Quality of Service class have a relatively higher priority (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 15-24); and communicating the data flow between the radio access network and the user equipment (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 25-26), wherein the communicating the data flow is according to the adjusted priority (Patent ’06, claim 8, line(s) 27-28).
Regarding claim 9, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 8, wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow further comprises: assigning the data flow to the Quality of Service class having a predetermined Quality of Service Class Identifier (QCI) priority, and wherein the communicating the data comprises communicating the data according to the predetermined QCI priority (Patent ’06, claim 9).
Regarding claim 10, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise classifying the data flow as the large data flow, and wherein the classifying the data flow as the large data flow comprises: determining a size of the data flow; comparing the size of the data flow with a threshold value; and classifying the data flow responsive to the comparing (Patent ’06, claim 10).
Regarding claim 11, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise: determining the threshold value at the radio access network (Patent ’06, claim 11).
Regarding claim 12, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 11, wherein the threshold value is determined based on a current time, a current location of the radio access network, or a current traffic level (Patent ’06, claim 12).
Regarding claim 13, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 8, wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow further comprises: in a scheduler of the radio access network, assigning the data flow to the Quality of Service class having a predetermined Quality of Service Class Identifier (QCI) priority, wherein the communicating the data comprises communicating the data according to the predetermined QCI priority (Patent ’06, claim 14).
Regarding claim 14, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 13, wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow further comprises: determining, by the scheduler, a communication priority of the data flow, wherein the determining is responsive to at least the predetermined QCI priority; and assigning, by the scheduler, communication resources of the radio access network, wherein the assigning is responsive to the communication priority of the data flow and communication priorities of other data of the radio access network (Patent ’06, claim 14).
Regarding claim 15, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 8, wherein the adjusting the priority of the data flow further comprises: providing adjusted weights to a scheduler of the radio access network; adjusting, by the scheduler, a communication priority of the data flow according to the adjusted weights; and assigning, by the scheduler, communication resources of the radio access network, wherein the assigning is responsive to the communication priority of the data flow and communication priorities of other data of the radio access network (Patent ’06, claim 15).
Regarding claim 16, Patent '61 discloses the radio access network of claim 8, wherein the user equipment comprises a smart phone (Patent ’06, claim 16).
Regarding claim 17, Patent '61 discloses a non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 1-4): classifying each of a plurality of data flows as a large data flow or a small data flow (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 5-6), wherein each of the plurality of data flows is assigned for radio communication between a radio access network and user equipment in an area served by the radio access network (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 6-9), wherein the classifying is only in response to a determination that a relative congestion level of the radio access network exceeds a congestion threshold (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 9-12); and communicating the data flows between the radio access network and the user equipment based on assigned radio resources (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 19-21), wherein the assigned radio resources are according to priorities of the data flows (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 21-22), and wherein priority of data flows classified as large data flows has been reduced relative to priority of data flows classified as small data flows so that the data flows classified as small data flows have priority for the radio communication between the radio access network and the user equipment (Patent ’06, claim 17, line(s) 13-18).
Regarding claim 18, Patent '61 discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: assigning each of the plurality of data flows to a Quality of Service (QoS) class of a plurality of QoS classes according to the classifying, wherein each respective QoS class of the plurality of QoS classes has a respective QoS class priority; and scheduling the data flows for the radio communication according to the respective QoS class priority (Patent ’06, claim 18).
Regarding claim 19, Patent '61 discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the scheduling the data flows for the radio communication comprises a proportional fair process (Patent ’06, claim 19).
Regarding claim 20, Patent '61 discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the user equipment comprises a smart phone (Patent ’06, claim 20).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if the nonstatutory double patenting rejection to these claims set forth in this Office action is overcome and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior art US_11240157_B1_Callaghan discloses a host device receives a first packet for a data flow; applies a first quality of service (QoS) classification to the first packet based on a first amount of data transmitted in the data flow; prioritizes transmission of the first packet to a receiver based on the first QoS classification; receives a second packet for the data flow; apply a second QoS classification to the v second packet based on a second amount of data transmitted in the data flow; prioritizes transmission of the second packet based on the second QoS classification (Callaghan figures 1, 2A, 2B, 4, and column 17 lines 26-45, and column 18 lines 28-52).
Prior art US_20190379612_A1_Tiwary discloses a system assigns first priority to first traffic flow, associated with first customer, using regression technique based on first response time of first, query associated with first traffic flow; assigns second priority to second traffic flow, associated with second customer, using the regression technique based on second response time of second query associated with second traffic flow; dynamically allocates network resources to the first and second traffic flows based on the first and second priorities (Tiwary figure 13).
Prior art US_11088964_B1_Smaldone discloses Systems and methods for scheduling multiple flows in a computing system or for allocating resources to the flows in the computing system. Each flow may be associated with a target priority and a target performance. A current priority can be determined for each flow and resources are allocated based on the highest current priority. Over time, the current priorities change and each flow will receive resources as the flows are scheduled for execution. No flow is starved of resources (Smaldone figure 4, and column 5 line 59 – column 6 line 28).
Prior art US_9985898_B2_Ramaiah discloses store flow information, determine link characteristics, determine TCP characteristics, assign flow priority, determine link congestion, and modify congestion window size (Ramaiah figure 5).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEIBIN HUANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3695. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30AM - 6:00PM.
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/W.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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