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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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, 5-9, 11-12 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HALABIAN et al. (US 2021/0377151 A1) in view of ZHANG et al. (US 2021/0153063 A1).
Regarding claim 1, HALABIAN et al. discloses an apparatus of a radio access network (see page 1, paragraph #0003, “Low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations are being developed to provide, among other things, Internet routing services. … . Other types of links, such as radiofrequency or microwave-based links are also possible. …”), the apparatus comprising: a non-terrestrial network satellite operatively coupled to first user equipment and second user equipment (see Fig. 1, page4, paragraph #0044, “FIG. 1 illustrates orthodromic distance 105 between two satellites 110, 115 orbiting a sphere (earth) 120. The orthodromic distance 107 between two points 112, 117 on the sphere is also shown. … . (Note that the plane can be equivalently defined as passing through the locations of satellites 110, 115 and point 125.) … .” and Fig. 3A, page 6, paragraph #0056, “FIG. 3A illustrates an example network with an irregular topology. A first node 310 in possession of the data packet and a destination 320 for the data packet are shown. … .”); the non-terrestrial network satellite comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (see page 9, paragraph #0083, “Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using electronics hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the forwarding plane is implemented by one or multiple computer processors executing program instructions stored in memory. …”), cause the non-terrestrial network satellite at least to: receive a data packet from the first user equipment over a first service link (see Fig. 3A, page 6, paragraph #0056, “FIG. 3A illustrates an example network with an irregular topology. A first node 310 in possession of the data packet and a destination 320 for the data packet are shown. The destination may be indicated in the packet using an indication of physical location. Further illustrated is a limited portion 330 of the network coupled to the first node 310. This limited portion 330 can also be referred to as the routing region for the first node 310. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first node determines a target node 332 within the limited portion 330 of the network. FIG. 3B illustrates the target node 332.”); determine whether to perform local routing of the data packet without routing to a ground network (see page 3, paragraph #0035, “Satellite network nodes may have two types of interfaces: Ground communication interfaces, and Inter-satellite link (ISL) communication interfaces. The ground communication interfaces can be microwave systems operating in X-band or ka-band. The ISL interfaces can use communication lasers and can provide for high-speed optical free-space communication links between the satellite nodes. ISL links include intra-orbit links, i.e. links between (typically adjacent) satellites in a common orbit but spaced apart, and inter-orbit links, i.e. links between satellites in different (typically adjacent) orbits.” and page 4, paragraph #0045, “Embodiments of the present invention relate to routing and forwarding of data packets in a communication network. … . The method further includes maintaining 220 routing information for the limited portion of the network. The routing information can include, for example, current availability of communication links between nodes in this limited portion of the network.”); and send, in response to a determination to perform local routing, the data packet to the second user equipment over a second service link (see page 4, paragraph #0045, “Embodiments of the present invention relate to routing and forwarding of data packets in a communication network. … . The method further includes maintaining 220 routing information for the limited portion of the network. The routing information can include, for example, current availability of communication links between nodes in this limited portion of the network.” and page 6, paragraph #0058, “Routing information for this limited portion 330 of the network is also maintained, which may include information regarding available communication links between the nodes in the limited portion 330 of the network. Location and routing information can be maintained for example by passing messages among nodes, the messages being indicative of and in response to location changes, routing changes, or both. …”). However, HALABIAN et al. does not specifically discloses store a user equipment context mapping between a first user equipment context of the first user equipment and a second user equipment context of the second user equipment and send, in response to determination to perform local routing, the data packet to the second user equipment over a second service link based on the user equipment context mapping.
ZHANG et al. teaches in the same field of communication storing a user equipment context mapping between a first user equipment context of the first user equipment and a second user equipment context of the second user equipment (see page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”) and send, in response to determination to perform local routing, the data packet to the second user equipment over a second service link based on the user equipment context mapping (see page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the mapping as taught by ZHANG et al. into HALABIAN et al.’s system in order to accurately transmit data from source device to destination device.
Regarding claim 2, HALABIAN et al. also teaches wherein the at least one processor further causes the non-terrestrial network satellite at least to: determine whether a feeder link to the ground network is available (see page 6, paragraph #0058, “Routing information for this limited portion 330 of the network is also maintained, which may include information regarding available communication links between the nodes in the limited portion 330 of the network. Location and routing information can be maintained for example by passing messages among nodes, the messages being indicative of and in response to location changes, routing changes, or both. …”); and decide to perform the local routing when the feeder link is unavailable (see page 6, paragraph #0058, “Routing information for this limited portion 330 of the network is also maintained, which may include information regarding available communication links between the nodes in the limited portion 330 of the network. Location and routing information can be maintained for example by passing messages among nodes, the messages being indicative of and in response to location changes, routing changes, or both. …”).
Regarding claim 5, HALABIAN et al. further discloses wherein: the data packet comprises one of radio resource control signaling or user plane traffic (see page 1, paragraph #0003, “Low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations are being developed to provide, among other things, Internet routing services. … . Other types of links, such as radiofrequency or microwave-based links are also possible. …” and page 4, paragraph #0045, “Embodiments of the present invention relate to routing and forwarding of data packets in a communication network. The data packets employ geographic routing, so that they specify a physical destination location, for example in headers thereof. … . The method further includes maintaining 220 routing information for the limited portion of the network. The routing information can include, for example, current availability of communication links between nodes in this limited portion of the network.”).
Regarding claim 6, ZHANG et al. also teaches wherein the at least one processor further causes the non-terrestrial network satellite at least to: receive a context management message of a context management procedure from an access and mobility management function indicating the user equipment context mapping (see page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”); wherein the context management procedure comprises an initial context setup procedure (see page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”).
The motivation to combine the references has been discussed in claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 7, ZHANG et al. further discloses wherein: an initial context setup request message of the initial context setup procedure is extended to include an information element containing the user equipment context mapping ((see page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”).
The motivation to combine the references has been discussed in claim above.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of HALABIAN et al. and ZHANG et al. discloses wherein: the user equipment context mapping includes a mapping link from the first user equipment context to the second user equipment context (see ZHANG et al., page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”); and the mapping link comprises a radio network temporary identifier assigned to the second user equipment (see HALABIAN et al., page 1, paragraph #0003, “Low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations are being developed to provide, among other things, Internet routing services. … . Other types of links, such as radiofrequency or microwave-based links are also possible. …” and ZHANG et al., page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”).
The motivation to combine the references has been discussed in claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of HALABIAN et al. and ZHANG et al. also discloses wherein:
the user equipment context mapping includes a mapping link from the first user equipment context to the second user equipment context (see ZHANG et al., page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”); and the mapping link comprises a user equipment radio access network identifier assigned to the second user equipment (see HALABIAN et al., page 1, paragraph #0003, “Low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations are being developed to provide, among other things, Internet routing services. … . Other types of links, such as radiofrequency or microwave-based links are also possible. …” and ZHANG et al., page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”).
The motivation to combine the references has been discussed in claim 1 above.
The method claims 11-12 and 15-19 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in corresponding apparatus claims 1-2 and 5-9 above, respectively.
Claims 3-4, 9, 13-14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HALABIAN et al. (US 2021/0377151 A1) in view of ZHANG et al. (US 2021/0153063 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Ulupinar et al. (US 2016/0323800 A1).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of HALABIAN et al. and ZHANG et al. as discussed in claim 1 above discloses all the claimed limitation except for providing wherein the at least one processor further causes the non-terrestrial network satellite at least to: integrity protect the data packet based on an integrity key indicated in the second user equipment context of the second user equipment before sending to the second user equipment.
Ulupinar et al. teaches in the same field of satellite communication include integrity keys to protect the data to be transmitted (see page 14, paragraph #0192, “At step 5, upon receiving the RL grant from the target BxP 1106, the UT 1102 stops timer T-4 (e.g., the handoff is successful) and sends a CQI report and Radio Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to the target BxP 1106 (step 5A) for forwarding to the source AxP 1108 (step 5B). The Radio Connection Reconfiguration Complete message contains no information elements (IEs) and is integrity protected and encrypted with the old keys (e.g., Kint and Kenc, respectively). Final packet data flow is represented by lines 1120, 1122, and 1124.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the integrity keys as taught by Ulupinar et al. into the modified HALABIAN et al.’s system in order to increase the quality of the data to be transmitted.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of HALABIAN et al. and ZHANG et al. as discussed in claim 1 above discloses all the claimed limitation except for providing wherein the at least one processor further causes the non-terrestrial network satellite at least to: encrypt the data packet based on an encryption key indicated in the second user equipment context of the second user equipment before sending to the second user equipment.
Ulupinar et al. teaches in the same field of satellite communication include encryption keys to protect the data to be transmitted (see page 14, paragraph #0192, “At step 5, upon receiving the RL grant from the target BxP 1106, the UT 1102 stops timer T-4 (e.g., the handoff is successful) and sends a CQI report and Radio Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to the target BxP 1106 (step 5A) for forwarding to the source AxP 1108 (step 5B). The Radio Connection Reconfiguration Complete message contains no information elements (IEs) and is integrity protected and encrypted with the old keys (e.g., Kint and Kenc, respectively). Final packet data flow is represented by lines 1120, 1122, and 1124.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the encryption keys as taught by Ulupinar et al. into the modified HALABIAN et al.’s system in order to increase the quality of the data to be transmitted.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of HALABIAN et al. and ZHANG et al. as discussed in claim 1 above also disclose forward the user equipment context mapping to the other non-terrestrial network
satellite over an inter-satellite link (see ZHANG et al., page 21, paragraph #0331, “Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an AP context for supporting UC with relaying that involves more than one hop. With L2 relaying and only one hop, from a BS through a single relay UE and then to a remote UE for example, an AP context could include a fixed mapping relationship between the relay UE and the remote UE. In UC related AP, a destination device such as a remote UE may receive UC traffic from multiple relay paths for processing, for example by aggregating the received UC traffic back to an original PDCP bearer or message. Moreover, the relaying process or path can include multiple hops through more than one relaying UE or device, and thus an AP context for UC as disclosed herein may include more information than the other L2 relaying based AP contexts. … .”) but does not sepecifically discloses identify a handover scenario to another non-terrestrial network satellite. The motivation for combining HALABIAN et al. and ZHANG et al. has been discussed in claim 1 above.
Ulupinar et al. teaches in the same field of satellite communication include the handover between the source and the targe (see page 15, paragraph #0197, “At step 5, based upon the UT measurement report (see Step 4), the source AxP 1208 calculates a new handoff activation time (e.g., THO_recalc) and pre-configures the target BxP 1206 for handoff before the new handoff activation time (e.g., before THO_recalc). For example, based on satellite ephemeris information, beam patterns, and the UT measurement report, the source AxP 1208 may prepare for BxP handover to occur at the ideal handover time+/−Δ. At steps 6A and 6B, the source AxP 1208 sends a Radio Connection Reconfiguration message to the UT 1202. The contents of the message are described herein, including the new handoff activation time. Optionally, the message may also contain measurement gap configuration information and measurement activation/deactivation time. The message is sent to the UT 1202 sufficiently in advance of the new handoff activation time so that the UT 1202 has adequate time to receive the message. The UT 1202 starts timer T-4. If T-4 expires (e.g., a handoff failure occurs), then the UT 1202 performs the Radio Connection Re-establishment procedure. Also, if the source AxP 1208 does not receive the measurement report from the UT 1202 in a timely manner, then the source AxP 1208 uses the old handoff activation time (e.g., THO_a_priori) when configuring both the target BxP 1206 and the UT 1202 for handoff.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the hanover as taught by Ulupinar et al. into the modified HALABIAN et al.’s system in order to increase the quality of the data to be transmitted.
The method claims 13-14 and 20 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in the corresponding apparatus claims 3-4 and 10 above, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references related to satellite communication.
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/THAI Q TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2484
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