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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application 18/917,133 filed on 10/16/2024.
Claims 1-20 have been examined and are pending.
Priority
This application is a Continuation of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 17/303,078, filed May 19, 2021 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,156,023).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 10/16/2024, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-12 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Powell (US 2011/0286343) and in view of Talebi Fard (US 2024/0022952) hereinafter Talebi.
Regarding claim 1, Powell discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (Powell par. 0058 and Fig. 1; an integrated communication system (ICS) architecture 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. ICS architecture 100 enables one or more user equipments (UEs) 102 to access a voice and data network 165 via either a licensed air interface 106 or an ICS interface 110 through which components of a mobile core network 165 are alternatively accessed), comprising:
an applications processor (Powell par. 0195; The UE includes some or all components described above by reference to FIG. 24. As shown, the architecture includes a processor 2410),configured to:
receive, from the cellular modem using a first virtual interface, an NAS payload to transmit over the N3IWF (Powell par. 0101; When the UE is operating in licensed mode and for instance a text message is received from the core network, the text message is received at the licensed radio interface 720 and The licensed radio interface 720 sends the text message through the RIL switch 715 to SMS/MMI application 716. See also par. 0014 and 0046); and
instruct a WiFi modem to transmit the encoded NAS payload (Powell par. 0109, 0159 and 0172; The process instructs (at 1025) the RIL switch 715 to direct user commands to unlicensed radio interface. In some embodiments, process 1000 activates the RIL switch 715 only after a successful registration with the Wi-Fi system. Depending on whether Wi-Fi and broadband services are available and on the service preference of the user, RIL switch 715 may switch between cellular RAT or unlicensed RAT to access the core network based on instructions received from unlicensed wireless client 735. UE 2100 includes a data switch 2025 which is a three way switch that routes data received from applications 2145 to either cellular baseband 2085, to Wi-Fi 2090 (i.e., unlicensed service) through the native WALN subsystem 2110 of the UE, or to Wi-Fi through the unlicensed virtual interface 2150. The unlicensed virtual interface also converts the packets from the IP stack to packets with format compatible with the unlicensed client. See also par. 0046 and 0074).
Powell teaches, the client includes AMR encoder 2240, AMR decoder 2250, jitter buffer 2225, RTP encode module 2245, RTP decode module 2260, TCP/IP protocol layer 2265 (Powell par. 0164). However, Powell does not explicitly disclose transmit, to a cellular modem, a request to use a non-Third Generation Partnership Project (non-3GPP) interworking function (N3IWF) for non-access stratum (NAS) signaling; transmit, to the cellular modem and based at least in part on receiving the NAS payload, an indication of a source Internet protocol (IP) address and a destination IP address associated with a core network and encode the NAS payload using transmission control protocol (TCP).
However, in an analogous art, Talebi teaches transmit, to a cellular modem, a request to use a non-Third Generation Partnership Project (non-3GPP) interworking function (N3IWF) for non-access stratum (NAS) signaling (Talebi par. 0222 and 0251; If the N3IWF has received an indication that the UE supports MOBIKE, then the N3IWF may include a notify payload in the IKE AUTH response message, indicating that MOBIKE may be supported. the NAS message may comprise at least one of the extended access type (indication), access type for non-3GPP access over 3GPP access, an indication that the request is for configuration of user plane for data packets of the UE in the first network (e.g., an overlay network) via the underlay network. In an example, the indication may be an information element or a flag that the first PDU session is carried over the IPsec tunnel (e.g., between the UE and the N3IWF of the first network). See also par. 0248);
transmit, to the cellular modem and based at least in part on receiving the NAS payload, an indication of a source Internet protocol (IP) address and a destination IP address associated with a core network (Talebi par. 0223; All subsequent NAS messages exchanged between the UE and N3IWF may be sent via the signaling IPsec SA and may be carried over TCP/IP or the like. The UE may send NAS messages within TCP/IP packets with source address the inner IP address of the UE and destination address the NAS_IP_ADDRESS. The N3IWF may send NAS messages within TCP/IP packets with source address the NAS_IP_ADDRESS and destination address the inner IP address of the UE. The TCP connection used for reliable NAS transport between the UE and N3IWF may be initiated by the UE after the signaling IPsec SA is established. The UE may send the TCP connection request to the NAS_IP_ADDRESS and to the TCP port number. See also par. 0228);
encode the NAS payload using transmission control protocol (TCP) (Talebi par. 0209; Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) may be a secure network protocol suite that authenticates and encrypts the packets of data to provide secure encrypted communication between two computers over an Internet Protocol network. IPsec may include protocols for establishing mutual authentication between agents at the beginning of a session and negotiation of cryptographic keys to use during the session. IPsec may protect data flows between a UE and an N3IWF, between a pair of hosts (host-to-host), between a pair of security gateways (network-to-network), or between a security gateway and a host (network-to-host). IPsec may employ cryptographic security services to protect communications over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. See also par. 0216);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Talebi with the method and system of Powell, wherein transmit, to a cellular modem, a request to use a non-Third Generation Partnership Project (non-3GPP) interworking function (N3IWF) for non-access stratum (NAS) signaling and encode the NAS payload using transmission control protocol (TCP) to provide users with a means for establishing a IPsec SA between the UE and an N3IWF of the first network (Talebi par. 0248).
Regarding claim 2, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 1,
Powell further discloses wherein the applications processor is further configured to: receive, from the cellular modem and using a second virtual interface, data encoded using the TCP; and instruct the WiFi modem to transmit the data (Powell par. 0159; Depending on whether Wi-Fi and broadband services are available and on the service preference of the user, RIL switch 715 may switch between cellular RAT or unlicensed RAT to access the core network based on instructions received from unlicensed wireless client 735).
Talebi further teaches encoded non-access stratum (NAS) data (Talebi par. 0209; Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) may be a secure network protocol suite that authenticates and encrypts the packets of data to provide secure encrypted communication between two computers over an Internet Protocol network. IPsec may include protocols for establishing mutual authentication between agents at the beginning of a session and negotiation of cryptographic keys to use during the session. IPsec may protect data flows between a UE and an N3IWF, between a pair of hosts (host-to-host), between a pair of security gateways (network-to-network), or between a security gateway and a host (network-to-host). IPsec may employ cryptographic security services to protect communications over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. See also par. 0216).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Talebi with the method and system of Powell, wherein receive encoded non-access stratum (NAS) messages and receive, from the cellular modem, a key generated during an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) procedure to provide users with a means for establishing a IPsec SA between the UE and an N3IWF of the first network (Talebi par. 0248).
Regarding claim 3, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 2,
Powell further discloses wherein the applications processor is further configured to: encrypt the data using Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) before instructing the WiFi modem (Powell par. 0165; The uplink audio path 2205 receives audio signals from the microphone 2210 and records the audio using the audio recorder 2215. The GAN client 2220 cancels the echoes using acoustic echo canceller 2225 and encodes the audio using the AMR encoder 2240 and RTP encode module 2245. As shown, the encoded audio goes through GAN client's TCP/IP 2265 and IPSec 2270 protocol layers. The audio is passed to the Wi-Fi network 2280 through the TCP/IP stack 2105).
Regarding claim 4, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 1,
Telebi further discloses wherein the first virtual interface is established based at least in part on an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) procedure with a gateway of the N3IWF (Telebi par. 0222 and 0248; The IPsec SA may be established between the UE and N3IWF by using the common N3IWF key that was created in the UE and received by the N3IWF. If the N3IWF has received an indication that the UE supports MOBIKE, then the N3IWF may include a notify payload in the IKE_AUTH response message, indicating that MOBIKE may be supported. In an example, in response to receiving the IPsec create child SA request (e.g., the IKE Create_Child_SA request), the UE may send a NAS message to the second network to configure the user plane nodes of the second network to allocate or reserve user plane resources based on the QoS parameters (such as the indication of underlay network access, the additional QoS information, alternative QoS parameter set list, GBR QoS flow information, and/or the like) received from the overlay network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Talebi with the method and system of Powell, wherein receive encoded non-access stratum (NAS) messages and receive, from the cellular modem, a key generated during an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) procedure to provide users with a means for establishing a IPsec SA between the UE and an N3IWF of the first network (Talebi par. 0248).
Regarding claim 6, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 1,
Telebi further discloses wherein the cellular modem is further configured to receive, from the applications processor, an indication of a destination port associated with the core network (Talebi par. 0223; All subsequent NAS messages exchanged between the UE and N3IWF may be sent via the signaling IPsec SA and may be carried over TCP/IP or the like. The UE may send NAS messages within TCP/IP packets with source address the inner IP address of the UE and destination address the NAS_IP_ADDRESS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Talebi with the method and system of Powell, wherein receive encoded non-access stratum (NAS) messages and receive, from the cellular modem, a key generated during an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) procedure to provide users with a means for establishing a IPsec SA between the UE and an N3IWF of the first network (Talebi par. 0248).
Regarding claim 7, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 1,
Powell further discloses wherein the cellular modem is further configured to transmit, to the applications processor, an identifier associated with the UE (Powell par. 0099; RIL switch 715 eliminates the need for a separate Wi-Fi application such as application 515 of FIG. 5 that uses a separate and distinct UE identity to communicate with CN 645 via an unlicensed wireless frequency access point).
Regarding claim 9, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 1,
Powell further discloses wherein the cellular modem is further configured to: establish the first virtual interface with the applications processor to use for the NAS payload (Powell par. 0101; When the UE is operating in licensed mode and for instance a text message is received from the core network, the text message is received at the licensed radio interface 720 and The licensed radio interface 720 sends the text message through the RIL switch 715 to SMS/MMI application 716. See also par. 0014 and 0046).
Regarding claim 10, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 9,
Powell further discloses wherein the cellular modem is further configured to: transmit, to the applications processor and using the first virtual interface, a protocol data unit (PDU) including an NAS message, wherein the NAS message is transmitted to the core network using the N3IWF (Powell par. 0101; When the UE is operating in licensed mode and for instance a text message is received from the core network, the text message is received at the licensed radio interface 720 and The licensed radio interface 720 sends the text message through the RIL switch 715 to SMS/MMI application 716. See also par. 0014 and 0046).
Regarding claim 11, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 10,
Powell further discloses wherein the NAS message is encoded using the TCP (Powell par. 0165; The uplink audio path 2205 receives audio signals from the microphone 2210 and records the audio using the audio recorder 2215. The GAN client 2220 cancels the echoes using acoustic echo canceller 2225 and encodes the audio using the AMR encoder 2240 and RTP encode module 2245. As shown, the encoded audio goes through GAN client's TCP/IP 2265 and IPSec 2270 protocol layers. The audio is passed to the Wi-Fi network 2280 through the TCP/IP stack 2105).
Regarding claim 12, Powell and Talebi disclose the UE of claim 9,
Telebi further discloses wherein the cellular modem is further configured to: establish an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) tunnel with an access and mobility function (AMF) of the core network using the first virtual interface and the N3IWF (Talebi par. 0223; All subsequent NAS messages exchanged between the UE and N3IWF may be sent via the signaling IPsec SA and may be carried over TCP/IP or the like. The UE may send NAS messages within TCP/IP packets with source address the inner IP address of the UE and destination address the NAS_IP_ADDRESS. The N3IWF may send NAS messages within TCP/IP packets with source address the NAS_IP_ADDRESS and destination address the inner IP address of the UE. The TCP connection used for reliable NAS transport between the UE and N3IWF may be initiated by the UE after the signaling IPsec SA is established. The UE may send the TCP connection request to the NAS_IP_ADDRESS and to the TCP port number. See also par. 0228).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Talebi with the method and system of Powell, wherein receive encoded non-access stratum (NAS) messages and receive, from the cellular modem, a key generated during an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) procedure to provide users with a means for establishing a IPsec SA between the UE and an N3IWF of the first network (Talebi par. 0248).
Regarding claims 16-19; claims 16-19 are directed to a method associated with the user equipment claimed in claims 1-3 respectively. Claims 16-19 are similar in scope to claims 1-3 respectively, and are therefore rejected under similar rationale respectively.
Regarding claim 20; claim 20 is directed to a non-transitory computer medium associated with the user equipment claimed in claim 1. Claim 20 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 8 and 13-15 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
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/SANCHIT K SARKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2495