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 .
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 § 2146 et seq. 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 filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual 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/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,279,172 in view of Bye (US 2004/0233840).
Claims 1, 8, and 15 of the continuation application are directed to the same invention of the patented claims 1, 8, and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12,279,172 (see table below), except that U.S. Patent No. 12,279,172 does not particularly disclose facilitating routing the user equipment through satellite.
However, Bye teaches a system and methods that allow to handoff a wireless terminal to an alternative network such as satellite networks, handoff criteria provide seamlessly switching communications between a first network (e.g., WLAN) and the alternative network in order to avoid any lost or dropped communications (abstract; p. [0007], [0016]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify U.S. Patent No. 12,279,172 with the teachings of Bye, since a satellite network is a well-known alternative network for communications and would allow the system to switch a piece of user equipment to a satellite network based on availability in order to avoid an interruption in service or dropped communications.
Application No. 19/075,911
U.S. Patent No. 12,279,172
1.A method, comprising:
determining, by a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) comprising a processor, that network utilization of a first base station by a group of user equipment has reached a threshold utilization; and
in response to the determining:
facilitating, by the RIC, reducing a portion of the network utilization associated with a user equipment of the group of user equipment,
facilitating, by the RIC, expanding a coverage area of an alternative access technology,
facilitating, by the RIC, moving into alternative access technologies including Wi-Fi, a satellite, a different generation wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, wherein the expanded coverage area of the alternative access technology and the moving into the alternative access technologies compensate a radio coverage fallout of the first base station where the radio coverage fallout comprises a coverage failure of the first base station and a coverage area of a second base station within a defined distance of the first base station is at capacity; and
facilitating, by the RIC, routing the user equipment of the group of user equipment through the satellite, instead of the first base station.
1. A method, comprising:
determining, by network equipment comprising a processor, that network utilization of a first base station by a group of user equipment has reached a threshold utilization; and
in response to the determining:
facilitating, by the network equipment, expanding a coverage area of a second base station within a defined distance of the first base station,
facilitating, by the network equipment, reducing a portion of the network utilization associated with a user equipment of the group of user equipment, and
facilitating, by the network equipment, expanding a coverage area of an alternative access technology,
facilitating, by the network equipment, moving into alternative access technologies including Wi-Fi, a satellite, a different generation wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, wherein the expanded coverage area of the alternative access technology and the moving into the alternative access technologies compensate a radio coverage fallout of the first base station where the radio coverage fallout comprises a coverage failure of the first base station and the second base station at capacity; and
facilitating, by the network equipment, routing the user equipment of the group of user equipment through Wi-Fi, instead of the first base station.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the reducing of the portion of the network utilization associated with the user equipment comprises: changing from a first codec to a second codec for a streaming service employed by the user equipment;
changing from a first bitrate to a second bitrate for a service employed by the user equipment;
changing from a first radio access technology to a second radio access technology for a service employed by the user equipment;
reducing a data consumption of the user equipment from a first data consumption to a second data consumption less than the first data consumption to mitigate a degrading quality of service, or a combination thereof.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the reducing of the portion of the network utilization associated with the user equipment comprises changing from a first codec to a second codec for a streaming service employed by the user equipment.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the reducing of the portion of the network utilization associated with the user equipment comprises
changing from a first bitrate to a second bitrate for a service employed by the user equipment.
4.The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the reducing of the portion of the network utilization associated with the user equipment comprises
changing from a first radio access technology to a second radio access technology for a service employed by the user equipment.
5.The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the reducing of the portion of the network utilization associated with the user equipment comprises reducing a data consumption of the user equipment from a first data consumption to a second data consumption less than the first data consumption to mitigate a degrading quality of service.
8. Network equipment, comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
in response to determining that radio utilization of a first access point device by a group of Internet of Things devices has reached a threshold utilization:
expanding an adjacent radio coverage within a defined distance of the first access point device to compensate for a radio coverage fallout of the first access point device;
modifying dynamic policies for the group of Internet of Things devices by moving into alternative access technologies including Wi-Fi, a satellite, a different generation wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, determining that radio utilization of all access points in the adjacent radio coverage is at capacity and that there is no additional radio resource; and
routing the Internet of Things device of the group of Internet of Things devices through the satellite, instead of the first access point device.
8. Network equipment, comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
in response to determining that radio utilization of a first access point device by a group of Internet of Things devices has reached a threshold utilization:
expanding a coverage area of a second access point device within a defined distance of the first access point device,
reducing a portion of the radio utilization associated with an Internet of Things device of the group of Internet of Things devices,
expanding a coverage area of an alternative access technology including Wi-Fi, facilitating moving into alternative access technologies including Wi-Fi, a satellite, a different generation wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, wherein the expanded coverage area of the alternative access technology and the moving into the alternative access technologies compensate a radio coverage fallout of the first access point device where the radio coverage fallout comprises a coverage failure of the first access point device and the second access point device at capacity; and routing the Internet of Things device of the group of Internet of Things devices through Wi-Fi, instead of the first access point device.
9. The network equipment of claim 8, wherein modifying the dynamic policies further comprises modifying the dynamic policies to reduce a portion of the radio utilization associated with the Internet of Things device by changing from a first codec to a second codec for a streaming service employed by the Internet of Things device,
changing from a first bitrate to a second bitrate for a service employed by the Internet of Things device,
changing from a first radio access technology to a second radio access technology for a service employed by the Internet of Things device,
reducing a data consumption of the Internet of Things device from a first data consumption to a second data consumption less than the first data consumption to mitigate a degrading quality of service, or a combination thereof.
9. The network equipment of claim 8, wherein reducing the portion of the radio utilization associated with the Internet of Things device comprises changing from a first codec to a second codec for a streaming service employed by the Internet of Things device.
10. The network equipment of claim 8, wherein reducing the portion of the radio utilization associated with the Internet of Things device
comprises changing from a first bitrate to a second bitrate for a service employed by the Internet of Things device.
11. The network equipment of claim 8, wherein reducing the portion of the radio utilization associated with the Internet of Things device comprises changing from a first radio access technology to a second radio access technology for a service employed by the Internet of Things device.
12. The network equipment of claim 8, wherein reducing the portion of the radio utilization associated with the Internet of Things device comprises reducing a data consumption of the Internet of Things device from a first data consumption to a second data consumption less than the first data consumption to mitigate a degrading quality of service.
15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of network equipment, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: in response to determining that network utilization of a first radio network node by a group of mobile devices has reached a threshold utilization: in response to the determining:
enabling an expansion of a coverage area of a second radio network node within a defined distance of the first radio network node;
enabling moving into alternative access technologies including Wi-Fi, a satellite, a different generation wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, wherein the moving into the alternative access technologies compensates a radio coverage fallout of the first radio network node where the radio coverage fallout comprises a coverage failure of the first radio network node and the second radio network node at capacity; and
enabling routing a mobile device of the group of mobile devices through the satellite, instead of the first radio network node.
15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of network equipment, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: in response to determining that network utilization of a first radio network node by a group of mobile devices has reached a threshold utilization: in response to the determining:
enabling an expansion of a coverage area of a second radio network node within a defined distance of the first radio network node,
enabling a reduction of a portion of the network utilization associated with a mobile device of the group of mobile devices, enabling an expansion of a coverage area of an alternative access technology including Wi-Fi,
enabling moving into alternative access technologies including Wi-Fi, a satellite, a different generation wireless communication network, or a combination thereof, wherein the expanded coverage area of the alternative access technology and the moving into the alternative access technologies compensate a radio coverage fallout of the first radio network node where the radio coverage fallout comprises a coverage failure of the first radio network node and the second radio network node at capacity; and
enabling routing the mobile device of the group of mobile devices through Wi-Fi, instead of the first radio network node.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise enabling a reduction of a portion of the network utilization associated with the mobile device of the group of mobile devices, by:
changing from a first codec to a second codec for a streaming service employed by the mobile device;
changing from a first bitrate to a second bitrate for a service employed by the mobile device;
changing from a first radio access technology to a second radio access technology for a service employed by the mobile device;
enabling the reduction of a data consumption of the mobile device from a first data consumption to a second data consumption less than the first data consumption to mitigate a degrading quality of service, or a combination thereof.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein enabling the reduction of the portion of the network utilization associated with the mobile device comprises
changing from a first codec to a second codec for a streaming service employed by the mobile device.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein enabling the reduction of the portion of the network utilization associated with the mobile device comprises
changing from a first bitrate to a second bitrate for a service employed by the mobile device.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein enabling the reduction of the portion of the network utilization associated with the mobile device comprises
changing from a first radio access technology to a second radio access technology for a service employed by the mobile device.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein enabling the reduction of the portion of the network utilization associated with the mobile device comprises
enabling the reduction of a data consumption of the mobile device from a first data consumption to a second data consumption less than the first data consumption to mitigate a degrading quality of service.
Prior Art of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
a)Staahle et al. (WO 2009/078764) discloses a method an apparatus for mitigating a cell outage, the cell outage is automatically mitigated by modifying the coverage are of one or more cells to cover those cells which are currently disabled or expected to be disabled (abstract; pages 1-5).
b)Bigham et al. (US 7,570,956) discloses an intelligent control of radio resources that dynamically adjust the radiation patterns of the antennas to optimize capacity, the method comprises determining a concentration of mobile stations in each cell and changing the radiation patterns of the antennas in response to the concentration of mobile station in each cell (abstract).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARISOL FIGUEROA whose telephone number is (571)272-7840. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8:00am-4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jinsong Hu can be reached at 571-272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARISOL FIGUEROA/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2643