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 .
The amendment filed on 02/04/2026 has been acknowledged.
Amendment Summary
Claims 1, 3 and 20 are amended.
Claim 2 is canceled herein
Response to Arguments/Amendment
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims # 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of the references being used for the current rejection of the above claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 3-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the following limitation:
“wherein the LDR- PNT signal includes available assets for HDR communication”;
The term “assets” is not appropriate in the following limitation. A signal can comprises information at best but the term “assets” is not appropriate. Applicant is advised to change the term “ assets” in the above limitation.
Claim 20 comprises similar features and is also rejected under 112th (b).
Theirs dependent claims are also rejected.
Note: Even though the claims are rejected under 112th(b), they will be examined as per examiner own interpretation.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5 and 8-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Kossin (US 2024/0329256 A1) in view of Tong (US 10523312 B1)
Regarding Claim 1, 20
Kossin discloses a system (See [Abstract]; The present invention provides a global, cislunar, interplanetary, local navigation system that can provide position, navigation, and/or time (PNT) to users) , comprising:
a transmitter (See [0008]; Users and satellite sources can establish bilateral
links and perform two-way time transfer (TWTT) to provide users with range and time correction, thus transmitting);
a receiver (See [0008]; Users and satellite sources can establish bilateral
links and perform two-way time transfer (TWTT) to provide users with range and time correction, thus receiving);
a processor configured to:
provide a LDR-PNT signal using the transmitter (See [0026-0027]; The instant invention provides systems for and methods of providing PNT and low-data rate communication to users on Earth, a particular part of Earth, the Moon ("cislunar")),
receive a network entry request using the receiver (See [0008]; Bilateral links can
provide authentication, registration of users); and
provide acknowledgement of network entry for communication the HDR (See [0008]; provides a means for allowance and/or denial of access, and enables a paid service).
But Kossin fails to explicitly recite
wherein the LDR- PNT signal includes available assets for HDR communication;
However in an analogous art,
Tong teaches about a H2Sat that is a geostationary satellite that can
provide both high data-rate and low data-rate data relay communication links (See Fig.3; column 7, lines (14-27)). The H2Sat receives signals from multiple LEO satellites and transmits them to a ground station using HDR or LDR (See Fig.3; column 7, lines (14-27)). The converted signals from the H2Sat comprises similar information whether HRD or LDR.
Kossin and Tong are analogous art because they all pertain to satellite communication technology. Kossin teaches about a system for providing low data rate communication for position navigation and timing information. Tong teaches about satellite communication link with high speed transmission and low speed transmission. Kossin could use Tong features to also provides high data and low data rate information to its users. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Kossin and Tong as to obtain a system that can provide LDR and HDR to its users.
Regarding Claim 4,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the LDR-PNT signal includes control data (See [0029]; authentication is applied in the communication link).
Regarding Claim 5,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 4 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the control data comprises
time synchronization (See [0029]; time synchronization is used).
Regarding Claim 8,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the LDR-PNT signal includes service messages (See [0008]; [0038]; time correction services, registration , paid services).
Regarding Claim 9,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 8 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the service messages include a satellite almanac (See [0027-0028]; [0032-0033]; providing PNT and measurement of distance and trajectory).
Regarding Claim 10,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 8 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the service messages include broadcast messages (See [0008-0009]; [0028-0029]; user received INS messages to maintain accurate timing).
Regarding Claim 11,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 8 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the service messages include encrypted group messages (See [0008]; [0016]; [0029]; users are assigned cryptographic keys when receiving group messages).
Regarding Claim 12,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 8 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the service messages include encryption keys (See [0008]; [0016]; [0029]; users are assigned cryptographic keys when receiving group messages).
Regarding Claim 13,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the network entry request includes a node ID of a terminal (See [0008]; [0033]; terminal merely need some type of identify to access network) .
Regarding Claim 14,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the network entry request includes authentication information (See {0008]; [0016]; [0029]; authentication is required for entry)
Regarding Claim 15,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the network entry request includes a terminal location (See [0029-0030]; location is required for access) .
Regarding Claim 16,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the acknowledgement of network entry comprises
a satellite ID (See [0008]; [0029-0030]; ID is provided through authentication).
Regarding Claim 17,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the acknowledgement of network entry comprises
a time to expect HDR handshake (See [0029]; two way time transfer is synchronized. There is no weight to the claim whether the communication link is HDR or LDR).
Regarding Claim 18,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kossin further teaches
wherein the communication is scheduled at a scheduled time with a terminal (See [0028]; [0031]; update timing period is used for high gain transmission).
Regarding Claim 19,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 18 and Kossin further teaches
wherein a high gain aperture beam is directed at the terminal at
the scheduled time (See [0028]; [0031]; high gain is achieved at specific scan timing) .
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.
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kossin (US 2024/0329256 A1) in view of Tong (US 10523312 B1)
Regarding Claim 3
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 1 and Tong further teaches
wherein the communication comprises communication using a HDR link (See Fig.3; Column 7, lines (14-27))
However in an analogous art,
Kang teaches about satellite communication link with high speed transmission (See [Abstract]; The invention can integrate double tasks of satellite measurement and control and satellite data transmission, which not only has good satellite distance measuring precision, but also has high data transmission rate.).
Kossin and Kang are analogous art because they all pertain to satellite communication technology. Kossin teaches about a system for providing low data rate communication for position navigation and timing information. Kang teaches about satellite communication link with high speed transmission. Kossin could use Kang features to also provides high data rate information to its users. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Kossin and Kang as to obtain a system that can provide LDR and HDR to its users.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kossin (US 2024/0329256 A1) in view of Tong (US 10523312 B1) and further in view of Kang (CN 112542997 A)
Regarding Claim 7,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 4
But Kossin and Tong fail to explicitly recite
wherein the control data comprises
an HDR link state.
However in an analogous art,
Kang teaches about satellite communication link with high speed transmission (See [Abstract]; The invention can integrate double tasks of satellite measurement and control and satellite data transmission, which not only has good satellite distance measuring precision, but also has high data transmission rate.).
Kossin, Tong and Kang are analogous art because they all pertain to satellite communication technology. Kossin teaches about a system for providing low data rate communication for position navigation and timing information. Kang teaches about satellite communication link with high speed transmission. Kossin and Tong could use Kang features to also provides high data rate information to its users. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Kossin, Tong and Kang as to obtain a system that can provide LDR and HDR to its users.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kossin (US 2024/0329256 A1) in view of Tong (US 10523312 B1) and further in view of Henry (US 2020/0314799 A1)
Regarding Claim 6,
Kossin and Tong teach all the features with respect to claim 4
But Kossin and Tong fail to explicitly recite
wherein the control data comprises
a rendezvous time for an HDR link
However in an analogous art,
Henry teaches the control data comprises a rendezvous time (See [0017-0020]; synchronization of time) for an HDR link (See [0015-0016]; High speed transmission is described)).
Kossin, Tong and Henry are analogous art because they all pertain to satellite communication technology. Kossin teaches about a system for providing low data rate communication for position navigation and timing information. Henry teaches the control data comprises a rendezvous time for an HDR link. Kossin and Tong could use Henry features to also provides high data rate information to its users at synchronization time. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Kossin, Tong and Henry as to obtain a system that can provide LDR and HDR to its users.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/GARY LAFONTANT/Examiner, Art Unit 2646