IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`Bernard Hunt
`In re Patent of:
`6,868,079 Attorney Docket No.: 39521-0060IP1
`U.S. Patent No.:
`March 15, 2005
`
`Issue Date:
`Appl. Serial No.: 09/455,124
`
`Filing Date:
`December 6, 1999
`
`Title:
`Radio Communication System With Request Re-
`Transmission Until Acknowledged
`
`
`PETITION FOR INTER PARTES REVIEW OF UNITED STATES PATENT
`NO. 6,868,079 PURSUANT TO 35 U.S.C. §§ 311–319, 37 C.F.R. § 42
`
`
`
`
`Mail Stop Patent Board
`Patent Trial and Appeal Board
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`
`
`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`I.
`II.
`
`INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
`REQUIREMENTS FOR IPR .......................................................................... 1
`A. Grounds for Standing ................................................................................ 1
`B. Challenge and Relief Requested ............................................................... 1
`III. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................. 3
`A. Overview of the ’079 Patent ..................................................................... 3
`B. Prosecution History of the ’079 Patent ..................................................... 7
`C. Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art ............................................................. 7
`D. Claim Construction ................................................................................... 8
`IV. GROUND 1: Wolfe in view of Bousquet and Patsiokas Renders Claims 17
`and 18 Obvious .............................................................................................. 16
`A. Technical Background of Radio System Technology ............................ 16
`B. Overview of Wolfe ................................................................................. 19
`C. Overview of Bousquet ............................................................................ 24
`D. Combination of Wolfe and Bousquet ..................................................... 25
`E. Motivation to Combine Wolfe and Bousquet ......................................... 27
`F. Overview of Patsiokas ............................................................................ 36
`G. Combination of Wolfe, Bousquet, and Patsiokas ................................... 37
`H. Motivation to Combine Wolfe, Bousquet, and Patsiokas ....................... 37
`I. Claim 17 .................................................................................................. 40
`J. Claim 18 .................................................................................................. 57
`V. GROUND 2: Wolfe in view of Bousquet, Everett, and Patsiokas Renders
`Claims 17 and 18 Obvious ............................................................................. 73
`A. Overview of Everett ................................................................................ 73
`B. Combination of Wolfe, Bousquet, Everett, and Patsiokas ..................... 74
`C. Motivation to Combine Wolfe, Bousquet, Everett, and Patsiokas ......... 76
`VI. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 78
`VII. MANDATORY NOTICES UNDER 37 C.F.R § 42.8(a)(1) ......................... 78
`A. Real Party-In-Interest Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(1) .............................. 78
`B. Related Matters Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(2) ....................................... 78
`C. Lead And Back-Up Counsel Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(3) ................... 79
`D. Service Information ................................................................................ 80
`
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`EXHIBITS
`
`Exhibit-1001
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079 to Hunt (“the ’079 Patent”)
`
`Exhibit-1002
`
`Excerpts of Prosecution History of the ’079 Patent (Serial No.
`09/455,124)
`
`Exhibit-1003
`
`Declaration of Paul G. Steffes, Ph.D.
`
`Exhibit-1004
`
`Curriculum Vitae of Paul G. Steffes, Ph.D.
`
`Exhibit-1005
`
`U.S. Patent No. 4,763,325 to Wolfe et al. (“Wolfe”)
`
`Exhibit-1006
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,298,052 to Bousquet et al. (“Bousquet”)
`
`Exhibit-1007
`
`PCT Publication WO 1992/021214 to Patsiokas et al.
`(“Patsiokas”)
`
`Exhibit-1008
`
`John L. Everett, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSATs),
`Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), Telecommunication
`Series 28, First Edition (1992) (“Everett”) (select portions)
`
`
`
`Exhibit-1009
`
`C. Retnadhas, Satellite Multiple Access Protocol, IEEE
`Communications Magazine, 1980 (“Retnadhas”)
`
`Exhibit-1010
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,212,360 to Fleming, III et al. (“Fleming”)
`
`Exhibit-1011
`
`ITU-T G.114, Transmission Systems and Media. General
`Recommendations on the Transmission Quality for an Entire
`International Telephone Connection. One-Way Transmission
`Time, Telecommunication Standardization Sector of ITU, 1994
`(“ITU Standards”)
`
`ii
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`

`

`
`Exhibit-1012
`
`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`Joint Claim Construction and Prehearing Statement, District
`Court Case No. 2-18-cv-00042, (“Joint CC”)
`
`Exhibit-1013
`
`Exhibit A of Joint CC (“Exh-A of Joint CC”)
`
`Exhibit-1014
`
`Fredrick J. Hill & Gerald R. Peterson, Introduction to
`Switching Theory and Logical Design, Second Edition (1968)
`(select portions) (“Hill”)
`
`Exhibit-1015
`
`Newton’s Telecom Dictionary, 12th Edition (1997) (select
`portions)
`
`Exhibit-1016
`
`The IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronic
`Terms, Sixth Edition (1996) (select portions)
`
`Exhibit-1017
`
` Declaration of Jacob Robert Munford
`
`
`
`iii
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`

`

`
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`Apple Inc., LG Electronics Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and
`
`Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (collectively “Petitioners”) petition for Inter
`
`Partes Review (“IPR”) of claims 17 and 18 (“the Challenged Claims”) of U.S.
`
`Patent No. 6,868,079 (“the ’079 Patent”).
`
`II. REQUIREMENTS FOR IPR
`
`A. Grounds for Standing
`Petitioners certify that the ’079 Patent is available for IPR. Petitioners are
`
`not barred or estopped from requesting review of the Challenged Claims.
`
`B. Challenge and Relief Requested
`Petitioners request IPR of the Challenged Claims on the grounds in the table
`
`below, as explained in this petition and the Declaration of Paul G. Steffes, Ph.D.
`
`See e.g., EX-1003, [1]-[147].
`
`Ground
`
`’079 Claims
`
`§ 103 Basis
`
`1
`
`2
`
`17, 18
`
`Obvious over Wolfe in view of
`
`Bousquet and Patsiokas
`
`17, 18
`
`Obvious over Wolfe in view of
`
`Bousquet, Everett, and Patsiokas
`
`1
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`

`

`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`The ’079 Patent issued from U.S. Application No. 09/455,124, filed
`
`
`
`December 6, 1999 and claims the benefit of a Great Britain Application No.
`
`9827182, filed December 10, 1998. Although not conceding valid priority
`
`entitlement, the earliest proclaimed priority date of the ’079 Patent is December
`
`10, 1998 (the “Critical Date”). As shown below, each reference pre-dates this
`
`Critical Date and qualifies as prior art:
`
`Reference
`
`Date
`
`Section
`
`Wolfe
`
`08/09/1988 (published)
`
`Bousquet
`
`03/03/1998 (filed)
`
`Patsiokas
`
`11/26/1992 (published)
`
`Everett
`
`1992 (published)
`
`102(b)
`
`102(e)
`
`102(b)
`
`102(b)
`
`The authenticity and public availability of Everett is established by the
`
`declaration of Mr. Jacob Munford. See Ex-1017.
`
`None of the prior art relied upon in Grounds 1 and 2 was previously
`
`considered during original examination, and the Office never considered these
`
`combinations of prior art.
`
`2
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`III. BACKGROUND
`A. Overview of the ’079 Patent
`The ’079 Patent “relates to a method of operating a radio communication
`
`system.” EX-1001, 1:6-14; see also 1:55-2:47; EX-1003, [20]-[28]. The
`
`Challenged Claims are directed to techniques for re-transmitting a request for
`
`services and determining whether the request has been received.
`
`Referring to annotated FIG. 1 (reproduced below), one embodiment of a
`
`radio communication system includes a primary station (shown in blue) and a
`
`plurality of secondary stations (only one secondary station, shown in red, is
`
`depicted in FIG. 1). EX-1001, 3:10-12, FIG. 1; see also 3:12-3:24. Examples of
`
`secondary stations include a mobile station (MS) and a base station (BS). Id.,
`
`1:17-19, 5:49-55. The primary station communicates with the secondary station on
`
`downlink channel 122, while the secondary station communicates with the primary
`
`station on uplink channel 124. Id., 3:19-22.
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`
`
`Annotated FIG. 1 of ’079 Patent
`
`Figure 2 (reproduced below) provides an illustration of a possible frame
`
`format for uplink signaling channel 124, which transmits a request for a service by
`
`the secondary station to the primary station. Id., 2:55-57, 3:23-30, FIG. 2. Uplink
`
`channel 124 is divided into a succession of frames 202, where each registered
`
`secondary is allocated a time slot 204 in each frame. Id.
`
`
`
`FIG. 2 of the ’079 Patent
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`4
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`FIG. 3 (reproduced below) shows a process of a secondary station requesting
`
`
`
`a service from a primary station. Id., 3:54-55, FIG. 3. At 302, the secondary
`
`station determines that it requires a service from the primary station. Id., 3:55-57.
`
`At 304, the secondary station makes a request for a service 304 in the next time
`
`slot 204 (FIG. 2) allocated to it. Id., 3:57-59. The secondary station continues to
`
`make requests 304 in successive allocated time slots 204 until a first test 306
`
`determines that no further requests should be made, for example by examining the
`
`value of a flag. Id., 3:61-65.
`
`
`
`FIG. 3 of the ’079 Patent
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`5
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`A second test 308 determines whether the secondary station has received an
`
`
`
`acknowledgement from the primary station. Id., 3:66-67. After receiving an
`
`acknowledgement, the secondary station at 310 stops sending requests, for
`
`example, by setting the flag checked in first test 306 to false. Id., 3:67-4:4. The
`
`required services are set up by the primary station at step 314. Id., 4:4-7.
`
`If the primary station does not correctly receive a request, the secondary
`
`station can repeat the request in every allocated time slot. Id., 4:8-12. Because it
`
`is not guaranteed that the primary station receives and processes a request
`
`sufficiently rapidly for an acknowledgement to be scheduled for the immediately
`
`following frame, the time that the secondary station has to wait before re-
`
`transmitting a failed request may be relatively long if it waits for
`
`acknowledgement. Id., 4:12-17. As such, re-transmissions are performed without
`
`waiting for acknowledgement because, although this process results in at least
`
`some inefficient re-transmissions for successful requests, the process increases the
`
`speed for handling a request where a failure does occur. Id., 2:1-8; see also 1:17-
`
`54.
`
`Additionally, the primary station can determine a signal strength of a
`
`received request and compare the determined signal strength to a threshold value.
`
`Id., 2:9-14; see also 5:25-33. If the signal strength exceeds the threshold value, the
`
`primary station determines that it has received a request for services and sends an
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`6
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`acknowledgement to secondary station. Id. If not, the primary station discards the
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`signal and awaits re-transmission. Id., 5:34-37.
`
`B.
`Prosecution History of the ’079 Patent
`Several Office Actions and claim amendments were needed before the
`
`Patent Office ultimately allowed the ’079 Patent. EX-1002, passim; EX-1003,
`
`[29]-[30]. In the response dated July 20, 2004, claims 14 and 15 (now claims 17
`
`and 18) were rewritten in independent form to take allowable subject matter related
`
`to determining whether a primary station received a request for a service. EX-
`
`1002, 13-25. Specifically, the Notice of Allowance stated that “determin[ing]
`
`whether a request for a service has been transmitted by a secondary station by
`
`determining whether a signal strength of the respective transmitted request exceeds
`
`a threshold value was neither found, suggested, nor made evident by the prior art.”
`
`Id., 4-7. As described below, these features that led to allowance are disclosed by
`
`the prior art referenced in this Petition to render obvious the Challenged Claims.
`
`C. Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art
`A person of ordinary skill in the art as of the Critical Date of the ’079 Patent
`
`(hereinafter a “POSITA”) would have had at least a Master of Science Degree in
`
`an academic area emphasizing telecommunications systems, or an equivalent field
`
`(or a similar technical Master’s Degree, or higher degree) with a concentration in
`
`telecommunications systems. EX-1003, [31]-[32]. Alternatively, a POSITA
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`would have had a Bachelor’s Degree (or higher degree) in an academic area
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`emphasizing telecommunications systems with two or more years of work
`
`experience in telecommunications systems. Id. Additional education in a relevant
`
`field, or relevant industry experience may compensate for a deficit in one of the
`
`other aspects of the requirements stated above. Id.
`
`D. Claim Construction
`In litigation, Samsung and Patent Owner (“Uniloc”) have offered
`
`constructions of several terms. EX-1012, 1-4; EX-1013, 1-2. For the purposes of
`
`this proceeding, Petitioners propose construction of the terms below. EX-1003,
`
`[33]-[38]. The remaining terms do not require construction because the cited prior
`
`art meets the plain meaning of the terms and/or conforms to disclosure of the terms
`
`in the specification of the ’079 Patent. Vivid Techs. v. Am. Sci. & Eng’g, 200 F.3d
`
`795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Petitioners reserve the right to respond to any
`
`constructions that Uniloc may offer or that the Board may adopt. Petitioners are
`
`not waiving any arguments concerning indefiniteness or claim scope that may be
`
`raised in litigation.
`
`1. “acknowledgement”
`
`Claims 17 and 18 recite that the “secondary station[] re-transmits…without
`
`waiting for an acknowledgement until said acknowledgement is received.” EX-
`
`1001, 8:21-25, 8:42-46. An “acknowledgement” is “a message sent from the
`
`8
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`primary station to the secondary station stating the primary station’s receipt of the
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`secondary station’s request.”1 EX-1003, [34]. Petitioners’ construction is
`
`consistent with the claim language, specification, and file history of the ’079
`
`patent. EX-1001, Fig. 3, 2:5-8, 2:23-24, 2:40-47, 3:66-4:7 (differentiating between
`
`the ACK and “then begin[ning] negotiations...to define fully the require
`
`services.”); EX-1002, passim. Additionally, the construction is supported by a
`
`plain meaning of the term “acknowledgement,” as evidenced by standard
`
`dictionary definitions available as of the Critical Date, and would have been
`
`readily understood by a POSITA under the proposed construction at that time.
`
`EX-1003, [34], citing EX-1015, 25 (“ACK is a character transmitted…to
`
`ACKnowledge a signal, information or packet received from the sender.”) and EX-
`
`1016, 9-10 (“A reply transmitted by a receiving station to inform the sending
`
`station that a message has arrived[.]”).
`
`2. “Means for Allocating Respective Time Slots in an Uplink Channel to the
`Plurality of Respective Secondary Stations to Transmit Respective
`Requests for Services to the Primary Station”
`Claim 18 recites “means for allocating respective time slots in an uplink
`
`channel to the plurality of respective secondary stations to transmit respective
`
`
`1 Samsung has advanced this interpretation in its litigation with Uniloc. EX1013,
`
`1-2.
`
`9
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`requests for services to the primary station” (“the ‘allocating’ limitation”), which
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
`
`invokes §112, ¶ 6. The function is “allocating respective time slots in an uplink
`
`channel to the plurality of respective secondary stations to transmit respective
`
`requests for services to the primary station.” EX-1001, 8:37-41; EX-1003, [35]-
`
`[38].
`
`The ’079 Patent describes that “a radio communication system comprises
`
`a…primary station[.]”2 EX-1001, 3:10-12. The primary station “comprises a
`
`microcontroller (µC) 102, transceiver means 104 connected to radio transmission
`
`means 106, and connection means 108 for connection to the PSTN or other
`
`suitable network.” Id., 3:12-15; FIG. 1. The ’079 Patent also describes that each
`
`secondary station registered with the primary station is “allocated a time slot 204
`
`in each frame in which it can transmit a request[.]” Id., 3:12-15, 3:28-30. The
`
`’079 Patent, however, does not link structure of the primary station to the
`
`“allocating” function.
`
`The ’079 Patent discloses only three components associated with the
`
`primary station: (1) microcontroller (µC) 102; (2) transceiver means 104 connected
`
`to radio transmission means 106; and (3) connection means 108. EX-1001, 3:12-
`
`15. In corresponding District Court litigation, Uniloc contends that each of these
`
`
`2 All emphasis added unless otherwise noted.
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`10
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`structures (“[m]icrocontroller 102, transceiver 104, connected to radio transmission
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`106, and connection 108”) is involved in performing the “allocating” function.
`
`EX-1013, 1. However, neither “transceiver means 104 connected to radio
`
`transmission means 106” nor “connection means 108” are associated with
`
`functions that allocate time slots in an uplink channel. EX-1003, [37]. Indeed, the
`
`functions of these components are underscored by the component name itself. For
`
`example, “transceiver means” indicates a function associated with a transceiver,
`
`such as transmitting and receiving communications. Id. Likewise, “connection
`
`means 108 for connection to the PSTN or other suitable network” indicates a
`
`function associated with connecting the primary station to a network. Id. Thus,
`
`the only structure described by the ’079 Patent capable of “allocating respective
`
`time slots…to the primary station” would be a microcontroller. Id. Because the
`
`’079 Patent’s “microcontroller” is a general purpose computing device, the
`
`structure is limited to algorithms disclosed by the ’079 Patent for performing the
`
`“allocating” function. EON Corp. IP Holdings LLC v. AT & T Mobility LLC, 785
`
`F.3d 616, 621-22 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
`
`Uniloc contends that the algorithms in the ’079 Patent’s disclosure of the
`
`“allocating” function may be found in “the algorithms contained in 3:25-32, 36-
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`41.” EX-1001, 3:25-41; EX-1013, 1.3 Based on this identification of algorithms,4
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`for the purposes of this proceeding, and without taking a position on the
`
`sufficiency of it, the claimed “means for allocating” should be interpreted to cover
`
`microcontroller 102 performing the algorithms contained in 3:25-32, 36-41, or an
`
`equivalent. EX-1013, 1.5 Because the prior art includes at least the same level of
`
`detail, if not more, in disclosing an algorithm, as set forth above, potential
`
`indefiniteness issues with the “means for allocating” limitation should not prevent
`
`review of claim 18. Vibrant Media, Inc. v. Gen’l Elec. Co., IPR2013-00172, Final
`
`Written Decision, 6–11 (PTAB July 28, 2014) (“an indefiniteness determination in
`
`this proceeding would not have prevented us from deciding whether the claims
`
`
`3 In litigation, Samsung contends that this limitation is indefinite. Petitioners
`
`reserve the right to argue, in District Court, that the ’079 Patent in its entirety fails
`
`to disclose the corresponding structure for the “allocating” function, rendering
`
`claim 18 indefinite. Williamson v. Citrix Online, LLC, 792 F.3d 1339, 1351-54
`
`(Fed. Cir. 2015).
`
`4 Uniloc cites to “the algorithms contained in 3:25-32, 36-41” in its constructions.
`
`5 Petitioners apply prior art to both constructions, including Uniloc’s narrower
`
`construction, which includes “transceiver 104, connected to radio transmission
`
`106, and connection 108.” EX1013, 1.
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`would have been obvious over the cited prior art”) (emphasis in original).
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`3. “Means For Re-Transmitting The Same Respective Requests In
`Consecutive Allocated Time Slots Without Waiting for an
`Acknowledgement Until Said Acknowledgement is Received from the
`Primary Station”
`Claim 18 recites “means for re-transmitting the same respective requests in
`
`consecutive allocated time slots without waiting for an acknowledgement until said
`
`acknowledgement is received from the primary station,” which invokes §112, ¶ 6.
`
`The function is “re-transmitting the same respective requests in consecutive
`
`allocated time slots without waiting for an acknowledgement until said
`
`acknowledgement is received from the primary station.” EX-1001, 8:42-46; EX-
`
`1003, [39]-[43].
`
`The ’079 Patent describes that “a radio communication system comprises…a
`
`plurality of secondary stations.” EX-1001, 3:10-12. The ’079 Patent describes
`
`that each secondary station “comprises a microcontroller (µC) 112, transceiver
`
`means 114 connected to radio transmission means 116, and power control
`
`means 118.” EX-1001, 3:15-19; FIG. 1. The ’079 Patent also describes that each
`
`secondary station “is allocated a time slot 204 in each frame in which it can
`
`transmit a request[.]” Id., 3:12-15, 3:28-30. The ’079 Patent describes “the
`
`secondary station re-transmitting the request in at least a majority of its allocated
`
`time slots until an acknowledgement is received from the primary station.” Id.,
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`13
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`1:65-67; 2:20-24; 2:38-41. The ’079 Patent, however, does not link structure in the
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`secondary station to the “re-transmitting” function.
`
`The ’079 Patent discloses three possible components associated with the
`
`secondary station: (1) microcontroller (µC) 112; (2) transceiver means 114
`
`connected to radio transmission means 116; and (3) power control means 118.
`
`EX-1001, 3:16-19. A POSITA would have understood that transceiver means 114
`
`is the component in the ’079 Patent that performs re-transmission. EX-1003, [41].
`
`The ’079 Patent depicts “transceiver means 114” in FIG. 1 with a “Tx/Rx” symbol.
`
`EX-1001, FIG. 1. Through this depiction and the disclosure of FIG. 1 in the ’079
`
`Patent, a POSITA would have understood that “transceiver means 114” includes
`
`structure that transmits (e.g., a transmitter) and receives (e.g., a receiver) signals,
`
`such as a transceiver. EX-1001, FIG. 1; EX-1003, [41]. Thus, “re-transmitting” is
`
`performed by structure that includes a transceiver (or an equivalent structure).
`
`Additional structure is needed to control the transceiver to perform re-
`
`transmission of “the same respective requests in consecutive allocated time slots
`
`without waiting for an acknowledgement until said acknowledgement is received
`
`from the primary station.” A POSITA would have found such additional structure
`
`to be microcontroller 112. EX-1003, [42]. As discussed above, a
`
`“microcontroller” is a general purpose computing device and the corresponding
`
`structure is limited to algorithms in the ’079 Patent for performance of the “re-
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`transmitting” function. EON Corp. IP Holdings, 785 F.3d 616, at 621-22. An
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`Attorney Docket No. 39521-0060IP1
`IPR of U.S. Patent No. 6,868,079
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`excerpt of FIG. 3 generically illustrates the concept of re-transmitting the same
`
`respective requests in consecutive allocated time slots without waiting for an
`
`acknowledgement until said acknowledgement is received from the primary
`
`station:
`
`
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`FIG. 3 of the ’079 Patent (excerpt)
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`Microcontroller 112 performs these steps illustrated in the FIG. 3 excerpt. EX-
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`1003, [42]. For the purpose of this proceeding, and without taking a position on
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`the sufficiency of it, the corresponding structure should be interpreted as a
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`transceiver controlled by a microcontroller performing steps 302, 304, 306, 308,
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`and 310, as illustrated in FIG. 3 of the ’079 Patent, or an equivalent. Petitioners’
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`construction is consistent with a construction offered by Samsung in District
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`15
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`Court.6 Uniloc’s District Court construction includes unnecessary additional
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`structure (“[m]icrocontroller 112, transceiver 114, connected to radio transmission
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`116, and power control 118”) and identifies the steps of FIG. 3 by citations to
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`description in the ’079 Patent. EX-1012, 1-2; EX-1013, 1-2 (“the algorithms
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`contained in 3:62-4:4; 4:8-12, 4:29-39; 5:34-45, 49-56”).
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`IV. GROUND 1: Wolfe in view of Bousquet and Patsiokas Renders
`Claims 17 and 18 Obvious
`A. Technical Background of Radio System Technology
`Radio systems cover a variety of types of wireless communication systems
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`for long-range telephone calls, including both satellite communication systems and
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`terrestrial cellular communication systems. EX-1003, [44]-[49]. Generally, the
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`difference between terrestrial wireless systems and satellite systems is the
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`6 In litigation, Samsung offers the same construction and also contends that this
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`limitation is “Otherwise, indefinite.” EX1013, 1-2. Petitioners reserve the right to
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`argue, in District Court, that the ’079 Patent fails to provide a sufficient algorithm
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`for performing the claimed “re-transmitting” function, rendering claim 18
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`indefinite. Williamson v. Citrix Online, LLC, 792 F.3d 1339, 1351-54 (Fed. Cir.
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`2015).
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`inclusion of a space-based relay (e.g., satellite) that extends the range covered by
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`the base station (e.g., hub) due to the satellite’s high altitude:
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`
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`FIG. 1.6(c) of Everett
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`EX-1008, FIG. 1.6(c), see also 1-19. In both terrestrial cellular and satellite
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`communication networks, radio transmitters are used to send data, voice, or images
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`from the primary station to multiple secondary stations (e.g., VSATs). EX-1003,
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`[45].
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`Transmissions sent from the station to the secondary stations are referred to
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`as “downlink” signals since satellites or cell towers are normally at elevated
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`locations relative to the secondary stations, as shown below:
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`FIG. 22.1 of Everett
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`EX-1008, FIG. 22.1, 410-411; see also 415-416. Receivers in the secondary
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`stations decode or demodulate the downlink signals, while transmitters in the
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`secondary stations generate “uplink” signals to send voice or data to the primary
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`station. EX-1008, 410-414; EX-1003, [46].
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`An uplink signaling channel allows secondary stations to request an uplink
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`channel for extended communication to the primary station and an accompanying
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`downlink channel. EX-1008, 14, 410-413; EX-1003, [47]-[49]. In a contention-
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`based uplink signaling system, each secondary station simply transmits a short
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`identifying burst when it needs a service. EX-1008, 132; see also 125-154. In a
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`non-contention-based uplink signaling system, each secondary station is provided
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`specific time slots for transmitting requests for services to the primary station,
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`where each secondary station is allocated a reserved time period to transmit a
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`request for services. EX-1008, 139-140, 162, 300-301.
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`B. Overview of Wolfe
`Wolfe “relates generally to communication systems” used for telephone
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`communications. EX-1005, Abstract, 1:8-12, 1:20-25, see also 5:6-10:34; EX-
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`1003, [50]-[57]. Wolfe’s communication system includes a “TDMA frame [that]
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`is divided into a preallocated segment and an overflow segment.” EX-1005, 1:8-
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`10, 4:35-57, 5:6-8.
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`Wolfe’s communication system includes secondary stations (“ground
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`stations 10”) “linked together by a communication satellite 12 in geosynchronous
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`orbit” along with a primary station (“a reference station 18”) to provide
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`“coordination between the ground stations 10.” Id., 1:8-31; 2:3-9. As shown
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`below in annotated FIG. 1, “call requests” from ground stations 10 (highlighted in
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`yellow) “pass through the communication satellite 12” (highlighted in blue) to
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`“reference station 18” (highlighted in red). Id., 3:65-68. Wolfe’s “reference
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`station 18 must synchronize the ground stations 10 so that the frames 14 and 16 are
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`synchronized between the stations 10 and…the traffic bursts TB within the frame.”
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`Id., 2:5-9.
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`Annotated FIG. 1 of Wolfe
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`As shown above, data in Wolfe’s TDMA system is “time multiplexed.” Id.,
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`FIG. 1, see also 1:34-4:34. The “transmission is divided into time frames 14 and
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`16 with each frame being further subdivided…into traffic bursts TB,” in which
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`“[t]he frames repeat often enough that a telephone conversation can be made to
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`appear continuous and instantaneous.” Id., 1:40-47. “[E]ach ground station 10 is
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`assigned one traffic burst” and the “transmission of the traffic bursts from the
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`individual ground stations are synchronized…to form the up-link frame 14”
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`(highlighted in green). Id., 1:47-52. Wolfe’s “communication satellite 12 receives
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`the up-link frame 14 and re-transmits the frame as the down-link frame[]16”
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`(highlighted in purple). Id., 1:52-54.
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`Wolfe’s “TDMA frame,” shown below in annotated excerpts of FIGS. 1 and
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`3, includes “preallocated segment 14” (highlighted in orange) and “overflow
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`segment 16” (highlighted in blue). Id., 4:60-66; 5:6-8, 5:16-17, FIGS. 1, 3.
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`“Every station is given a portion of the preallocated segment over which it
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`exercises control.” Id., 5:9-10. “Whenever a station requires additional channel
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`capacity that cannot be satisfied by its preallocated portion, it requests the
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`reference station to allocate it part of the overflow segment.” Id., 5:10-14. “The
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`reference station thus controls the overflow segment.” Id., 5:14-15.
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`Annotated FIG. 1 of Wolfe
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`
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`Subdivisions of the “TDMA frame,” shown below in annotated FIG. 3,
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`includes “two reference bursts RBa and RBb,” the “preallocated segment,” and the
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`“overflow segment.” Id., 5:6-10; 5:16-21. The “preallocated segment” is
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`“subdivided into traffic bursts TB1 -TBN,” (highlighted in pink) in which “[e]ach of
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`the traffic bursts are assigned to one of the N ground stations 10.” Id., 5:35-37.
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`The “overflow segment” is “also divided into a number of slots,” where “[e]ach of
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`the overflow slots is assigned to one of the traffic bursts TB'1 -TB'M” and “[u]nused
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`slots represent spare overflow capacity.” Id., 6:1-4.
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`Annotated FIG. 3 of Wolfe
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`The format of a “preallocated traffic burst TBi” is illustrated below in
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`annotated FIG. 3. Id., 5:47-48; FIG. 3. The preallocated traffic burst format
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`includes “a preamble PRE,” “a broadcast channel” (highlighted in pink), and “a
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`plurality of slots that are assigned to…sub-bursts SB1 -SBK,” and “a spare area.”
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`Id., 5:47-61.
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`Annotated FIG. 3 of Wolfe
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`The “broadcast channel” sends, to “reference station 18,” requests from
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`“ground station 10” for an “additional sub-burst TB'i in the overflow pool.” Id.,
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`8:59-61. The “broadcast channel,” which is pr