DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The applicant has amended the following:
Claims: 1, 8 and 16 have been amended.
Claims: 2-7, 9-15 and 17-19 have not been amended.
EXAMINER’S NOTE:
The examiner notes that the applicant’s current amendments filed 03/24/26 have changed the scope of the claims which necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented herein.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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 1-3, 8-10 and 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishra et al. (US Patent Publication 2019/0364616 herein after referenced as Mishra) in view of Sabella et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0086864 herein after referenced as Sabella) and further in view of Li et al. (US Patent Publication 2017/0079059 herein after referenced as Li).
Regarding claim 1, Mishra discloses:
A method comprising: providing a 5G enhanced HetNet gateway (HNG) configured to couple to a 5G Stand- Alone (SA) base station and a second base station using respective interfaces for communicating with the 5G SA base station and the second base station; (Mishra, Fig. 4 & [0039] discloses a HetNet Gateway HNG (i.e. reads on 5G enhanced HetNet gateway HNG) for 5G interoperability architecture and the HNG virtualizes the RAN interfaces (i.e. reads on using respective interfaces) to manage the 5G (i.e. reads on 5G stand alone SA base station), 4G (i.e. reads on second base station) and 3G such as LTE and UMTS RANs such as homeNodeBs / NodeBs, etc. (i.e. reads on base stations) and gateway functionality while abstracting and virtualizing RAN changes from the core network and the core network itself from the RAN and the HNG virtualizes thousands of base stations and also virtualizes radio network nodes such as WiFi access points eNodeBs and NodeBs; Mishra, [0059] discloses various architectures for a 5G ready architecture are shown including both standalone SA (i.e. reads on 5G stand-alone SA base station) and non-standalone NSA scenarios; Mishra, [0013] discloses a method of providing 5G interoperability is presented that includes providing a gateway having a radio access network RAN interface (i.e. reads on interface) for communicating with at least one RAN (i.e. reads on communicating with 5G SA base station and second base station), a core network interface for communicating with at least one core network and a processor and includes processing by the processor, 5G signaling received from the at least one RAN on the RAN interface and providing core signaling to at least one core network and includes processing by the processor signaling received from the at least one core on the core network interface and providing 5G RAN signaling to at least one RAN; Mishra, [0062] discloses the HNG and EPC represent a standalone LTE and EPC connected network; Mishra, Fig. 15 & [0064] discloses the HNG translates the 5G core signaling plane communication from NGCN en route to and from 4G base station. Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious based on the combined teachings of the cited portions, that the HNG is implemented to be connected to and communicating with both or either standalone SA and non-standalone base stations including 5G and 4G LTE base stations depending on the scenario. Applicant’s claim 14 recites “wherein the second base station is a Long Term Evolution LTE base station”).
providing a first slice pairing function between a Radio Access Network (RAN) and a radio; (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses a network slice pairing function (i.e. reads on providing a slice pairing function) between RAN/fixed access (i.e. reads on RAN) and CN wherein different devices (i.e. reads on radio) have one or more RAN slices (i.e. reads on first slice pairing between RAN and a radio) which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices by the HNG according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network and Fig 9A shows the pairing between the different devices with the RAN slice, the pairing between the RAN slices and CN slices and pairing between Fixed Access slice and CN slices; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport and Fig. 11 shows the selection goes from each device being paired and going through each specific RAN being paired and going through each specific transport being paired and going through each specific core network; Mishra, Fig. 9B & [0055]-[0056] and discloses a smart phone and an MVNO UE share a RAN slice and continue to different CN slices and discloses one or more of slice IDs are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice).
adjusting radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses Network slicing as defined in 5G (i.e. reads on in 5G) permits flexible radio resource allocation (i.e. reads on adjusting radio resource allocation by dynamically changing radio resource) among slices (i.e. reads on for radio slices), the ability to scale easily with the addition of new slices, and efficient use of radio and energy resources; Mishra, Fig. 10 & [0056] discloses The HNG allows to have multiple classes of service differentiates and prioritizes services—enabling granular Bandwidth Profile assignment and priority assignment per type of service and per end user and performance monitoring on a per user basis. Assignment change dynamically (i.e. reads on adjusting radio resource allocation by dynamically changing radio resource) based on network condition).
providing a second slice pairing function between the RAN and a core network; and providing a third slice pairing function (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses a network slice pairing function (i.e. reads on providing a slice pairing function) between RAN/fixed (i.e. reads on RAN) access and CN (i.e. reads on core network) wherein different devices have one or more RAN slices (i.e. reads on third slice pairing) which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices (i.e. reads on second slice pairing between RAN and core network) by the HNG according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network and Fig 9A shows the pairing between the different devices with the RAN slice, the pairing between the RAN slices and CN slices and pairing between Fixed Access slice and CN slices; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport and Fig. 11 shows the selection goes from each device being paired and going through each specific RAN being paired and going through each specific transport being paired and going through each specific core network; Mishra, Fig. 9B & [0055]-[0056] and discloses a smart phone and an MVNO UE share a RAN slice and continue to different CN slices and discloses one or more of slice IDs are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice. Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious based on the combined teachings of the cited portions, that the HNG comprises multiple slice pairing functionalities that selects and pairs the slice connection points between different devices to different RAN, selects and pairs the slice connection points between different RANs to different transport, selects and pairs the slice connection points between different transports to different CN and selects and pairs the slice connection points between different Fixed Access to different CN in order for the difference devices to be able to utilize the service corresponding to the various slices).
the core network being in communication with the 5G enhanced HNG, the core network including a non-5G core and a 5G Core (5GC) and wherein the 5G enhanced HNG abstracts core functionality for the non-5G core and for the 5GC, thereby providing distributed core functionality, (Mishra, Fig. 12 & [0060] discloses a block diagram of a 5G ready architecture that includes an LTE user equipment UE in communication with an LTE Radio Access Network RAN which is in communication with an HNG (i.e. reads on 5G enhanced HNG) and an Evolved Packet Core EPC (i.e. reads on non-5G core) which is in communication with an HNG and a 5G UE which is also in communication with the HNG and a next generation core network NGCN 5G (i.e. reads on 5G core 5GC) in communication with the HNG and the HNG abstracts core functionality for EPC & NGCN thereby providing distributed core functionality (i.e. reads on abstracts core functionality for the non-5G core and for the 5GC, thereby providing distributed core functionality) and the HNG speaks standard interfaces and interoperates with 5G radios and the core and other radios exchange information with HNG because the HNG is a peer radio and the HNG transparently enables the use of either EPC or NGCN as appropriate given the coupled base station and handovers are enabled across 4G / 5G using the HNG as a core virtualization gateway and interworking gateway to interwork handover communications such as via X2; Mishra, [0039] discloses a HetNet Gateway HNG for 5G interoperability architecture).
wherein the first, second, and third slice pairing functions are located at the 5G enhanced HNG (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses a network slice pairing function (i.e. reads on slice pairing functions) between RAN/fixed access and CN (i.e. reads on first slice pairing and reads on second slice pairing and reads on third slice pairing) wherein different devices have one or more RAN slices which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices by the HNG (i.e. reads on are located at the 5G enhanced HNG) according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network and discloses a smart phone and an MVNO UE share a RAN slice and continue to different CN slices and discloses one or more of slice IDs are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice and Fig 9A shows the pairing between the different devices, the RAN slices and CN slices; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport and Fig. 11 shows the selection goes from each device going through each specific RAN and each specific transport and each specific core network).
Mishra discloses the HNG comprising multiple slice pairing functionalities to pair connections between various devices including the mobile device, RAN, fixed access, transport and to the CN and in addition Mishra, [0060] discloses the HNG includes a 2G/3G/4G/5G mobile edge compute MEC facility enabling the use of configuration and multi-tenant compute between the RAN and the core but fails to explicitly disclose a slice pairing connection between the RAN and the MEC edge device residing in the RAN and therefore fails to disclose “providing a third slice pairing function between the RAN and a mobile edge server residing in the RAN”.
In addition, Mishra discloses permitting flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G but fails to explicitly disclose the use of a numerology and therefore fails to disclose “adjusting radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource numerology in 5G;”.
In a related field of endeavor, Sabella discloses:
providing a third slice pairing function between the RAN and a mobile edge server residing in the RAN (Sabella, [0052] discloses MEC apps can provide an NFV instance configured to process network connections associated with a specific network traffic type such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or another network traffic type associated with a UE quality of service QoS flow for a network slice instance (i.e. reads on slice pairing) and each of the schedulers can have a different type of SLA and QoS requirements based on the network traffic type handled by the associated NFV and for example, each traffic type such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or any other type of wireless connection to the MEC host (i.e. reads on between the RAN and a mobile edge server) has an associated class of service CloS which can be preconfigured (i.e. reads on providing a third slice pairing function) in the MEC host defining CloS-specific resource requirements for different loads of that particular traffic type; Sabella, Fig. 3A & [0229] discloses deployment of a MEC system (i.e. reads on a mobile edge server) in a 5G system such as RAN 1106 (i.e. reads on residing in the RAN) and able to accommodate multiple network slice instances and includes optimizing the instantiation of MEC apps and the allocation of VNs across the edge cloud and the goal of this allocation is to meet the E2E performance requirements of the network slice instance between the network operator and a vertical industry provider and Fig. 3A shows the MEC host is residing within the NG-RAN 304; Sabella, [0037] discloses multi-access edge computing MEC in supporting 5G network slicing and the techniques disclosed can be used to achieve and guarantee E2E latency requirements of a network slice when instantiated in a MEC enabled 5G deployments; Sabella, [0310] discloses a computing device in a MEC enabled 5G network configured to perform operations to determine a network slice instance NSI associated with a quality of service QoS flow of a user equipment and retrieve latency information for a plurality of communication links used by the NSI and the plurality of communication links including a first set of non-MEC communication links associated with a radio access network RAN of the 5G network and a second set of MEC communication links associated with the MEC system and generate a slice configuration policy based on the retrieved latency information and slice-specific attributes of the NSI; Sabella, [0050]-[0051] discloses the slice management function can be used for configuring one or more network slice instances NSIs for use by UEs or other devices within the communication architecture and discloses MEC hosts can include a MEC platform which can be coupled to one or more MEC application such as MEC apps; Sabella, [0221] discloses each network slice instance can be specifically configured to support performance related to a QoS flow of a UE, including capacity, security levels, geographical coverage and latency; Sabella, [0056] discloses the edge cloud is co-located at an edge location such as the base station and the edge cloud is located much closer to the end point and are critical to providing ultra-low latency response times for services and functions and thus improving energy consumption and overall network usages among other benefits; Sabella, [0124] discloses slice selection is determined by the network based on network slice policy with the assisted information NSSAI; Sabella, [0122] discloses determining the allowed network slice selection assistance information NSSAI).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra to incorporate the teachings of Sabella for the purpose of providing the system with a means to ensure quality or service by providing a corresponding service via a MEC app according to a defined quality of service requirement (Sabella, [0051]-[0052], [0221] & [0310]) as well as improving energy consumption and overall network usage by providing ultra-low latency response times for services and functions (Sabella, [0056]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of configuring a network slice connection between the RAN and another device as taught by Mishra) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of configuring a network slice connection between the RAN and another device, wherein the network slice connection includes a connection between the RAN and a MEC device and wherein the slice connection utilizes NSSAI as taught by Sabella) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of configuring a network slice connection between the RAN and another device (i.e. as taught by both Mishra & Sabella) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Mishra in view of Sabella fails to disclose “adjusting radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource numerology in 5G;”.
In a related field of endeavor, Li discloses:
adjusting radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource numerology in 5G; (Li, [0298] discloses Example embodiments provide a 5G (i.e. reads on in 5G) air interface that supports flexible multiplexing of different network services (i.e. reads on for radio slices) by enabling flexible choice (i.e. reads on adjusting radio resource allocation by dynamically changing) of waveform e.g. orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM/code division multiple access CDMA/etc. and numerology (i.e. reads on radio resource numerology). For example, massive internet of things IoT may use a narrower subcarrier spacing, or even code division multiple access CDMA waveform over a certain time/frequency grid, while mobile broadband services may use an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM waveform with larger subcarrier spacing and Accordingly, the present disclosure provides for network slicing, e.g. in the C-RAN, thereby providing means to provide the different sets of devise with different communications parameters/performances; Li, Fig. 5 & [0114] discloses FIG. 5 shows an example embodiment of the PHY and MAC architecture with network slicing on the air interface. For the PHY, FIG. 5 illustrates a case where multiple PHY numerologies are implemented to meet different QoS requirements. A portion of the radio resource is allocated to the active network slices in the cell and The granularity and dynamics of the resource allocation may be selected according to various design choices and/or empirical studies. Note that each of the network slices 501-504 can have multiple radio frame types with different numerologies. This scenario may be implemented when the network slice has traffic with diverse performance and QoS requirements; Li, Fig. 40 & [0301] discloses FIG. 40 shows the overall procedure 4000 for flexible RAN re-architecture according to a first example. The procedure may operate on a per transmission time interval TTI time period based frequency of operation also regarded as granularity of operation, e.g. every 1 ms. However the disclosure is not limited to any specific frequency/rate of operation. Within each time period, the frequency resources for the different operational or about to be operated—e.g. when a slice is about to be turned-on network slices are determined 4010. The frequency resources may be time slots or Frequencies see FIG. 3, or numerologies in use or the like. The disclosed procedure can then determine which form or type of operation may be used in the RAN/C-RAN, i.e. the type of RAN architecture used; Li, [0297] discloses the flexible RAN re-architecture of the example embodiments supports different 5G services i.e. use-cases/vertical markets, e.g. vertical network slices and technologies or architectures e.g. computational slicing, e.g. horizontal network slices, on top of the front-haul bandwidth BW and delay, the network profile of any particular service/slice in use, quality of service QoS, computational considerations and/or capabilities at each node, and the like).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra in view of Sabella to incorporate the teachings of Li for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide flexible multiplexing of different network services (Li, [0297]-[0298]) and providing quality of service by meeting different QoS requirements when the network slice has traffic with diverse performance and QoS requirements (Li, [0114]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic, versatile and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality of allocating slice instances, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G as taught by Mishra) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G, wherein the flexible radio resource allocation includes the use of numerology in order to provide service for network slices that has traffic with diverse performance and QoS requirements as taught by Li) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G (i.e. as taught by Mishra & Li) and is dependent upon the specific design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system.
Regarding claim 2, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The method of claim 1 further comprising (i.e. see claim 1).
performing slice pairing for at least one of 2G, 3G, and 4G to an underlying RAN slice using the first slice pairing function and to an underlying core network slice the second slice pairing function using 5G slice protocols (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses the network slice pairing function between RAN / fixed access and CN and network slicing as defined in 5G permits flexible radio resource allocation among slices, the ability to scale easily with the addition of new slices and efficient use of radio and energy resources and the HNG enables this across any-G, any-haul, using slicing layer within HNG that is shared across Gs and accordingly, 2G, 3G, 4G as well as 5G and fixed access RATs can benefit from end to end slicing and different devices have one or more RAN slices which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices by the HNG according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network).
Regarding claim 3, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The method of claim 1 further comprising (i.e. see claim 1).
using, by the HNG, NSSAI (network slice assistance information) (Sabella, [0124] discloses slice selection is determined by the network based on network slice policy with the assisted information NSSAI; Sabella, [0122] discloses determining the allowed network slice selection assistance information NSSAI; Mishra, [0056] discloses one or more of slice IDs, tunnel IDS, etc. are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport).
Regarding claim 8 and claim 16, Mishra discloses:
A wireless network system comprising: a 5G enhanced HetNet gateway (HNG) including a processor and a memory; wherein the 5G enhanced HNG is configured to:
couple to a 5G Stand-Alone (SA) base station and a second base station using respective interfaces for communicating with the 5G SA base station and the second base station; (Mishra, Fig. 4 & [0039] discloses a HetNet Gateway HNG (i.e. reads on 5G enhanced HetNet gateway HNG) for 5G interoperability architecture and the HNG virtualizes the RAN interfaces (i.e. reads on using respective interfaces) to manage the 5G (i.e. reads on 5G stand alone SA base station), 4G (i.e. reads on second base station) and 3G such as LTE and UMTS RANs such as homeNodeBs / NodeBs, etc. (i.e. reads on base stations) and gateway functionality while abstracting and virtualizing RAN changes from the core network and the core network itself from the RAN and the HNG virtualizes thousands of base stations and also virtualizes radio network nodes such as WiFi access points eNodeBs and NodeBs; Mishra, [0059] discloses various architectures for a 5G ready architecture are shown including both standalone SA (i.e. reads on 5G stand-alone SA base station) and non-standalone NSA scenarios; Mishra, [0013] discloses a method of providing 5G interoperability is presented that includes providing a gateway having a radio access network RAN interface (i.e. reads on interface) for communicating with at least one RAN (i.e. reads on communicating with 5G SA base station and second base station), a core network interface for communicating with at least one core network and a processor and includes processing by the processor, 5G signaling received from the at least one RAN on the RAN interface and providing core signaling to at least one core network and includes processing by the processor signaling received from the at least one core on the core network interface and providing 5G RAN signaling to at least one RAN; Mishra, [0062] discloses the HNG and EPC represent a standalone LTE and EPC connected network; Mishra, Fig. 15 & [0064] discloses the HNG translates the 5G core signaling plane communication from NGCN en route to and from 4G base station. Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious based on the combined teachings of the cited portions, that the HNG is implemented to be connected to and communicating with both or either standalone SA and non-standalone base stations including 5G and 4G LTE base stations depending on the scenario. Applicant’s claim 14 recites “wherein the second base station is a Long Term Evolution LTE base station”).
couple to a core network in communication with the 5G enhanced HNG, the core network including a non-5G core and a 5G Core (5GC) and wherein the 5G enhanced HNG abstracts core functionality for the non-5G core and for the 5GC, thereby providing distributed core functionality; (Mishra, Fig. 12 & [0060] discloses a block diagram of a 5G ready architecture that includes an LTE user equipment UE in communication with an LTE Radio Access Network RAN which is in communication with an HNG (i.e. reads on 5G enhanced HNG) and an Evolved Packet Core EPC which is in communication with an HNG and a 5G UE which is also in communication with the HNG and a next generation core network NGCN 5G in communication (i.e. reads on couple to a core network) with the HNG (i.e. reads on with the 5G HNG) and the HNG abstracts core functionality for EPC (i.e. reads on non-5G core) & NGCN (i.e. reads on 5GC) thereby providing distributed core functionality (i.e. reads on abstracts core functionality for the non-5G core and for the 5GC, thereby providing distributed core functionality) and the HNG speaks standard interfaces and interoperates with 5G radios and the core and other radios exchange information with HNG because the HNG is a peer radio and the HNG transparently enables the use of either EPC or NGCN as appropriate given the coupled base station and handovers are enabled across 4G / 5G using the HNG as a core virtualization gateway and interworking gateway to interwork handover communications such as via X2; Mishra, [0039] discloses a HetNet Gateway HNG for 5G interoperability architecture).
provide a first slice pairing function between a Radio Access Network (RAN) and a radio; (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses a network slice pairing function (i.e. reads on providing a slice pairing function) between RAN/fixed access (i.e. reads on RAN) and CN wherein different devices (i.e. reads on radio) have one or more RAN slices (i.e. reads on first slice pairing between RAN and a radio) which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices by the HNG according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network and Fig 9A shows the pairing between the different devices with the RAN slice, the pairing between the RAN slices and CN slices and pairing between Fixed Access slice and CN slices; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport and Fig. 11 shows the selection goes from each device being paired and going through each specific RAN being paired and going through each specific transport being paired and going through each specific core network; Mishra, Fig. 9B & [0055]-[0056] and discloses a smart phone and an MVNO UE share a RAN slice and continue to different CN slices and discloses one or more of slice IDs are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice).
adjust radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses Network slicing as defined in 5G (i.e. reads on in 5G) permits flexible radio resource allocation (i.e. reads on adjust radio resource allocation by dynamically changing radio resource) among slices (i.e. reads on for radio slices), the ability to scale easily with the addition of new slices, and efficient use of radio and energy resources; Mishra, Fig. 10 & [0056] discloses The HNG allows to have multiple classes of service differentiates and prioritizes services—enabling granular Bandwidth Profile assignment and priority assignment per type of service and per end user and performance monitoring on a per user basis. Assignment change dynamically (i.e. reads on adjusting radio resource allocation by dynamically changing radio resource) based on network condition).
provide a second slice pairing function between the RAN and the core network; and provide a third slice pairing function (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses a network slice pairing function (i.e. reads on providing a slice pairing function) between RAN/fixed (i.e. reads on RAN) access and CN (i.e. reads on core network) wherein different devices have one or more RAN slices (i.e. reads on third slice pairing) which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices (i.e. reads on second slice pairing between RAN and core network) by the HNG according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network and Fig 9A shows the pairing between the different devices with the RAN slice, the pairing between the RAN slices and CN slices and pairing between Fixed Access slice and CN slices; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport and Fig. 11 shows the selection goes from each device being paired and going through each specific RAN being paired and going through each specific transport being paired and going through each specific core network; Mishra, Fig. 9B & [0055]-[0056] and discloses a smart phone and an MVNO UE share a RAN slice and continue to different CN slices and discloses one or more of slice IDs are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice. Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize and find obvious based on the combined teachings of the cited portions, that the HNG comprises multiple slice pairing functionalities that selects and pairs the slice connection points between different devices to different RAN, selects and pairs the slice connection points between different RANs to different transport, selects and pairs the slice connection points between different transports to different CN and selects and pairs the slice connection points between different Fixed Access to different CN in order for the difference devices to be able to utilize the service corresponding to the various slices).
Mishra discloses the HNG comprising multiple slice pairing functionalities to pair connections between various devices including the mobile device, RAN, fixed access, transport and to the CN and in addition Mishra, [0060] discloses the HNG includes a 2G/3G/4G/5G mobile edge compute MEC facility enabling the use of configuration and multi-tenant compute between the RAN and the core but fails to explicitly disclose a slice pairing connection between the RAN and the MEC edge device residing in the RAN and therefore fails to disclose “provide a third slice pairing function between the RAN and a mobile edge server residing in the RAN”.
In addition, Mishra discloses permitting flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G but fails to explicitly disclose the use of a numerology and therefore fails to disclose “adjust radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource numerology in 5G;”.
In a related field of endeavor, Sabella discloses:
provide a third slice pairing function between the RAN and a mobile edge server residing in the RAN (Sabella, [0052] discloses MEC apps can provide an NFV instance configured to process network connections associated with a specific network traffic type such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or another network traffic type associated with a UE quality of service QoS flow for a network slice instance (i.e. reads on slice pairing) and each of the schedulers can have a different type of SLA and QoS requirements based on the network traffic type handled by the associated NFV and for example, each traffic type such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or any other type of wireless connection to the MEC host (i.e. reads on between the RAN and a mobile edge server) has an associated class of service CloS which can be preconfigured (i.e. reads on provide a third slice pairing function) in the MEC host defining CloS-specific resource requirements for different loads of that particular traffic type; Sabella, Fig. 3A & [0229] discloses deployment of a MEC system (i.e. reads on a mobile edge server) in a 5G system such as RAN 1106 (i.e. reads on residing in the RAN) and able to accommodate multiple network slice instances and includes optimizing the instantiation of MEC apps and the allocation of VNs across the edge cloud and the goal of this allocation is to meet the E2E performance requirements of the network slice instance between the network operator and a vertical industry provider and Fig. 3A shows the MEC host is residing within the NG-RAN 304; Sabella, [0037] discloses multi-access edge computing MEC in supporting 5G network slicing and the techniques disclosed can be used to achieve and guarantee E2E latency requirements of a network slice when instantiated in a MEC enabled 5G deployments; Sabella, [0310] discloses a computing device in a MEC enabled 5G network configured to perform operations to determine a network slice instance NSI associated with a quality of service QoS flow of a user equipment and retrieve latency information for a plurality of communication links used by the NSI and the plurality of communication links including a first set of non-MEC communication links associated with a radio access network RAN of the 5G network and a second set of MEC communication links associated with the MEC system and generate a slice configuration policy based on the retrieved latency information and slice-specific attributes of the NSI; Sabella, [0050]-[0051] discloses the slice management function can be used for configuring one or more network slice instances NSIs for use by UEs or other devices within the communication architecture and discloses MEC hosts can include a MEC platform which can be coupled to one or more MEC application such as MEC apps; Sabella, [0221] discloses each network slice instance can be specifically configured to support performance related to a QoS flow of a UE, including capacity, security levels, geographical coverage and latency; Sabella, [0056] discloses the edge cloud is co-located at an edge location such as the base station and the edge cloud is located much closer to the end point and are critical to providing ultra-low latency response times for services and functions and thus improving energy consumption and overall network usages among other benefits; Sabella, [0124] discloses slice selection is determined by the network based on network slice policy with the assisted information NSSAI; Sabella, [0122] discloses determining the allowed network slice selection assistance information NSSAI).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra to incorporate the teachings of Sabella for the purpose of providing the system with a means to ensure quality or service by providing a corresponding service via a MEC app according to a defined quality of service requirement (Sabella, [0051]-[0052], [0221] & [0310]) as well as improving energy consumption and overall network usage by providing ultra-low latency response times for services and functions (Sabella, [0056]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of configuring a network slice connection between the RAN and another device as taught by Mishra) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of configuring a network slice connection between the RAN and another device, wherein the network slice connection includes a connection between the RAN and a MEC device and wherein the slice connection utilizes NSSAI as taught by Sabella) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of configuring a network slice connection between the RAN and another device (i.e. as taught by both Mishra & Sabella) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Mishra in view of Sabella fails to disclose “adjust radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource numerology in 5G;”.
In a related field of endeavor, Li discloses:
adjust radio resource allocation for radio slices by dynamically changing radio resource numerology in 5G; (Li, [0298] discloses Example embodiments provide a 5G (i.e. reads on in 5G) air interface that supports flexible multiplexing of different network services (i.e. reads on for radio slices) by enabling flexible choice (i.e. reads on adjust radio resource allocation by dynamically changing) of waveform e.g. orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM/code division multiple access CDMA/etc. and numerology (i.e. reads on radio resource numerology). For example, massive internet of things IoT may use a narrower subcarrier spacing, or even code division multiple access CDMA waveform over a certain time/frequency grid, while mobile broadband services may use an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM waveform with larger subcarrier spacing and Accordingly, the present disclosure provides for network slicing, e.g. in the C-RAN, thereby providing means to provide the different sets of devise with different communications parameters/performances; Li, Fig. 5 & [0114] discloses FIG. 5 shows an example embodiment of the PHY and MAC architecture with network slicing on the air interface. For the PHY, FIG. 5 illustrates a case where multiple PHY numerologies are implemented to meet different QoS requirements. A portion of the radio resource is allocated to the active network slices in the cell and The granularity and dynamics of the resource allocation may be selected according to various design choices and/or empirical studies. Note that each of the network slices 501-504 can have multiple radio frame types with different numerologies. This scenario may be implemented when the network slice has traffic with diverse performance and QoS requirements; Li, Fig. 40 & [0301] discloses FIG. 40 shows the overall procedure 4000 for flexible RAN re-architecture according to a first example. The procedure may operate on a per transmission time interval TTI time period based frequency of operation also regarded as granularity of operation, e.g. every 1 ms. However the disclosure is not limited to any specific frequency/rate of operation. Within each time period, the frequency resources for the different operational or about to be operated—e.g. when a slice is about to be turned-on network slices are determined 4010. The frequency resources may be time slots or Frequencies see FIG. 3, or numerologies in use or the like. The disclosed procedure can then determine which form or type of operation may be used in the RAN/C-RAN, i.e. the type of RAN architecture used; Li, [0297] discloses the flexible RAN re-architecture of the example embodiments supports different 5G services i.e. use-cases/vertical markets, e.g. vertical network slices and technologies or architectures e.g. computational slicing, e.g. horizontal network slices, on top of the front-haul bandwidth BW and delay, the network profile of any particular service/slice in use, quality of service QoS, computational considerations and/or capabilities at each node, and the like).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra in view of Sabella to incorporate the teachings of Li for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide flexible multiplexing of different network services (Li, [0297]-[0298]) and providing quality of service by meeting different QoS requirements when the network slice has traffic with diverse performance and QoS requirements (Li, [0114]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic, versatile and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality of allocating slice instances, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G as taught by Mishra) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G, wherein the flexible radio resource allocation includes the use of numerology in order to provide service for network slices that has traffic with diverse performance and QoS requirements as taught by Li) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of flexible radio resource allocation among slices in 5G (i.e. as taught by Mishra & Li) and is dependent upon the specific design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system.
Regarding claim 9, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The system of claim 8 (i.e. see claim 8).
wherein slice pairing is performed for at least one of 2G, 3G, and 4G to an underlying slice in the core network using the first and the second slice pairing functions (Mishra, Fig. 9A & [0054] discloses the network slice pairing function between RAN / fixed access and CN and network slicing as defined in 5G permits flexible radio resource allocation among slices, the ability to scale easily with the addition of new slices and efficient use of radio and energy resources and the HNG enables this across any-G, any-haul, using slicing layer within HNG that is shared across Gs and accordingly, 2G, 3G, 4G as well as 5G and fixed access RATs can benefit from end to end slicing and different devices have one or more RAN slices which may connect with one or more core network slices and the RAN slices are paired with CN slices by the HNG according to needs of the device as well as needs of the network).
Regarding claim 10, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The system of claim 8 further comprising (i.e. see claim 8).
the HNG using NSSAI (network slice assistance information) (Sabella, [0124] discloses slice selection is determined by the network based on network slice policy with the assisted information NSSAI; Sabella, [0122] discloses determining the allowed network slice selection assistance information NSSAI; Mishra, [0056] discloses one or more of slice IDs, tunnel IDS, etc. are assigned by the HNG to enable appropriate transport of data within each slice; Mishra, Fig. 11 & [0058] discloses a VR user is part of a slice 1105 through the HNG and the HNG selects core, RAN, transport and backhaul accordingly to provide both high bandwidth and low latency and an IoT device is part of a slice 1106 extending from the IoT device through the HNG for which the HNG selects low bandwidth and best effort latency, best available low-data rate RAN and best effort priority transport).
Regarding claim 15, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The method of claim 1, (i.e. see claim 1).
wherein the second base station is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station (Mishra, Fig. 4 & [0039] discloses a HetNet Gateway HNG for 5G interoperability architecture and the HNG virtualizes the RAN interfaces to manage the 5G, 4G and 3G such as LTE and UMTS RANs such as homeNodeBs / NodeBs, etc. and gateway functionality while abstracting and virtualizing RAN changes from the core network and the core network itself from the RAN and the HNG virtualizes thousands of base stations and also virtualizes radio network nodes such as WiFi access points eNodeBs and NodeBs).
Regarding claim 17 and claim 18 and claim 19, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The wireless network system of claim 16, (i.e. see claim 16) and The method of claim 1 (i.e. see claim 1) and The wireless network system of claim 8 (i.e. see claim 8).
wherein provide a third slice pairing function includes identify a RAN slice to pair with the mobile edge server based on a quality of service (Sabella, [0052] discloses MEC apps can provide an NFV instance configured to process network connections associated with a specific network traffic type such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or another network traffic type associated with a UE quality of service QoS flow for a network slice instance and each of the schedulers can have a different type of SLA and QoS requirements based on the network traffic type handled by the associated NFV and for example, each traffic type such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or any other type of wireless connection to the MEC host has an associated class of service CloS which can be preconfigured in the MEC host defining CloS-specific resource requirements for different loads of that particular traffic type; Sabella, [0037] discloses multi-access edge computing MEC in supporting 5G network slicing and the techniques disclosed can be used to achieve and guarantee E2E latency requirements of a network slice when instantiated in a MEC enabled 5G deployments; Sabella, [0310] discloses a computing device in a MEC enabled 5G network configured to perform operations to determine a network slice instance NSI associated with a quality of service QoS flow of a user equipment and retrieve latency information for a plurality of communication links used by the NSI and the plurality of communication links including a first set of non-MEC communication links associated with a radio access network RAN of the 5G network and a second set of MEC communication links associated with the MEC system and generate a slice configuration policy based on the retrieved latency information and slice-specific attributes of the NSI).
Claim 4 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishra et al. (US Patent Publication 2019/0364616 herein after referenced as Mishra) in view of Sabella et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0086864 herein after referenced as Sabella) in view of Li et al. (US Patent Publication 2017/0079059 herein after referenced as Li) and further in view of THEIMER et al. (US Patent Publication 2021/0153111 herein after referenced as Theimer).
Regarding claim 4 and claim 11, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The method of claim 3 (i.e. see claim 3) and The system of claim 10 (see claim 10).
Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses utilizing NSSAI but fails to explicitly disclose that the NSSAI has multiple single NSSAI slices and therefore fails to disclose “wherein each NSSAI has multiple S-NSSAI (single NSSAI) slices.”
In a related field of endeavor, Theimer discloses:
wherein each NSSAI has multiple S-NSSAI (single NSSAI) slices (Theimer, [0031] discloses user equipment provide network slice selection assistance information NSSAI parameters to the network to assist in selection of a slice instance for the user equipment and a single NSSAI may lead to the selection of several slices and an NSSAI is a collection of smaller components, single-NSSAIs 5-NSSAI which each include a slice service type SST and possibly a slice differentiator SD and the slice service type refers to an expected network behavior in terms of features and services and the slice differentiator can help selecting among several network slice instances of the same type; Theimer, [0038] discloses the interworking function can also use the NSSAI to select an AMF in other situations such as during the registration phase and the NSSAI can also be used for selecting an access network slice by the interworking function; Theimer, [0022] discloses an interworking function is disposed between the Ethernet and the core network and can also be referred to as a non-3GPP interworking function N3IWF and is configured to modify or translate messages conveyed from the fixed access user equipment to the core network so that the fixed access user equipment appears to be accessing the core network according to the mobile access standards or protocols from the perspective of the core network; Theimer, Fig. 8 & [0057] discloses the user equipment can also represent other types of devices such as residential gateways and has a fixed access connection to an Ethernet which is connected to an interworking function N3IWF).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li to incorporate the teachings of Theimer for the purpose of providing the system with a means to assist in selection of a slice instance for the user equipment (Theimer, [0031]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic, versatile and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality of allocating slice instances, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of selecting a slice instance utilizing NSSAI as taught by Sabella) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of selecting a slice instance utilizing NSSAI and wherein an NSSAI corresponds to multiple single NSSAI slices as taught by Theimer) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of selecting a slice instance utilizing NSSAI (i.e. as taught by Sabella & Theimer) and is dependent upon the specific design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system.
Claim 5 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishra et al. (US Patent Publication 2019/0364616 herein after referenced as Mishra) in view of Sabella et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0086864 herein after referenced as Sabella) in view of Li et al. (US Patent Publication 2017/0079059 herein after referenced as Li) in view of THEIMER et al. (US Patent Publication 2021/0153111 herein after referenced as Theimer) and further in view of FACCIN et al. (US Patent Publication 2019/0124561 herein after referenced as Faccin).
Regarding claim 5 and claim 12, Mishra in view of Sabella in view of Li and further in view of Theimer discloses:
The method of claim 4 (see claim 4) and The system of claim 11 (see claim 11).
Mishra in view of Sabella in view of Li and further in view of Theimer discloses an interworking function gateway device utilizing a network slice selection assistance information comprising a collection of single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI to select a slice instance but fails to explicitly disclose that said S-NSSAI includes multiple DNNs and therefore fails to disclose “wherein each S-NSSAI slice has multiple Data Network Names (DNNs) configured.”
In a related field of endeavor, Faccin discloses:
wherein each S-NSSAI slice has multiple Data Network Names (DNNs) configured (Faccin, [0085] discloses each S-NSSAI may contain multiple DNNs and one default DNN; Faccin, [0008]-[0009] discloses enabling network slice selection policies NSSP to map applications to network slices to a data network name DNN and discloses enabling UE functionality to maintain a mapping between active packet data network connections corresponding single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI; Faccin, [0082] discloses the identification and selection of a network slice is based on the S-NSSAI and the NSSAI; Faccin, [0084] discloses the NSSAI is a collection of S-NSSAIs; Faccin, Fig. 9 & [0043] discloses the wireless communication network includes at least one network device comprising an interworking component that performs network-related operations to support interworking between 5GS network slicing and EPC connectivity; Faccin, [0032] discloses enhance network slice selection policies to map not only applications to network slices and to a data network name DNN but also to the access point name APN to be used when the UE is in the EPC).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra in view of Sabella in view of Li and further in view of Theimer to incorporate the teachings Faccin of for the purpose of providing the system with a means to enhance network slice selection policies (Faccin, [0032]) making the system more dynamic, versatile and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality of allocating slice instances, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of selecting a slice instance via a gateway device utilizing network slice selection assistance information NSSAI comprising multiple S-NSSAI as taught by Theimer) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of selecting a slice instance via a gateway device utilizing network slice selection assistance information NSSAI comprising multiple S-NSSAI and wherein the S-NSSAI include multiple DNNs as taught by Faccin) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of selecting a slice instance via a gateway device utilizing network slice selection assistance information NSSAI comprising multiple S-NSSAI (i.e. as taught by Theimer & Faccin) and is dependent upon the specific design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system.
Claim 6-7 and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishra et al. (US Patent Publication 2019/0364616 herein after referenced as Mishra) in view of Sabella et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0086864 herein after referenced as Sabella) in view of Li et al. (US Patent Publication 2017/0079059 herein after referenced as Li) and further in view of Velev et al. (US Patent Publication 2019/0200285 herein after referenced as Velev).
Regarding claim 6 and claim 13, Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses:
The method of claim 3 (see claim 3) and The system of claim 11 (see claim 11).
Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li discloses an interworking function gateway device utilizing a network slice selection assistance information NSSAI but fails to explicitly disclose that said NSSAI is configured by the serving PLMN and therefore fails to disclose “wherein a configured NSSAI is configured by a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or default NSSAI configured by Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN).” In a related field of endeavor, Velev discloses:
wherein a configured NSSAI is configured by a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or default NSSAI configured by Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) (Velev, [0077] discloses a UE provisioning performed by a HPLMN is referred to as a default UE network slice configuration and contains configured NSSAI for the HPLMN and one or more default configured NSSAIs for other PLMNs and any other serving PLMN such as a VPLMN may provide additional network slice configurations to the UE such as a configured NSSAI for a serving PLMN only applicable to the serving PLMN; Velev, [0098] discloses there may be many ways for the serving AMF to determine whether the UE is provided with a configured NSSAI for a serving PLMN; Velev, [0084] discloses if a requested NSSAI is not included in a registration message then a configured S-NSSAI for a HPLMN is not received, an AMF determines that a UE should be provided with a network slicing configuration information and the AMF devices a configured NSSAI for the HPLMN based on subscribed NSSAIs and the configured NSSAI for the HPLMN may also include an indication for default S-NSSAIs and the AMF may determine that either there is no configured NSSAI for a serving PLMN and therefore the AMF creates and/or derives a new configured NSSAI for the serving PLMN; Velev, [0106] discloses this indication may also indicate all PLMNs for which no other configured NSSAI is provided in which case the configured NSSAI may be a default configured NSSAI for any VPLMN; Velev, [0109]-[0110] discloses the serving AMF may determine whether to provide the configured NSSAI for HPLMN based on at least one of the following conditions and discloses the serving AMF may take into consideration information about whether the UE is provided with configured NSSAI for a current PLMN and if the information is negative, then the serving AMF may decide to provide the configured NSSAI for HPLMN).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mishra in view of Sabella and further in view of Li to incorporate the teachings Velev of for the purpose of providing the system with a means to receive and determine the NSSAI to be utilized (Velev, [0077] & [0084] & [0109]-[0110]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic, versatile and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality of allocating slice instances, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of selecting a slice instance utilizing network slice selection assistance information NSSAI as taught by Sabella) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of selecting a slice instance utilizing network slice selection assistance information NSSAI, wherein the NSSAI is configured by the serving PLMN or the HPLMN and wherein a default PLMN is used when no serving NSSAI is detected as taught by Velev) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of selecting a slice instance utilizing network slice selection assistance information NSSAI (i.e. as taught by Sabella & Velev) and is dependent upon the specific design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system.
Regarding claim 7 and claim 14, Mishra in view of Sabella in view of Li and further in view of Velev discloses:
The method of claim 6 (see claim 6) and The system of claim 13 (see claim 13).
wherein when the serving PLMN doesn't have specific configured PLMN then the serving PLMN uses default configured NSSAI from HPLMN (Velev, [0098] discloses there may be many ways for the serving AMF to determine whether the UE is provided with a configured NSSAI for a serving PLMN; Velev, [0084] discloses if a requested NSSAI is not included in a registration message then a configured S-NSSAI for a HPLMN is not received, an AMF determines that a UE should be provided with a network slicing configuration information and the AMF devices a configured NSSAI for the HPLMN based on subscribed NSSAIs and the configured NSSAI for the HPLMN may also include an indication for default S-NSSAIs and the AMF may determine that either there is no configured NSSAI for a serving PLMN and therefore the AMF creates and/or derives a new configured NSSAI for the serving PLMN; Velev, [0106] discloses this indication may also indicate all PLMNs for which no other configured NSSAI is provided in which case the configured NSSAI may be a default configured NSSAI for any VPLMN; Velev, [0109]-[0110] discloses the serving AMF may determine whether to provide the configured NSSAI for HPLMN based on at least one of the following conditions and discloses the serving AMF may take into consideration information about whether the UE is provided with configured NSSAI for a current PLMN and if the information is negative, then the serving AMF may decide to provide the configured NSSAI for HPLMN; Velev, [0077] discloses a UE provisioning performed by a HPLMN is referred to as a default UE network slice configuration and contains configured NSSAI for the HPLMN and one or more default configured NSSAIs for other PLMNs and any other serving PLMN such as a VPLMN may provide additional network slice configurations to the UE such as a configured NSSAI for a serving PLMN only applicable to the serving PLMN).
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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/MICHAEL Y MAPA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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