DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5-7, 9, 11, 12, 14-22
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 9, 11-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong (US20220338085) in view of Keller et al. ( US20210345186).
Regarding claim 1, Zhong teaches A method comprising: at a control plane function entity for session management ([0091-92] “An SMF is a session management function in the 5G network, and a PGW-C is a gateway control plane function that is in the 4G network and that corresponds to the SMF. The “integrated configuration” herein means that one module may have functions of two network function entities … In addition, the system architecture 100 may further include an MME module”, [0101] “An S1-MME interface is a control plane interface between the MME and the E-UTRAN”, (Examiner’s Note):a control plane function entity is equivalent to the system architecture 100), communicating one or more messages in a procedure for a handover of a session of a user equipment (UE) from a Fifth Generation System (5GS) to an Evolved Packet System (EP S) (Fig 2 “203 -207”, [0135] “receiving the forward relocation request, the MME initiates 5G-to-4G handover”), [0144] “The MME continues to perform the subsequent handover procedure until the UE is handed over to a 4G network. In this case, the MME waits for a tracking area update request sent by the UE”);
after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) parameters ([0197] “In the method, after receiving an SRVCC capability of the UE sent by the MME, the HSS+UDM sends the second notification information to the PGW-C. After receiving the second notification information, the PGW-C initiates the setup of the bearer for the voice service”)
Zhong does not explictly teach identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) parameters Quality of Service (QOS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE;
and based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G parameters are to be communicated to the UE, communicating one or more messages to initiate a bearer modification procedure with QOS update to obtain the 2G and/or3G QOS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QOS parameters are to be communicated to the UE.
Keller teaches identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) parameters Quality of Service (QOS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE ([0038] “In step S302, a determining module 302 of the network node 202 may determine whether 2G/3G QoS parameters for one or more bearers have been provided to the UE 212 after the UE 212 has moved from the 5G network to the 4G network. If it is determined that 2G/3G QoS parameters have not yet been provided to the UE 212 for the one or more bearers, a triggering module 304 of the network node 202 may trigger”);
and based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G parameters are to be communicated to the UE, communicating one or more messages to initiate a bearer modification procedure with QOS update to obtain the 2G and/or3G QOS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QOS parameters are to be communicated to the UE ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow more effective UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 2, Zhong does not teach further comprising: at the control plane function entity for session management, based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are not to be communicated to the UE, refraining from communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure with the bearer QoS update.
Keller teaches further comprising: at the control plane function entity for session management, based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are not to be communicated to the UE, refraining from communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure with the bearer QoS update ([0038] “In step S302, a determining module 302 of the network node 202 may determine whether 2G/3G QoS parameters for one or more bearers have been provided to the UE 212 after the UE 212 has moved from the 5G network to the 4G network. If it is determined that 2G/3G QoS parameters have not yet been provided to the UE 212 for the one or more bearers, a triggering module 304 of the network node 202 may trigger”, (Examiner’s Note: if does not trigger no update occurs).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow more effective UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 3, Zhong teaches wherein the bearer modification procedure comprises a packet data network (PDN) gateway (GW) initiated bearer modification ([0197] “In the method, after receiving an SRVCC capability of the UE sent by the MME, the HSS+UDM sends the second notification information to the PGW-C. After receiving the second notification information, the PGW-C initiates the setup of the bearer for the voice service”).
Zhong does not explicly teach with a bearer QoS update.
Keller teaches with a bearer QoS update ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow more effective UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 4, Zhong teaches wherein communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure further comprises: sending a message which indicates an update bearer request ([0197] “In the method, after receiving an SRVCC capability of the UE sent by the MME, the HSS+UDM sends the second notification information to the PGW-C. After receiving the second notification information, the PGW-C initiates the setup of the bearer for the voice service”).
Regarding claim 5, Zhong teaches wherein communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure further comprises: sending to a serving gateway (SGW) a message which indicates an update bearer request ([0106] “An S11 interface is an interface between the S-GW and the MME, and is configured to establish a user plane bearer”, [0103] “An S5-U interface is a user plane interface between the S-GW and the PGW-U, and is configured to transmit user plane data of UE, [0194] “It should be noted that the MME may send the first notification information to the PGW-C through an S-GW”),
for subsequent communication to a mobility management entity (MME) that is configured to select the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters based on EPS bearer QoS parameters of the session and store the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters in a context, for the subsequent communication of the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters to the UE ([0197] “the MME needs to first send an SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB, and then send the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM. In an embodiment, if a TAU request message of the UE received by the MME carries the SRVCC capability of the UE, the MME first obtains subscription information of the UE from the HSS+UDM. When obtaining the subscription information, the MME temporarily does not send the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM. In this way, the MME sends the SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB based on the SRVCC capability and the subscription information of the UE, and further sends the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM after sending the indication to the eNB. This can ensure that the eNB has received the SRVCC operation possible indication when the PGW-C receives an SRVCC indication from the HSS+UDM, so that when the eNB receives a bearer setup request for the voice service … the eNB can still hand over the UE to a 2G/3G network to support the SRVCC, to maintain continuity of the voice service”).
Regarding claim 7, Zhong teaches wherein identifying whether the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters
identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0151] “The indication information indicates that handover of the voice service of the UE from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network is supported. For example, the indication information is the SRVCC operation possible indication”);
and identifying that the session was established in the 5GS, or that QoS parameters of a QoS Flow of the session was modified while the UE was in the 5GS ([0130] “the gNB may set: The creation of the QoS flow with the 5QI=1 is not supported. If determining that the 5QI corresponding to the QoS flow is not supported, the gNB rejects the creation of the QoS flow, and sends a reject message to the PGW-C”).
Zhong does not teach 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be provided to the UE.
Keller teaches 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 9, Zhong teaches wherein the control plane function entity for session management comprises a converged control plane function entity for interworking ([0089] “The SMF+PGW-C module is used for session establishment, deletion, and modification management. In the interworking system architecture, the module can provide both a 4G session management function and a 5G session management function”) wherein the 2G and/or the 3G parameters QoS([0151] “The indication information indicates that handover of the voice service of the UE from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network is supported. For example, the indication information is the SRVCC operation possible indication”).
Zhong does not explicitly teach comprise one or more of a QoS Negotiated, a Radio Priority, and a Packet Flow ID.
Keller teaches comprise one or more of a QoS Negotiated, a Radio Priority ([0013] “The one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters … may include at least one of a traffic class, a delivery order, an indication of delivery of erroneous Service Data Units (SDUs), a maximum SDU size, a maximum bit rate for uplink, a maximum bit rate for downlink, a residual Bit Error Rate (BER), an SDU error ratio, a transfer delay, a traffic handling priority, an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), a guaranteed bit rate for uplink, and a guaranteed bit rate for downlink. The one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters may be mapped from one or more corresponding 4G QoS parameters, such as from one or more Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer QoS parameters”), and a Packet Flow ID .
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 11, Zhong teaches a network node comprising: one or more processors; one or more interfaces to connect for network communication; one or more memory elements for storing instructions executable by the one or more processors for operation ([0345] “The communication apparatus includes a transceiver 1301 and a processor 1302, as shown in FIG. 13. In an embodiment, the processor 1302 is configured to perform a corresponding function of the session management network element, the mobility management network element, the subscriber data management network element, or the access network element in the foregoing methods. The transceiver 1301 is configured to implement communication between the communication apparatus and another network element. The data forwarding apparatus may further include a memory 1303. The memory 1303 is configured to be coupled to the processor, and stores program instructions and data that are necessary for the data forwarding apparatus”) as a converged control plane function entity for session management operative for interworking ([0091-92] “An SMF is a session management function in the 5G network, and a PGW-C is a gateway control plane function that is in the 4G network and that corresponds to the SMF. The “integrated configuration” herein means that one module may have functions of two network function entities … In addition, the system architecture 100 may further include an MME module”, [0101] “An S1-MME interface is a control plane interface between the MME and the E-UTRAN”, (Examiner’s Note):a control plane function entity is equivalent to the system architecture 100), including for:
communicating one or more messages in a procedure for a handover of a session of a user equipment (UE) from a Fifth Generation System (5GS) to an Evolved Packet System (EP S) (Fig 2 “203 -207”, [0135] “receiving the forward relocation request, the MME initiates 5G-to-4G handover”), [0144] “The MME continues to perform the subsequent handover procedure until the UE is handed over to a 4G network. In this case, the MME waits for a tracking area update request sent by the UE”);
Zhong does not explicitly teach after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) Quality of Service (QOS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE;
and based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE, communicating one or more messages to initiate a bearer modification procedure with a bearer QoS update to obtain the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE.
Keller teaches after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) Quality of Service (QOS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE ([0038] “In step S302, a determining module 302 of the network node 202 may determine whether 2G/3G QoS parameters for one or more bearers have been provided to the UE 212 after the UE 212 has moved from the 5G network to the 4G network. If it is determined that 2G/3G QoS parameters have not yet been provided to the UE 212 for the one or more bearers, a triggering module 304 of the network node 202 may trigger”);
and based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE, communicating one or more messages to initiate a bearer modification procedure with a bearer QoS update to obtain the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 12, Zhong does not teach wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors for: based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are not to be communicated to the UE, refraining from communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure with the bearer QoS update.
Keller teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors for: based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are not to be communicated to the UE, refraining from communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure with the bearer QoS update ([0038] “In step S302, a determining module 302 of the network node 202 may determine whether 2G/3G QoS parameters for one or more bearers have been provided to the UE 212 after the UE 212 has moved from the 5G network to the 4G network. If it is determined that 2G/3G QoS parameters have not yet been provided to the UE 212 for the one or more bearers, a triggering module 304 of the network node 202 may trigger”, (Examiner’s Note: if does not trigger no update occurs).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow more effective UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 13, Zhong teaches wherein the bearer modification procedure comprises a packet data network (PDN) gateway (GW) initiated bearer modification ([0197] “In the method, after receiving an SRVCC capability of the UE sent by the MME, the HSS+UDM sends the second notification information to the PGW-C. After receiving the second notification information, the PGW-C initiates the setup of the bearer for the voice service”).
Zhong does not explicly teach with a bearer QoS update.
Keller teaches with a bearer QoS update ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow more effective UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 14, Zhong teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors for communicating the one or more messages in the bearer modification procedure by: sending to a serving gateway (SGW) a message which indicates an update bearer request ([0106] “An S11 interface is an interface between the S-GW and the MME, and is configured to establish a user plane bearer”, [0103] “An S5-U interface is a user plane interface between the S-GW and the PGW-U, and is configured to transmit user plane data of UE, [0194] “It should be noted that the MME may send the first notification information to the PGW-C through an S-GW”),
for subsequent communication to a mobility management entity (MME) that is configured to select the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters based on EPS bearer QoS parameters of the session and store the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters in a context, for the subsequent communication of the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters to the UE ([0197] “the MME needs to first send an SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB, and then send the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM. In an embodiment, if a TAU request message of the UE received by the MME carries the SRVCC capability of the UE, the MME first obtains subscription information of the UE from the HSS+UDM. When obtaining the subscription information, the MME temporarily does not send the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM. In this way, the MME sends the SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB based on the SRVCC capability and the subscription information of the UE, and further sends the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM after sending the indication to the eNB. This can ensure that the eNB has received the SRVCC operation possible indication when the PGW-C receives an SRVCC indication from the HSS+UDM, so that when the eNB receives a bearer setup request for the voice service … the eNB can still hand over the UE to a 2G/3G network to support the SRVCC, to maintain continuity of the voice service”).
Regarding claim 15, Zhong teaches A method comprising: at a control plane function entity for mobility management ([0091-92] “An SMF is a session management function in the 5G network, and a PGW-C is a gateway control plane function that is in the 4G network and that corresponds to the SMF. The “integrated configuration” herein means that one module may have functions of two network function entities … In addition, the system architecture 100 may further include an MME module”, [0101] “An S1-MME interface is a control plane interface between the MME and the E-UTRAN”, (Examiner’s Note):a control plane function entity is equivalent to the system architecture 100),
communicating one or more messages in a procedure for a handover of a session of a user equipment (UE) from a Fifth Generation System (5GS) to an Evolved Packet System (EPS) (Fig 2 “203 -207”, [0135] “receiving the forward relocation request, the MME initiates 5G-to-4G handover”), [0144] “The MME continues to perform the subsequent handover procedure until the UE is handed over to a 4G network. In this case, the MME waits for a tracking area update request sent by the UE”);
Zhong does not explicitly teach after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE;
and based on identifying the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters,
sending a modify bearer request message including the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G parameters are to be communicated to the UE.
Keller teaches after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE ([0038] “In step S302, a determining module 302 of the network node 202 may determine whether 2G/3G QoS parameters for one or more bearers have been provided to the UE 212 after the UE 212 has moved from the 5G network to the 4G network. If it is determined that 2G/3G QoS parameters have not yet been provided to the UE 212 for the one or more bearers, a triggering module 304 of the network node 202 may trigger”);
and based on identifying the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters,
sending a modify bearer request message including the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G parameters are to be communicated to the UE ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 16, Zhong does not teach further comprising: at the control plane function entity for mobility management, based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are not to be communicated to the UE, refraining from sending the modify bearer request message including the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters.
Keller teaches further comprising: at the control plane function entity for mobility management, based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are not to be communicated to the UE, refraining from sending the modify bearer request message including the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0038] “In step S302, a determining module 302 of the network node 202 may determine whether 2G/3G QoS parameters for one or more bearers have been provided to the UE 212 after the UE 212 has moved from the 5G network to the 4G network. If it is determined that 2G/3G QoS parameters have not yet been provided to the UE 212 for the one or more bearers, a triggering module 304 of the network node 202 may trigger”, (Examiner’s Note: if does not trigger no update occurs).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow more effective UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 17, Zhong teaches wherein modify bearer request message([0153] –[0154] “When determining that the handover of the voice service of the UE from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network is supported, the MME sends the SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB, to indicate to the eNB that the UE can support the SRVCC … the MME may send a UE context modification request message to the eNB, where the UE context modification request message carries the SRVCC operation possible indication. In an embodiment, the MME may send the SRVCC operation possible indication in a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) transport message of a tracking area update response message”).
Zhong does not teach wherein modify bearer request message including the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters further comprises:
Keller teaches wherein modify bearer request message including the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters further comprises: ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 18, Zhong teaches further comprising; at the control plane function entity for mobility management, selecting the 2G and/or the 3G QoS([0153] –[0154] “When determining that the handover of the voice service of the UE from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network is supported, the MME sends the SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB, to indicate to the eNB that the UE can support the SRVCC … the MME may send a UE context modification request message to the eNB, where the UE context modification request message carries the SRVCC operation possible indication.”).
Zhong does not explicitly teach parameters in accordance with EPS bearer QoS parameters of the session.
Keller teaches parameters in accordance with EPS bearer QoS parameters of the session [0013] “The one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters may be mapped from one or more corresponding 4G QoS parameters, such as from one or more Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer QoS parameters, for example. More specifically, each of the one or more 4G QoS parameters of the respective bearer may be mapped to a corresponding 2G/3G QoS parameter among the one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters.”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 19, Zhong teaches wherein identifying whether the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters
identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0151] “The indication information indicates that handover of the voice service of the UE from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network is supported. For example, the indication information is the SRVCC operation possible indication”);
Zhong does not teach 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be provided to the UE, identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G parameters for the UE are not stored in a context associated with the UE.
Keller teaches 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0038] “ in step S304, for each of the one or more bearers, an update bearer procedure to provide one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters to the UE 212 required to hand over the one or more bearers to the 2G/3G network”).
identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G parameters for the UE are not stored in a context associated with the UE ([0014] “ Bearers which can be handed over to a PDP context in the 2G/3G network may be determined based on a limitation regarding a number of PDP contexts supported in the 2G/3G network, for example. Alternatively or additionally, bearers which can be handed over to a PDP context in the 2G/3G network may be determined based on a limitation regarding whether a secondary PDP context is supported in the 2G/3G network. The network node may thus only initiate the update bearer procedure for bearers that can be mapped to a PDP context in the 2G/3G network. The UE, in turn, may know that, if it did not receive 2G/3G QoS parameters”)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 20, Zhong teaches wherein:the control plane function entity for mobility management comprises a mobility management entity (MME), and the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0145-0147] “Operation 208: The UE sends the tracking area update request to the MME … If the UE supports 4G-to-2G/3G SRVCC, the UE includes capability information in the TAU request message. The capability information indicates that the UE supports a capability of falling back from the 4G network to a 2G/3G network to maintain continuity of the voice service. For example, the capability information may be an SRVCC capability of falling back from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network”)
Zhong does not explicitly teach comprise one or more of a QoS Negotiated, a Radio Priority, and a Packet Flow ID.
Keller teaches comprise one or more of a QoS Negotiated, a Radio Priority ([0013] “The one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters … may include at least one of a traffic class, a delivery order, an indication of delivery of erroneous Service Data Units (SDUs), a maximum SDU size, a maximum bit rate for uplink, a maximum bit rate for downlink, a residual Bit Error Rate (BER), an SDU error ratio, a transfer delay, a traffic handling priority, an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), a guaranteed bit rate for uplink, and a guaranteed bit rate for downlink. The one or more 2G/3G QoS parameters may be mapped from one or more corresponding 4G QoS parameters, such as from one or more Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer QoS parameters”), and a Packet Flow ID .
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 21, Zhong teaches wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters ([0055] “where the indication information indicates that a fallback of the voice service of the terminal device from the second network to the third network is supported”, [0066] “The third network is a 2G or 3G network”)
Zhong does not teach are to be communicated to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.
Keller teaches are to be communicated to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message [0056] “In step 4, the eNodeB signals a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Reconfiguration message to the UE including the flag as well as the added 2G/3G QoS parameters. ”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhong to incorporate the teachings of Keller. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow UE mobility to 2G/3G.
Regarding claim 22, Zhong teaches wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE via a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) transport message comprising the modify bearer request message([0153] –[0154] “When determining that the handover of the voice service of the UE from the 4G network to the 2G/3G network is supported, the MME sends the SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB, to indicate to the eNB that the UE can support the SRVCC … the MME may send a UE context modification request message to the eNB, where the UE context modification request message carries the SRVCC operation possible indication. In an embodiment, the MME may send the SRVCC operation possible indication in a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) transport message of a tracking area update response message”)..
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong in view of Keller further in view of Mukherjee(US 20200120551).
Regarding claim 6, Zhong teaches wherein communicating the one or more messages to initiate the bearer modification procedure further comprises: sending to a serving gateway (SGW) a message which indicates an update bearer request, for subsequent communication to a mobility management entity (MME) that is configured to select the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters based on EPS bearer QoS parameters of the session, store the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters in a context ([0197] “the MME needs to first send an SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB, and then send the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM. In an embodiment, if a TAU request message of the UE received by the MME carries the SRVCC capability of the UE, the MME first obtains subscription information of the UE from the HSS+UDM. When obtaining the subscription information, the MME temporarily does not send the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM. In this way, the MME sends the SRVCC operation possible indication to the eNB based on the SRVCC capability and the subscription information of the UE, and further sends the SRVCC capability of the UE to the HSS+UDM after sending the indication to the eNB. This can ensure that the eNB has received the SRVCC operation possible indication when the PGW-C receives an SRVCC indication from the HSS+UDM, so that when the eNB receives a bearer setup request for the voice service … the eNB can still hand over the UE to a 2G/3G network to support the SRVCC, to maintain continuity of the voice service”).
Zhong, Keller does not explicitly teach and create a transaction identifier (TI) associated with the session, for the subsequent communication of the 2G and/or the 3G parameters and the TI to the UE.
Mukherjee teaches and create a transaction identifier (TI) associated with the session, for the subsequent communication of the 2G and/or the 3G parameters and the TI to the UE([0075] “the method 500 also includes identifying the RAN preference indicator for the particular user device by matching identifier information in the data flow (e.g., SIM or IMEI information) to the RAN preference indicator for the particular user device. In some embodiments, the RAN preference indicator is indexed based on identifier information (e.g., SIM or IMEI information)”, [0052] “those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate from the present disclosure that the process flow 200 mimics a CS fallback for voice that was introduced to steer voice calls to a 2G/3G network when LTE/4G was first introduced”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination Zhong, Keller to incorporate the teachings of Mukherjee. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to provide selective fallback.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/08/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Argument 1
It is respectfully submitted that the rejected claims are patentable over the art of record based on at least the third criterion of obviousness: none of the references alone or in combination teach, suggest, or disclose each claim limitation of the independent claims. Independent claim 1 recites (inter alia) "after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE; and based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE, communicating one or more messages to initiate a bearer modification procedure with a bearer QoS update to identify the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE" (emphasis added)
Examiner’s Response 1
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Yuan is no longer relied upon. See updated rejection in regards to claim 1 in view of Zhong and newly incorporate reference Keller.
Keller is relied upon to show after the procedure for the handover, identifying whether Second Generation (2G) and/or Third Generation (3G) Quality of Service (QoS) parameters are to be communicated to the UE; and based on identifying that the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE, communicating one or more messages to initiate a bearer modification procedure with a bearer QoS update to identify the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters, wherein the 2G and/or the 3G QoS parameters are to be communicated to the UE in Fig 3, and [0038] which is clearly shown in S302-S304.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lin et al. (US20230217321) is about switching to 2G/3G.
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/K.T.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411