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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s submission filed on 04/27/2026 has been entered. Applicant’s submission overcomes prior objections to the drawings and specification. Therefore, the corresponding objections are withdrawn. Claims 1-28 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11, 21, and 25 each recite the limitation “wherein the slice status request is encoded within the slice status field of the slice object”. There is support for a slice object with a slice status field in the Applicant’s specification in Fig. 6 and pars. [0092-0093], but there is no indication of the slice status request being encoded within the slice status field of the slice object, as claimed. Dependent claims 2-10 are rejected due to their dependency on independent claim 1. Dependent claims 12-20 are rejected due to their dependency on independent claim 11. Dependent claims 22-24 are rejected due to their dependency on independent claim 21. Dependent claims 26-28 are rejected due to their dependency on independent claim 25.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 9, 11-12, 15-16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al. (US 2022/0345996), hereinafter “Jeong”, in view of Zhang et al. (US 2023/0246900), hereinafter “Zhang”, and further in view of Yu et al. (US 2024/0414082), hereinafter “Yu”.
Regarding claims 1, 11, Jeong teaches:
A method of monitoring performance of network slices in a transport network by a network controller or an apparatus for monitoring performance of network slices in a transport network, comprising:
a memory storage storing computer-executable instructions (see Jeong, Fig. 8, par. [0173]: A memory 812 may store a program and various kinds of control information); and
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions (see Jeong, Fig. 8, par. [0172]: A controller 811 may be implemented as at least one processor and/or a program driven by the processor for performing the operations of the NF) and cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to a network device of the transport network, a configuration message requesting rendering of a transport network path assigned to a transport network slice, the configuration message comprising a slice status request requesting that the network device provide a status update of the transport network slice (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received, and see pars. [0094-0096]: The current status per network slice may contain the following information. The number of subscribers, UEs, or users being currently accessing the network slice The number of subscribers, UEs, or users registered in the network slice, and see pars. [0101-0104]: The current usage per network slice may contain the following information. The number of subscribers, UEs, or users being currently accessing the network slice/The maximum number of subscribers, UEs, or users that can be supported by the network slice*100 The number of sessions (PDU Sessions) supported by the network slice/The maximum number of sessions that can be supported by the network slice*100 The number of IP flows supported by the network slice/The maximum number of IP flows that can be supported by the network slice*100; in this case, sending a message requesting notification of status corresponds to transmitting a configuration message comprising a slice status request requesting a status update of the slice. The information requested includes information about the link and slice, corresponding to requesting rendering of a transport network path assigned to a transport network slice);
receive, from the network device, a first report message comprising first slice status information indicating whether the transport network slice is in an up state, whether a service-level agreement (SLA) of the transport network slice is met, and whether the transport network slice is in a down state (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300, and see pars. [0090-0093]: The status information to be received by the NSSF 134 may contain the following values. (1) Parameter (maximum value) for capacity per network slice as described above (2) Current status per network slice (3) Current capacity per network slice, and see pars. [0156-0160]: the status of each slice managed by the UE and the network (5GS) may be one of the following statuses, Requested status: A status in which a specific UE requests permission to use a specific slice from the network (5GS) Allowed status: A status in which the use of a specific slice is allowed for a specific UE by the network (5GS) Active status: A status in which the UE is actually using the allowed slice. The active status may be expressed as an in-use status. Inactive status: A status in which the UE is not currently using the allowed slice, and see par. [0055]: the capacity of the network slices 211, 212, . . . , 21N may be configured differently for respective slices according to a setting of a mobile communication operator. If a certain slice is leased or sold to a separate service provider, the capacity may be configured differently for respective slices in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA); in this case, the response to the request (i.e. first report message) includes status information such as indicating an active status (i.e. up state), inactive status (i.e. down state), and current capacity in relation to a service level agreement (corresponding to whether a SLA of the slice is met)); and
wherein the configuration message comprises a slice object, the slice object comprising the transport network slice identifier and a slice status field, and wherein the slice status request is encoded within the slice status field of the slice object (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received; in this case, the request (i.e. configuration message) includes an identifier of the slice and status information to be received (i.e. a slice status field)).
However, Jeong does not teach:
the network device of the transport network using a path computation element communication protocol (PCEP)
report, to a performance monitoring system (PMS), the first slice status information of the transport network slice,
Zhang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
report, to a performance monitoring system (PMS), the first slice status information of the transport network slice (see Zhang, Fig. 6, par. [0286]: S609: The network slice management service device sends the third management indication information to the network slice subnet management service device, and see par. [0281]: the network slice management service device may further generate the third management indication information based on a performance indicator requirement of the network slice, the analysis report of the network slice, and the status report of the network slice subnet associated with the network slice),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of Jeong with the reporting slice status information of Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reduce differences between expected and actual performance when managing a network (see Zhang, par. [0005]).
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang does not teach:
the network device of the transport network using a path computation element communication protocol (PCEP)
Yu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the network device of the transport network using a path computation element communication protocol (PCEP) (see Yu, par. [0077]: S201: A first network device receives a PCEP packet sent by a controller, where the PCEP packet includes first slice information corresponding to the first network device)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method and apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang with the devices and steps using a PCEP of Yu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving network slice information delivery performance and accelerate network slice service deployment (see Yu, par. [0005]).
Regarding claims 2, 12, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus. Jeong further teaches:
wherein the configuration message comprises at least one of a initialization message and a update message (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received).
The combination of Jeong in view of Zhang does not teach, but Yu teaches:
wherein communication is with a PCEP (see Yu, par. [0077]: S201: A first network device receives a PCEP packet sent by a controller, where the PCEP packet includes first slice information corresponding to the first network device)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method and apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang with the devices and steps using a PCEP of Yu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving network slice information delivery performance and accelerate network slice service deployment (see Yu, par. [0005]).
Regarding claims 5, 15, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus. Jeong further teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
update, based on one or more network topology changes, the transport network path to obtain an updated transport network path (see Jeong, Fig. 3, pars. [0087-0088]: at the operation 310 as described above, the NF 300 may transmit the “Nnssf_NSSAIA vailability_Update” message to the NSSF 134 in order to call a service for notifying its own network slice related information. Then, at operation 320, the NSSF 134 may store the information received from the NF 300, and see Figs. 4A-4E, par. [0076]: With reference to FIG. 4B, the attribute name fields of SliceCapacity may include at least one of ‘maxUEs’, ‘maxSessions’, ‘maxIPFlows’, ‘maxQoSFlows’, and ‘maxGBRFlows’; in this case, updating information regarding links and flows corresponds to updating the transport network path);
transmit, to the network device, a update message comprising the updated transport network path (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0088]: at operation 320, the NSSF 134 may store the information received from the NF 300 and, in response to the service request, transmit an NSSAI Availability Update response message to the NF 300 that has transmitted the Nnssf_NSSAIA vailability_Update message. Thereafter, when a request for providing information about a specific network slice or selecting a network slice is received from the NF 300, the NSSF 134 may respond using the stored information) and another slice status request (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received);
receive, from the network device, a second report message comprising second slice status information indicating whether the transport network slice is in the up state, whether the SLA of the transport network slice is met, and whether the transport network slice is in the down state (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300, and see pars. [0090-0093]: The status information to be received by the NSSF 134 may contain the following values. (1) Parameter (maximum value) for capacity per network slice as described above (2) Current status per network slice (3) Current capacity per network slice, and see pars. [0156-0160]: the status of each slice managed by the UE and the network (5GS) may be one of the following statuses, Requested status: A status in which a specific UE requests permission to use a specific slice from the network (5GS) Allowed status: A status in which the use of a specific slice is allowed for a specific UE by the network (5GS) Active status: A status in which the UE is actually using the allowed slice. The active status may be expressed as an in-use status. Inactive status: A status in which the UE is not currently using the allowed slice, and see par. [0055]: the capacity of the network slices 211, 212, . . . , 21N may be configured differently for respective slices according to a setting of a mobile communication operator. If a certain slice is leased or sold to a separate service provider, the capacity may be configured differently for respective slices in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA); in this case, the response to the request (i.e. first report message) includes status information such as indicating an active status (i.e. up state), inactive status (i.e. down state), and current capacity in relation to a service level agreement (corresponding to whether a SLA of the slice is met));
Jeong does not teach, but Zhang teaches:
report, to the PMS, the second slice status information of the transport network slice (see Zhang, Fig. 6, par. [0286]: S609: The network slice management service device sends the third management indication information to the network slice subnet management service device, and see par. [0281]: the network slice management service device may further generate the third management indication information based on a performance indicator requirement of the network slice, the analysis report of the network slice, and the status report of the network slice subnet associated with the network slice).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of Jeong with the reporting slice status information of Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reduce differences between expected and actual performance when managing a network (see Zhang, par. [0005]).
The combination of Jeong in view of Zhang does not teach, but Yu teaches:
wherein communication is with a PCEP (see Yu, par. [0077]: S201: A first network device receives a PCEP packet sent by a controller, where the PCEP packet includes first slice information corresponding to the first network device)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method and apparatus of Jeong in view of Zhang with the devices and steps using a PCEP of Yu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving network slice information delivery performance and accelerate network slice service deployment (see Yu, par. [0005]).
Regarding claims 6, 16, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus.
The combination of Jeong in view of Zhang does not teach, but Yu teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
receive, via at least one border gateway protocol link state (BGP-LS) message, information indicating the one or more network topology changes (see Yu, par. [0078]: the controller may collect information about an entire network by using IGP or a border gateway protocol link state (BGP-LS) protocol, and perform topology division on the current network based on user requirements of third-party requirements, to determine slice information corresponding to each network device in the network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method and apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang with the receiving a BGP-LS message of Yu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving network slice information delivery performance and accelerate network slice service deployment (see Yu, par. [0005]).
Regarding claims 9, 19, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus.
Jeong does not teach, but Zhang teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
report, to a network slice management controller, the first slice status information of the transport network slice (see Zhang, Fig. 6, par. [0286]: S609: The network slice management service device sends the third management indication information to the network slice subnet management service device, and see par. [0281]: the network slice management service device may further generate the third management indication information based on a performance indicator requirement of the network slice, the analysis report of the network slice, and the status report of the network slice subnet associated with the network slice).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of Jeong with the reporting slice status information of Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reduce differences between expected and actual performance when managing a network (see Zhang, par. [0005]).
Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, as applied to claims 1-2, 5-6, 9, 11-12, 15-16, and 19 above, and further in view of Li (US 2019/0289647), hereinafter “Li ‘647”, and further in view of Li et al. (US 2023/0412508), hereinafter “Li ‘508”.
Regarding claims 3, 13, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, does not teach:
wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a network slice management controller, a network slice creation request comprising a source address, a destination address, and the SLA;
create, based on the network slice creation request, the transport network slice;
compute the transport network path according to the source address, the destination address, and the SLA; and
assign the transport network path to the transport network slice.
Li ‘647, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a network slice management controller, a network slice creation request comprising a source address, a destination address, and the SLA (see Li ‘647, par. [0134]: the control device waits for a network slice installation instruction to translate the mapping result into a network slice creation instruction that can be executed by the forwarding device, and implements the foregoing network slice in a physical network. The instruction includes information such as a target physical device, a network slice identifier, a device slice allocation instruction set, a link allocation instruction, and a basic association configuration, and see Tables 4 and 6: Source point of a link in a network slice, specifically including a node ID and interface information, Destination point of a link in a network slice, specifically including a node ID and interface, Reliability description, where reliability is reflected by using a time length between two failures. Availability description, where availability is described by using a percentage of an available service time such as 99.99% or 99.999%);
create, based on the network slice creation request, the transport network slice (see Li ‘647, par. [0130]: the control device may create a service network slice based on the network slice creation request, the slice resource status of the forwarding device, the physical network topology, and the like);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, with the network slice creation request of Li ‘647 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing the processing burden of a control device (see Li ‘647, par. [0007]).
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, and further in view of Li ‘647, does not teach:
compute the transport network path according to the source address, the destination address, and the SLA; and
assign the transport network path to the transport network slice.
Li ‘508, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
compute the transport network path according to the source address, the destination address, and the SLA (see Li ‘508, par. [0141]: the network device 1, the network device 2, and the network device 5 may use all sub-identifiers (that is, the topology identifier, the algorithm identifier, the level-1 resource identifier, and the level-2 resource identifier) in the slice identifier to forward the packet. Specifically, the network device 1, the network device 2, and the network device 5 may determine the topology and the path computation algorithm of the slice based on the topology identifier and the algorithm identifier, to perform path computation in a specified topology through a corresponding path computation algorithm, to obtain the interface for forwarding the packet, and see par. [0170]: The first slice identifier is effective in the first network domain, and indicates the first network slice in the first network domain. The second slice identifier is effective in the second network domain, and indicates the second network slice in the second network domain. A service-level agreement (SLA) of the first network slice is the same as an SLA of the second network slice. In other words, network quality of the first network slice is the same as network quality of the second network slice. Finally, the first network device forwards the first packet based on the first slice identifier, and see par. [0183]: the first network device adds, based on the network slice to which the third packet belongs, the first slice identifier to the third packet, to obtain the first packet, and see par. [0185]: The first network device may determine, based on information in the third packet and under the policy, the network slice to which the third packet belongs. The information in the third packet includes one or more of the following information: a source address, a destination address, a protocol number, a differentiated services code point (DSCP) field, a traffic class field, a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID), and a port number); and
assign the transport network path to the transport network slice (see Li ‘508, par. [0143]: the network device 4, the network device 7, and the network device 8 may determine the topology and the path computation algorithm of the slice based on the topology identifier and the algorithm identifier, to perform path computation in a specified topology through a corresponding path computation algorithm, to obtain the interface for forwarding the packet. Then, the level-1 resource identifier is used to determine the resource allocated to the slice, to finally implement packet forwarding).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, and further in view of Li ‘647, with the computing a path and assigning the path of Li ‘508 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of ensuring smooth forwarding in different network domains (see Li ‘508, par. [0019]).
Claims 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, and further in view of Li ‘647, and further in view of Li ‘508, as applied to claims 3 and 13 above, and further in view of Shekhar et al. (US 2020/0257579), hereinafter “Shekhar”.
Regarding claims 4, 14, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, and further in view of Li ‘647, and further in view of Li ‘508, teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, and further in view of Li ‘647, and further in view of Li ‘508, does not teach:
wherein the computer-executable instructions to receive the network slice creation request further cause the apparatus to receive the network slice creation request via a representational state transfer application programming interface (REST-API).
Shekhar, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions to receive the network slice creation request further cause the apparatus to receive the network slice creation request via a representational state transfer application programming interface (REST-API) (see Shekhar, par. [0029]: the AMF may transmit to the SGSRE a request for slice information. In contrast, a typical attach request may otherwise be transmitted from the AMF directly to a network slice selection function (NSSF) as a REST API call including, for example, a “GET” query, in Standard Query Language (SQL) format, for slice information. With a REST call, the NSSF will then need to convert the REST format into an internal format in order to process the call and produce output, which must likewise be converted between the internal format and the REST format).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the network slice creation request of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, and further in view of Li ‘647, and further in view of Li ‘508, with the REST-API of Shekhar with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of increasing efficiency and scalability across the network (see Shekhar, par. [0021]).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, as applied to claims 1-2, 5-6, 9, 11-12, 15-16, and 19 above, and further in view of Li ‘647.
Regarding claims 7, 17, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, does not teach:
wherein the first slice status information has been determined according to one or more segment routing performance monitoring (SR-PM) messages received from one or more other network devices rendering the transport network path.
Li ‘647, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the first slice status information has been determined according to one or more segment routing performance monitoring (SR-PM) messages received from one or more other network devices rendering the transport network path (see Li ‘647, pars. [0120-0121]: each forwarding device may further run a device slice resource management program to collect a slice resource status, such as a quantity of virtual forwarding devices that can be divided, an available forwarding table capacity, an available port, or a logical port list. In addition, each forwarding device may further send the obtained slice resource status to the control device, so that the control device can store slice resource status of all forwarding devices).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, with the slice status information determination of Li ‘647 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing the processing burden of a control device (see Li ‘647, par. [0007]).
Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, as applied to claims 1-2, 5-6, 9, 11-12, 15-16, and 19 above, and further in view of Zheng et al. (US 2024/0007399), hereinafter “Zheng”.
Regarding claims 8, 18, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, does not teach:
wherein the network device of the transport network is an ingress provider edge (PE) device of the transport network path.
Zheng, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the network device of the transport network is an ingress provider edge (PE) device of the transport network path (see Zheng, par. [0104]: The network device 21 is an ingress node of the network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, with the ingress device of Zheng with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving path control performance (see Zheng, par. [0099]).
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, as applied to claims 1-2, 5-6, 9, 11-12, 15-16, and 19 above, and further in view of Shekhar.
Regarding claims 10, 20, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, does not teach:
wherein
the computer-executable instructions to report, to the PMS, of the first slice status information of the transport network slice further cause the apparatus to report the first slice status information to the PMS via a first representational state transfer application programming interface (REST-API), and
the computer-executable instructions to report, to the network slice management controller, of the first slice status information further cause the apparatus to report the first slice status information to the network slice management controller via a second REST-API.
Shekhar, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein
the computer-executable instructions to report, to the PMS, of the first slice status information of the transport network slice further cause the apparatus to report the first slice status information to the PMS via a first representational state transfer application programming interface (REST-API) (see Shekhar, par. [0029]: the AMF may transmit to the SGSRE a request for slice information. In contrast, a typical attach request may otherwise be transmitted from the AMF directly to a network slice selection function (NSSF) as a REST API call including, for example, a “GET” query, in Standard Query Language (SQL) format, for slice information. With a REST call, the NSSF will then need to convert the REST format into an internal format in order to process the call and produce output, which must likewise be converted between the internal format and the REST format), and
the computer-executable instructions to report, to the network slice management controller, of the first slice status information further cause the apparatus to report the first slice status information to the network slice management controller via a second REST-API (see Shekhar, par. [0029]: the AMF may transmit to the SGSRE a request for slice information. In contrast, a typical attach request may otherwise be transmitted from the AMF directly to a network slice selection function (NSSF) as a REST API call including, for example, a “GET” query, in Standard Query Language (SQL) format, for slice information. With a REST call, the NSSF will then need to convert the REST format into an internal format in order to process the call and produce output, which must likewise be converted between the internal format and the REST format).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Zhang, and further in view of Yu, with the REST-API of Shekhar with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of increasing efficiency and scalability across the network (see Shekhar, par. [0021]).
Claims 21 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Yu.
Regarding claims 21, 25, Jeong teaches:
A method of monitoring performance of network slices in a transport network by a network device or an apparatus for monitoring performance of network slices in a transport network, comprising:
a memory storage storing computer-executable instructions (see Jeong, Fig. 8, par. [0173]: A memory 812 may store a program and various kinds of control information); and
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions (see Jeong, Fig. 8, par. [0172]: A controller 811 may be implemented as at least one processor and/or a program driven by the processor for performing the operations of the NF) and cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a network controller, a configuration message requesting rendering of a transport network path assigned to a transport network slice, the configuration message comprising a slice status request requesting that the network device provide a status update of the transport network slice (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received, and see pars. [0094-0096]: The current status per network slice may contain the following information. The number of subscribers, UEs, or users being currently accessing the network slice The number of subscribers, UEs, or users registered in the network slice, and see pars. [0101-0104]: The current usage per network slice may contain the following information. The number of subscribers, UEs, or users being currently accessing the network slice/The maximum number of subscribers, UEs, or users that can be supported by the network slice*100 The number of sessions (PDU Sessions) supported by the network slice/The maximum number of sessions that can be supported by the network slice*100 The number of IP flows supported by the network slice/The maximum number of IP flows that can be supported by the network slice*100; in this case, receiving a message requesting notification of status corresponds to receiving a configuration message comprising a slice status request requesting a status update of the slice. The information requested includes information about the link and slice, corresponding to requesting rendering of a transport network path assigned to a transport network slice);
render, using one or more other network devices of the transport network, the transport network path (see Jeong, Fig. 3, pars. [0090-0104]: The status information to be received by the NSSF 134 may contain the following values. (1) Parameter (maximum value) for capacity per network slice as described above (2) Current status per network slice (3) Current capacity per network slice The current status per network slice may contain the following information. The number of subscribers, UEs, or users being currently accessing the network slice The number of subscribers, UEs, or users registered in the network slice The number of sessions (PDU Sessions) supported by the network slice The number of IP flows supported by the network slice The number of QoS flows supported by the network slice The number of GBR flows supported by the network slice The current usage per network slice may contain the following information. The number of subscribers, UEs, or users being currently accessing the network slice/The maximum number of subscribers, UEs, or users that can be supported by the network slice*100 The number of sessions (PDU Sessions) supported by the network slice/The maximum number of sessions that can be supported by the network slice*100 The number of IP flows supported by the network slice/The maximum number of IP flows that can be supported by the network slice*100, and see par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300; in this case, generating a report with slice information including information regarding the links and flows corresponds to rendering the transport network path);
obtain, from the one or more other network devices, first slice status information indicating whether the transport network slice is in an up state, whether a service-level agreement (SLA) of the transport network slice is met, and whether the transport network slice is in a down state (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300, and see pars. [0090-0093]: The status information to be received by the NSSF 134 may contain the following values. (1) Parameter (maximum value) for capacity per network slice as described above (2) Current status per network slice (3) Current capacity per network slice, and see pars. [0156-0160]: the status of each slice managed by the UE and the network (5GS) may be one of the following statuses, Requested status: A status in which a specific UE requests permission to use a specific slice from the network (5GS) Allowed status: A status in which the use of a specific slice is allowed for a specific UE by the network (5GS) Active status: A status in which the UE is actually using the allowed slice. The active status may be expressed as an in-use status. Inactive status: A status in which the UE is not currently using the allowed slice, and see par. [0055]: the capacity of the network slices 211, 212, . . . , 21N may be configured differently for respective slices according to a setting of a mobile communication operator. If a certain slice is leased or sold to a separate service provider, the capacity may be configured differently for respective slices in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA); in this case, the based on UEs and network devices (i.e. one or more other network devices), the report information is generated (i.e. obtained) and includes status information such as indicating an active status (i.e. up state), inactive status (i.e. down state), and current capacity in relation to a service level agreement (corresponding to whether a SLA of the slice is met)); and
transmit, to the network controller, a first report message comprising the first slice status information (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300),
wherein the configuration message comprises a slice object, the slice object comprising the transport network slice identifier and a slice status field, and wherein the slice status request is encoded within the slice status field of the slice object (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received; in this case, the request (i.e. configuration message) includes an identifier of the slice and status information to be received (i.e. a slice status field)).
However, Jeong does not teach:
the network controller using a path computation element communication protocol (PCEP),
Yu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the network controller using a path computation element communication protocol (PCEP) (see Yu, par. [0077]: S201: A first network device receives a PCEP packet sent by a controller, where the PCEP packet includes first slice information corresponding to the first network device)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method and apparatus of Jeong with the devices and steps using a PCEP of Yu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving network slice information delivery performance and accelerate network slice service deployment (see Yu, par. [0005]).
Claims 22 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Yu, as applied to claims 21 and 25 above, and further in view of Li ‘647.
Regarding claims 22, 26, the combination of Jeong in view of Yu teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Yu does not teach:
wherein the computer-executable instructions to obtain the first slice status information further cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the one or more other network devices, one or more segment routing performance monitoring (SR-PM) messages; and
receive, from the one or more other network devices, responses to the one or more SR-PM messages comprising the first slice status information.
Li ‘647, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions to obtain the first slice status information further cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the one or more other network devices, one or more segment routing performance monitoring (SR-PM) messages (see Li ‘647, par. [0087]: the control device may send, to all forwarding devices (including the forwarding device #A) in the system, a control packet #A (that is, an example of a first control packet) that carries the identifiers of the T network slices (that is, an example of N network slice identifiers) and the T pieces of control information (that is, an example of the N pieces of control information) including the control information #A); and
receive, from the one or more other network devices, responses to the one or more SR-PM messages comprising the first slice status information (see Li ‘647, pars. [0120-0121]: each forwarding device may further run a device slice resource management program to collect a slice resource status, such as a quantity of virtual forwarding devices that can be divided, an available forwarding table capacity, an available port, or a logical port list. In addition, each forwarding device may further send the obtained slice resource status to the control device, so that the control device can store slice resource status of all forwarding devices).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Yu with the slice status information determination of Li ‘647 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing the processing burden of a control device (see Li ‘647, par. [0007]).
Claims 23 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Yu, as applied to claims 21 and 25 above, and further in view of Zhang.
Regarding claims 23, 27, the combination of Jeong in view of Yu teaches the method or apparatus. Jeong further teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the network device, a update message comprising an updated transport network path (see Jeong, Fig. 3, pars. [0087-0088]: at the operation 310 as described above, the NF 300 may transmit the “Nnssf_NSSAIA vailability_Update” message to the NSSF 134 in order to call a service for notifying its own network slice related information. Then, at operation 320, the NSSF 134 may store the information received from the NF 300 and, in response to the service request, transmit an NSSAI Availability Update response message to the NF 300 that has transmitted the Nnssf_NSSAIA vailability_Update message. Thereafter, when a request for providing information about a specific network slice or selecting a network slice is received from the NF 300, the NSSF 134 may respond using the stored information, and see Figs. 4A-4E, par. [0076]: With reference to FIG. 4B, the attribute name fields of SliceCapacity may include at least one of ‘maxUEs’, ‘maxSessions’, ‘maxIPFlows’, ‘maxQoSFlows’, and ‘maxGBRFlows’; in this case, updating information regarding links and flows corresponds to updating the transport network path) and another slice status request (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0089]: At operation 330, the NSSF 134 may request the NF 300 to notify a status or configuration when it is changed, or request the NF 300 to periodically inform the current status/configuration information. This request may be implemented as a subscribe message for an NF status change or a request message for reporting on a specific event. In this case, the request message may contain information (identifier) about the corresponding network slice to be a target, and status/configuration information to be received);
obtain, from the one or more other network devices, second slice status information indicating whether the transport network slice is in the up state, whether the SLA of the transport network slice is met, and whether the transport network slice is in the down state (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300, and see pars. [0090-0093]: The status information to be received by the NSSF 134 may contain the following values. (1) Parameter (maximum value) for capacity per network slice as described above (2) Current status per network slice (3) Current capacity per network slice, and see pars. [0156-0160]: the status of each slice managed by the UE and the network (5GS) may be one of the following statuses, Requested status: A status in which a specific UE requests permission to use a specific slice from the network (5GS) Allowed status: A status in which the use of a specific slice is allowed for a specific UE by the network (5GS) Active status: A status in which the UE is actually using the allowed slice. The active status may be expressed as an in-use status. Inactive status: A status in which the UE is not currently using the allowed slice, and see par. [0055]: the capacity of the network slices 211, 212, . . . , 21N may be configured differently for respective slices according to a setting of a mobile communication operator. If a certain slice is leased or sold to a separate service provider, the capacity may be configured differently for respective slices in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA); in this case, the based on UEs and network devices (i.e. one or more other network devices), the report information is generated (i.e. obtained) and includes status information such as indicating an active status (i.e. up state), inactive status (i.e. down state), and current capacity in relation to a service level agreement (corresponding to whether a SLA of the slice is met)); and
transmit, to the network controller, a second report message comprising the second slice status information (see Jeong, Fig. 3, par. [0108]: At operation 340, in response to the request of the NSSF 134, the NF 300 may generate and transmit a reporting (NF status change notification) message about network slice information of the NF 300).
Jeong does not teach, but Yu teaches:
wherein communication is with a PCEP (see Yu, par. [0077]: S201: A first network device receives a PCEP packet sent by a controller, where the PCEP packet includes first slice information corresponding to the first network device)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method and apparatus of Jeong in view of Zhang with the devices and steps using a PCEP of Yu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving network slice information delivery performance and accelerate network slice service deployment (see Yu, par. [0005]).
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Yu does not teach:
reconfigure, based on the updated transport network path, at least one network device of the one or more other network devices;
Zhang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
reconfigure, based on the updated transport network path, at least one network device of the one or more other network devices (see Zhang, par. [0278]: If an indicator in the actual measurement information is lower than a preset proportion of the corresponding indicator in the priority configuration information, the network slice management service device may increase the priority of the QoS flow by n levels, where n is a positive integer. For example, if a rate in the actual measurement information is lower than 80% of a rate in the priority configuration information, the network slice management service device may increase the priority of the QoS flow by one level. The network slice management service device increases the priority of the QoS flow, so that the corresponding terminal device or service can obtain more resources during scheduling, to improve the DL throughput and/or the UL throughput);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Yu with the reconfiguring a device of Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reduce differences between expected and actual performance when managing a network (see Zhang, par. [0005]).
Claims 24 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Yu, as applied to claims 21 and 25 above, and further in view of Zheng.
Regarding claims 24, 28, the combination of Jeong in view of Yu teaches the method or apparatus.
However, the combination of Jeong in view of Yu does not teach:
wherein the apparatus is an ingress provider edge (PE) device of the transport network path.
Zheng, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the apparatus is an ingress provider edge (PE) device of the transport network path (see Zheng, par. [0104]: The network device 21 is an ingress node of the network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or apparatus of the combination of Jeong in view of Yu with the ingress device of Zheng with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving path control performance (see Zheng, par. [0099]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 11, 21, and 25 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Tse et al. (US 2023/0164025) teaches a method for network management including managing network slices of a network.
Xiong et al. (US 2023/0261995) teaches an information notification method, applied to a first communication node, including: receiving a configuration message of a deterministic flow sent by a second communication node, the configuration message carrying a mapping rule from the deterministic flow to a network slice; and mapping a target deterministic flow to a target network slice according to the mapping rule, and transmitting a packet of the target deterministic flow through the target network slice.
Yang et al. (US 2020/0413290) teaches a radio access network slice construction method and apparatus applied to a master base station.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB J BALLOWE whose telephone number is (571)270-0410. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 7:30-5.
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/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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