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
The Amendment filed 07/02/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 6, 12 and 17 have been amended. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5-6, 10-12, 14 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Colom et al. (US 20260019802 A1) in view of Ying et al. (US 20220014942 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Colom teaches a method performed in a processor executing a first application (method of Figs. 5-6), the method comprising:
sending, by the first application, an application registration request to a second application provided in a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) open radio access network (0-RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of data to the AN-IC 60 (e.g. explicit data request, subscription to a certain kind of data, [0099]; The term Access Network Intelligent Controller (AN-IC) is thus used to generically refer to a RIC or analogous intelligent controller applied to a radio-based or non-radio-based access network. Similarly, applications running on an AN-IC (e.g. xApps, rApps) are referred to as AN-IC applications, [0036]), the application registration request being sent from the first application to the second application via an R1 interface of the Non-RT RIC, (Services exposed to rApps via the R1 interface enable rApps to obtain information and trigger actions (e.g., policies, re-configuration) through the A1, O1, O2 and Open FH M-Plane related services, [0014]);
receiving, by the first application from the second application via the Ri interface in response to the application registration request, a registration response including an application ID associated with the first application (if in step S2 the security/privacy policy indicates to modify, the application receives the modified information from the RIC, [0103], requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within an interface node or within a E2 service model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0064]);
sending, by the first application via the R1 interface to the second application subsequent to receiving the registration response, a register service request to register with the Non-RT RIC a service provided via the first application as a service producer (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of/subscription to data (e.g. an AN-IC parameter such as a KPI from a CU) to the AN-IC 60, [0106]); and
receiving, by the first application via the R1 interface from the second application in response to the register service request, a register service response including a service identifier associated with the service provided by the Al framework (the AN-IC 60 sends a message to the application 50 containing the generated or artificial data, [0108]; the AN-IC application is configured to match the further request to a policy element based on the information contained in the application request for a second AN parameter, especially to at least one of: interface node and/or interface node type, especially an interface node identifier or an object identifier, OID identifying the type of the interface node, especially a E2 node and/or E2 Service Model, E2SM; requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within a interface node or within a E2 Service Model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0081]).
However, Colom does not clearly teach the service being an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) service, and the register service request including at least (i) the application ID associated with the first application, and (ii) a service profile of the service provided, via the first application, by an artificial intelligence (AI) framework containing a plurality of learning models.
In an analogous art, Ying teaches teach the service being an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) service (FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for ML model registration, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 800 allows the Near-RT RIC 214 to register a ML model 410 for ML model management in Non-RT RIC 212, [0066]), and the register service request including at least (i) the application ID associated with the first application, and (ii) a service profile of the service provided, via the first application, by an artificial intelligence (AI) framework containing a plurality of learning models (The method 800 begins at operation 802 with a put operation. The data 850 includes the put operation and any accompany data. The put operation may be “PUT ../models/{modelId}{ModelInstance}”. For example, the A1-ML consumer 406 sends out an HTTP PUT request. The message body of the PUT request contains the model instance to be registered, [0067]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom with the ML request of Ying to provide method and system to enhance operation of LTE and NR systems for AI and ML for O-RAN networks as suggested, Ying [0004].
Regarding claim 3, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first application is external to the RIC (Colom Fig. 2, the O-eNB is outside the RIC).
Regarding claim 5, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the service provided by the Al framework is one of a (i) model and inference hosting service, (ii) model training and hosting service, (iii) model repository service, or (iv) a model management service (xApp subscription management (as defined in O-RAN WG3 RIC Architecture, clause 6.2.2): [0027] manages subscriptions from xApps to E2 nodes, Colom [0026]).
Regarding claim 6, Colom teaches a method performed by a processor executing a first application (method of Figs. 5-6), the method comprising:
sending, by the first application to a second application provided in a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) 0-RAN intelligent controller (RIC), a service discovery request (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of data to the AN-IC 60 e.g. explicit data request, subscription to a certain kind of data, [0099]), the service discovery request being transmitted from the first application to the second application via an R1 interface of the Non-RT RIC in order to discover services previously registered with the Non-RT RIC (Services exposed to rApps via the R1 interface enable rApps to obtain information and trigger actions (e.g., policies, re-configuration) through the A1, O1, O2 and Open FH M-Plane related services, [0014]);
receiving, by the first application from the second application via the R1 interface in response to the service discovery request, a service discovery response including a list of services provided by an artificial intelligence (AI) framework containing a plurality of learning models (if in step S2 the security/privacy policy indicates to modify, the application receives the modified information from the RIC, [0103], requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within an interface node or within a E2 service model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0064]; influence Radio Resource Management (RRM) functionality for certain users, e.g. access control; and gather mobility data from users, which can be used in AI/ML models for user prediction, [0019]);
sending, by the first application to a third application subsequent to receiving the service discovery response, a service subscriber request specifying a service included in the list of services (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of/subscription to data (e.g. an AN-IC parameter such as a KPI from a CU) to the AN-IC 60, [0106]); and
receiving, by the first application from the third application in response to the service subscriber request, a service subscriber response providing information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request (the AN-IC 60 sends a message to the application 50 containing the generated or artificial data, [0108], the AN-IC application is configured to match the further request to a policy element based on the information contained in the application request for a second AN parameter, especially to at least one of: interface node and/or interface node type, especially an interface node identifier or an object identifier, OID identifying the type of the interface node, especially a E2 node and/or E2 Service Model, E2SM; requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within a interface node or within a E2 Service Model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0081]).
However, Colom does not clearly teach that is an artificial intelligence/machine learning (A/ML) service previously registered by the third application with the Non-RT RIC and provided via the third application as a service producer, the service subscriber request being sent to subscribe to the AI/ML service provided via the third application.
In an analogous art, Ying teaches teach that is an artificial intelligence/machine learning (A/ML) service previously registered by the third application with the Non-RT RIC and provided via the third application as a service producer, the service subscriber request being sent to subscribe to the AI/ML service provided via the third application (FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for ML model registration. The method 800 allows the Near-RT RIC 214 to register a ML model 410 for ML model management in Non-RT RIC 212, [0066]; The method 800 begins at operation 802 with a put operation. The data 850 includes the put operation and any accompany data. The put operation may be “PUT ../models/{modelId}{ModelInstance}”. For example, the A1-ML consumer 406 sends out an HTTP PUT request. The message body of the PUT request contains the model instance to be registered, [0067]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom with the ML request of Ying to provide method and system to enhance operation of LTE and NR systems for AI and ML for O-RAN networks as suggested, Ying [0004].
Regarding claim 10, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the third application is external to the RIC, and the first application communicates with the third application via an O- RAN R1 interface (Colom Fig. 2, the O-eNB is outside the RIC).
Regarding claim 11, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the list of services provided by the Al framework specifies at least one of a (i) model and inference hosting service, (ii) model training and hosting service, (iii) model repository service, or (iv) model management service (xApp subscription management (as defined in O-RAN WG3 RIC Architecture, clause 6.2.2): [0027] manages subscriptions from xApps to E2 nodes, Colom [0026]).
Regarding claim 12, Colom teaches an apparatus (e.g. RIC of Fig. 3) executing a first application (applications running on an AN-IC e.g. xApps, rApps, [0036]), comprising:
at least one memory configured to store computer program code (AN-IC further comprises a Shared Data Layer, SDL, configured to store AN parameters, [0069]); and
at least one processor configured to access said at least one memory and operate as instructed by said computer program code (Access Network Intelligent Controller, [0036]), said computer program code including:
first sending code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to send, by the first application, an application registration request to a second application provided in a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) open radio access network (0-RAN) intelligent controller (RIC) (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of data to the AN-IC 60 (e.g. explicit data request, subscription to a certain kind of data, [0099]; The term Access Network Intelligent Controller (AN-IC) is thus used to generically refer to a RIC or analogous intelligent controller applied to a radio-based or non-radio-based access network. Similarly, applications running on an AN-IC (e.g. xApps, rApps) are referred to as AN-IC applications, [0036]), the application registration request being sent from the first application to the second application via an R1 interface of the Non-RT RIC (Services exposed to rApps via the R1 interface enable rApps to obtain information and trigger actions (e.g., policies, re-configuration) through the A1, O1, O2 and Open FH M-Plane related services, [0014]);
first receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, by the first application from the second application via the R1 interface in response to the application registration request, a registration response including an application ID associated with the first application (if in step S2 the security/privacy policy indicates to modify, the application receives the modified information from the RIC, [0103], requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within an interface node or within a E2 service model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0064]);
second sending code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to send, by the first application to the second application via the R1 interface subsequent to receiving the registration response, a register service request to register with the Non-RT RIC a service provided via the first application as a service producer (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of/subscription to data (e.g. an AN-IC parameter such as a KPI from a CU) to the AN-IC 60, [0106]); and
second receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, by the first application from the second application via the R1 interface in response to the register service request, a register service response including a service identifier associated with the service provided by the AI framework (the AN-IC 60 sends a message to the application 50 containing the generated or artificial data, [0108]; the AN-IC application is configured to match the further request to a policy element based on the information contained in the application request for a second AN parameter, especially to at least one of: interface node and/or interface node type, especially an interface node identifier or an object identifier, OID identifying the type of the interface node, especially a E2 node and/or E2 Service Model, E2SM; requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within a interface node or within a E2 Service Model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0081]).
However, Colom does not clearly teach the service being an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) service, and the register service request including at least (i) the application ID associated with the first application, and (ii) a service profile of the service provided, via the first application, by an artificial intelligence (AI) framework containing a plurality of learning models.
In an analogous art, Ying teaches teach the service being an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) service (FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for ML model registration, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 800 allows the Near-RT RIC 214 to register a ML model 410 for ML model management in Non-RT RIC 212, [0066]), and the register service request including at least (i) the application ID associated with the first application, and (ii) a service profile of the service provided, via the first application, by an artificial intelligence (AI) framework containing a plurality of learning models (The method 800 begins at operation 802 with a put operation. The data 850 includes the put operation and any accompany data. The put operation may be “PUT ../models/{modelId}{ModelInstance}”. For example, the A1-ML consumer 406 sends out an HTTP PUT request. The message body of the PUT request contains the model instance to be registered, [0067]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom with the ML request of Ying to provide method and system to enhance operation of LTE and NR systems for AI and ML for O-RAN networks as suggested, Ying [0004].
Regarding claim 14, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first application is external to the RIC (Colom Fig. 2, the O-eNB is outside of the RIC).
Regarding claim 16, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the service provided by the Al framework is one of a (i) model and inference hosting service, (ii) model training and hosting service, (iii) model repository service, or (iv) a model management service xApp subscription management (as defined in O-RAN WG3 RIC Architecture, clause 6.2.2): manages subscriptions from xApps to E2 nodes, [0026-0027]).
Regarding claim 17, Colom teaches an apparatus (e.g. RIC of Fig. 3) executing a first application (applications running on an AN-IC e.g. xApps, rApps, [0036]), the apparatus comprising: at least one memory configured to store computer program code AN-IC further comprises a Shared Data Layer, SDL, configured to store AN parameters, [0069]); and at least one processor configured (Access Network Intelligent Controller, [0036]) to access said at least one memory and operate as instructed by said computer program code, said computer program code including:
first sending code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to send, by the first application to a second application provided in a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) 0-RAN intelligent controller (RIC), a service discovery request (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of data to the AN-IC 60 (e.g. explicit data request, subscription to a certain kind of data, [0099]; The term Access Network Intelligent Controller (AN-IC) is thus used to generically refer to a RIC or analogous intelligent controller applied to a radio-based or non-radio-based access network. Similarly, applications running on an AN-IC (e.g. xApps, rApps) are referred to as AN-IC applications, [0036]), the service discovery request being transmitted from the first application to the second application via an R1 interface of the Non-RT RIC in order to discover services previously registered with the Non-RT RIC (Services exposed to rApps via the R1 interface enable rApps to obtain information and trigger actions (e.g., policies, re-configuration) through the A1, O1, O2 and Open FH M-Plane related services, [0014]);
first receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, by the first application from the second application via the R1 interface in response to the service discovery request, a service discovery response including a list of services provided by an artificial intelligence (AI) framework containing a plurality of learning models (if in step S2 the security/privacy policy indicates to modify, the application receives the modified information from the RIC, [0103], requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within an interface node or within a E2 service model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0064]);
second sending code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to send, by the first application to a third application subsequent to receiving the service discovery response, a service subscriber request specifying a service included in the list of services (AN-IC application 50 sends a request of/subscription to data (e.g. an AN-IC parameter such as a KPI from a CU) to the AN-IC 60, [0106]; (The xApp request ID IE uniquely identifies each request made by the xApp. For SDL subscriptions, the xApp request ID is also used as the “subscription identifier” and is used in all related Information Push and Information Update Notify messages, [0032]; Some examples of functionality that can be implemented via xApps are: steering of specific users to certain cells and/or frequencies; adjusting QoS/QoE for specific users; MIMO beamforming; influence Radio Resource Management (RRM) functionality for certain users, e.g. access control; and gather mobility data from users, which can be used in AI/ML models for user prediction, [0019]); and
second receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, by the first application from the third application in response to the service subscriber request, a service subscriber response providing information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request (the AN-IC 60 sends a message to the application 50 containing the generated or artificial data, [0108]; the AN-IC application is configured to match the further request to a policy element based on the information contained in the application request for a second AN parameter, especially to at least one of: interface node and/or interface node type, especially an interface node identifier or an object identifier, OID identifying the type of the interface node, especially a E2 node and/or E2 Service Model, E2SM; requested AN parameter, especially an object identifier, OID identifying a variable within a interface node or within a E2 Service Model; and requester AN-IC application, especially an xApp application identifier or rApp application identifier, [0081]).
However, Colom does not clearly teach that is an artificial intelligence/machine learning (A/ML) service previously registered by the third application with the Non-RT RIC and provided via the third application as a service producer, the service subscriber request being sent to subscribe to the AI/ML service provided via the third application.
In an analogous art, Ying teaches teach that is an artificial intelligence/machine learning (A/ML) service previously registered by the third application with the Non-RT RIC and provided via the third application as a service producer, the service subscriber request being sent to subscribe to the AI/ML service provided via the third application (FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for ML model registration. The method 800 allows the Near-RT RIC 214 to register a ML model 410 for ML model management in Non-RT RIC 212, [0066]; The method 800 begins at operation 802 with a put operation. The data 850 includes the put operation and any accompany data. The put operation may be “PUT ../models/{modelId}{ModelInstance}”. For example, the A1-ML consumer 406 sends out an HTTP PUT request. The message body of the PUT request contains the model instance to be registered, [0067]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom with the ML request of Ying to provide method and system to enhance operation of LTE and NR systems for AI and ML for O-RAN networks as suggested, Ying [0004].
Claims 2, 7, 9, 13, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Colom in view of Ying and further in view of Singh et al. (US 20220283882 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 1.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach receiving, from a third application external to the RIC, a subscription request including the service identifier associated with the service provided by the Al framework; and sending, to the third application in response to the subscription request, a subscription response including at least service endpoints that enable the third application to use the service provided by the Al framework.
In an analogous art, Singh teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, from a third application external to the RIC, a subscription request including the service identifier associated with the service provided by the Al framework (the near RT RIC is divided into three Pods, which are a datapath Pod 2105, a service Pod 211 O, and an SDL Pod 2115. In some embodiments, this RIC (1) handles E2AP messages between the E2 nodes 2118 and the xApps 2120, (2) manages connections with the E2 nodes 2118, (3) processes xApp subscriptions to E2 nodes, and (4) handles xApp liveness operations, [0127]); and
sending, to the third application in response to the subscription request, a subscription response including at least service endpoints that enable the third application to use the service provided by the Al framework (FIG. 12 also shows several internal-RIC APls for allowing the control plane applications 1220 to communicate with each other through the RIC SDKs and the distributed near RT RIC, and to communicate with one or more elements of the distributed near RT RIC (e.g., shared data layer (SDL) 560, datapath input/output (1/0) elements, and application and management services 552 and 554), [0087]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom and Ying with the subscription of Sing to provide high speed interfaces between machines wherein these interfaces operate in non-blocking, lockless manner in order to ensure that critical near RT RIC operations are not delayed due to multiple requests causing one or more components to stall as suggested, Sing [0003].
Regarding claim 7, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 6.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein the list of services included in the service discovery response includes capability information of each service included in the list of services.
In an analogous art, Singh teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the list of services included in the service discovery response includes capability information of each service included in the list of services (In some embodiments, the xApps can query the service registry/directory to identify other xApps or other xApps that perform particular services, and can register lo receive notifications regarding xApps and their capabilities when the xApps are added to the directory, [0131]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom and Ying with the subscription of Sing to provide high speed interfaces between machines wherein these interfaces operate in non-blocking, lockless manner in order to ensure that critical near RT RIC operations are not delayed due to multiple requests causing one or more components to stall as suggested, Sing [0003].
Regarding claim 9, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 6.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes end points of the service in the Al framework.
In an analogous art, Sing teaches wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes end points of the service in the Al framework (FIG. 12 also shows several internal-RIC APls for allowing the control plane applications 1220 to communicate with each other through the RIC SOKs and the distributed near RT RIC, and to communicate with one or more elements of the distributed near RT RIC (e.g., shared data layer (SOL) 560, datapath input/output (1/0) elements, and application and management services 552 and 554), [0087]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom and Ying with the subscription of Sing to provide high speed interfaces between machines wherein these interfaces operate in non-blocking, lockless manner in order to ensure that critical near RT RIC operations are not delayed due to multiple requests causing one or more components to stall as suggested, Sing [0003].
Regarding claim 13, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 12.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein said computer program code further includes: third receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, from a third application external to the RIC, a subscription request including the service identifier associated with the service provided by the Al framework.
In an analogous art, Sing teaches wherein said computer program code further includes: third receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, from a third application external to the RIC, a subscription request including the service identifier associated with the service provided by the Al framework (the near RT RIC is divided into three Pods, which are a datapath Pod 2105, a service Pod 2110, and an SDL Pod 2115. In some embodiments, this. RIC (1) handles E2AP messages between the E2 nodes 2118 and the xApps 2120, (2) manages connections with the E2 nodes 2118, (3) processes xApp subscriptions to E2 nodes, and (4) handles xApp liveness operations, [0127]), and third sending code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to send, to the third application in response to the subscription request, a subscription response including at least service endpoints that enable the third application to use the service provided by the Al framework (FIG. 12 also shows several internal-RIC APls for allowing the control plane applications 1220 to communicate with each other through the RIC SDKs and the distributed near RT RIC, and to communicate with one or more elements of the distributed near RT RIC (e.g., shared data layer (SDL) 560, datapath input/output (1/0) elements, and application and management services 552 and 554 ), [0087]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom and Ying with the subscription of Sing to provide high speed interfaces between machines wherein these interfaces operate in non-blocking, lockless manner in order to ensure that critical near RT RIC operations are not delayed due to multiple requests causing one or more components to stall as suggested, Sing [0003].
Regarding claim 18, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 17.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein the list of services included in the service discovery response includes capability information of each service included in the list of services.
In an analogous art, Sing teaches wherein the list of services included in the service discovery response includes capability information of each service included in the list of services (In some embodiments, the xApps can query the service registry/directory to identify other xApps or other xApps that perform particular services, and can register to receive notifications regarding xApps and their capabilities when the xApps are added to the directory, [0131]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom and Ying with the subscription of Sing to provide high speed interfaces between machines wherein these interfaces operate in non-blocking, lockless manner in order to ensure that critical near RT RIC operations are not delayed due to multiple requests causing one or more components to stall as suggested, Sing [0003].
Regarding claim 20, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 17.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes end points of the service in the Al framework.
In an analogous art, Sing teaches wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes end points of the service in the Al framework (FIG. 12 also shows several internal-RIC APls for allowing the control plane applications 1220 to communicate with each other through the RIC SDKs and the distributed near RT RIC, and to _communicate with one or more elements of the distributed near RT RIC (e.g., shared data layer (SDL) 560, datapath input/output (1/0) elements, and application and management services 552 and 554), [0087]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the methods of Colom and Ying with the subscription of Sing to provide high speed interfaces between machines wherein these interfaces operate in non-blocking, lockless manner in order to ensure that critical near RT RIC operations are not delayed due to multiple requests causing one or more components to stall as suggested, Sing [0003].
Claims 8 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Colom in view of Ying and further in view of Samdanis et al. (US 20220272510 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 6.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes one or more procedures regarding the use of the service.
In an analogous art, Samdanis teaches wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes one or more procedures regarding the use of the service (the request received from the consuming function may take the form of a subscription request specifying one or more service attributes (STEP 430). This subscription request triggers the repository function to notify (STEP 440) the consuming function whenever a function producing one or more services associated with the one or more service attributes is added to the register, [0160]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the systems and methods of Colom and Ying to include procedures regarding the use of the service to an application requesting a service, such that the system can adjust and modify the application requesting services, based on the functions and rules defined by the system, as suggested by Samdanis [0160].
Regarding claim 19, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 17.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes one or more procedures regarding the use of the service.
In an analogous art, Samdanis teaches wherein the information that enables the first application to use the service specified in the service subscriber request includes one or more procedures regarding the use of the service (the request received from the consuming function may take the form of a subscription request specifying one or more service attributes (STEP 430). This subscription request triggers the repository function to notify (STEP 440) the consuming function whenever a function producing one or more services associated with the one or more service attributes is added to the register, [0160]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the systems and methods of Colom and Ying to include procedures regarding the use of the service to an application requesting a service, such that the system can adjust and modify the application requesting services, based on the functions and rules defined by the system, as suggested by Samdanis [0160].
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Colom in view of Ying and further in view of Simon et al. (US 20220264525 A1.
Regarding claim 4, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the method of claim 3.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach further comprising: prior to sending the application registration request, sending a bootstrap request to the second application; and receiving, from the second application, a bootstrap response including information regarding an application registration application programming interface (API).
In an analogous art, Simon teaches prior to sending the application registration request, sending a bootstrap request to the second application (different waveforms on a frame by frame basis can be enabled, for example, for an efficient OFDM waveform for loT services signaled by L 1 signaling. This enables Bootstrap signals to be built in the cloud for sending to a transmitter site, including a transmitter site in an SFN, [0078]); and receiving, from the second application, a bootstrap response including information (different waveforms on a frame by frame basis can be enabled, for example, for an efficient OFDM waveform for loT services signaled by L 1 signaling. This enables Bootstrap signals to be built in the cloud for sending to a transmitter site, including a transmitter site in an SFN, [0078]) regarding an application registration application programming interface (API) (The RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) 2201 and 2203 enable a programmable broadcast platform through an open API, Fig. 22, [0162)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the systems and methods of Colom and Ying to include procedures regarding the use of the service to send and receive bootstrap responses regarding information regarding n API, such that the system can receive different waveforms on a frame to frame basis, to improve OFDM waveform for signaled loT services, as suggested by Simon [0078].
Regarding claim 15, Colom as modified by Ying teaches the apparatus of claim 14.
However, Colom and Ying do not teach wherein said computer program code further includes: fourth sending code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to send, prior to sending the application registration request, a bootstrap request to the second application, and fourth receiving code configured to cause at least one of said at least one processor to receive, from the second application, a bootstrap response including information regarding an application registration application programming interface (API).
In an analogous art, Simon teaches prior to sending the application registration request, sending a bootstrap request to the second application (different waveforms on a frame by frame basis can be enabled, for example, for an efficient OFDM waveform for loT services signaled by L 1 signaling. This enables Bootstrap signals to be built in the cloud for sending to a transmitter site, including a transmitter site in an SFN, [0078]); and receiving, from the second application, a bootstrap response including information (different waveforms on a frame by frame basis can be enabled, for example, for an efficient OFDM waveform for loT services signaled by L 1 signaling. This enables Bootstrap signals to be built in the cloud for sending to a transmitter site, including a transmitter site in an SFN, [0078]) regarding an application registration application programming interface (API) (The RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) 2201 and 2203 enable a programmable broadcast platform through an open API, Fig. 22, [0162)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application was made to have modified the systems and methods of Colom and Ying to include procedures regarding the use of the service to send and receive bootstrap responses regarding information regarding an API, such that the system can receive different waveforms on a frame to frame basis, to improve OFDM waveform for signaled loT services, as suggested by Simon [0078].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Avanes et al. (US 20240098146 A1): Systems and methods described herein provide binding support function (BSF) service registration and discovery for environments using oversubscribed network addresses. A network device in a core network receives a registration request from a binding support device. The registration request includes a binding group identifier associated with the binding support device. The network device stores, based on the registration request, a profile for the binding support device that includes the binding group identifier and receives, from a policy control device, a discovery request for a that includes a unique identifier of user equipment (UE) device. The network device provides, to the policy control device, a response to the discovery request that identifies the binding support device.
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 NICOLE M LOUIS-FILS whose telephone number is (571)270-0671. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NICOLE M LOUIS-FILS/Examiner, Art Unit 2641
/CHARLES N APPIAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
Prosecution Insights