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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/21/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The applicant has amended the following:
Claims: 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 27, 29-31 and 65 have been amended.
Claims: 4, 10, 12-13, 18-19 and 66 have not been amended.
Claims: 2, 5, 7-8, 14-17, 20-26, 28 and 32-64 have been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6, 9-13, 18-19, 27, 29-31 and 65-66 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6, 9, 12-13, 18, 27, 29, 31 and 65-66 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mildh (US Patent Publication 2022/0287036 herein after referenced as Mildh) in view of BERGSTROM et al. (US Patent Publication 2023/0156546 herein after referenced as Berg).
Regarding claim 1 and claim 65, Mildh discloses:
A method for determining a frequency priority for a cell reselection, performed by user equipment (UE), comprising: and A communication device, comprising a processor, a transceiver, a memory, and an executable program stored on the memory and capable of being run by the processor, wherein when the processor executes the executable program, the processor is caused to perform: (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE (i.e. reads on performed by a UE and reads on communication device) has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice. For example, P can include a preferred frequency for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize (i.e. reads on determining a frequency priority) the preferred frequency in the following way:; Mildh, [0158] discloses If the UE finds a cell of preferred frequency, it could perform cell reselection (i.e. reads on for a cell reselection) to that cell; Mildh, [0151] discloses if the UE receives matching parameters for multiple frequency layers for a given PDU session or slice, the UE can apply some other prioritization policy e.g., signalled as part of P or configured via other means to know which of the frequencies to prioritize; Mildh, Fig. 9 & [0238] discloses UE 900 includes processing circuitry 901 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 905, radio frequency RF interface 909, network connection interface 911, memory 915 including random access memory RAM 917, read-only memory ROM 919, and storage medium 921 or the like, communication subsystem 931, power source 933, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 921 includes operating system 923, application program 925, and data 927).
receiving a base station signaling, wherein the base station signaling comprises: (Mildh, [0185]-[0186] discloses The exemplary method can be performed by one or more nodes of the network e.g., RAN nodes (i.e. reads on base station) and discloses where the network can determine, for a user equipment UE, one or more frequency selection policy parameters P related to one or more mobility operations and The frequency selection policy parameters can be further related to a network slice associated with a PDU session for the UE and where the network can send the frequency selection policy parameters (i.e. reads on receiving a base station signaling) to the UE; Mildh, [0062] discloses As used herein, a “radio access node” or “RAN node” can be any node in a radio access network RAN of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals and Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station).
frequency information of a preferred frequency of a network slice; and determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency; (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice (i.e. reads on of a network slice) and For example, P can include a preferred frequency (i.e. reads on frequency information of the preferred frequency) for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize (i.e. reads on determining the frequency priority) the preferred frequency (i.e. reads on based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency) in the following way:; Mildh, [0158] discloses If the UE finds a cell of preferred frequency, it could perform cell reselection (i.e. reads on for a cell reselection) to that cell; Mildh, [0151] discloses if the UE receives matching parameters for multiple frequency layers for a given PDU session or slice, the UE can apply some other prioritization policy e.g., signalled as part of P or configured via other means to know which of the frequencies to prioritize).
wherein the base station signaling comprises a broadcast signaling and a dedicated signaling, and the dedicated signaling comprises (Mildh, [0137] discloses This advantage holds regardless of whether P is dedicated frequency selection priorities provided in a dedicated message (i.e. reads on a dedicated signaling) and associated with a PDU session or slice, or P content is broadcasted (i.e. reads on a broadcast signaling) in the cell; Mildh, [0149] discloses When the UE finds a cell or frequency that broadcasts the same P index value the UE received for a PDU session or slice, the UE will associate that cell or frequency with that PDU session or slice, meaning it can use that frequency or cell for camping, monitoring, and/or access; Mildh, [0143] discloses P can be signalled in a radio resource control RRC message from the RAN; Mildh, [0136] discloses In case P is not provided for a particular PDU session or slice, the UE could perform certain default operations for that session or slice, such as using default values of P, and/or using dedicated RAT and frequency priorities for this PDU session or slice e.g. provided in the release message to IDLE or INACTIVE).
the frequency information (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice and For example, P can include a preferred frequency (i.e. reads on frequency information) for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize the preferred frequency in the following way:; Mildh, [0134] discloses P can be encoded in different ways and For example, P can consist of detailed frequency information, such as one or more of the following: preferred or allowed camping frequency, preferred or allowed access frequency, preferred or allowed monitoring frequency).
and a dedicated priority of the preferred frequency, (Mildh, [0129] discloses P can be used together with other information e.g., dedicated RAT and frequency priorities (i.e. reads on dedicated priority of the preferred frequency) configured by the RAN for deciding which frequency to use for any of the following operations; Mildh, [0136] discloses In case P is not provided for a particular PDU session or slice, the UE could perform certain default operations for that session or slice, such as using default values of P, and/or using dedicated RAT and frequency priorities for this PDU session or slice e.g. provided in the release message to IDLE or INACTIVE).
Mildh discloses prioritizing the preferred frequency P and in the event that the preferred frequency P is not included, utilizing other dedicated priorities but fails to explicitly disclose that said preferred frequency is prioritized over the other priorities and therefore fails to disclose “a frequency priority of the preferred frequency is higher than the dedicated priority.”
In a related field of endeavor, Berg discloses:
a frequency priority of the preferred frequency is higher than the dedicated priority (Berg, [0092] discloses a WD 22 may determine if cellReselectionPriorities are different, and if so, which to follow and According to one aspect, the frequencyPriorities (i.e. reads on a frequency priority of the preferred frequency) that relate to wireless device category or wireless device type have a highest priority (i.e. reads on is higher) and Priorities related to a slice (i.e. reads on than the dedicated priority) may have a second highest priority and priorities related to service may have a third highest priority and In other exemplary embodiments, the service takes precedence and the network node 16 configures a WD 22 to use a particular set, among multiple sets, of cell (re)selection parameters the WD 22 is to consider and This may be accomplished by sending from the network node 16 to the WD 22 a parameter set indication and The parameter set indication may be indicated with dedicated signaling from the network to the WD 22 and For example, the parameter set indication, signaled in a message which is used to move the WD 22 from CONNECTED mode to an IDLE/INACTIVE mode, such as an RRCRelease-message, may be used to send the parameter set indication; Berg, [0118] discloses When the WD 22 is registered to more than one slice, or when the WD 22 is registered to the network in such a way that a selection of different services may become relevant for access, then according to one aspect, the WD 22 can determine which way it should prioritize a slice, frequency, and/or service and Based on the above methods, the network node 16 can control which parameter set a certain WD 22 is to apply and The network, such as via network node 16, may select which parameter set a certain WD 22 is to apply; Berg, [0058] discloses A network node 16 may be configured to include an index mapper 32 which is configured to map an index to a set of parameters of a plurality of sets of parameters, the parameters in a set including at least one priority used to configure the WD to select one of a network slice, frequency and service and The network node 16 may be configured to select an index indicating a set of parameters of that include at least one priority, the selecting being based at least in part on one of a registered slice and a service and The WD 22 may be configured to select a frequency priority from the set of parameters indicated by the obtained indication, the obtained indication corresponding to a prioritized slice; Berg, [0124] discloses If a WD 22 is coming from an area where f3 was used for slice 1, the WD 22 would switch to f1 if it was entering an area served by gNB1, whereas it would switch to f2 if it was entering an area served by the network node 16 NN, gNB2 and This would be possible by associating an index with the slice to which the WD 22 is registered, and by broadcasting frequency priorities that are valid in a certain area for this index; Berg, [0007] discloses There is a need for a solution that can provide information to the WD such that idle or inactive mode mobility such as cell selection and reselection can be done in such a way that a WD follows frequency priorities that are valid for certain specific cells, areas and slices).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mildh to incorporate the teachings of Berg for the purpose of providing the system with a means to determine which parameter to prioritize when multiple priorities are present (Berg, [0092] & Mildh, [0136]) and providing the system with a means to inform the mobile device which frequency priorities are valid for certain areas (Berg, [0007] & [0124]) and making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information as taught by Mildh) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information, wherein the frequency information is prioritized over other priorities such as slice priorities and wherein the frequency information for certain areas are indicated as taught by Berg) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of prioritizing frequency information (i.e. as taught by both Mildh & Berg) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 3, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency comprises: determining, the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency comprised in the dedicated signaling; wherein the dedicated signaling comprises the frequency information of the preferred frequency (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice and For example, P can include a preferred frequency for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize the preferred frequency in the following way:; Mildh, [0134] discloses P can be encoded in different ways and For example, P can consist of detailed frequency information, such as one or more of the following: preferred or allowed camping frequency, preferred or allowed access frequency, preferred or allowed monitoring frequency; Mildh, [0137] discloses This advantage holds regardless of whether P is dedicated frequency selection priorities provided in a dedicated message and associated with a PDU session or slice; Mildh, [0143] discloses P can be signalled in a radio resource control RRC message from the RAN).
Regarding claim 4, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: (see claim 1).
determining, the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on a dedicated priority comprised in another dedicated signaling; wherein the another dedicated signaling does not comprise the frequency information of the preferred frequency, and the another dedicated signaling comprises the dedicated priority (Mildh, [0136]-[0137] discloses In case P is not provided for a particular PDU session or slice, the UE could perform certain default operations for that session or slice, such as using default values of P, and/or using dedicated RAT and frequency priorities for this PDU session or slice e.g. provided in the release message to IDLE or INACTIVE and discloses This advantage holds regardless of whether P is dedicated frequency selection priorities provided in a dedicated message and associated with a PDU session or slice; Mildh, [0129] discloses P can be used together with other information e.g., dedicated RAT and frequency priorities configured by the RAN for deciding which frequency to use for any of the following operations; Mildh, [0134] discloses P can be encoded in different ways and For example, P can consist of detailed frequency information, such as one or more of the following: preferred or allowed camping frequency, preferred or allowed access frequency, preferred or allowed monitoring frequency; Mildh, [0146] discloses assigned P values can also be modified when the UE moves to a new area and performs a re-registration procedure towards the CN).
Regarding claim 6, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 3, (see claim 3).
wherein the dedicated signaling further comprises: area information, configured to indicate an effective area where at least one of the frequency information of the preferred frequency or a dedicated priority comprised in the dedicated signaling is effective; wherein the UE is located in the effective area, at least one of the frequency information of the preferred frequency or the dedicated priority comprised in the dedicated signaling is used to determine the frequency priority for the cell reselection.
(Berg, [0124] discloses If a WD 22 is coming from an area where f3 was used for slice 1, the WD 22 would switch to f1 if it was entering an area served by gNB1, whereas it would switch to f2 if it was entering an area served by the network node 16 NN, gNB2 and This would be possible by associating an index with the slice to which the WD 22 is registered, and by broadcasting frequency priorities that are valid in a certain area for this index; Berg, [0007] discloses There is a need for a solution that can provide information to the WD such that idle or inactive mode mobility such as cell selection and reselection can be done in such a way that a WD follows frequency priorities that are valid for certain specific cells, areas and slices; Berg, [0092] discloses a WD 22 may determine if cellReselectionPriorities are different, and if so, which to follow and According to one aspect, the frequencyPriorities that relate to wireless device category or wireless device type have a highest priority and Priorities related to a slice may have a second highest priority and priorities related to service may have a third highest priority and In other exemplary embodiments, the service takes precedence and the network node 16 configures a WD 22 to use a particular set, among multiple sets, of cell (re)selection parameters the WD 22 is to consider and This may be accomplished by sending from the network node 16 to the WD 22 a parameter set indication and The parameter set indication may be indicated with dedicated signaling from the network to the WD 22 and For example, the parameter set indication, signaled in a message which is used to move the WD 22 from CONNECTED mode to an IDLE/INACTIVE mode, such as an RRCRelease-message, may be used to send the parameter set indication).
Regarding claim 9, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency comprises: determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency comprised in the broadcast signaling, wherein the base station signaling does not comprise the dedicated signaling and comprises the broadcast signaling, and the broadcast signaling comprises the frequency information of the preferred frequency (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice and For example, P can include a preferred frequency for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize the preferred frequency in the following way:; Mildh, [0137] discloses This advantage holds regardless of whether P is dedicated frequency selection priorities provided in a dedicated message and associated with a PDU session or slice, or P content is broadcasted in the cell; Mildh, [0149] discloses When the UE finds a cell or frequency that broadcasts the same P index value the UE received for a PDU session or slice, the UE will associate that cell or frequency with that PDU session or slice, meaning it can use that frequency or cell for camping, monitoring, and/or access; Mildh, [0134] discloses P can be encoded in different ways and For example, P can consist of detailed frequency information, such as one or more of the following: preferred or allowed camping frequency, preferred or allowed access frequency, preferred or allowed monitoring frequency).
Regarding claim 12, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency comprises: determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency and an expected network slice that the UE expects to access (Mildh, [0149] discloses When the UE finds a cell or frequency that broadcasts the same P index value the UE received for a PDU session or slice, the UE will associate that cell or frequency with that PDU session or slice, meaning it can use that frequency or cell for camping, monitoring, and/or access; Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice and For example, P can include a preferred frequency for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize the preferred frequency in the following way:).
Regarding claim 13, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein the network slice has one or more preferred frequencies (Mildh, [0151] discloses if the UE receives matching parameters for multiple frequency layers for a given PDU session or slice, the UE can apply some other prioritization policy e.g., signalled as part of P or configured via other means to know which of the frequencies to prioritize; Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice and For example, P can include a preferred frequency for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize the preferred frequency in the following way:; Mildh, [0160] discloses Assuming that the UE is in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state and data arrives for one of the slices, based on P, the UE will perform access directly on the preferred frequency layer for that slice, even if to this frequency layer is different from the current frequency layer the UE is camping on).
Regarding claim 18, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, (see claim 1).
wherein determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency comprises: determining frequency priorities among preferred frequencies of different network slices in performing the cell reselection based on slice priorities and the frequency information of the preferred frequencies (Berg, [0092] discloses a WD 22 may determine if cellReselectionPriorities are different, and if so, which to follow and According to one aspect, the frequencyPriorities that relate to wireless device category or wireless device type have a highest priority and Priorities related to a slice may have a second highest priority and priorities related to service may have a third highest priority and In other exemplary embodiments, the service takes precedence; Berg, [0058] discloses A network node 16 may be configured to include an index mapper 32 which is configured to map an index to a set of parameters of a plurality of sets of parameters, the parameters in a set including at least one priority used to configure the WD to select one of a network slice, frequency and service and The network node 16 may be configured to select an index indicating a set of parameters of that include at least one priority, the selecting being based at least in part on one of a registered slice and a service and The WD 22 may be configured to select a frequency priority from the set of parameters indicated by the obtained indication, the obtained indication corresponding to a prioritized slice).
Regarding claim 27, Mildh discloses:
A method for sending information, performed by a base station, comprising: sending a base station signaling, wherein the base station signaling comprises: (Mildh, [0185]-[0186] discloses The exemplary method can be performed by one or more nodes of the network e.g., RAN nodes (i.e. reads on performed by a base station) and discloses where the network can determine, for a user equipment UE, one or more frequency selection policy parameters P related to one or more mobility operations and The frequency selection policy parameters can be further related to a network slice associated with a PDU session for the UE and where the network can send the frequency selection policy parameters (i.e. reads on sending information and reads on sending a base station signaling) to the UE; Mildh, [0062] discloses As used herein, a “radio access node” or “RAN node” can be any node in a radio access network RAN of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals and Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station).
frequency information of a preferred frequency of a network slice; and the frequency information of the preferred frequency is used for a user equipment (UE) to determine a frequency priority for a cell reselection; (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice (i.e. reads on of a network slice) and For example, P can include a preferred frequency (i.e. reads on frequency information of the preferred frequency) for the UE to camp on and When the UE (i.e. reads on used for a UE) is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize (i.e. reads on to determine a frequency priority) the preferred frequency (i.e. reads on based on the frequency information of the preferred frequency) in the following way:; Mildh, [0158] discloses If the UE finds a cell of preferred frequency, it could perform cell reselection (i.e. reads on for a cell reselection) to that cell; Mildh, [0151] discloses if the UE receives matching parameters for multiple frequency layers for a given PDU session or slice, the UE can apply some other prioritization policy e.g., signalled as part of P or configured via other means to know which of the frequencies to prioritize).
wherein the base station signaling comprises a broadcast signaling and a dedicated signaling; and the dedicated signaling comprises (Mildh, [0137] discloses This advantage holds regardless of whether P is dedicated frequency selection priorities provided in a dedicated message (i.e. reads on a dedicated signaling) and associated with a PDU session or slice, or P content is broadcasted (i.e. reads on a broadcast signaling) in the cell; Mildh, [0149] discloses When the UE finds a cell or frequency that broadcasts the same P index value the UE received for a PDU session or slice, the UE will associate that cell or frequency with that PDU session or slice, meaning it can use that frequency or cell for camping, monitoring, and/or access; Mildh, [0143] discloses P can be signalled in a radio resource control RRC message from the RAN; Mildh, [0136] discloses In case P is not provided for a particular PDU session or slice, the UE could perform certain default operations for that session or slice, such as using default values of P, and/or using dedicated RAT and frequency priorities for this PDU session or slice e.g. provided in the release message to IDLE or INACTIVE).
the frequency information (Mildh, [0156] discloses In this example, the UE has a single PDU session or slice, and receives a P value associated with this PDU session or slice and For example, P can include a preferred frequency (i.e. reads on frequency information) for the UE to camp on and When the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED or a non-connected state e.g., RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE, it will prioritize the preferred frequency in the following way:; Mildh, [0134] discloses P can be encoded in different ways and For example, P can consist of detailed frequency information, such as one or more of the following: preferred or allowed camping frequency, preferred or allowed access frequency, preferred or allowed monitoring frequency).
and a dedicated priority of the preferred frequency, (Mildh, [0129] discloses P can be used together with other information e.g., dedicated RAT and frequency priorities (i.e. reads on dedicated priority of the preferred frequency) configured by the RAN for deciding which frequency to use for any of the following operations; Mildh, [0136] discloses In case P is not provided for a particular PDU session or slice, the UE could perform certain default operations for that session or slice, such as using default values of P, and/or using dedicated RAT and frequency priorities for this PDU session or slice e.g. provided in the release message to IDLE or INACTIVE).
Mildh discloses prioritizing the preferred frequency P and in the event that the preferred frequency P is not included, utilizing other dedicated priorities but fails to explicitly disclose that said preferred frequency is prioritized over the other priorities and therefore fails to disclose “a frequency priority of the preferred frequency is higher than the dedicated priority.”
In a related field of endeavor, Berg discloses:
a frequency priority of the preferred frequency is higher than the dedicated priority (Berg, [0092] discloses a WD 22 may determine if cellReselectionPriorities are different, and if so, which to follow and According to one aspect, the frequencyPriorities (i.e. reads on a frequency priority of the preferred frequency) that relate to wireless device category or wireless device type have a highest priority (i.e. reads on is higher) and Priorities related to a slice (i.e. reads on than the dedicated priority) may have a second highest priority and priorities related to service may have a third highest priority and In other exemplary embodiments, the service takes precedence and the network node 16 configures a WD 22 to use a particular set, among multiple sets, of cell (re)selection parameters the WD 22 is to consider and This may be accomplished by sending from the network node 16 to the WD 22 a parameter set indication and The parameter set indication may be indicated with dedicated signaling from the network to the WD 22 and For example, the parameter set indication, signaled in a message which is used to move the WD 22 from CONNECTED mode to an IDLE/INACTIVE mode, such as an RRCRelease-message, may be used to send the parameter set indication; Berg, [0118] discloses When the WD 22 is registered to more than one slice, or when the WD 22 is registered to the network in such a way that a selection of different services may become relevant for access, then according to one aspect, the WD 22 can determine which way it should prioritize a slice, frequency, and/or service and Based on the above methods, the network node 16 can control which parameter set a certain WD 22 is to apply and The network, such as via network node 16, may select which parameter set a certain WD 22 is to apply; Berg, [0058] discloses A network node 16 may be configured to include an index mapper 32 which is configured to map an index to a set of parameters of a plurality of sets of parameters, the parameters in a set including at least one priority used to configure the WD to select one of a network slice, frequency and service and The network node 16 may be configured to select an index indicating a set of parameters of that include at least one priority, the selecting being based at least in part on one of a registered slice and a service and The WD 22 may be configured to select a frequency priority from the set of parameters indicated by the obtained indication, the obtained indication corresponding to a prioritized slice; Berg, [0124] discloses If a WD 22 is coming from an area where f3 was used for slice 1, the WD 22 would switch to f1 if it was entering an area served by gNB1, whereas it would switch to f2 if it was entering an area served by the network node 16 NN, gNB2 and This would be possible by associating an index with the slice to which the WD 22 is registered, and by broadcasting frequency priorities that are valid in a certain area for this index; Berg, [0007] discloses There is a need for a solution that can provide information to the WD such that idle or inactive mode mobility such as cell selection and reselection can be done in such a way that a WD follows frequency priorities that are valid for certain specific cells, areas and slices).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mildh to incorporate the teachings of Berg for the purpose of providing the system with a means to determine which parameter to prioritize when multiple priorities are present (Berg, [0092] & Mildh, [0136]) and providing the system with a means to inform the mobile device which frequency priorities are valid for certain areas (Berg, [0007] & [0124]) and making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information as taught by Mildh) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information, wherein the frequency information is prioritized over other priorities such as slice priorities and wherein the frequency information for certain areas are indicated as taught by Berg) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of prioritizing frequency information (i.e. as taught by both Mildh & Berg) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 29, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 27, (see claim 27).
wherein the dedicated signaling further comprises a dedicated priority, wherein the dedicated priority is lower than a frequency priority of the preferred frequency (Berg, [0092] discloses a WD 22 may determine if cellReselectionPriorities are different, and if so, which to follow and According to one aspect, the frequencyPriorities that relate to wireless device category or wireless device type have a highest priority and Priorities related to a slice may have a second highest priority and priorities related to service may have a third highest priority and In other exemplary embodiments, the service takes precedence and the network node 16 configures a WD 22 to use a particular set, among multiple sets, of cell (re)selection parameters the WD 22 is to consider and This may be accomplished by sending from the network node 16 to the WD 22 a parameter set indication and The parameter set indication may be indicated with dedicated signaling from the network to the WD 22 and For example, the parameter set indication, signaled in a message which is used to move the WD 22 from CONNECTED mode to an IDLE/INACTIVE mode, such as an RRCRelease-message, may be used to send the parameter set indication; Mildh, [0129] discloses P can be used together with other information e.g., dedicated RAT and frequency priorities configured by the RAN for deciding which frequency to use for any of the following operations; Mildh, [0136] discloses In case P is not provided for a particular PDU session or slice, the UE could perform certain default operations for that session or slice, such as using default values of P, and/or using dedicated RAT and frequency priorities for this PDU session or slice e.g. provided in the release message to IDLE or INACTIVE; Mildh, [0137] discloses This advantage holds regardless of whether P is dedicated frequency selection priorities provided in a dedicated message and associated with a PDU session or slice).
Regarding claim 31, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 27, (see claim 27).
wherein the dedicated signaling further comprises: area information, configured to indicate an effective area where at least one of the frequency information of the preferred frequency or a dedicated priority comprised in the dedicated signaling is effective; wherein the UE is located in the effective area, at least one of the frequency information of the preferred frequency or the dedicated priority comprised in the dedicated signaling is used to determine the frequency priority for the cell reselection (Berg, [0124] discloses If a WD 22 is coming from an area where f3 was used for slice 1, the WD 22 would switch to f1 if it was entering an area served by gNB1, whereas it would switch to f2 if it was entering an area served by the network node 16 NN, gNB2 and This would be possible by associating an index with the slice to which the WD 22 is registered, and by broadcasting frequency priorities that are valid in a certain area for this index; Berg, [0007] discloses There is a need for a solution that can provide information to the WD such that idle or inactive mode mobility such as cell selection and reselection can be done in such a way that a WD follows frequency priorities that are valid for certain specific cells, areas and slices; Berg, [0092] discloses a WD 22 may determine if cellReselectionPriorities are different, and if so, which to follow and According to one aspect, the frequencyPriorities that relate to wireless device category or wireless device type have a highest priority and Priorities related to a slice may have a second highest priority and priorities related to service may have a third highest priority and In other exemplary embodiments, the service takes precedence and the network node 16 configures a WD 22 to use a particular set, among multiple sets, of cell (re)selection parameters the WD 22 is to consider and This may be accomplished by sending from the network node 16 to the WD 22 a parameter set indication and The parameter set indication may be indicated with dedicated signaling from the network to the WD 22 and For example, the parameter set indication, signaled in a message which is used to move the WD 22 from CONNECTED mode to an IDLE/INACTIVE mode, such as an RRCRelease-message, may be used to send the parameter set indication).
Regarding claim 66, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
A non-transitory computer storage medium storing an executable program; wherein after the executable program is executed by a processor, (Mildh, Fig. 9 & [0238] discloses UE 900 includes processing circuitry 901 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 905, radio frequency RF interface 909, network connection interface 911, memory 915 including random access memory RAM 917, read-only memory ROM 919, and storage medium 921 or the like, communication subsystem 931, power source 933, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 921 includes operating system 923, application program 925, and data 927).
the method according to claim 1 is performed (see claim 1).
Claim(s) 10-11, 19 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mildh (US Patent Publication 2022/0287036 herein after referenced as Mildh) in view of BERGSTROM et al. (US Patent Publication 2023/0156546 herein after referenced as Berg) and further in view of WIPO document “RADIO NETWORK NODE, WIRELESS DEVICE AND METHOD PERFORMED THEREIN” (WO 2017/140342 A1 herein after referenced as Wipo).
Regarding claim 10, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: (see claim 1).
Mildh in view of Berg discloses prioritizing frequencies based on frequency information included in broadcast signaling but fails to explicitly disclose the use of a common priority during prioritization and therefore fails to disclose “determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on a common priority comprised in another broadcast signaling, wherein another base station signaling does not comprise the dedicated signaling and does not comprise the broadcast signaling comprising the frequency information of the preferred frequency.”
In a related field of endeavor, Wipo discloses:
determining the frequency priority for the cell reselection based on a common priority comprised in another broadcast signaling, wherein another base station signaling does not comprise the dedicated signaling and does not comprise the broadcast signaling comprising the frequency information of the preferred frequency (Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16 discloses the radio network node can provide absolute priorities of different E-UTRAN frequencies for prioritization of frequency layers the UE shall camp on and these absolute priorities may be common to all wireless devices in case of system information is used and common priorities for cell reselection may be provided to the wireless device in a “SystemInformationBlockType3” and “SystemInformationBlockType5” messages; Wipo, Fig. 13 & Page 22, Lines 23 – Page 23, Lines 1-5 discloses action 1303 in this illustrated embodiment, the first radio network node 12 may broadcast the message comprising information indicating frequency bands supported by the communication network such as the first frequency band of the first service area, the second frequency band of the second service area and the third frequency band of the third service area and the information indicates one or more network slices supported by respective frequency band of the frequency bands and a priority order may be indicated in the message and the priority order may be a band priority order indicating a preferred frequency band over other frequency bands and additionally the priority order may be a slice priority order prioritizing frequency band supporting a certain network slice over other frequency bands supporting the same network slice and the message may indicate band priority where the third frequency band is prioritized over the second frequency band but may further indicate a slice priority of the second network slice for the second frequency band that is higher than a slice priority of the second network slice for the third frequency band and it should be noted that this is common information for all wireless device).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mildh in view of Berg to incorporate the teachings of Wipo for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide prioritization common to all devices (Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16) and for the purpose of providing the system with a means to making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information as taught by Mildh) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information, wherein the frequency information is prioritized utilizing common priority indicated in a broadcast signal wherein the prioritization involves different slicing priorities for different frequency priorities as taught by Wipo) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of prioritizing frequency information (i.e. as taught by both Mildh & Wipo) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 11, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method of claim 1, (see claim 1).
Mildh in view of Berg discloses prioritizing frequencies based on frequency information included in broadcast signaling but fails to explicitly disclose the use of a common priority during prioritization and therefore fails to disclose “wherein the broadcast signaling comprises the frequency information of the preferred frequency and a common priority, the common priority is lower than a frequency priority of the preferred frequency.”
In a related field of endeavor, Wipo discloses:
wherein the broadcast signaling comprises the frequency information of the preferred frequency and a common priority, the common priority is lower than a frequency priority of the preferred frequency (Wipo, Fig. 13 & Page 22, Lines 23 – Page 23, Lines 1-5 discloses action 1303 in this illustrated embodiment, the first radio network node 12 may broadcast the message comprising information indicating frequency bands supported by the communication network such as the first frequency band of the first service area, the second frequency band of the second service area and the third frequency band of the third service area and the information indicates one or more network slices supported by respective frequency band of the frequency bands and a priority order may be indicated in the message and the priority order may be a band priority order indicating a preferred frequency band over other frequency bands and additionally the priority order may be a slice priority order prioritizing frequency band supporting a certain network slice over other frequency bands supporting the same network slice and the message may indicate band priority where the third frequency band is prioritized over the second frequency band but may further indicate a slice priority of the second network slice for the second frequency band that is higher than a slice priority of the second network slice for the third frequency band and it should be noted that this is common information for all wireless device; Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16 discloses the radio network node can provide absolute priorities of different E-UTRAN frequencies for prioritization of frequency layers the UE shall camp on and these absolute priorities may be common to all wireless devices in case of system information is used and common priorities for cell reselection may be provided to the wireless device in a “SystemInformationBlockType3” and “SystemInformationBlockType5” messages).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mildh in view of Berg to incorporate the teachings of Wipo for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide prioritization common to all devices (Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16) and for the purpose of providing the system with a means to making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information as taught by Mildh) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information, wherein the frequency information is prioritized utilizing common priority indicated in a broadcast signal wherein the prioritization involves different slicing priorities for different frequency priorities as taught by Wipo) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of prioritizing frequency information (i.e. as taught by both Mildh & Wipo) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 19, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 18, (see claim 8).
Mildh in view of Berg discloses prioritizing frequencies based on frequency information included in broadcast signaling but fails to explicitly disclose specific scenarios of a frequency being higher and slice priority being higher in relation to the others and therefore fails to disclose “wherein a frequency priority of a preferred frequency of a first network slice is higher than a frequency priority of a preferred frequency of a second network slice, wherein a first slice priority of the first network slice is higher than a second slice priority of the second network slice.”
In a related field of endeavor, Wipo discloses:
wherein a frequency priority of a preferred frequency of a first network slice is higher than a frequency priority of a preferred frequency of a second network slice, wherein a first slice priority of the first network slice is higher than a second slice priority of the second network slice (Wipo, Fig. 13 & Page 22, Lines 23 – Page 23, Lines 1-5 discloses action 1303 in this illustrated embodiment, the first radio network node 12 may broadcast the message comprising information indicating frequency bands supported by the communication network such as the first frequency band of the first service area, the second frequency band of the second service area and the third frequency band of the third service area and the information indicates one or more network slices supported by respective frequency band of the frequency bands and a priority order may be indicated in the message and the priority order may be a band priority order indicating a preferred frequency band over other frequency bands and additionally the priority order may be a slice priority order prioritizing frequency band supporting a certain network slice over other frequency bands supporting the same network slice and the message may indicate band priority where the third frequency band is prioritized over the second frequency band but may further indicate a slice priority of the second network slice for the second frequency band that is higher than a slice priority of the second network slice for the third frequency band and it should be noted that this is common information for all wireless device; Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16 discloses the radio network node can provide absolute priorities of different E-UTRAN frequencies for prioritization of frequency layers the UE shall camp on and these absolute priorities may be common to all wireless devices in case of system information is used and common priorities for cell reselection may be provided to the wireless device in a “SystemInformationBlockType3” and “SystemInformationBlockType5” messages).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mildh in view of Berg to incorporate the teachings of Wipo for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide prioritization common to all devices (Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16) and for the purpose of providing the system with a means to making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information as taught by Mildh) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information, wherein the frequency information is prioritized utilizing common priority indicated in a broadcast signal wherein the prioritization involves different slicing priorities for different frequency priorities as taught by Wipo) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of prioritizing frequency information (i.e. as taught by both Mildh & Wipo) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 30, Mildh in view of Berg discloses:
The method according to claim 27, (see claim 27).
Mildh in view of Berg discloses prioritizing frequencies based on frequency information included in broadcast signaling but fails to explicitly disclose the use of a common priority during prioritization and therefore fails to disclose “wherein the broadcast signaling further comprises a common priority, wherein the common priority is lower than a frequency priority of the preferred frequency.”
In a related field of endeavor, Wipo discloses:
wherein the broadcast signaling further comprises a common priority, wherein the common priority is lower than a frequency priority of the preferred frequency (Wipo, Fig. 13 & Page 22, Lines 23 – Page 23, Lines 1-5 discloses action 1303 in this illustrated embodiment, the first radio network node 12 may broadcast the message comprising information indicating frequency bands supported by the communication network such as the first frequency band of the first service area, the second frequency band of the second service area and the third frequency band of the third service area and the information indicates one or more network slices supported by respective frequency band of the frequency bands and a priority order may be indicated in the message and the priority order may be a band priority order indicating a preferred frequency band over other frequency bands and additionally the priority order may be a slice priority order prioritizing frequency band supporting a certain network slice over other frequency bands supporting the same network slice and the message may indicate band priority where the third frequency band is prioritized over the second frequency band but may further indicate a slice priority of the second network slice for the second frequency band that is higher than a slice priority of the second network slice for the third frequency band and it should be noted that this is common information for all wireless device; Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16 discloses the radio network node can provide absolute priorities of different E-UTRAN frequencies for prioritization of frequency layers the UE shall camp on and these absolute priorities may be common to all wireless devices in case of system information is used and common priorities for cell reselection may be provided to the wireless device in a “SystemInformationBlockType3” and “SystemInformationBlockType5” messages).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Mildh in view of Berg to incorporate the teachings of Wipo for the purpose of providing the system with a means to provide prioritization common to all devices (Wipo, Page 26, Lines 9-16) and for the purpose of providing the system with a means to making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information as taught by Mildh) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of prioritizing frequency information, wherein the frequency information is prioritized utilizing common priority indicated in a broadcast signal wherein the prioritization involves different slicing priorities for different frequency priorities as taught by Wipo) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of prioritizing frequency information (i.e. as taught by both Mildh & Wipo) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL Y MAPA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645