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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-8, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP TSG-SA: Study on enhancement of network slicing, Phase 2 (Release 17)-3GPP TR 23.700-40V0.4.0 19 June 2020 attached here, hereinafter 3GPP document in view of Nam et al. (US 20200196182 A1 dated 2020-06-18)
As to claim 1, 3GPP document discloses A method comprising: receiving by a base station, a message from an access mobility management node, wherein the message includes i) a registration accept message, ii) allowed network slice selection assistance information related to a first network slice and iii) target network slice selection assistance information related to a second network slice which is not available in a current tracking area of a user equipment (UE) (Page 66 – “13. The AMF completes the procedure and answers the UE with either Registration Accept or Registration Reject. Registration Accept if an Allowed NSSAI is provided, possible with rejected S-NSSAIs and a suitable cause code (existing or new) and a Registration Reject in case no Allowed NSSAI is accepted, with a suitable cause code (existing or new).”); transmitting, by the base station, the registration accept message to the UE (Figure 6.8.3.4.2-1 step 13); determining, by the base station redirection of the UE to a dedicated frequency band related to the second network slice (Page 90 – “2. The AMF and NSSF performs Network Slice selection.”); transmitting, by the base station, a reconfiguration message to the UE (Page 90 – “8. The NG-RAN issues an RRC Release and includes cell reselection priorities or the NG-RAN performs a Reconfiguration and moves the UE according to the RFSP for the Target NSSAI”); wherein the reconfiguration message includes information related to the redirection of the UE to the dedicated frequency band (Page 90, step 8 - the NG-RAN performs a Reconfiguration and moves the UE according to an RFSP for the target NSSAI); receiving, by the base station, a reconfiguration complete message from the UE (Page 141, Note - RRC release is performed with re-direction); and wherein, based on the redirection of the UE:
i) the method further comprising transmitting, by the base station, to the access mobility management node, a deactivation request for a session already established for the first network slice (Page 128 – “Allowed NSSAI (Slice C) and Reject cause for Slice A, and the network releases the current PDU Session for Slice A as the PDU Session shall not be allowed to be used when UE is registered to the Slice C”).
3GPP document does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Nam et al. (US 20200196182 A1 dated 2020-06-18) discloses ii) the message further includes information related to prohibiting a state transition of the UE to an inactive state (Paragraph [0158] – “In this instance, the wireless service network controller 1926 of the service network provision device 120 may perform control, so as to decrease the transmission period of a beacon signal so that data is quickly transmitted to the client devices 132a and 132b currently accessing the service network, or to transmit a null packet so as to prevent entering a sleep mode.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of 3GPP document to include the means to prohibiting the UE from going to sleep mode as taught by wireless network of Nam et al. (US 20200196182 A1 dated 2020-06-18) in order to ensure the availability of the UE in the network.
As to claim 2, 3GPP document discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes RFSP (RAT/Frequency Selection Priority) information for target network slice selection assistance information (Page 90, step 5 – “an AMF sends a Target NSSAI and a corresponding RFSP Index”).
As to claim 3, 3GPP document discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes rejection information for the second network slice, wherein the rejection information includes a reason why the second network slice is not available for the UE (an AMF rejects UE registration by adding an S-NSSAI in a rejected NSSAI and setting a cause value, see page 92 paragraph starting with “If the maximum number of UEs in the network slice exceeds the quota …”).
As to claim 5, 3GPP document discloses (Original) The method of claim 1, wherein the message is a NAS (Non-Access-Stratum) message (Page 90, step 5 - the NAS message that includes the eMBB S-NSSAI as Allowed NSSAI).
As to claim 6, 3GPP document discloses A base station to perform communication, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor, wherein the transceiver receives a message from an access mobility management nodnetwork slice selection assistance information related to a first network slice iii) target network slice selection assistance information related to a second network slice which is not available in a current tracking area of a user equipment (UE) (Page 66 – “13. The AMF completes the procedure and answers the UE with either Registration Accept or Registration Reject. Registration Accept if an Allowed NSSAI is provided, possible with rejected S-NSSAIs and a suitable cause code (existing or new) and a Registration Reject in case no Allowed NSSAI is accepted, with a suitable cause code (existing or new).”); wherein the transceiver transmits the registration accept message to the UE (Figure 6.8.3.4.2-1 step 13); wherein the processor determines redirection of the UE a dedicated frequency band related to the second network slice (Page 90 – “2. The AMF and NSSF performs Network Slice selection.”); wherein the transceiver transmits a reconfiguration message to the UE (Page 90 – “8. The NG-RAN issues an RRC Release and includes cell reselection priorities or the NG-RAN performs a Reconfiguration and moves the UE according to the RFSP for the Target NSSAI”); wherein the reconfiguration message includes information related to the redirection of the UE to the dedicated frequency band (Page 90, step 8 – “the NG-RAN performs a Reconfiguration and moves the UE according to an RFSP for the target NSSAI”); wherein the transceiver receives a reconfiguration complete message from the UE (Page 141, Note – “RRC release is performed with re-direction”); and wherein, based on the redirection of the UE:
i) wherein the transceiver transmits, to the access mobility management node, a deactivation request for a session already established for the first network slice (Page 128 – “Allowed NSSAI (Slice C) and Reject cause for Slice A, and the network releases the current PDU Session for Slice A as the PDU Session shall not be allowed to be used when UE is registered to the Slice C”) and
3GPP document does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Nam et al. (US 20200196182 A1 dated 2020-06-18) discloses ii) the message further includes information related to prohibiting a state transition of the UE to an inactive state (Paragraph [0158] – “In this instance, the wireless service network controller 1926 of the service network provision device 120 may perform control, so as to decrease the transmission period of a beacon signal so that data is quickly transmitted to the client devices 132a and 132b currently accessing the service network, or to transmit a null packet so as to prevent entering a sleep mode.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of 3GPP document to include the means to prohibiting the UE from going to sleep mode as taught by wireless network of Nam et al. (US 20200196182 A1 dated 2020-06-18) in order to ensure the availability of the UE in the network.
As to claim 7, 3GPP document discloses The base station of claim 6, wherein the message includes RFSP (RAT/Frequency Selection Priority) information for the target network slice selection assistance information (Page 90, step 5 – “an AMF sends a Target NSSAI and a corresponding RFSP Index”).
As to claim 8, 3GPP document discloses The base station of claim 6, wherein the message includes rejection information for the second network slice, wherein the rejection information includes a reason why the second network slice is not available for the UE (an AMF rejects UE registration by adding an S-NSSAI in a rejected NSSAI and setting a cause value, see page 92 paragraph starting with “If the maximum number of UEs in the network slice exceeds the quota …”).
As to claim 10, 3GPP document discloses The base station of claim 6, wherein the message is a NAS (Non-Access-Stratum) message (Page 90, step 5 - the NAS message that includes the eMBB S-NSSAI as Allowed NSSAI).
Remarks/Arguments
All the remarks and arguments posted on 12/02/2025 have been reviewed.
In response to applicant’s arguments, “Specifically, the noted disclosure of Venkataraman does not specifically disclose that the network provides an indication for prohibiting a state transition of the UE to the RRC- INACTIVE state, as required by the claimed "ii) the message further includes information related to prohibiting a state transition of the UE to an inactive state."”, the Examiner agrees. The rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further search and consideration, a new prior art, Nam et al. (US 20200196182 A1 dated 2020-06-18) has been found to reject this limitation. The details are given under the respective claims.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. The applicant has replaced “whose service is desired by the UF and which is not supported for the UE” by “a second network slice which is not available in a current tracking area ofa user equipment (UE)” in claim 1, thereby the work scope has changed. 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 extension fee 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 ABDULLAH AL MAMUN whose telephone number is (703)756-1273. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/ABDULLAH AL MAMUN/Examiner, Art Unit 2646
/MATTHEW D. ANDERSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2646