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.
Claims 1-4, 7-12, and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over DAO et al. (Patent No: US 2019/0394279 A1), hereinafter, DAO, in view of LY et al. (Patent No: US 2023/0319533 A1), hereinafter, LY, and further in view of Hucheng FAN et al. (Patent No: US 2023/0318942 A1), hereinafter, FAN.
Regarding Claim 1, DAO teaches,
A method for acquiring network side analysis data, applicable to a User Equipment (UE) and comprising: -Fig. 3; Paragraph [0004] (Fig. 3 shows Electronic Device (ED) which is a User Equipment in communication with network components using RAN and UPF and acquiring network analysis data from PCF which is Network Data Analysis Function NWDAF. [0004] recites, “One mechanism that is being proposed in support of the Policy and Charging Control Framework is a Network Data Analytics function (NWDAF)” As described in [0004] in one embodiment PCF can be a NWDAF)
through a user plane according to routing information of the network data analysis function; -Fig. 3; Paragraph [0093][0289, 0004]([0093] recites, “ ED 52 communicates with NFs that are in the UP 106, and the CP 108 depicted in FIG. 3..”[0289] recites, “ [0004] recites, “The NWDAF is proposed for use to optimize the operation of 5G networks such as traffic routing, mobility management, interaction with control plane (CP) functions (CPFs) including without limitation, the session management function (SMF) 92 (FIG. 2), the policy and control function (PCF) 201 (FIG. 2), the access and mobility management function (AMF) 90 (FIG. 2), the network repository function (NRF) 98 (FIG. 2) and/or operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) functions and/or third party functions.”[0289] recites, “the NWDAF could identify the location(s) and/or time(s) during which the UE 52 may most predominantly send or receive data and provide this information to the PCF 201.” As seen in Fig. 3, the User Equipment (ED in this case) communicate to NWDAF/PCF and receives required analysis data through User plane (RAN (84) and User Plane Function (UPF))
Although implicit, DAO does not explicitly mention,
transmitting, by the UE, a first network data analysis request to a network data analysis function directly
However, in an analogous invention, LY teaches,
transmitting, by the UE, a first network data analysis request to a network data analysis function directly -Paragraph [0075][0080] ([0075] recites, “ However, it may be feasible to enhance existing procedures to allow UEs to request data collection and analytic services from the NWDAF …”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Optimizing User Equipment Operation by Conditioning Multiple Policies on Information Elements” proposed by DAO with the concept of LY to include “transmitting, by the UE, a first network data analysis request to a network data analysis function directly;” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve network performance and simultaneously improve the user experience [0004].
Although implicit, DAO and LY combination do not explicitly teach,
wherein the first network data analysis request comprises filtering information for a requested analysis, and the filtering information comprises at least one of a slice identifier, an application identifier, or target time period information of the requested analysis;
and receiving first network side analysis data from the network data analysis function directly, the first network side analysis data being analysis data generated by the network data analysis function.
However, in an analogous invention, FAN teaches,
wherein the first network data analysis request comprises filtering information for a requested analysis, and the filtering information comprises at least one of a slice identifier, an application identifier, or target time period information of the requested analysis; -Paragraph [0089-0090, 0126] ([0089-0090] recites, “A network function node according to another aspect, comprising: means for transmitting, to a network data analytic function, NWDAF, node, a request for detecting a new application, including an indication having a value “new application analysis”, information for a User Equipment, UE, start and end time for detection and Packet Flow Description, PFD, information; [0126] recites, “Analytics Filter Information indicates the conditions to be fulfilled for reporting analytics information, and it enables to select which type of analytics information is requested (e.g. subset of all available analytics produced by the NWDAF 11 for the given Analytics ID) as described in 3GPP TS 23.288 (NPL 5).” [0139] recites, “An application-identifier with wildcard or a list of application-identifier with wildcard (e.g. its value may represent an application, such as a URL, FQDN, etc.) “)
and receiving first network side analysis data from the network data analysis function directly, the first network side analysis data being analysis data generated by the network data analysis function. -Paragraph [0183] ([0183] recites, “Based on the results from data analytics, the NWDAF 11 notifies the relevant service consumer(s) of the analytics result(s) by invoking a new application detection notification procedure or any other relevant procedure or sends the Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfo_Notify message or any other message to the relevant service consumer (e.g. NEF 14) in order to report/notify analytics results on new application detection. This message includes Notification Correlation Information, and the analytics results on new application detection.” The relevant service consumer is the UE)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Optimizing User Equipment Operation by Conditioning Multiple Policies on Information Elements” proposed by DAO with the concept of FAN to include “wherein the first network data analysis request comprises filtering information for a requested analysis, and the filtering information comprises at least one of a slice identifier, an application identifier, or target time period information of the requested analysis; and receiving first network side analysis data from the network data analysis function directly, the first network side analysis data being analysis data generated by the network data analysis function; and receiving first network side analysis data from the network data analysis function directly, the first network side analysis data being analysis data generated by the network data analysis function.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce signaling overhead [0225].
Regarding Claim 2, DAO, LY and FAN combination teach the limitations of Claim 1.
DAO further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the first network side analysis data corresponds to an analysis identifier of the first network side analysis data. -Paragraph [0099] ([0099] recites, “Accordingly, the PCF 201, with input from the NWDAF for, by way of non-limiting example, obtaining statistical and/or analytical information of various network parameters, including without limitation, network traffic load, network slice traffic load, resource utilization, traffic distribution in different network locations, quality of experience (QoE), UE mobility information, UE behavior information and/or QoS, includes one or more of such new information elements as information elements of the various UE policies either alone or in combination with each other and/or with other information elements including, without limitation, S-NSSAI, RAT, application ID and/or a packet filter descriptor to provide, guidance to the UE 52 to optimize its access of the best available network resources.” As explained above data analysis may correspond to different parameters, e.g., resource utilization, network slice traffic load, QoE, mobility information etc. and may include application ID packet filter.)
Regarding Claim 3, DAO, LY and FAN teach the limitations of Claim 2.
DAO further teaches,
The method of claim 2, wherein the analysis identifier of the first network side analysis data comprises at least one of: load analysis of a slice, service experience analysis of a slice or an application, network performance analysis, data congestion level analysis, or quality of service (QoS) change analysis. -Paragraph [0099] ([0099] recites, “Accordingly, the PCF 201, with input from the NWDAF for, by way of non-limiting example, obtaining statistical and/or analytical information of various network parameters, including without limitation, network traffic load, network slice traffic load, resource utilization, traffic distribution in different network locations, quality of experience (QoE), UE mobility information, UE behavior information and/or QoS, includes one or more of such new information elements as information elements of the various UE policies either alone or in combination with each other and/or with other information elements including, without limitation, S-NSSAI, RAT, application ID and/or a packet filter descriptor to provide, guidance to the UE 52 to optimize its access of the best available network resources.”)
Regarding Claim 4, DAO, LY and FAN combination teach the limitations of Claim 1.
DAO does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein the first network data analysis request comprises at least one of: a UE identifier for requesting network data analysis; an analysis identifier of the first network side analysis data; filtering information for a requested analysis; or analysis report limitation.
However, FAN teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the first network data analysis request further comprises at least one of: a UE identifier for requesting network data analysis; an analysis identifier of the first network side analysis data; or analysis report limitation. -Paragraph [0124] ([0124] recites, “This message from the NWDAF service consumer to the NWDAF 11 includes an analytics ID, analytics filter information, information on traffic measurement and reporting, list of PFDs, target of Analytics Reporting, and Analytics target period. The parameters, such as analytics filter information, information on traffic measurement and reporting and list of PFDs can be sent to the NWDAF 11 in a separated message.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Optimizing User Equipment Operation by Conditioning Multiple Policies on Information Elements” proposed by DAO with the concept of FAN to include “the first network data analysis request further comprises at least one of: a UE identifier for requesting network data analysis; an analysis identifier of the first network side analysis data; or analysis report limitation.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce signaling overhead [0225].
Regarding Claim 7, DAO, LY and FAN teach the limitations of Claim 1.
DAO further teaches,
The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of: determining, by the UE, a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session parameter using the first network side analysis data; -Paragraph [0005] ([0005] recites, “a policy that allows the UE 52 to select one or more specific routes over which to send data of multiple quality of service (QoS) flows of a common protocol data unit (PDU) session and/or data of a QoS flow to the AS, including without limitation, an access traffic steering, switching and splitting (ATSSS) policy, a quality of service (QoS) policy that allows the UE 52 to send and/or receive data packets with predefined QoS parameters and/or a policy that allows the UE 52 to send and/or receive data with a specific charging rate and/or consumption limit, including without limitation, a spending policy.”
determining, by the UE, an access network using the first network side analysis data; -Paragraph [0099] ([0099] recites, “ the PCF 201, with input from the NWDAF for, by way of non-limiting example, obtaining statistical and/or analytical information of various network parameters, including without limitation, network traffic load, network slice traffic load, resource utilization, traffic distribution in different network locations, quality of experience (QoE), UE mobility information, UE behavior information and/or QoS, includes one or more of such new information elements as information elements of the various UE policies either alone or in combination with each other and/or with other information elements including, without limitation, S-NSSAI, RAT, application ID and/or a packet filter descriptor to provide, guidance to the UE 52 to optimize its access of the best available network resources.” As explained above, with the network analysis data from NWDAF, UE can have access to the best available network)
determining, by the UE, an access mode using the first network side analysis data; -Paragraph [0047] ([0047] recites, “In another embodiment, the at least one information element is contained in at least one of the URSP rule and a component of a route selection descriptor of the URSP rule, the component comprising at least one of a session continuity (SSC) mode, a network slice selection, a data network name (DNN) selection, and a non-seamless off-load indication and/or an access type preference.”)
determining, by the UE in a case where a service needs to be initiated, QoS requirement for the service according to the first network side analysis data; -Paragraph [0005] ([0005] recites, “a policy that allows the UE 52 to select one or more specific routes over which to send data of multiple quality of service (QoS) flows of a common protocol data unit (PDU) session and/or data of a QoS flow to the AS, including without limitation, an access traffic steering, switching and splitting (ATSSS) policy, a quality of service (QoS) policy that allows the UE 52 to send and/or receive data packets with predefined QoS parameters and/or a policy that allows the UE 52 to send and/or receive data with a specific charging rate and/or consumption limit, including without limitation, a spending policy.” As explained above, based on the network analysis data and policy, UE determines which route to take to send data meeting the QoS requirements)
or selecting, by the UE in a case where cell selection is performed, a cell to be accessed according to the first network side analysis data. -Paragraph [0099] (As explained in the paragraph, based on the NWDAF data related “to statistical and/or analytical information of various network parameters, including without limitation, network traffic load, network slice traffic load, resource utilization, traffic distribution in different network locations, quality of experience (QoE)” UE might select appropriate cell to access and maximize efficiency.)
Regarding Claim 8, DAO, LY and FAN combination teach the limitations of Claim 7.
DAO further teaches,
The method of claim 7, wherein determining, by the UE, the PDU session parameter using the first network side analysis data comprises: performing, by the UE, a UE Route Selection Policy (URSP) to obtain corresponding PDU session parameters; -Paragraph [0006] ([0006] recites, “The URSP may govern how a UE 52 to determine how to route outgoing traffic, such as, without limitation, by establishing a new PDU session, routing to an established PDU session, off-loading to a non-3GPP AN outside a PDU session and/or to select a network slice identified by one or more single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI, collectively NSSAI”)
and selecting the PDU session parameter used by the UE from the corresponding PDU session parameters using the first network side analysis data; -Paragraph [0092] ([0092] recites, “… In one such example, the NEF 96 can act much like a proxy between an application server outside the illustrated network and NFs such as the Policy Control Function (PCF) 201, the SMF 92 and the AMF 90, so that the external application server can provide information that may be of use in the setup of the parameters associated with a data session….” As explained above, PCF integrated with NWDAF sends to UE through one or more network functions parameters corresponding to PDU for the data session )
wherein determining, by the UE, the access network using the first network side analysis data comprises: performing, by the UE, an access network discovery and selection policy to determine corresponding access networks; -Paragraph [0005] ([0005] recites, “…,a UE route selection policy (URSP), a policy that allows the UE 52 to discover and/or select an appropriate access network (AN), including without limitation, an access network discovery & selection policy (ANDSP), a policy that allows the UE 52 to send a large amount of data to an application server (AS) in the data network 88 (DN)…”
and selecting the access network accessed by the UE from the corresponding access networks using the first network side analysis data; -Paragraph [0099] ([0099] recites, “the PCF 201, with input from the NWDAF for, by way of non-limiting example, obtaining statistical and/or analytical information of various network parameters, including without limitation, network traffic load, network slice traffic load, resource utilization, traffic distribution in different network locations, quality of experience (QoE), UE mobility information, UE behavior information and/or QoS, includes one or more of such new information elements as information elements of the various UE policies either alone or in combination with each other and/or with other information elements including, without limitation, S-NSSAI, RAT, application ID and/or a packet filter descriptor to provide, guidance to the UE 52 to optimize its access of the best available network resources.” UE receives network related statistical data of different parameters from NWDAF and selects the best available network resources)
and wherein determining, by the UE, the access mode using the first network side analysis data comprises: performing, by the UE, a path selection policy to obtain corresponding access modes; -Paragraph [0005] ([0005] recites, “The PCF 201 may manage and/or optimize one or more policies that govern UE operation, including without limitation, a policy that allows the UE 52 to select one or multiple routes over which to send and/or receive data, including without limitation, a UE route selection policy (URSP), a policy that allows the UE 52 to discover and/or select an appropriate access network (AN) …”)
and determining whether to adopt 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network access or near field communication access from the corresponding access modes using the first network side analysis data. -Paragraph [0006-0007] ([0006-0007] recites, “The URSP may govern how a UE 52 to determine how to route outgoing traffic, such as, without limitation, by establishing a new PDU session, routing to an established PDU session, off-loading to a non-3GPP AN outside a PDU session and/or to select a network slice identified by one or more single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI, collectively NSSAI). The ANDSP may govern how a UE 52 to select non-3GPP ANs and/or decide how to route traffic between a selected 3GPP AN and a non-3GPP AN”)
Regarding Claim 9, DAO, LY and FAN teach the limitations of Claim 1.
DAO further teaches,
The method of claim 1, further comprising: acquiring, by the UE, a UE policy from a second network function; -Paragraph [0216] ([0216] recites, “…Alternatively, in some non-limiting examples, the AMF 90 may include the UBDTP (or URSP) in a UE configuration update procedure for transparent UE policy delivery to the UE 52, such as is disclosed at least in 3GPP TS 23.502 and in particular clause 4.2.4.3 thereof.” The second network function AMF provide updated UE policy to UE)
and performing, by the UE, matching on and/or using the UE policy according to the first network side analysis data. -Paragraph [0138-0142] ([0138-0139] recites, “Each URSP rule contains a list of route selection descriptors each of which has, in addition to a route selection descriptor precedence value that determines the priority of the route selection descriptor, one or more of location information element and/or time information element that respectively determine the location(s) and/or the time period(s) to apply the route selection descriptor. In some examples, the route selection descriptor may comprise one or more of the following components: a session and service continuity (SSC) mode that indicates that traffic of a matching application will be routed via a PDU session supporting SSC mode….” )
Claim 10 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim 1 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claim 10 is rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
DAO further teaches,
A User Equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver, configured to receive -Fig. 1; Paragraph [0086] ([0086] recites, “… In other examples, the ED 52 may be device that couples to the network infrastructure over a radio interface, such as a mobile phone, smart phone or other such device that may be classified as a User Equipment (UE)…… Specific devices may utilize all of the components shown or only a subset of the components, and levels of integration may vary from device to device. Furthermore, a device may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transmitters, receivers, etc….”)
Claim 11 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim 2 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 2. Claim 11 is rejected under the same rational as claim 2.
Claim 12 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim 4 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 4. Claim 12 is rejected under the same rational as claim 4.
Claim 15 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim 7 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 7. Claim 15 is rejected under the same rational as claim 7.
Claim 16 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim 9 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 9. Claim 16 is rejected under the same rational as claim 9.
Response to Argument(s)
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/AHMED SAIFUDDIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/ABDULLAHI AHMED/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
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