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
1. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
2. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. 2024/0224163 to Starsinic in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2018/0227873 to Vrzic and/or in an alternative rejection Vrzic in view of Starsinic.
Regarding claims 1, 9 and 17 Starsinic teaches a method comprising:
receiving, by a network node of a first network from a wireless device, an onboarding request for onboarding of the wireless device to a second network (see Fig. 5, step 3, as described in section [0107], where the UE request for onboarding to the AMF includes the UE ID, onboarding credentials and “request for onboarding”, see also section [0109], which teaches that Starsinic uses slice identifiers S-NSSAIs to identify the onboarding process and section [0132] teaches that network A may provide onboarding credentials for network B);
Regarding the last three steps of:
sending, by the network node to a network repository function (NRF) of the first network, a request to discover an access and mobility management function (AMF) that supports onboarding of the wireless device, the request comprising an onboarding support indication;
receiving, by the network node from the NRF, a response message comprising information of the AMF that supports onboarding; and
sending, by the network node to a base station, a configuration message comprising an onboarding indication of the wireless device to the second network,
see sections [0103] to [0112] and Fig. 5 of Starsinic, which teach “discovering an AMF for onboarding”, “receiving a response from the supporting AMF”, and “sending a message to the RAN node to setup a PDU session”, as these messages for onboarding (identified by a S-NSSAI network slice), do not show the NRF intervening between the network node and the AMF, Vrzic is added.
In an analogous art Vrzic teaches a mobile system which receives UE requests for slices (S-NSSAIs) and sends the initial UE request to an NRF for AMF selection where the selected AMF supports the slice. See the process shown in Fig. 7 (steps 705 to 735) as described in sections [0154] to [0159], which teach the UE sending the initial request to network node (which includes the S-NSSAI), the network node sending request to an NFR to find a target AMF which supports the slice and sending a configuration message (see section [0159]) to a base station in the RAN to allow the slice.
Therefore, as Starsinic and Vrzic teach selecting AMFs which support slices (S-NSSAIs) and as Vrzic teaches the recited devices sending messages for slice support, it would have been obvious to modify Starsinic with the network devices (NRF) and messages of Vrzic, as both the references teach selecting AMFs which support slices.
In an alternative rejection, Vrzic may be used as the primary reference. As described above, sections [0154] to [0159], Fig. 7 of Vzric teach the recited devices sending and receiving the recited messages, except that the slice IDs used for AMF selection do not specifically relate to “onboarding” per se, where Starsinic is used to modify the messages sent in Vrzic to include the feature of “onboarding”, as Starsinic teaches that slice IDs are used to indicate onboarding. Therefore, as both the references teach AMF selection based on slice ID, it would have been obvious to modify the slice IDs in Vrzic to indicate onboarding, as Starsinic teaches the conventionality and reasons for using slice IDs to indicate onboarding.
Regarding claims 2, 10 and 18, which recite “further comprising sending, by the AMF to the wireless device, a message indicating acceptance of a registration for onboarding of the wireless device to the second network”, see step 4 described in section [0108] of Starsinic, which teaches that the AMF sends the UE a registration response, which is “accepting the onboarding”, as recited.
Regarding claims 3 and 11, which recite “wherein the network node is at least one of: a first AMF of the first network; and the base station”, as described above, the network node is the initial AMF in Fig. 7 of Vzric, as recited.
Regarding claims 4, 12 and 19, which recite “wherein the request comprises at least one of: an identifier of the first network; and an identifier of the second network”, see sections [0035], [0037], [0046], [0079]-[0092] and [0141]-[0142] of Starsinic, which teach that the initial request includes an identifier of the network per se and/or that the initial slice NSSAI identifies the PLMN (for the first network).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, which recite “further comprising receiving, by the AMF from the base station, a first packet data unit session establishment request message for a first packet data unit session with the first network, wherein the first packet data unit session establishment request message comprises the onboarding indication”, see sections [0045]-[0047],[0057] and [0093] of Vrzic and sections [0111] and [0130] of Starsinic, which teach the PDU session message, which is part of step 5 of Fig. 5 (which is the “onboarding” feature), where section [01030] teaches the AMF determining the onboarding procedure, which would require notifying the base station (RAN node) to establish the PDU session, therefore the teachings of the references would render obvious this feature, as recited.
Regarding claims 6, 14 and 20, which recite “wherein onboarding comprises providing, by the first network to the wireless device, information for the wireless device to get authorized access and connectivity to the second network, wherein the information comprises credential information”, see section [0110] of Starsinic which teaches the UE receiving SNPN credentials (as part of step 5 in Fig. 5), which allow the UE “access and connectivity to the second network”, as recited.
Regarding claims 7 and 15, which recite “wherein the first network or the second network is identified by at least one of: a network identifier (NID); a combination of a public land mobile network identifier (PLMN ID) and an NID; a closed access group (CAG) identifier; and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI)”, see for example sections [0048] and [0051] of Vrzic, which teach using PLMN-IDs and/or S-NSSAIs and see sections [0029], [0037], [0045]-[0061], [0130] and [0140]-[0144] of Starsinic, which teach using S-NSSAIs and SNPNs (which are PLMN+NID), as recited.
Regarding claims 8 and 16, which recite “wherein: the first network is one or more of: an onboarding network; a first public land mobile network; a first non-public network; and a first standalone non-public network; and the second network is one or more of: an onboarding network; a second public land mobile network; a second non-public network; and a second standalone non-public network”, as described above, the first networks of Starsinic/Vrzic are an “onboarding network”, and the second networks of these references may be an SNPN or PLMN, as recited.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11-21-25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As discussed in the telephone interview of 11-20-25, the Examiner’s interpretation of Starsinic is that the PLMN network which is first accessed by the UE when connecting to the RAN node is the recited first network. The SNPN credentials received in the onboarding processes are for the second network (which is the SNPN). See for example, the process described beginning with section [0079], which begins with the UE requesting and/or indication onboarding to a RAN node explicitly mentioned in section [0085] (where the RAN node is the “first network”) and then subsequently receiving SNPN credentials as in section [0094] (where the SNPN is the recited “second network”).
As also discussed in the telephone interview of 11-20-25, the above cited scenarios are used in conjunction with section [0132], which teaches that the UE “successfully completes an onboarding operation with Network B where Network B onboards the UE with credentials for Network A”. These teachings are interpreted by the Examiner to mean that the RAN node of network B (recited first network) is accessed by the UE, and then the credentials of network A (recited second network) are then received (which appears to meet the language in the first step of claim 1).
In another interpretation, the first network may be a PLMN which also provides the SNPN, where the PLMN is the first network and the SNPN is the second network. See for example, sections [0067] to [0068], [0099] and [0137] to [0139]. In this interpretation both the PLMN and SNPN may be managed by the same mobile network operator (MNO), but each may be broadly interpreted as different first/second networks.
Regarding the second disputed feature of “sending a message indicating onboarding”, as described above, this feature would be met by the combination of Starsinic and Vrzic. For example, section [0159] of Vrzic teaches the AMF sending a message to the RAN node to setup the slice/connection requested by the UE, where Starsinic explicitly teaches the onboarding per se.
For example, section [0109] in Starsinic teaches the AMF sending an onboarding registration response to the UE which goes through the RAN node in step 4, but does not explicitly teach the AMF sending an onboarding message to the RAN node (although a message sent to a UE that goes through a RAN node may also be interpreted as “sent to the RAN node”). Therefore, as Starsinic teaches sending an onboarding message from the AMF through the RAN node, and as Vrzic more explicitly teaches a message sent from the AMF to the RAN node, the combination of these reference would teach and/or render obvious this feature.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN SHAUN KELLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-5652. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays to Fridays.
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/STEVEN S KELLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646