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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 February 17, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 20 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pub No.: US-2023/0108950 A1 (herein “Centonza”), and further in view of Pub No.: US-20230052699-A1 (herein “Ninglekhu”).
Claims 1, 8, and 14
Consider claim 1, Centonza teaches a method for selecting an access cell, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal device, a target tracking area identifier (TAI) (see Centonza Fig. 10, [0207], [0217], [0218], [0221] note the NAS rejection including the RFSP providing frequency prio that can steer the UE to the right TAI); and
performing cell selection according to the target TAI (see Centonza Fig. 11, [0229], [0238]-[0241], [0253] the UE uses the cell reselection priorities for the newly selected RAN),
wherein receiving the target TAI comprises:
receiving a registration accept message from an access and mobility management function (AMF), the registration accept message carrying rejected network slice auxiliary information (NSSAI), or receiving a registration rejection message from an access and mobility function (AMF), the registration rejection message carrying rejected NSSAI (see Centonza [0207], [0218], [0221], [0234] note the AMF sends NAS reject message or NAS accept message with one or more rejected S-NSSAIs), and
the rejected NSSAI comprises indication information allowing the terminal device to support the target TAI (see Centonza Fig. 10, [0207], [0217], [0218], [0221] note the NAS rejection including the RFSP providing frequency prio that can steer the UE to the right TAI), and
wherein the performing cell selection according to the target TAI comprises:
releasing a NAS connection (see Centonza Fig. 10, Fig. 11, [0220], [0231] note RRC Release);
performing cell selection according to the target TAI (see Centonza Fig. 11, [0229], [0238]-[0241], [0253] the UE uses the cell reselection priorities for the newly selected RAN); and
sending a registration request message to the AMF (see Centonza [0241] note issues a new NAS Registration request from the newly selected RAN).
Centonza fails to explicitly teach wherein the rejected NSSAI is further configured to carry the target TAI corresponding to single network slice selection auxiliary information (S-NSSAI). However, Ninglekhu teaches the AMF sending a Registration Accept message with Rejected NSSAI and a list of TA IDs for the TAs in Ras where all of the slices in the allowed NSSAI are available (see Ninglekhu [0172], [0188], [0207]-[0214], [0355]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Centonza to include the recited teaching of Ninglekhu. Such a modification would improve Centonza by providing the UE with knowledge of a TA where the UE can be gracefully handed over (see Ninglekhu [0023]).
Claim(s) 8 and 14 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 1.
Claims 4, 11, and 17
Consider claim 4, Centonza as modified by Ninglekhu teaches wherein the rejected NSSAI comprises a rejection cause value (see Centonza [0234] note NAS reject message or NAS accept meesage with one or more rejected NSSAIs with the cause value) or indication information allowing the terminal device to support the target operating frequency band and/or target TAI.
Claim(s) 11 and 17 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 4.
Claims 5, 12, and 18
Consider claim 5, Centonza as modified by Ninglekhu teaches wherein the registration rejection message is an integrity protected message (see Centonza [0013] note security protection for CP and UP data on TNL of NG-RAN interfaces shall be applied).
Claim(s) 12 and 18 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 5.
Claim 20
Consider claim 20, Centonza as modified by Ninglekhu teaches wherein the network device is further configured to: receive configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises TAI information supported by S-NSSAI (see Centonza Fig. 12, [0247]-[0248], [0251]-[0252] note the AMF receives NnSSF_NSSelection_Get reponse indicating the allowed NSSAI for each TAI)
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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