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 .
Response to Arguments
On pgs. 9-10 of Applicant’s Response, applicant argues that a session management function network element performing the communication method and a communication apparatus performing the communication method is equivalent and should not be restricted.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s argument.
Group I: A Session Management Function (SMF) (primarily a software function) is a core network function in 5G and telecommunications that controls, establishes, modifies, terminates data sessions, enforces policies, and controls how user traffic flows through the network.
Group II: A communication apparatus refers to a hardware device used to transmit, receive, or exchange information over a distance (consumer devices like smartphones, tablet, and computers).
The Session Management Function (SMF) is a piece of software-based logic or a virtualized network function, not a physical communication apparatus.
A software network function (SMF) performing the communication method is not equivalent to a hardware device (communication apparatus) performing the communication method.
Therefore, the Restriction is Final.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 10, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (US 2020/0359274 A1) in view of Liu ("Communication Resource Release Method and System Thereof", CN 200610090272 A, pub. date 2006-12-27), and further in view of Wu (US 2020/0045590 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu teaches a method implemented by a session management function network element ([0020], “The first computing device may carry out a session management function”), wherein the method comprises:
establishing, in a first network for a terminal device, a protocol data unit session comprising a first quality of service flow ([0020], “a wireless communication device has established a protocol data unit session via a first network access, a first computing device ... establishing one or more new quality of service flows for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access ... The first computing device may carry out a session management function”, wherein establishing a new quality of service flows for a second network access means it has established an old quality of service flows for a first network access);
sending, to a second computing device, a first message comprising a first identifier corresponding to the first quality of service flow ([0033-0034], “In an embodiment, receiving quality of service rules (~quality of service (~QoS) rules contain QoS identifier) involves receiving quality of service rules from a computing device carrying out a session management function. According to an embodiment, the message is received from the computing device carrying out a session management function via a second computing device that carries out an access management function”);
making a first determination that the terminal device is handed over from the first network to a second network ([0020], “receives a notification that the wireless communication device has registered for a second network access”, wherein the determination is based on receiving the notification);
mapping, in response to the first determination, the first quality of service flow to another quality of service flow in the second network ([0020], “receives a notification that the wireless communication device has registered for a second network access (~in response to the first determination), establishing one or more new quality of service flows for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”); and
sending, to a second computing device, a second message comprising a second identifier and information about the other quality of service flow ([0020], “The first computing device establishes the one or more new quality of service flows by transmitting, to a second computing device, a message that includes information associating the new one or more quality of service flows with the second access (~information about the first service flow)”).
Zhu does not explicitly teach that the second computing device is an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server, the first identifier is a first identifier of a first accounting session, the second message comprising a second identifier is comprising the first identifier, and wherein the second message indicates the AAA server to update the first accounting session.
However, Liu teaches an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server”), a first identifier of a first accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “Acct-Session-ID (~first identifier)”), a second message comprising the first identifier (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message, the Acct-Session-ID (~first identifier)”), and wherein the second message indicates the AAA server to update the first accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message”, wherein the session state is updated to a stopped state).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Liu with the teaching of Zhu in order to efficiently manage policies across the entire enterprise, easily scale security protocols, and reduce the risk of human error associated with managing fragmented permissions.
The combination does not explicitly teach that the other quality of service flow is a first bearer.
However, Wu teaches a first bearer ([0047], “maps a Quality of Services (QoS) flow for each data radio bearer and marks QoS flow identifiers in uplink and downlink data packets for each packet data session”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Wu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu in order to enable predictability, deterministic resource reservation, and straightforward troubleshooting.
Regarding claim 2, Zhu in view of Liu, and further in view of Wu teaches the method of claim 1,
wherein the protocol data unit session further comprises a second quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “a wireless communication device has established a protocol data unit session via a first network access, a first computing device ... establishing one or more new quality of service flows (~comprises a second quality of service flow) for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”), and
wherein the method further comprises: sending, to a second computing device, a third message comprising a third identifier corresponding to the second quality of service flow (Zhu [0033-0034], “In an embodiment, receiving quality of service rules (~quality of service (~QoS) rules contain QoS identifier) involves receiving quality of service rules from a computing device carrying out a session management function. According to an embodiment, the message is received from the computing device carrying out a session management function via a second computing device that carries out an access management function”);
mapping the second quality of service flow to the other quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “receives a notification that the wireless communication device has registered for a second network access (~in response to the first determination), establishing one or more new quality of service flows (~one or more new quality of services flows include the other quality of service flow) for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”); and
sending, to the second computing device a fourth message comprising the third identifier and the information (Zhu [0020], “The first computing device establishes the one or more new quality of service flows by transmitting, to a second computing device, a message that includes information associating the new one or more quality of service flows with the second access (~information about the first service flow)”).
The combination of Zhu and Wu does not explicitly teach that the second computing device is an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server, the second identifier is a second identifier of a second accounting session, the fourth message comprising a third identifier, and wherein the fourth message indicates the AAA server to update the second accounting session.
However, Liu further teaches an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server”), a second identifier of a second accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “Acct-Session-ID (~second identifier)” of a second accounting session), the fourth message comprising a third identifier is comprising the second identifier (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message, the Acct-Session-ID (~second identifier)”), and wherein the fourth message indicates the AAA server to update the second accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message”, wherein the session state is updated to a stopped state).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Liu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to efficiently manage policies across the entire enterprise, easily scale security protocols, and reduce the risk of human error associated with managing fragmented permissions.
The combination of Zhu and Liu does not explicitly teach that the other quality of service flow is a first bearer.
However, Wu further teaches a first bearer ([0047], “maps a Quality of Services (QoS) flow for each data radio bearer and marks QoS flow identifiers in uplink and downlink data packets for each packet data session”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Wu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to enable predictability, deterministic resource reservation, and straightforward troubleshooting.
Regarding claim 4, Zhu in view of Liu, and further in view of Wu teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the protocol data unit session further comprises a third quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “a wireless communication device has established a protocol data unit session via a first network access, a first computing device ... establishing one or more new quality of service flows (~comprises a third quality of service flow) for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”), and
wherein the method further comprises: mapping the third quality of service flow of the terminal device to the other quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “receives a notification that the wireless communication device has registered for a second network access (~in response to the first determination), establishing one or more new quality of service flows (~one or more new quality of services flows include the other quality of service flow) for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”); and
sending, to the second computing device, first information and a third identifier corresponding to the third quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “The first computing device establishes the one or more new quality of service flows by transmitting, to a second computing device, a message that includes information associating the new one or more quality of service flows with the second access (~information about the first service flow)”).
The combination of Zhu and Wu does not explicitly teach that the third identifier is a third identifier of a third accounting session, the second computing device is an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server, and wherein the first information is a first stop indication information indicating the AAA server to terminate the third accounting session.
However, Liu further teaches a third identifier of a third accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “Acct-Session-ID (~first identifier)”), an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server”), and wherein a first stop indication information indicates the AAA server to terminate a third accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Liu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to efficiently manage policies across the entire enterprise, easily scale security protocols, and reduce the risk of human error associated with managing fragmented permissions.
Regarding claim 10, Zhu in view of Liu, and further in view of Wu teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
mapping, in response to the first determination, the other quality of service flow to a fifth quality of service flow in the first network (Zhu [0020], “receives a notification that the wireless communication device has registered for a second network access (~in response to the first determination), establishing one or more new quality of service flows for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”); and
sending, to the second computing device, a sixth message comprising the first identifier and information corresponding to the fifth quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “The first computing device establishes the one or more new quality of service flows by transmitting, to a second computing device, a message that includes information associating the new one or more quality of service flows with the second access (~information about the first service flow)”).
The combination of Zhu and Liu does not explicitly teach that the other quality of service flow is the first bearer.
However, Wu further teaches a first bearer ([0047], “maps a Quality of Services (QoS) flow for each data radio bearer and marks QoS flow identifiers in uplink and downlink data packets for each packet data session”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Wu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to enable predictability, deterministic resource reservation, and straightforward troubleshooting.
The combination of Zhu and Wu does not explicitly teach that the second computing device is the AAA server and wherein the sixth message indicates the AAA server to update the first accounting session.
However, Liu further teaches an AAA server (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server”) and wherein a message indicates an AAA server to update a first accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message”, wherein the session state is updated to a stopped state).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Liu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to efficiently manage policies across the entire enterprise, easily scale security protocols, and reduce the risk of human error associated with managing fragmented permissions.
Regarding claim 13, Zhu in view of Liu, and further in view of Wu teaches the method of claim 10, further comprising:
mapping, in response to the first determination, the other quality of service flow to a sixth quality of service flow in the first network (Zhu [0020], “receives a notification that the wireless communication device has registered for a second network access (~in response to the first determination), establishing one or more new quality of service flows for a protocol data unit session for the wireless communication device over the second network access”); and
sending, to the second computing device, a seventh message comprising the third identifier and information corresponding to the sixth quality of service flow (Zhu [0020], “The first computing device establishes the one or more new quality of service flows by transmitting, to a second computing device, a message that includes information associating the new one or more quality of service flows with the second access (~information about the first service flow)”).
The combination of Zhu and Liu does not explicitly teach that the other quality of service flow is the first bearer.
However, Wu further teaches a first bearer ([0047], “maps a Quality of Services (QoS) flow for each data radio bearer and marks QoS flow identifiers in uplink and downlink data packets for each packet data session”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Wu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to enable predictability, deterministic resource reservation, and straightforward troubleshooting.
The combination of Zhu and Wu does not explicitly teach that the second computing device is the AAA server, the third identifier is a second identifier of a second accounting session, the seventh message comprising a third identifier is comprising a second identifier, and wherein the seventh message indicates the AAA server to update the second accounting session.
However, Liu further teaches an AAA server (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server”), a second identifier of a second accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “Acct-Session-ID (~second identifier)” of a second accounting session), the seventh message comprising a second identifier (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message, the Acct-Session-ID (~second identifier)”), and wherein a message indicates the AAA server to update a second accounting session (pg. 11, par. 1, “AAA server receives the RADIUS accounting request (stop) message”, wherein the session state is updated to a stopped state).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Liu with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to efficiently manage policies across the entire enterprise, easily scale security protocols, and reduce the risk of human error associated with managing fragmented permissions.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu in view of Liu, further in view of Wu, and further in view of Olsson ("System and Method of Enabling Charging for a UE Having a Bearer Using One or More Radio Access Technology Types", WO 2018/225016 A1, pub. date 2018-12-13).
Regarding claim 8, Zhu in view of Liu, and further in view of Wu teaches the method of claim 1.
The combination does not explicitly teach wherein the information comprises at least one of a radio access type corresponding to the first bearer or a quality of service profile corresponding to the first bearer.
However, Olsson teaches wherein information comprises at least one of a radio access type corresponding to a first bearer or a quality of service profile corresponding to the first bearer (pg. 3, lines 15-16, “information indicating the least one RAT Type used for each of the bearer”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Olsson with the teaching of Zhu as modified by Liu and Wu in order to ensure the system knows which wireless technology the device uses and how to handle its data packets.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 3, 5-7, and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER YI whose telephone number is (571)270-7696. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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, JINSONG HU, can be reached on (571) 272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER YI/
Examiner, Art Unit 2643
/JINSONG HU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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