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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/13/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 01/28/2026 has been entered. Independent Claims 1, 8, 10 and 17 have been amended. Dependent claims 2-3 and 11-12 have been amended. Claims 6-7, 15-16, and 19 have been cancelled. No claims are new and have been entered. Claims 1-5, 7-14, 17-18, and 20 are still pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 01/28/2026 on pages 8-9 of applicant’s remark regarding Claims 3 and 12 for the rejection under 35 USC § 112(a). The applicant argues that the amended claim is sufficient to overcome the rejection under 35 USC § 112(a). The combination of argument and amendments are persuasive, therefore the rejection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 10, and 13, under 35 USC § 103, are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specified challenged in the argument.
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) 1-2, 4, 6, 10-11, 13, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (Pub. No.: US 20220201543 A1, hereafter “Zhu”) in view of Liang (Pub. No.: US 20210392561 A1, hereafter “Liang”), further in view of Talebi Fard (Pub. No.: US 20230199632 A1, hereafter “Talebi Fard”).
Regarding Claim 1 and Claim 10
Zhu teaches a Method and Network Entity Comprising
A method performed by a first network entity (Zhu Fig. 5: 330, AMF) in a wireless communication system (Zhu Fig. 5: 500), the method comprising: receiving (Zhu Fig. 5: 502), from a user equipment (UE) (Zhu Fig. 5: 110, UE) a request to support a computing service for an application (Zhu Fig. 5: 1. Communication Session Establishment Request) executed in a UE (Zhu Fig. 5: 110, UE) and status information of the UE (Zhu ¶0062: message from the core network and UE may include communication session ID; Zhu teaches an AMF receiving a communication establishment request from a UE that can include a session ID of the UE);
transmitting (Zhu Fig. 5: 506) to a network repository function (NRF) (Zhu ¶0063: NRF) requirement information (Zhu Fig. 5: 506, SM Creation Request, e.g. DNAI ¶0063) associated with the request to support the computing service (Zhu Fig. 5: 502) and a request for discovering (Zhu ¶0063: SM Context request message requesting SM context for the new communication session) a computing server (Zhu Fig. 5: 510; Zhu teaches the SMF transmitting requirement information to the AMF, and a NRF further receiving for local a configuration); receiving (Zhu Fig. 5: 508), from the NRF (Zhu ¶0063: NRF), information associated with a second network entity (Zhu Fig. 5: 342) connected to at least one computing server (Zhu Fig. 5: 342; Zhu teaches the AMF receiving information from another network machine that is connected to an NRF);
receiving (Zhu Fig. 5: 522) from the second network entity (Zhu Fig. 5: 342) status information (Zhu ¶0072: including parameters such as communication session ID, QoS flow identities, and QoS profiles) of the at least one computing server (Zhu Fig. 5: 342) wherein the status information (Zhu ¶0072: relay message 522) of the at least one computing server comprises a number of instructions executable by the at least one computing server (Zhu ¶0072: information with respect to the communication interface between the UE and the AMF; Zhu teaches the AMF receiving the communication session ID from the second network entity and interface information to be used);
Zhu does not explicitly teach
Transmitting, to a session management function (SMF), a data network access identifier (DNAI) of the computing server and information on the computing configuration; and transmitting, to the UE or the second network entity, the information on the determined computing configuration.
determining, based on the request to support a computing service, the status information of the UE and the status information of the at least one computing server, a computing server and a computing configuration for supporting the application;
However, Liang teaches
determining (Liang ¶0077: response), based on the request to support a computing service (Liang Fig. 8: Step 4), the status information of the UE (Liang ¶0078: UE identifier) and the status information of the at least one computing server (Liang ¶0078: UE identifier), a computing server (Liang ¶0078: data network name) and a computing configuration (Liang ¶0078: an identifier of the target DNAI) for supporting the application (Liang ¶0078: SM context create request message; Liang teaches generating a response based off of the information for an SM context request message based off of at least a UE identifier, the data network name, and an identifier of the target DNAI);
transmitting (Liang Fig. 8: Step 5) to a session management function (SMF) (Liang Fig. 8: I-SMF) a data network access identifier (DNAI) (Liang ¶0078: message includes a target DNAI) of the computing server (Liang Fig. 8: I-SMF) and information on the computing configuration (Liang Fig. 8: Step 5) to establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session (Liang ¶0078: creates the session management context, e.g. Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext; Liang teaches the AMF transmitting the DNAI and UE context to a secondary SMF to create a session management context);
and transmitting (Liang Fig. 8: Step 5), to the UE (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or the second network entity (Liang Fig. 8: I-SMF), the information on the determined computing configuration (Liang Fig. 8: Step 4; Liang teaches transmitting the configuration information to the second network entity).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu by way of Liang, to include an element that teaches the AMF transmitting the DNAI and UE context to a secondary SMF and transmitting the configuration information to the second network entity, as taught in Liang in Fig. 8 and ¶0077-¶0078, to better maintain competitiveness for personalized mobile communication services while reducing the operating costs of operators.
Zhu in view of Liang does not explicitly teach
wherein the request to support the computing service indicates a vertical split corresponding to a serial arrangement of computing servers, and wherein the status information of the UE comprises at least one computing capability-related information of the UE or communication capability-related information of the UE;
However, Talebi Fard teaches
wherein the request (Talebi Fard ¶0263: access the NPN using UE configuration parameters and vertical credentials) to support the computing service (Talebi Fard ¶0263: access to the vertical server) indicates a vertical split corresponding to a serial arrangement of computing servers (Talebi Fard ¶0263: vertical server), and wherein the status information (Talebi Fard ¶0263: UE configuration) of the UE (Talebi Fard ¶0263: UE) comprises at least one computing capability-related information of the UE (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or communication capability-related information of the UE (Talebi Fard ¶0263: re-registration procedures using the UE configuration and establish a PDU session with suitable QoS; Talebi Fard teaches a UE request for a vertical server access using a UE configuration and a re-registration procedure with a suitable QoS);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu in view of Liang by way of Talebi Fard, to include an element that teaches a UE request for a vertical server access using a UE configuration and a re-registration procedure, as taught by Talebi Fard in ¶0263, to improve the registration process for a UE to connect to a vertical server stack and optimize the communication systems by reducing the packet loss by reducing friction for the re-registration procedure.
Claim 10 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art,
a transceiver (Zhu ¶0019: signaling through network nodes); and at least one processor (Zhu ¶0095: processors; Zhu teaches the network device communicating through nodes and a processor)
Regarding Claim 2 and Claim 11
Zhu in view of Liang further in view of Talebi Fard teaches the Method and Network Entity as explained above in Claim 1. Liang further teaches
selecting the computing server (Liang Fig. 8: AMF) and the computing configuration (Liang Fig. 8: Step 4), based on a predetermined rule according to the status information of the UE (Liang ¶0077: according to DNAI) and the status information of the computing server (Liang ¶0078: an identifier of the AMF; Liang teaches the AMF computing the configuration according to the DNAI and an identifier for the AMF).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu by way of Liang, to include an element that teaches the AMF computing the configuration according to the DNAI and an identifier for the AMF, as taught in Liang in Fig. 8, ¶0077, and, ¶0078, to better maintain competitiveness for personalized mobile communication services while reducing the operating costs of operators.
Regarding Claim 4 and Claim 13
Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard teaches the Method and Network Entity as explained above in Claim 1. Zhu further teaches
wherein communication between the first network entity (Zhu Fig. 3: 330, AMF) and the UE (Zhu Fig. 3: 110, UE) is performed through a non-access stratum computing management (NAS CM) message (Zhu ¶0030: relay NAS session management messages; Zhu teaches NAS messages between the AMF and UE).
Claim(s) 3 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (Pub. No.: US 20220201543 A1, hereafter “Zhu”) in view of Liang (Pub. No.: US 20210392561 A1, hereafter “Liang”), further in view of Talebi Fard (Pub. No.: US 20230199632 A1, hereafter “Talebi Fard”), and further in view of Li (Pub. No.: US 20220038349 A1, hereafter “Li”).
Regarding Claim 3 and Claim 12
Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard teaches the Method and Network Entity as explained above in Claim 1. Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard does not explicitly teach
the computing configuration by performing data analysis by using an artificial intelligence (AI) model of the first network entity, wherein the AI model is configured to determine the computing configuration by using requirements collected from the UE and candidate computing servers, the status information of the UE, and status information of each of the candidate computing servers as input values.
However, Li teaches
the computing configuration (Li ¶0059: channel status) by performing data analysis (Li ¶0059: learning) by using an artificial intelligence (AI) model (Li ¶0059: Federated Learning) of the first network entity (Li ¶0059: gNB-CU), wherein the AI model is configured to determine the computing configuration by using requirements (Li ¶0059: latency requirements) collected from the UE (Li ¶0059: UE) and candidate computing servers (Li ¶0059: a central server), the status information of the UE (Li ¶0059: channel status), and status information of each of the candidate computing servers as input values (Li ¶0059: learning; Li teaches a channel status being used for learning using federated learning relating to a UE and a central server, the learning using latency requirements from between the UE and central server).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard by way of Li, to include an element that teaches a channel status being used for learning using federated learning relating to a UE and a central server, the learning using latency requirements from between the UE and central server, as taught by Li in ¶0059, to better improve connectivity systems in a wireless communication field by allowing for more dynamic allocations of learning resources and training data by monitoring communication.
Claim(s) 5 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (Pub. No.: US 20220201543 A1, hereafter “Zhu”) in view of Liang (Pub. No.: US 20210392561 A1, hereafter “Liang”), further in view of Talebi Fard (Pub. No.: US 20230199632 A1, hereafter “Talebi Fard”), and even further in view of Liang (Pub. No.: US 20220014944 A1, hereafter “Liang’994”).
Regarding Claim 5 and Claim 14
Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard teaches the Method and Network Entity as explained above in Claim 1. Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard does not explicitly teach
Transmitting, to the second network entity, a subscription request for periodically updating status information of the computing server; periodically receiving, from the second network entity, status information of the at least one computing server and periodically receiving, from the UE, status information of the UE; and determining whether to change a current computing configuration, based on the periodically received status information of the computing server and the periodically received status information of the UE
However, Liang’994 teaches
Transmitting (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 602), to the second network entity (Liang’994 Fig. 6: UPF), a subscription request (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 602) periodically updating status information (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 610 heartbeat request/response) of the computing server (Liang’994 Fig. 6: Active SMF; Liang’994 teaches setting up a heartbeat request/response between two separate network entities); periodically receiving, from the second network entity (Liang’994 Fig. 11: UPF), status information of the at least one computing server (Liang’994 Fig. 11: 1108) and periodically receiving, from the UE, status information of the UE (Liang’994 Fig. 11: 1107; Liang’994 teaches monitoring the heartbeat sensor from Fig. 6, and updating the UE status); and determining whether to change a current computing configuration (Liang’994 Fig. 11: 1109), based on the periodically received status information of the computing server (Liang’994 Fig. 11: 1113) and the periodically received status information of the UE (Liang’994 Fig. 11: 1105; Liang’994 teaches the updating system be based on known configurations of the UE).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhu in view of Liang, further in view of Talebi Fard teaches, and further by way of Liang’994, to include an element that teaches setting up a heartbeat request/response between two separate network entities, monitoring the heartbeat sensor from Fig. 6, and updating the UE status, and the updating system be based on known configurations of the UE, as taught in Liang’994 in Fig. 6, to better maintain competitiveness for personalized mobile communication services while reducing the operating costs of operators.
Claim(s) 8 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marquezan (Pub. No.: US 20210297874 A1, hereafter “Marquezan”) in view of Li (Pub. No.: US 20250070999 A1, hereafter “Li”).
Regarding Claim 8 and Claim 17
Marquezan teaches a method and network entity comprising
receiving, from a first network entity (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or a network data analytics function (NWDAF) (Marquezan Fig. 5: 103, NWDAF), a request for status information (Marquezan Fig. 5: 9a) of the at least one computing server (Marquezan ¶0237: NFsmf DataCollection Subscribe) managed by the second network entity (Marquezan Fig. 5: 500; Marquezan teaches the SMF receiving a request for more information from NWDAF); and transmitting, to the first network entity (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or the NWDAF (Marquezan Fig. 5: 103, NWDAF), the status information of the at least one computing server (Marquezan Fig. 5: 9d), based on the request for the status information (Marquezan Fig. 5: 9b; Marquezan teaches the SMF transmitting the information to NWDAF from the initial request).
Marquezan does not explicitly teach
A method performed by a second network entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: transmitting, to a third network entity or a network repository function (NRF), a request to register or updating a network function (NF) profile of the second network entity including information on at least one computing server wherein the information on the at least one computing server comprises a number of instructions executable by the at least one computing server;
However, Li teaches
A method performed by a second network entity (Li Fig. 3A: SMF-2) in a wireless communication system (Li ¶0038: wireless communication system), the method comprising: transmitting, to a third network entity (Li ¶0039: Includes VN ID) or a network repository function (NRF) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a request to register (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or updating a network function (NF) profile of the second network entity (Li Fig. 3A: 406 Update Profile) including information on at least one computing server (Li Fig. 3A: 406 Update Profile) wherein the information on the at least one computing server (Li Fig. 3A: 406 Update) comprises a number of instructions executable by the at least one computing server (Li ¶0043: updating or registering the profile, which may include VN ID or DNN/S-NSSAI; Li teaches an SMF in a wireless system transmitting a request for a profile update that includes a VN ID);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Marquezan by way of Li, to include an element that teaches an SMF in a wireless system transmitting a request for a profile update that includes a VN ID, as taught in Li in Fig. 3A, ¶0038 and ¶0039, to better maintain competitiveness for personalized mobile communication services while reducing the operating costs of operators.
Claim 17 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art,
a transceiver (Marquezan Fig. 1: 102); and at least one processor (Marquezan Fig. 1: 103; Marquezan teaches that the device can collect data and process that data)
Claim(s) 9 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marquezan (Pub. No.: US 20210297874 A1, hereafter “Marquezan”) in view of Li (Pub. No.: US 20250070999 A1, hereafter “Li”), and even further in view of Liang (Pub. No.: US 20220014944 A1, hereafter “Liang’994”).
Regarding Claim 9 and Claim 18
Marquezan in view of Li teaches the method and network entity as explained above in Claim 8. Marquezan in view of Li does not explicitly teach
receiving, from the first network entity or the NWDAF, a subscription request making a request for periodically updating the status information of the computing server; and periodically transmitting, to the first network entity or the NWDAF, the status information of the at least one computing server.
However, Liang’994 teaches
receiving, from the first network entity (Liang’994 Fig. 6: UPF) or the NWDAF (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a subscription request (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 602) making a request for periodically updating the status information of the computing server (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 610 heartbeat request/response; Liang’994 teaches an SMF receiving the request for heartbeat request and response from an UPF); and periodically transmitting, to the first network entity (Liang’994 Fig. 6: UPF) or the NWDAF (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) the status information (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 610) of the at least one computing server (Liang’994 Fig. 6: 610; Liang’994 teaches sending and receiving heartbeat response and requests).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Marquezan by way of Li, and further by way of Liang’994, to include an element that teaches an SMF receiving the request for heartbeat request and response from an UPF and sending and receiving heartbeat response and requests, as taught in Liang’994 in Fig. 6, to better maintain competitiveness for personalized mobile communication services while reducing the operating costs of operators.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marquezan (Pub. No.: US 20210297874 A1, hereafter “Marquezan”) in view of Li (Pub. No.: US 20250070999 A1, hereafter “Li”), and even further in view of Liang (Pub. No.: US 20210392561 A1, hereafter “Liang”).
Regarding Claim 20
Marquezan in view of Li teaches the method and network entity as explained above in Claim 17. Marquezan in view of Li does not explicitly teach
wherein the second network entity transfers data network access identifiers (DNAIs) of selected computing servers and information on a computing configuration to a session management function (SMF).
However, Liang teaches
wherein the second network entity (Liang Fig. 8: I-SMF) transfers (Liang Fig. 8: Step 5) data network access identifiers (DNAIs) (Liang ¶0078: message includes a target DNAI) of selected computing servers and information (Liang Fig. 8: Step 4) on a computing configuration to a session management function (SMF) (Liang Fig. 8: I-SMF; Liang teaches the AMF transmitting the DNAI and UE context to a secondary SMF).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Marquezan by way of Li, and further by way of Liang, to include an element that teaches the AMF transmitting the DNAI and UE context to a secondary SMF, as taught in Liang in Fig. 8 and ¶0078, to better maintain competitiveness for personalized mobile communication services while reducing the operating costs of operators.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER whose telephone number is (703)756-4763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 4:00pm.
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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on (571) 270-1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Prosecution Insights