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 .
Claims 1-8, 10-15, 17-20 are presented.
Amendments of 01/20/2026 - RCE is/are entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed have been fully considered with respect to the amendments introduced in the amendment of 01/20/2026. The prior arts of record have been reviewed to determine its applicability to the new language/limitations. The rejections have been updated to address said amendments, specifically “provide EMS system resources associated with the operation of the plurality of pieces of equipment, the EMS system resources comprising one or more of EMS system memory, EMS processor time, or EMS virtual machine resources;”
In reconsideration of the reference Nguyen et al. (US 2023/0403191), it is determined the amendments are indeed covered by other sections of the reference. Please see the discussion in the 35 USC § 103 section below for specific citations, discussion/explanation of the reference.
With regard to claims 2, 8, and 15, Applicant argues Applicant respectfully points out that the previous response to arguments does not address the core argument presented in Applicant's prior response - allegedly that neither Nguyen nor Claridge disclose identification and reallocation of resources based on decommissioning where such decommissioning is triggered by the various operations recited in claim 1. Paragraph [0084] of Claridge may mention "deactivating network resources", but there is no mention of such deactivation based on a decommissioning request. Similarly, paragraph [0090] of Claridge discusses modification of "system parameters," but it does not disclose deallocation of "network resources" based on a decommissioning request.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Specifically, Applicant attacks reference Claridge for no mention of such deactivation based on a decommissioning request. This is an example of piecemeal analysis argument because Applicant demands the secondary reference to cover limitations already covered the base references, i.e. the Claridge reference is being analyzed in vacuum by Applicant, while completely omitting the bridging reference Narayanan.
As clearly detailed in the Office Action, the reference Narayanan discloses a system/method in which the system detects and is notified of a specific troubled base station/router is malfunctioning (¶0035), wherein the system sends a request to trigger a resolution such as replacements of hardware, or replacement of the site equipment , and response to which the resolution is carried out (see at least ¶0017, 0044). Narayanan already covers the aspect of a resolution in response to a request, Claridge is incorporated to simply expand the scope of said resolution to cover decommissioning, and as extension secondary reference Claridge does not need to redundantly repeat the “response to a request” part because the reference are in a combination where such part was already covered. Therefore, the argument is not persuasive.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 2023/0403191) in view of Narayanan (US 2017/0086082).
As to claim 1:
Nguyen discloses:
A system for managing resources, the system comprising: a radio access network (RAN) comprising a plurality of pieces of equipment (Abstract, Fig. 1, a RAN networks having base station/access point nodes); an equipment monitoring system (EMS) configured to monitor the plurality of pieces of equipment and provide EMS system resources associated with the operation of the plurality of pieces of equipment, the EMS system resources comprising one or more of EMS system memory, EMS processor time, or EMS virtual machine resources;
(¶0021-0022, 0064, the system create virtual machine resources, include: virtual collaboration rooms for operators and virtual visualization associated with operations of the monitoring equipments (sensors, recording feeds etc) which monitors status (measurements) related to equipments. ¶0078, virtual resource also further include bandwidth/frequency resources to enable the virtual collaboration machine (i.e. “The communication associated with the virtual collaboration room is communicated via a 5G or higher generation wireless telecommunication network because the communication requires bandwidth and low latency”). ¶0082-0084, the system provide prioritized processing and communication of sensors monitoring the system equipments, i.e. allocating prioritized time, system processing and storage for network traffic associated with the sensor and the virtual room. ¶0086, The processor can obtain multiple measurements associated with the wireless telecommunication network, multiple issues associated with the wireless telecommunication network and stored in a database, i.e. providing EMS system memory);
at least one memory configured to store at least one instruction (¶0091, processor, memory); and at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the at least one instruction to:
monitor the plurality of pieces of equipment (¶0073, 0075, monitoring equipments of the networks, such as base station or router) , identify a piece of equipment among the plurality of pieces of equipment that is not functioning in a normal manner (¶0075, via measurement report and/or real time imaging sensor associated with the malfunctioning base station, identifying the base station as being the malfunctioning base station),
on identifying the piece of equipment that is not functioning in a normal manner, initiate an alert to a user (¶0076, step 1210, in response to malfunctioning equipment, i.e. a base station, being determined, generate a notification to one or more operators. Details of the malfunction are also transmitted to the operator(s)),
Regarding:
generate a request to decommission the identified piece of equipment, request approval of the request to decommission the identified piece of equipment and to commission a replacement for the identified piece of equipment, and based on receiving approval of the request to decommission the identified piece of equipment and to commission a replacement for the identified piece of equipment, initiate decommissioning of the identified piece of equipment and commissioning of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment.
Nguyen discloses in ¶0074, 0086, generating a request with a suggested resolution to the malfunctioning and requesting approval for said resolution. Upon receiving the approval, initiate the implementation the resolution. Also ¶0060, the formulation of resolutions can be done automatically by module 450, 440)
Nguyen discloses resolutions to remedy a malfunctioning network equipment in a general sense but also stresses scope of resolution can vary based on tiers of issue (¶0074, 0083).
Except that Nguyen does not expressively disclose one possible option of such requested resolutions being decommissioning and replacement of the identified malfunctioning equipment.
Narayanan, in a related field of network testing/monitoring, discloses a system/method in which the system detects and is notified of a specific troubled base station/router is malfunctioning (¶0035), wherein the system send a request where the requested resolution includes replacements of hardware, or replacement of the site equipment (¶0017, 0044). Note that “decommissioning” is redundant in context of replacement since replacement, by definition, is to replace the existence of the old entity with a new one.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that Nguyen’s possible resolutions to a malfunctioning equipment include removal/replacement of said equipment with a new one. The specific resolution of decommissioning/replacement of malfunctioning equipment is however well-established in the art. Naturally, when the damage or error in the equipment system are severe beyond repairs, removal from service and replacements are the next conceivable step if continuous service is to be desired. This implementation advantageously restore services to the network, thus improve user’s experience with continuing service coverage, consistent with the desire to timely restore services described in Nguyen (¶0001).
As to claims 4:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan discloses all limitations of claim 1, the request to decommission the identified piece of equipment comprises at least one of information on the identified piece of equipment and information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment. (Nguyen, ¶0073-0074, requested resolution naturally has to have at least some basic information on the failed equipment for it be considered correctly and thus approved, such identity and where the equipment is on the area. See Narayanan, ¶0044, the request indicates service to be provided and is to be sent to appropriate entity for implementation, thus contain information of the subject to be repaired/replaced).
As to claims 6:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan discloses all limitations of claim 4, wherein the information on the identified piece of equipment and the information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment are automatically retrieved from the EMS. (¶0060 of Nguyen, information pertaining the issues and resolutions can be provided automatically from the system)
As to claims 7:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan discloses all limitations of claim 4, wherein the information on the identified piece of equipment and the information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment are provided by a user. (¶0060 of Nguyen, while information pertaining the issues and resolutions can be provided automatically from the system, these information must be first input into the database of the system. ¶0075, information on the identified equipment might so be provided directly by an on-site technician.)
Claim(s) 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 13-15, 17, 18, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 2023/0403191) in view of Narayanan (US 2017/0086082) and in further view of Claridge et al. (US 2017/0127427).
As to claim 8:
Nguyen discloses:
A method for managing resources of a radio access network (RAN) (Abstract, Fig. 1, a RAN networks having base station/access point nodes), the method comprising: monitoring the RAN (¶0073, 0075, monitoring equipments of the networks, such as base station or router); identifying a piece of equipment within the RAN that is not functioning in a normal manner; (¶0075, via measurement report and/or real time imaging sensor associated with the malfunctioning base station, identifying the base station as being the malfunctioning base station) based on identifying the piece of equipment that is not functioning in a normal manner, initiating an alert to a user (¶0076, step 1210, in response to malfunctioning equipment, i.e. a base station, being determined, generate a notification to one or more operators. Details of the malfunction are also transmitted to the operator(s)),
Regarding:
generate a request to decommission the identified piece of equipment, request approval of the request to decommission the identified piece of equipment and to commission a replacement for the identified piece of equipment, and based on receiving approval of the request to decommission the identified piece of equipment and to commission a replacement for the identified piece of equipment, initiate decommissioning of the identified piece of equipment and commissioning of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment.
Nguyen discloses in ¶0074, 0086, generating a request with a suggested resolution to the malfunctioning and requesting approval for said resolution. Upon receiving the approval, initiate the implementation the resolution. Also ¶0060, the formulation of resolutions can be done automatically by module 450, 440)
Nguyen discloses resolutions to remedy a malfunctioning network equipment in a general sense but also stresses scope of resolution can vary based on tiers of issue (¶0074, 0083).
Except that Nguyen does not expressively disclose one possible option of such requested resolutions being decommissioning and replacement of the identified malfunctioning equipment.
Narayanan, in a related field of network testing/monitoring, discloses a system/method in which the system detects and is notified of a specific troubled base station/router is malfunctioning (¶0035), wherein the system send a request where the requested resolution includes replacements of hardware, or replacement of the site equipment (¶0017, 0044). Note that “decommissioning” is redundant in context of replacement since replacement, by definition, is to replace the existence of the old entity with a new one.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that Nguyen’s possible resolutions to a malfunctioning equipment include removal/replacement of said equipment with a new one. The specific resolution of decommissioning/replacement of malfunctioning equipment is however well-established in the art. Naturally, when the damage or error in the equipment system are severe beyond repairs, removal from service and replacements are the next conceivable step if continuous service is to be desired. This implementation advantageously restore services to the network, thus improve user’s experience with continuing service coverage, consistent with the desire to timely restore services described in Nguyen (¶0001).
Nguyen in view of Narayanan discloses all limitations above, and while Nguyen/Narayanan are not explicit on: the decommissioning of the identified piece of equipment comprises: identification of EMS system resources allocated to the identified piece of equipment, and deallocation of the identified EMS system resources.
Claridge, in a related field of endeavor, discloses a system/method for network monitoring in which points of failures are identified (¶0021) and trigger modification of network parameters, per ¶0083-0094 discusses various modifications, in which modification of network parameters in case of a point of failure (base station 220 failure), modification might include determining network resource 245, and deactivating said network resource 245.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the removal of the malfunctioning of network node in Nguyen/Narayanan to include identification and deactivation of allocated resources. This limitation is already partly implicit in Nguyen, since a malfunctioned base station is being removed no longer participate in the network, thus freeing up the allocated resources. The incorporation of Claridge further clarifies the network taking active role in reconfiguration of resources in order to enhance network performance and conserve resources (¶0084, 00092).
Claim 15 is directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to execute a method of managing resources of a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising similar steps as in claim 8 and is addressed by the same reasoning.
As to claims 2:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan discloses all limitations of claim 1, while Nguyen/Narayanan are not explicit on: the decommissioning of the identified piece of equipment comprises: identification of EMS system resources allocated to the identified piece of equipment, and deallocation of the identified EMS system resources.
Claridge, in a related field of endeavor, discloses a system/method for network monitoring in which points of failures are identified (¶0021) and trigger modification of network parameters, per ¶0083-0094 discusses various modifications, in which modification of network parameters in case of a point of failure (base station 220 failure), modification might include determining network resource 245, and deactivating said network resource 245.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the removal of the malfunctioning of network node in Nguyen/Narayanan to include identification and deactivation of allocated resources. This limitation is already partly implicit in Nguyen, since a malfunctioned base station is being removed no longer participate in the network, thus freeing up the allocated resources. The incorporation of Claridge further clarifies the network taking active role in reconfiguration of resources in order to enhance network performance and conserve resources (¶0084, 00092).
As to claims 3, 10, and 17:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan and Claridge disclose all limitations of claim 2/8/15, wherein the commissioning of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment comprises: allocation of the identified EMS system resources to the replacement for the identified piece of equipment, and monitoring the replacement for the identified piece of equipment by the EMS. (Narayanan, ¶0044, Abstract, replacement for the failed RAN restores the functionality of the failed RAN, thus the new requirement’s normal working order is restored, i.e. provided with resource allocations. ¶0022, monitoring process is applicable to entire network and ongoing. Nguyen, ¶0073, monitoring is understood to be continuous)
As to claims 11, and 18:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan and Claridge discloses all limitations of claim 8/15, the request to decommission the identified piece of equipment comprises at least one of information on the identified piece of equipment and information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment. (Nguyen, ¶0073-0074, requested resolution naturally has to have at least some basic information on the failed equipment for it be considered correctly and thus approved, such identity and where the equipment is on the area. See Narayanan, ¶0044, the request indicates service to be provided and is to be sent to appropriate entity for implementation, thus contain information of the subject to be repaired/replaced).
As to claims 13, and 20:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan and Claridge discloses all limitations of claim 11/18, wherein the information on the identified piece of equipment and the information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment are automatically retrieved from the EMS. (¶0060 of Nguyen, information pertaining the issues and resolutions can be provided automatically from the system)
As to claims 14:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan and Claridge discloses all limitations of claim 11, wherein the information on the identified piece of equipment and the information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment are provided by a user. (¶0060 of Nguyen, while information pertaining the issues and resolutions can be provided automatically from the system, these information must be first input into the database of the system. ¶0075, information on the identified equipment might so be provided directly by an on-site technician.)
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 2023/0403191) in view of Narayanan (US 2017/0086082) and in further view of Kinnear et al. (US 7,757,000).
As to claims 5:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan discloses all limitations of claim 4, while Nguyen and Narayanan discloses the request is indicative of the identified piece of equipment, however is silent on the information on the identified piece of equipment comprises at least one of a serial number of the identified piece of equipment, a location of the identified piece of equipment, and a MAC address of the identified piece of equipment, and wherein the information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment comprises at least one of a serial number of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment and a MAC address of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment.
Kinnear, in a related field of network maintenance, discloses system/method where replacement of failed equipment might be necessary and they are identified by MAC address where the replacement equipment is to match MAC addresses (See at least Col 5, lines 25-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the requests for resolution which is indicative of the equipment can include MAC addresses as the means to identify the equipments. MAC addresses are commonly used as identifiers for any set of equipments as it can be used universally in any level of layers, i.e. can be used as unique identifiers for hardware, while they can also be used as routing addresses for networking schemes.
Claim(s) 12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 2023/0403191) in view of Narayanan (US 2017/0086082) and in further view of Claridge et al. (US 2017/0127427) and in further view of Kinnear et al. (US 7,757,000).
As to claims 12, and 19:
Nguyen in view of Narayanan and Claridge discloses all limitations of claim 11/18, while Nguyen and Narayanan and Claridge discloses the request is indicative of the identified piece of equipment, however is/are silent on the information on the identified piece of equipment comprises at least one of a serial number of the identified piece of equipment, a location of the identified piece of equipment, and a MAC address of the identified piece of equipment, and wherein the information on the replacement for the identified piece of equipment comprises at least one of a serial number of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment and a MAC address of the replacement for the identified piece of equipment.
Kinnear, in a related field of network maintenance, discloses system/method where replacement of failed equipment might be necessary and they are identified by MAC address where the replacement equipment is to match MAC addresses (See at least Col 5, lines 25-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the requests for resolution which is indicative of the equipment can include MAC addresses as the means to identify the equipments. MAC addresses are commonly used as identifiers for any set of equipments as it can be used universally in any level of layers, i.e. can be used as unique identifiers for hardware, while they can also be used as routing addresses for networking schemes.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2011/0300896 - The method includes: when a radio network problem occurs on a user equipment (UE), a first base station controlling a cell that a radio resource control (RRC) connection established with the UE, receives problem information about the radio network problem sent by the UE, in a procedure of re-establishing the RRC connection by the UE, and sends the problem information to a second base station controlling a cell where the radio network problem occurs. In this way, the network side can automatically identify and detect the radio network problem which occurs on the UE, so that the network can perform self-adjustment and optimization, therefore improving the network performance and satisfying use requirements of users..
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/QUAN M HUA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645