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 Amendment
The Amendment filed on 12/12/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 11-13 with respect to claims 1, 10 and 16 have been considered but are moot upon a further consideration and a new ground of rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US PGPub 2024/0388979) in view of Martin (US PGPub 2021/0153110), and in further view of Shaw (US PGPub 2014/0143330).
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US PGPub 2024/0388979) in view of Martin (US PGPub 2021/0153110), and in further view of Shaw (US PGPub 2014/0143330).
Regarding claims 1, 10 and 16, Li teaches a method (Li, see abstract, Embodiments of this application provide a slice-based communication method and apparatus) comprising:
receiving, by a server of a fifth generation (5G) telecommunications network, a message from a user equipment (UE) requesting a communication session (Li, see paragraphs 0050, 0052 and 0271, A terminal device sends a first registration request message to a first access and mobility management function network element. Correspondingly, the first access and mobility management function network element receives the first registration request message from the terminal device. The network device of Li includes a first access and mobility management function network element and/or the network slice selection network element, so the first AMF and the NSSF are implemented into a single network device/server);
identifying, by the server, a device identifier associated with the message (Li, see paragraph 0272, The first registration request message may include a requested network slice (requested NSSAI) for the terminal device. Even though not expressly teaching about ‘a device identifier’, Li teaches a requested network slice (NSSAI) subscribed by the terminal device, so that ‘a device identifier’ is embedded into the requested NSSAI identifying the identity of the requesting terminal device).
Li teaches the above yet fails to teach receiving, by the server and based at least in part on the device identifier, historical data associated with the UE from a Home Subscriber Server of the 5G telecommunications network; determining a location of the UE; determining, by the server and based at least in part on the historical data and the location, a set of network slices for establishing the communication session over the 5G telecommunications network; and transmitting the set of network slices to the UE over the 5G telecommunications network to cause the UE to access a network slice of the set of network slices to provide the communication session.
Then Martin teaches receiving, by the server and based at least in part on the device identifier, historical data associated with the UE from a Home Subscriber Server of the 5G telecommunications network (Martin, see paragraphs 0076 and 0077, The NSSF 218 receives the NS Selection Request and, prior to selecting a network slice retrieves 606, 608 a user profile from the HSS 214. The information in the user profile received from the HSS 214 may include user subscription information, such as the set of network slices this user is authorized to connect to. The content data manager 318 of the NSSF 218 retrieves 610 historical Content Metadata information pertaining to this user and determines a content type based on that data);
determining a location of the UE (Martin, see paragraph 0078, The historical Content Metadata information may indicate, based on observed subscribed events, the type of content that is typically retrieved by this user at certain periods of time, or at certain locations. The location of the user may be reported during the connection establishment procedure and may be periodically updated);
determining, by the server and based at least in part on the historical data and the location, a set of network slices for establishing the communication session over the 5G telecommunications network (Martin, see paragraph 0086, With the information about authorized network slices for the user, received from the HSS 214 in step 608, and the list of network slices 202 a-202 n, received from the CIR 216 in step 616, the network slice selector 316 of the NSSF 218 determines 618 a network slice 202 a-202 n, which may be the optimal network slice 202 a-202 n, for this user and/or the type of predicted content and/or the time); and
transmitting the set of network slices to the UE over the 5G telecommunications network to cause the UE to access a network slice of the set of network slices to provide the communication session (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li with network slice selection of Martin, because doing so would make Li more efficient in the slice selection processing by considering a number of factors that can be of utmost relevance for the network selection, thereby the slice selection processing is optimized for maximizing the user’s experience (Martin, see paragraph 0014).
Li in view of Martin teaches the above yet fails to teach the historical data identifying one or more application categories or application sub-categories associated with activity by the UE over a previous time period.
Then Shaw teaches the historical data identifying one or more application categories or application sub-categories associated with activity by the UE over a previous time period (Shaw, see paragraphs 0017 and 0018, NSP messaging server 124 may analyze the copied social media communication in conjunction with a user profile on Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 122. At block 225, as a result of the analysis at block 220, the NSP messaging server 124 may create an enhanced user profile (e.g., a new or updated user profile). NSP messaging server 124 may create the enhanced user profile and HSS 122 may provide instructions gathered from data within the enhanced user profile. The user profile of HSS 122 may include the location of the WTRU 105 … Other NSP information may include the length of time WTRU 105 uses a category of applications (e.g., social media applications), the length of time the WTRU 105 connects to a particular social media application, and other time, date, and usage related statistics for messaging services such as video chat, MMS, and SMS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li in view of Martin with Integrated Long Term Evolution Social Media Messaging of Shaw, because doing so would make Li in view Martin more efficient in improving the performance of the E-UTRAN relative to a typical UMTS network allowing for increased bandwidth, spectral efficiency, and functionality including, but not limited to, voice, high-speed applications, large data transfer and IPTV, while still allowing for full mobility (Shaw, see paragraph 0062).
Regarding claims 2, 13 and 18, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein determining the set of network slices comprises:
determining data representing candidate network slices for the location of the UE, the data indicating a list of applications provided by each candidate network slice of the candidate network slices (Martin, see paragraph 0078, The historical Content Metadata information may indicate, based on observed subscribed events, the type of content that is typically retrieved by this user at certain periods of time, or at certain locations. The location of the user may be reported during the connection establishment procedure and may be periodically updated);
identifying a first application and a second application accessed by the UE during the previous time period (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform);
comparing a first type of the first application and a second type of the second application to the list of application associated with each candidate network slice (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform); and
selecting one or more of the candidate network slices as the set of network slices based at least in part on the comparing (Martin, see paragraph 0086, With the information about authorized network slices for the user, received from the HSS 214 in step 608, and the list of network slices 202 a-202 n, received from the CIR 216 in step 616, the network slice selector 316 of the NSSF 218 determines 618 a network slice 202 a-202 n, which may be the optimal network slice 202 a-202 n, for this user and/or the type of predicted content and/or the time).
Regarding claims 3, 14 and 19, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches further comprising:
determining classifications for multiple applications based at least in part on a bandwidth or latency requirement associated with executing each application by a processor of the UE (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform);
configuring candidate network slices based at least in part on the classifications of the multiple applications (Martin, see paragraph 0086, With the information about authorized network slices for the user, received from the HSS 214 in step 608, and the list of network slices 202 a-202 n, received from the CIR 216 in step 616, the network slice selector 316 of the NSSF 218 determines 618 a network slice 202 a-202 n, which may be the optimal network slice 202 a-202 n, for this user and/or the type of predicted content and/or the time); and
determining to include one or more of the candidate network slices in the set of network slices based at least in part on the location of the UE (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208).
Regarding claims 4, 15 and 20, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein the set of network slices is a first set of network slices, the location is a first location, determining the first location of the UE is associated with a first time (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform), and further comprising:
storing network data in a storage device identifying the set of network slices, an application associated with each network slice in the set of network slices, and a base station associated with the UE (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform);
determining a second location of the UE at a second time after the first time (Martin, see paragraph 0078, The historical Content Metadata information may indicate, based on observed subscribed events, the type of content that is typically retrieved by this user at certain periods of time, or at certain locations. The location of the user may be reported during the connection establishment procedure and may be periodically updated); and
determining, by the server and based at least in part on the network data and the second location, a second set of network slices for establishing the communication session or for establishing a future communication session (Martin, see paragraph 0086, the list of network slices 202 a-202 n, received from the CIR 216 in step 616, the network slice selector 316 of the NSSF 218 determines 618 a network slice 202 a-202 n, which may be the optimal network slice 202 a-202 n, for this user and/or the type of predicted content and/or the time).
Regarding claim 5, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein:
the second location of the UE is associated with a different base station than the base station identified in the network data (Martin, see paragraph 0078, The historical Content Metadata information may indicate, based on observed subscribed events, the type of content that is typically retrieved by this user at certain periods of time, or at certain locations. The location of the user may be reported during the connection establishment procedure and may be periodically updated), and
the second set of network slices comprises a different number of network slices as the first set of network slices (Martin, see paragraph 0086, the list of network slices 202 a-202 n, received from the CIR 216 in step 616, the network slice selector 316 of the NSSF 218 determines 618 a network slice 202 a-202 n, which may be the optimal network slice 202 a-202 n, for this user and/or the type of predicted content and/or the time).
Regarding claim 6, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein:
a network slice in the set of network slices comprises security information, bandwidth information, and latency information for one or more applications available for execution by a processor of the UE (Martin, see paragraph 0086, the list of network slices 202 a-202 n, received from the CIR 216 in step 616, the network slice selector 316 of the NSSF 218 determines 618 a network slice 202 a-202 n, which may be the optimal network slice 202 a-202 n, for this user and/or the type of predicted content and/or the time).
Regarding claim 7, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein:
the device identifier comprises in a P-Access-Network-Information (PANI) or an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) associated with the UE (Li, see paragraph 0272, The first registration request message may include a requested network slice (requested NSSAI) for the terminal device. Even though not expressly teaching about ‘a device identifier’, Li teaches a requested network slice (NSSAI) subscribed by the terminal device, so that ‘a device identifier’ is embedded into the requested NSSAI identifying the identity of the requesting terminal device), and
the server comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (Li, see paragraphs 0050, 0052 and 0271, A terminal device sends a first registration request message to a first access and mobility management function network element. Correspondingly, the first access and mobility management function network element receives the first registration request message from the terminal device. The network device of Li includes a first access and mobility management function network element and/or the network slice selection network element, so the first AMF and the NSSF are implemented into a single network device/server).
Regarding claim 8, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein causing the UE to access the network slice of the set of network slices comprises:
configuring the network slice between the UE and a base station of the telecommunications network (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208); and
causing data to exchange between an application executing on the UE and the telecommunications network over the network slice (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208).
Regarding claim 9, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein:
the set of network slices includes a first network slice for a first application and a second network slice for a second application (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform), and
the message is associated with one of: the first application or the second application (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208).
Regarding claim 11, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein:
the telecommunications network comprises a fifth generation telecommunications network (Li, see paragraph 0112, here are two types of radio access technologies: a 3GPP access technology (for example, a wireless access technology used in a 3rd generation (3G) system, a 4th generation (4G) system, or a 5G system) and a non-3GPP access technology),
the historical data identifying application activity by the UE over a previous time period (Martin, see paragraphs 0078-0082, the historical Content Metadata information may indicate that the user has the following traffic records: Working days between 9.00 am and 10.00 am: the majority of a the traffic is HTTP addressed to two major newspaper web sites; Working days between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is music streaming from a popular online music platform; Every day between 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to either a given video streaming platform or a popular social network; and/or Weekends and non-working days between 10.00 am and 8.00 pm: the majority of the traffic is addressed to a popular gaming platform), and
transmitting the set of network slices to the UE is performed before the UE initiates a request to open an application associated with one of the network slices (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208).
Regarding claims 12 and 17, Li in view of Martin and Shaw teaches wherein the message is a first message associated with a call setup instruction(Li, see paragraphs 0050, 0052 and 0271, A terminal device sends a first registration request message to a first access and mobility management function network element. Correspondingly, the first access and mobility management function network element receives the first registration request message from the terminal device. The network device of Li includes a first access and mobility management function network element and/or the network slice selection network element, so the first AMF and the NSSF are implemented into a single network device/server), and the operations further comprise:
receiving a second message indicating a request to execute an application as a service over the telecommunications network (Li, see paragraphs 0050, 0052 and 0271, A terminal device sends a first registration request message to a first access and mobility management function network element. Correspondingly, the first access and mobility management function network element receives the first registration request message from the terminal device. The network device of Li includes a first access and mobility management function network element and/or the network slice selection network element, so the first AMF and the NSSF are implemented into a single network device/server); and
causing the UE to access the network slice of the set of network slices responsive to receiving the second message (Martin, see paragraph 0087, The NSSF 218 transmits 620 a NS Selection Response to the RAN 206 a indicating the selected network slice 202 a-202 n. The NS Selection Response serves as an acknowledgement of the NS Selection Request 604 message. The NS Selection Response message indicates detailed data of the network slice 202 a-202 n, such as the address of the Slice Entry Point 208).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CHONG G KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-0619. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri @ 9am - 5pm.
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/CHONG G KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
/NICHOLAS R TAYLOR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2443