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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6-10, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Teslenko et al. (US 2023/0261958).
Regarding claim 1, Teslenko et al. disclose a method, comprising:
receiving, by a radio unit (RU) of a cellular network, a mobile communication from a user device (Figure 1, network traffic [mobile communication] between mobile device 108 [user device] and access network domain 106; Paragraph 57, the access network domain 106 comprises multiple base stations [RUs] or wireless access points [RUs]; Paragraph 114, the access network domain 106 will include multiple eNodeBs [RUs]), the RU associated with a cell identifier (CID) (Paragraph 67, cell identifier of the particular cell of the access network domain 106serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity);
determining, by an access and mobility function (AMF) of the cellular network, an attribute associated with the user device and the mobile communication (Paragraph 83, MME/AMF identifies geolocation [attribute] of mobile device 108; Paragraphs 20, 29-31, 67, 138 and claim 6, geographic location during traffic activity [mobile communication]);
generating, by a core network function of the cellular network (Figure 1, reporting function 112 of core network domain 104; Paragraph 60, data records are generated locally by the reporting function 112 [core network function] based on information received from the core network processing functions 110; Paragraph 20, data record generation), a communication record of the mobile communication, the communication record comprising the CID and an indication of the attribute (Paragraph 67, geographical location [attribute] may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier [CID] of the particular cell of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity; Paragraph 78, In case the geographical location is indicated via a cell identifier in the data records…mapping between cell identifiers and geographical areas; Paragraph 20, generating a data record associating the geographical location with the traffic type and the identifier of the particular mobile device);
storing, by a computing device of the cellular network, the communication record in a database (Figure 1 and paragraphs 60, 65, the data records are stored in a local database 112A of the reporting function; Paragraph 58, The reporting function 112 can be a logical entity or a hardware entity. It can be part of an NWDAF Network Function (NF) [computing device] in 5G communications networks or of a Packet Gateway (PGW) node [computing device] in LTE/4G communications networks);
receiving, by the computing device of the cellular network, a request for communication records, the request comprising a requested attribute type (Figure 1, reporting function 112 receives monitoring request from application server 114A; Paragraph 68, The monitoring requests specifies (at least) a monitoring type [attribute type]. The monitoring type may be selected from a predefined set of monitoring types known to both the reporting function 112 and the application server 114A. The monitoring type specified in the monitoring request may correspond to a particular traffic type (on any hierarchy level, such as content streaming, video streaming, or Netflix traffic));
determining, by the computing device of the cellular network, that the attribute of the communication record is of the requested attribute type (Paragraphs 33-34, The network apparatus is configured to receive a monitoring request specifying a monitoring type, and to calculate from the data records a number of mobile devices having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the following conditions:…i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type; Paragraph 71, calculating, by the processor 202, from the data records a number of mobile devices 108 having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the certain conditions (step 304 in FIG. 3). In one variant, these conditions include: [0072] i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type specified in the monitoring request); and
in response to determining that the attribute of the communication record is of the requested attribute type, transmitting, by the computing device of the cellular network, the communication record based on the request (Figure 1, monitoring report [communication record] transmitted from reporting function 112 to application server 114A; Claim 1, calculating from the data records a number of mobile devices having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the following conditions: i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type…returning, in response to the monitoring request, a monitoring report that is based on the calculated number of mobile devices).
Regarding claim 3, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the attribute comprises at least one of a time window, an international mobile equipment identity of the user device, an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) (Paragraph 67, Each data record analysed by the processor 202 in a reporting context includes…an identifier of the mobile device 108. The identifier may, for example, take the form of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)), a communication length, a session identifier, and a location associated with RU (Paragraph 67, Each data record analysed by the processor 202 in a reporting context includes…The data record may include further information, such as a geographical location of the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity. This geographical location may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier of the particular cell [RU] of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity).
Regarding claim 6, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the cellular network comprises a standalone 5G network (Figure 1 and paragraph 81, In case of a 5G communications network 100).
Regarding claim 7, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the standalone 5G network comprises an open radio access network (Paragraphs 83, 114, 127, AMF; Paragraph 63, the reporting function 112 comprises a processor 202 and a memory 204 coupled to the processor 202…a processor, such as processor 202, may be implemented using any processing circuitry and is not limited to, for example, a single processing core but may also have a distributed topology (e.g., using cloud computing resources)).
Regarding claim 8, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the standalone 5G network comprises one or more of the AMF (Paragraphs 83, 114, 127, AMF), a session management function (SMF), a short message service center (SMSC), a call session control function (CSCF), a multimedia message service center (MMSC), the computing device, and the database in a distributed cloud architecture (Paragraph 63, the reporting function 112 comprises a processor 202 and a memory 204 coupled to the processor 202…a processor, such as processor 202, may be implemented using any processing circuitry and is not limited to, for example, a single processing core but may also have a distributed topology (e.g., using cloud computing resources)).
Regarding claim 9, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the communications record is modified to replace a gNodeB identifier with the CID (Paragraph 67, geographical location may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier of the particular cell of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity; Paragraph 51, some embodiments of the following description focus on an exemplary core network configuration in accordance with specific 4G and 5G specifications).
Regarding claim 10, Teslenko et al. disclose a system (Figure 1), comprising:
one or more processors (Paragraph 32, processor);
one or more non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (Paragraph 32, computer program product comprising program code portions configured to perform the steps of the method presented herein when the computer program product is executed on a processor. The computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable recording medium), cause the system to perform operations to:
receive, by a radio unit (RU) of a cellular network, a mobile communication from a user device (Figure 1, network traffic [mobile communication] between mobile device 108 [user device] and access network domain 106; Paragraph 57, the access network domain 106 comprises multiple base stations [RUs] or wireless access points [RUs]; Paragraph 114, the access network domain 106 will include multiple eNodeBs [RUs]), the RU associated with a cell identifier (CID) (Paragraph 67, cell identifier of the particular cell of the access network domain 106serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity);
determine, by an access and mobility function (AMF) of the cellular network, an attribute associated with the user device and the mobile communication (Paragraph 83, MME/AMF identifies geolocation [attribute] of mobile device 108; Paragraphs 20, 29-31, 67, 138 and claim 6, geographic location during traffic activity [mobile communication]);
generate, by a core network function of the cellular network (Figure 1, reporting function 112 of core network domain 104; Paragraph 60, data records are generated locally by the reporting function 112 [core network function] based on information received from the core network processing functions 110; Paragraph 20, data record generation), a communication record of the mobile communication, the communication record comprising the CID and an indication of the attribute (Paragraph 67, geographical location [attribute] may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier [CID] of the particular cell of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity; Paragraph 78, In case the geographical location is indicated via a cell identifier in the data records…mapping between cell identifiers and geographical areas; Paragraph 20, generating a data record associating the geographical location with the traffic type and the identifier of the particular mobile device);
store, by a computing device of the cellular network, the communication record in a database (Figure 1 and paragraphs 60, 65, the data records are stored in a local database 112A of the reporting function; Paragraph 58, The reporting function 112 can be a logical entity or a hardware entity. It can be part of an NWDAF Network Function (NF) [computing device] in 5G communications networks or of a Packet Gateway (PGW) node [computing device] in LTE/4G communications networks);
receive, by the computing device of the cellular network, a request for communication records, the request comprising a requested attribute type (Figure 1, reporting function 112 receives monitoring request from application server 114A; Paragraph 68, The monitoring requests specifies (at least) a monitoring type [attribute type]. The monitoring type may be selected from a predefined set of monitoring types known to both the reporting function 112 and the application server 114A. The monitoring type specified in the monitoring request may correspond to a particular traffic type (on any hierarchy level, such as content streaming, video streaming, or Netflix traffic));
determine, by the computing device of the cellular network, that the attribute of the communication record is of the requested attribute type (Paragraphs 33-34, The network apparatus is configured to receive a monitoring request specifying a monitoring type, and to calculate from the data records a number of mobile devices having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the following conditions:…i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type; Paragraph 71, calculating, by the processor 202, from the data records a number of mobile devices 108 having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the certain conditions (step 304 in FIG. 3). In one variant, these conditions include: [0072] i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type specified in the monitoring request); and
in response to determining that the attribute of the communication record is of the requested attribute type, transmitting, by the computing device of the cellular network, the communication record based on the request (Figure 1, monitoring report [communication record] transmitted from reporting function 112 to application server 114A; Claim 1, calculating from the data records a number of mobile devices having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the following conditions: i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type…returning, in response to the monitoring request, a monitoring report that is based on the calculated number of mobile devices).
Regarding claim 14, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the cellular network comprises a standalone 5G network (Figure 1 and paragraph 81, In case of a 5G communications network 100).
Regarding claim 15, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the standalone 5G network comprises one or more components distributed in a cloud architecture (Paragraph 63, the reporting function 112 comprises a processor 202 and a memory 204 coupled to the processor 202…a processor, such as processor 202, may be implemented using any processing circuitry and is not limited to, for example, a single processing core but may also have a distributed topology (e.g., using cloud computing resources)).
Regarding claim 17, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the attribute comprises at least one of a time window, an international mobile equipment identity of the user device, an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) (Paragraph 67, Each data record analysed by the processor 202 in a reporting context includes…an identifier of the mobile device 108. The identifier may, for example, take the form of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)), a communication length, a session identifier, and a location associated with RU (Paragraph 67, Each data record analysed by the processor 202 in a reporting context includes…The data record may include further information, such as a geographical location of the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity. This geographical location may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier of the particular cell [RU] of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity).
Regarding claim 18, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the communications record is generated by the core network function in conjunction with another network function of the cellular network (Paragraph 60, data records are generated locally by the reporting function 112 [of the core network domain 104, figure 1] based on information received from the core network processing functions 110).
Regarding claim 20, Teslenko et al. disclose a computer readable, non-transitory computer memory comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors (Paragraph 32, computer program product comprising program code portions configured to perform the steps of the method presented herein when the computer program product is executed on a processor. The computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable recording medium), cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
determining, by an access and mobility function (AMF) of the cellular network, an attribute associated with the user device and the mobile communication (Paragraph 83, MME/AMF identifies geolocation [attribute] of mobile device 108; Paragraphs 20, 29-31, 67, 138 and claim 6, geographic location during traffic activity [mobile communication]);
generating, by a core network function of the cellular network (Figure 1, reporting function 112 of core network domain 104; Paragraph 60, data records are generated locally by the reporting function 112 [core network function] based on information received from the core network processing functions 110; Paragraph 20, data record generation), a communication record of the mobile communication, the communication record comprising the CID and an indication of the attribute (Paragraph 67, geographical location [attribute] may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier [CID] of the particular cell of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity; Paragraph 78, In case the geographical location is indicated via a cell identifier in the data records…mapping between cell identifiers and geographical areas; Paragraph 20, generating a data record associating the geographical location with the traffic type and the identifier of the particular mobile device);
storing, by a computing device of the cellular network, the communication record in a database (Figure 1 and paragraphs 60, 65, the data records are stored in a local database 112A of the reporting function; Paragraph 58, The reporting function 112 can be a logical entity or a hardware entity. It can be part of an NWDAF Network Function (NF) [computing device] in 5G communications networks or of a Packet Gateway (PGW) node [computing device] in LTE/4G communications networks);
receiving, by the computing device of the cellular network, a request for communication records, the request comprising a requested attribute type (Figure 1, reporting function 112 receives monitoring request from application server 114A; Paragraph 68, The monitoring requests specifies (at least) a monitoring type [attribute type]. The monitoring type may be selected from a predefined set of monitoring types known to both the reporting function 112 and the application server 114A. The monitoring type specified in the monitoring request may correspond to a particular traffic type (on any hierarchy level, such as content streaming, video streaming, or Netflix traffic));
determining, by the computing device of the cellular network, that the attribute of the communication record is of the requested attribute type (Paragraphs 33-34, The network apparatus is configured to receive a monitoring request specifying a monitoring type, and to calculate from the data records a number of mobile devices having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the following conditions:…i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type; Paragraph 71, calculating, by the processor 202, from the data records a number of mobile devices 108 having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the certain conditions (step 304 in FIG. 3). In one variant, these conditions include: [0072] i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type specified in the monitoring request); and
in response to determining that the attribute of the communication record is of the requested attribute type, transmitting, by the computing device of the cellular network, the communication record based on the request (Figure 1, monitoring report [communication record] transmitted from reporting function 112 to application server 114A; Claim 1, calculating from the data records a number of mobile devices having, within a given monitoring period, traffic activities that fulfil the following conditions: i) a traffic type of the traffic activity matches the monitoring type…returning, in response to the monitoring request, a monitoring report that is based on the calculated number of mobile devices).
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.
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teslenko et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Meredith et al. (US 2016/0300067).
Regarding claim 2, Teslenko et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Meredith et al.: wherein the communication record is a call data record comprising information associated with the mobile communication and the CID (Meredith et al., Paragraphs 21-25, 39-42, claim 1, call records, stored within a database, are associated with cellular identifiers and describe data sessions associated with mobile devices, the database being queried for the call records).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention Teslenko et al. with the cited disclosure from Meredith et al. in order to protect personal information by excluding personal data from third party analysis while permitting personal data for mandated uses (Meredith et al., Paragraph 22).
Claim(s) 4, 5 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teslenko et al. as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Rahman (US 2022/0394511).
Regarding claim 4, Teslenko et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Rahman: wherein the mobile communication includes a short message service (SMS) communication (Rahman, Paragraph 24, CDR produced for documenting details of text messages; Paragraph 34, CDR including field for call type indicating SMS), the method further comprising:
accessing, by the core network function (Rahman, Figure 2, TAS 210) of the cellular network, an interface for extracting data associated with the SMS communication from at least one of an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) and a non-access stratum (NAS) (Rahman, Figure 2 and paragraph 24, The TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200. In some embodiments, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details [requires interface for extracting data] of…text messages…);
extracting, by the core network function (Rahman, Figure 2, TAS 210) of the cellular network, the data associated with the SMS communication from the IMS and/or the NAS (Rahman, Figure 2 and paragraph 24, The TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200. In some embodiments, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details of…text messages…; Paragraphs 24-35, …the CDR for each call may include the following data fields [paragraphs 25-35] [extraction of these details is inherent]); and
generating, by the core network function (Rahman, Paragraph 24, TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200) of the cellular network, the communications record based at least in part on the data associated with the SMS communication (Rahman, Paragraph 24, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details of voice telephone calls or other events (e.g., text messages, multimedia messages, etc.) and may be created after a call is completed; Paragraphs 24-35, …the CDR for each call may include the following data fields [paragraphs 25-35]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Teslenko et al. with the cited disclosure from Rahman in order to optimize cellular network performance (Rahman, Abstract).
Regarding claim 5, Teslenko et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Rahman: wherein the mobile communication includes a multimedia messaging service (MMS) communication (Rahman, Paragraph 24, CDR produced for documenting details of multimedia messages; Paragraph 34, CDR including field for call type indicating MMS), the method further comprising:
accessing, by the core network function (Rahman, Figure 2, TAS 210) of the cellular network, an interface for extracting data associated with the MMS communication from at least one of an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) (Rahman, Figure 2 and paragraph 24, The TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200. In some embodiments, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details [requires interface for extracting data] of…multimedia messages…);
extracting, by the core network function (Rahman, Figure 2, TAS 210) of the cellular network, the data associated with the MMS communication from the IMS (Rahman, Figure 2 and paragraph 24, The TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200. In some embodiments, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details of…multimedia messages…; Paragraphs 24-35, …the CDR for each call may include the following data fields [paragraphs 25-35] [extraction of these details is inherent]); and
generating, by the core network function (Rahman, Paragraph 24, TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200) of the cellular network, the communications record based at least in part on the data associated with the MMS communication (Rahman, Paragraph 24, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details of voice telephone calls or other events (e.g., text messages, multimedia messages, etc.) and may be created after a call is completed; Paragraphs 24-35, …the CDR for each call may include the following data fields [paragraphs 25-35]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Teslenko et al. with the cited disclosure from Rahman in order to optimize cellular network performance (Rahman, Abstract).
Regarding claim 19, Teslenko et al. disclose 5G implementation but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Rahman: wherein the mobile communication is a voice over new radio (VoNR) communication (Rahman, Paragraph 24, TAS 210 may also store call detail records (CDR) for voice calls made or attempted to be made over the network 200. In some embodiments, the CDR may be a data record produced in the IMS core 208 that may document the details of voice telephone calls or other events (e.g., text messages, multimedia messages, etc.); Paragraph 34, Call type (e.g., voice, SMS, MMS, RCS, etc.); Paragraphs 19-21, VoNR calls).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Teslenko et al. with the cited disclosure from Rahman in order to optimize cellular network performance (Rahman, Abstract).
Claim(s) 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teslenko et al. as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Cui et al. (US 2020/0221521).
Regarding claim 11, Teslenko et al. disclose 5G implementation but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Cui et al.: wherein a distributed unit (DU) is associated with the RU and at least one other RU (Cui et al., Figures 2-4, 5G DU associated with Rus and TRPs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Teslenko et al. with the cited disclosure from Cui et al. in order to improve efficiency (Cui et al., Abstract) over the 5G implementation of Teslenko et al.
Regarding claim 12, Cui et al. disclose wherein a centralized unit (CU) is associated with the DU and at least one other DU (Figures 2-4, 5G CU associated with 5G Dus), the CU characterized by a gNodeB identifier (Paragraphs 33-34, gNB-CU ID)).
Regarding claim 13, Teslenko et al. disclose wherein the communications record is modified to replace a gNodeB identifier with the CID (Paragraph 67, geographical location may be indicated in the data record via the cell identifier of the particular cell of the access network domain 106 serving the mobile device 108 during the traffic activity; Paragraph 51, some embodiments of the following description focus on an exemplary core network configuration in accordance with specific 4G and 5G specifications).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teslenko et al. as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Sarker et al. (US 2021/0345162).
Regarding claim 16, Teslenko et al. disclose 5G implementation but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Sarker et al.: wherein the core network function comprises at least one of, a session management function (SMF) (Sarker et al., Figure 1 and paragraphs 93 and 99, 5G system architecture in a core network comprising a session management function [SMF]; Paragraph 123, SMF generates a call detail record, CDR), a short message service center (SMSC), a call session control function (CSCF), and a multimedia message service center (MMSC).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Teslenko et al. with the cited disclosure from Sarker et al. in order to further record application attributes and report those attributes in 5G architecture (Sarker et al., Paragraphs 123, 127).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OTIS L THOMPSON, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 6:30am - 7:00pm.
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/OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
April 9, 2026
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