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 .
Claims 1 and 11 have been amended.
Claims 2 and 12 have been cancelled
Claims 1, 3-11 and 13-20 are currently pending and are considered below
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3-11 and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over applicant’s submission of prior art Hong (US 20220400421) in view of Kadiri et al (US 11330478).
Regarding claim 1, Hong discloses a method for entering a connected mode ([0005] “”cel reselection method”), applied to a terminal device (Figure 1, Terminal 11), the method comprising: before the terminal device enters the connected mode ([0036] Before the terminal switches from an idle state or an inactive state to a connected state, the terminal needs to reselect a cell for cell residence), determining, by the terminal device based on information of a network slice (Figure 2, S210: “receive s system message, where the system message includes a network slice;” and [0034] further recites, S210: a system message is received. The system message includes network slice information of a network slice supported by a neighbor cell) that needs to be used [this recitation in the claim is not given weight because it simply expresses intended use. The terms “… that needs to be used" merely recite the intended use of determining information necessary or required about network slice availability and do not receive patentable weight. Thus, intended use that does not get patentable weight). However, that limitation is mapped to the prior art for the purpose of compact prosecution): (Figure 2, S210: “receive s system message, where the system message includes a network slice;” [0034] S210: a system message is received. The system message includes network slice information of a network slice supported by a neighbor cell), whether to perform a cell reselection before entering the connected mode ([0035] S220: cell reselection is performed according to the network slice information).
Hong does not expressly disclose before entering the connected mode comprises, a duration between a time after an access layer of the terminal device receives a trigger from an non-access stratum (NAS) layer and a time before the terminal device enters the connected mode.
However, Kadiri discloses after UEs 115 have been camping on the selected cell and remain in IDLE mode. As part of the idle cell reselection procedure, UEs 115 may receive system information blocks carrying cell reselection criteria for idle cell reselection, and perform measurements on non-serving cells according to the cell reselection criteria (e.g., cell-priority criterion, cell-rank criterion). Upon identifying a non-serving cell satisfying a cell reselection criterion, UEs 115 may perform the connection procedure with the non-serving cell, and a connection release procedure with the serving cell. As a result, the non-serving cell becomes the serving cell, col. 5, ll. 3-14.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kadiri with Hong in order to ensure that the subsequent RRC connection establishment takes place on the best available cell and to further enhance optimization and decrease the chances of connection failures.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine Kadiri with Hong in order to arrive at the invention specified in claim 1.
2. (Cancelled)
Regarding claim 3, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the information of the network slice that needs to be used comprises at least one of:
information of a network slice that needs to be used by a current service of the terminal device (Figure 2, S210: “receive s system message, where the system message includes a network slice;” [0034] S210: a system message is received. The system message includes network slice information of a network slice supported by a neighbor cell); or network slice information of a protocol data unit (PDU) session.
Regarding claim 4, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the terminal device based on the information of the network slice that needs to be used, whether to perform the cell reselection before entering the connected mode comprises:
determining, by an access layer of the terminal device ([0037] “In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal receives the system message in a process of re-accessing the cell.” The Examiner notes that “access layer of the terminal device” is interpreted as the reception of the information at the receiver of the terminal, e.g., access layer) based on the information of the network slice that needs to be used, whether to perform the cell reselection before entering the connected mode ([0035] S220: cell reselection is performed according to the network slice information).
Regarding claim 5, Hong discloses the method of claim 4, further comprising:
in a case where a current service of the terminal device needs to use a first network slice, when the terminal device determines that the first network slice is not a network slice among one or more network slices indicated by an allowed NSSAI, sending, by an NAS layer of the terminal device, information of the first network slice to the access layer of the terminal device; or when the terminal device determines that the first network slice is not a network slice among one or more network slices indicated by an allowed NSSAI, sending, by an NAS layer of the terminal device, information of the first network slice and the allowed NSSAI to the access layer of the terminal device (Figure 3 and [0060] as shown in FIG. 3, S220 may include: [0061] S221: in response to determining that there is one neighbor cell with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal, the neighbor cell with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal is selected to perform cell reselection. [0062] S222: in response to determining that there are more than one neighbor cell with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal, a neighbor cell with a best cell signal quality among the neighbor cells with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal is selected to perform cell reselection. … [0065] For example, among the M cells, there are three cells with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal, namely the neighbor cell 1, the neighbor cell 2, and the neighbor cell 3. M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3. At this time, the terminal will select the neighbor cell 2 with the best cell signal quality as the target cell to complete the cell reselection according to the cell signal quality of the neighbor cell 1, the neighbor cell 2 and the neighbor cell 3. …).
Regarding claim 6, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 5, further comprising:
after the access layer of the terminal device receives the information of the first network slice sent by the NAS layer, determining, by the access layer of the terminal device, to perform the cell reselection before entering the connected mode, when at least one of the following is satisfied: the information of the first network slice is not in the one or more network slices indicated by the allowed NSSAI; or a priority of a frequency corresponding to the first network slice of a camping cell is lower ([0059] In some embodiments, the access weight may further be correlated with a priority of the type of network slice supported by the terminal set by the terminal itself, and the higher the priority is, the greater the access weight is. For example, the terminal supports N types of network slices, and according to user instruction or communication services subscribed by the terminal, priorities are respectively configured for the N types of network slices supported by the terminal. The priority indicates that the terminal has a higher probability of using the type of network slice, the user experience is the best, or the terminal has a paid subscription, etc.).
Regarding claim 7, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 6, further comprising:
during performing the cell reselection, selecting, by the terminal device, a cell with a highest priority of the frequency corresponding to the first network slice among cells supporting the first network slice to enter the connected mode ([0069] In some embodiments, when there are the plurality of neighbor cells with the largest number of the same type as the network slices supported by the terminal, the signal quality of these neighbor cells is sorted, and the neighbor cell with the best signal quality is prioritized for cell reselection).
Regarding claim 8, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the terminal device based on the information of the network slice that needs to be used, whether to perform the cell reselection before entering the connected mode comprises:
determining, by an NAS layer of the terminal device based on the information of the network slice that needs to be used, whether to perform the cell reselection before entering the connected mode (Figure 2, S210: “receive s system message, where the system message includes a network slice;” and [0034] further recites, S210: a system message is received. The system message includes network slice information of a network slice supported by a neighbor cell. Further, ([0035] S220: cell reselection is performed according to the network slice information).
Regarding claim 9, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising:
after an access layer of the terminal device selects a camping cell, sending, by the access layer, information of a network slice supported by the camping cell and priority information of a frequency corresponding to the network slice supported by the camping cell to the NAS layer ([0069] In some embodiments, when there are the plurality of neighbor cells with the largest number of the same type as the network slices supported by the terminal, the signal quality of these neighbor cells is sorted, and the neighbor cell with the best signal quality is prioritized for cell reselection. When the cell reselection for one neighbor cell fails, other neighbor cells with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal are traversed until the cell reselection is successful or all the neighbor cells with the largest number of the same type as the network slice supported by the terminal are traversed).
Regarding claim 10, in the obvious combination, Hong discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising:
sending, by an access layer, information of a network slice supported by a neighbor cell of a camping cell and priority information of a frequency corresponding to the network slice supported by the neighbor cell to the NAS layer ([0059] In some embodiments, the access weight may further be correlated with a priority of the type of network slice supported by the terminal set by the terminal itself, and the higher the priority is, the greater the access weight is. For example, the terminal supports N types of network slices, and according to user instruction or communication services subscribed by the terminal, priorities are respectively configured for the N types of network slices supported by the terminal. The priority indicates that the terminal has a higher probability of using the type of network slice, the user experience is the best, or the terminal has a paid subscription, etc.).
Claim 11 contains subject matter similar to claim 1, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale. (Hong, “Terminal” [0025] and Figure 1, “terminals 11”).
12. (Cancelled)
Claim 13 contains subject matter similar to claim 3, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 14 contains subject matter similar to claim 4, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 15 contains subject matter similar to claim 5, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 16 contains subject matter similar to claim 6, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 17 contains subject matter similar to claim 7, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 18 contains subject matter similar to claim 8, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 19 contains subject matter similar to claim 9, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 20 contains subject matter similar to claim 10, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO 2023112906 to Ihii: Mapping configuration configuring one or more network slice groups for the first registration area; and (2) in a second registration area, neighboring cell information.
WO 2023112906 to Atsuhi: A wireless terminal which supports one or more network slices comprises receiver circuitry and processor circuitry. The receiver circuitry is configured to receive: (1) in a first registration area, a mapping configuration configuring one or more network slice groups for the first registration area; and (2) in a second registration area, neighboring cell information.
US 20230189187 to Velev et al: Apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for provisioning a UE with information to access a specific service. One apparatus (500) includes a transceiver (525) that communicates with a mobile communication network and a processor (505) that sends (705) a first registration request to the mobile communication network, the mobile communication network supporting a plurality of network slices. The processor (505) receives (705) configuration information from the mobile communication network.
US 11432234 to Lou et al: One of the systems includes: a non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, wherein the computer-executable instructions instruct the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: sending, to a core network node, a first message comprising identification information of a network slice supported by a second access network node; and receiving, from the core network node, a first response message responsive to the first message.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIO R PEREZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7846. The examiner can normally be reached 10Am - 6PM EST M-F.
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/JULIO R PEREZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644