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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7,10-11,14 and 16-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Claim 21 are directed to a computer readable storage medium, which is non-statutory unless claimed as a non-transitory storage medium readable. (See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346,1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) and Interim Examination Instructions for Evaluating Subject Matter Eligibility Under 35 USC 101, Aug. 24, 2009; p.2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation " a data analysis management (DAM)" which makes the claim vague and indefinite. The claim does not describe what is a DAM, exactly; is it a server, a network or a 5g core function, etc. Further clarification is required.
Claim 1 recites the limitation " the received information". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Further clarification is required.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15 and 20-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20200267786 A1 herein Qiao in view of US 20190394655 A1 herein Rahman.
Claim 1, D1 discloses a charging method (Title), the method comprising:
receiving, by a charging function from a requester on behalf of a provider, a charging request requesting for charging a service (0329, SMF sends a charging request to a charging function (CHF) based on receiving a CSP ID, thus on behalf of a provider),
wherein the service spans a plurality of network functions (NFs) operated by more than one provider including the provider which the requester is acting on behalf of (0181, a plurality of NF instances can be part of home and visitor PLMNs, the SMF can be part of either of the PLMNs, thus more than one provider),
wherein the charging request comprises an identifier (ID) of the requester (0249, CSP identifier sent in a charging request to the CHF), and wherein the more than one provider is untrusted by a consumer of the service (0131, AF may not be allowed/trusted to access certain network functions (NFs) unless through a network exposure function; 0132, control plane interface between the (R)AN 105 and the 5G core may support connection of multiple different kinds of AN(s) (e.g. 3GPP RAN 105, N3IWF 170 for Un-trusted access 165) to the 5GC via a control plane protocol; since connection allowing use of the 5GC, i.e. consumers); and
charging, by the charging function, the service for the requester according to the received charging result (0329, providing usage results based on time and volume quota for the service across two different networks and per CSP ID and charging aggregation indication; enforcing the charging based on the received information).
D1 may not explicitly disclose sending, by the charging function to a data analysis management (DAM)
D2 discloses sending, by the charging function to a data analysis management (DAM) (0056, the DAM will receive request from a requester for data analytics information and fulfill the request; 0057, DAM in the basic service model may simply receive requests from the requesters (e.g. various network entities) and provides the requested network information (e.g. data analytics information) to the requesters), the charging process request comprising the ID of the requester (0056-0057, NSI ID and other identifications such as resource ID, which can be a customer ID and could also identify elements of a provider that need to be logged for charging purposes are sent; 0054, provide for the analysis of various dynamic network operation related parameters (e.g. mobility, quality of service (QoS), content, charging, etc.) or network data (e.g. NSI, service instance (SI), user quality of service (QoS), mobility patterns, content demand probability, etc.) for efficient network operation); receiving, by the charging function from the DAM, the charging result indicating how to charge the service for the requester (0056, DAM fulfills the request (i.e. the request for charging)). 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 D1 to include data analysis as taught by D2 because it is desirable to have network slice and network service specific analysis for optimal resource utilization and efficient network performance assurance (0003).
Claim 2, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 1. D1 discloses wherein the charging request is received by the charging function from the requester via a trigger function configured as an interface enabling communications between requesters on behalf of the more than one provider and the charging function (Fig. 10: N40, interface between SMF and CHF; 0181, multiple provider).
Claim 3, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 2. D1 discloses wherein the charging request furthercomprises a security requirement on privacy protection associated with the service (0234-0235, data collection for private slices) and a charging requirement indicating one or more of: a frequency to charge the service, an ID of the service, and a billing result indicating how the service is charged (0249, PDU session ID, NSI ID, etc.); wherein the charging request is received by the charging function from the requester via the trigger function (Fig. 10: N40 interface shown between SMF and CHF) in the following way: receiving, by the trigger function from the requester, a second charging request; configuring, by the trigger function, a multiple-provider charging model according to the charging requirement, wherein the multiple-provider charging model indicates how to charge the service across the than one provider (0329, a second PDU session for a different PLMN/service and SMF sends another charging request with charging aggregation indication (CAI) to the CHF); and sending, by the trigger function to the charging function, the charging request requesting for charging the service comprising the ID of the requester (0329-0330, CSP ID included in all charging requests) and the security requirement, and indicating the multiple-provider charging model (0329-0330, CAI).
Claim 4, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 3. wherein the trigger function determines one or more charging events associated with the second charging request (0329-0031, second PDU session establishment, thus charging events) and the charging request sent by the triggering function to the charging function indicates the one or more charging events (0329-0331, charging for the second PDU session).
Claim 8, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 3. D1 discloses further comprising: configuring, by the charging function according the security requirement, a charging mode option indicating a charging process, wherein the charging process request indicates the charging mode option (0329, charging aggregation indication).
Claim 9, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 1. D1 discloses wherein the charging process request further comprises a first account ID of a consumer of the service assigned by the provider which the requester is acting on behalf of (0329-0321, SMF sends the NSI ID to the CHF). D1 may not explicitly disclose wherein the charging result includes the first account ID; the method further comprising: requesting, by the DAM, for information associated with the consumer of the service; and receiving, by the DAM, the information associated with the consumer of the service comprising one or more of: a charging profile associated with the service and traffic usage of the consumer of the service.
D2 discloses disclose wherein the charging result includes the first account ID (0054, analysis provided for NSI SI); the method further comprising: requesting, by the DAM, for information associated with the consumer of the service (0056, the DAM may collect various data from different network entities. The collected data may include one or more of attributes of log data (e.g. information in relation to network slice instance, service instance, customer, device, application, etc.) NSI/SI specification, log data type, information type (from raw data), log period, reporting types and etc); and receiving, by the DAM, the information associated with the consumer of the service comprising one or more of: a charging profile associated with the service and traffic usage of the consumer of the service (0060, usage of the NSS collected by the DAM). 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 D1 to include data analysis as taught by D2 because it is desirable to have network slice and network service specific analysis for optimal resource utilization and efficient network performance assurance (0003).
Claim 12, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 9. D1 may not explicitly disclose further comprising: generating, by the DAM, the charging result according to the information associated with the consumer of the service; and sending, by the DAM to the charging function, the generated charging result.
D2 discloses generating, by the DAM, the charging result according to the information associated with the consumer of the service (0056, DAM fulfills the request (i.e. the request for charging), since fulfills the request, thus generation); and sending, by the DAM to the charging function, the generated charging result (0056, DAM fulfills the request (i.e. the request for charging)). 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 D1 to include data analysis as taught by D2 because it is desirable to have network slice and network service specific analysis for optimal resource utilization and efficient network performance assurance (0003).
Claim 13, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 1. D1 discloses wherein the charging process request further comprises one or more of: a first account ID of a consumer of the service assigned by the provider which the requester is acting on behalf of, wherein the charging result includes the first account ID (0329-0321, SMF sends the NSI ID to the CHF). D1 may not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: requesting, by the DAM, for information associated with the consumer of the service; and receiving, by the DAM, the information associated with the consumer of the service comprising a session ID associated with the consumer of the service and wherein the information indicates one or more of: an address of a storage storing a charging profile associated with the service, and an address of a storage of traffic usage of the consumer of the service.
D2 discloses the method further comprising: requesting, by the DAM, for information associated with the consumer of the service 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 D1 to include data analysis as taught by D2 because it is desirable to have network slice and network service specific analysis for optimal resource utilization and efficient network performance assurance (0003).; and receiving, by the DAM, the information associated with the consumer of the service comprising a session ID associated with the consumer of the service (0060, usage of the NSS collected by the DAM) and wherein the information indicates one or more of: an address of a storage storing a charging profile associated with the service, and an address of a storage of traffic usage of the consumer of the service (0277, addresses of databases). 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 D1 to include data analysis as taught by D2 because it is desirable to have network slice and network service specific analysis for optimal resource utilization and efficient network performance assurance (0003).
Claim 15, D1 in view of D2 discloses the method of claim 13. D1 may not explicitly disclose further comprising: obtaining, by the DAM according to the received one or more addresses, information comprising one or more of: the charging profile associated with the service and the traffic usage of the consumer of the service; generating, by the DAM, the charging result according to the obtained information; and sending, by the DAM to the charging function, the generated charging result.
D2 discloses obtaining, by the DAM according to the received one or more addresses, information comprising one or more of: the charging profile associated with the service and the traffic usage of the consumer of the service (0277, addresses of the databases); generating, by the DAM, the charging result according to the obtained information (0056, the DAM may collect various data from different network entities. The collected data may include one or more of attributes of log data (e.g. information in relation to network slice instance, service instance, customer, device, application, etc.) NSI/SI specification, log data type, information type (from raw data), log period, reporting types and etc); and sending, by the DAM to the charging function, the generated charging result (0056, DAM fulfills the request (i.e. the request for charging)). 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 D1 to include data analysis as taught by D2 because it is desirable to have network slice and network service specific analysis for optimal resource utilization and efficient network performance assurance (0003).
Claim 20, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. D1 discloses a communication system (0027, systems) comprising: at least one processor (0335, processor); and non-transient memory storing machine readable instructions which when executed by the least one processor configured for executing (0335, memory with instructions) a method as claimed in claim 1.
Claim 21, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. D1 discloses a machine readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a processor configured for executing (0335, memory with instructions) a method as claimed in claim 1.
Claim 22, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. D1 discloses an apparatus comprising means for executing (0335) a method as claimed in claim 1.
Claim 23, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. D1 discloses communication system (0027) comprising the apparatus (0355) as claimed in claim 22.
Claim 24, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. D1 discloses network element (0355, various devices) comprising: at least one processor (0335, processor); and non-transient memory storing machine readable instructions which when executed by the least one processor (0335, memory with instruction) configures the network element as a charging function (0335, charging function) for executing a method as claimed in claim 1.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20160353268 A1 – A method and system for responding to demand-based charging in a communication network, such as a 5G wireless communication network. Service providers and/or infrastructure providers adjust network usage pricing dynamically based on demand. Customers such as Virtual Network operators respond to pricing adjustments by adjusting their network usage, service requirements, and/or by re-negotiating the pricing structure. Network usage can be adjusted by controlling network traffic generated in response to activity of end-user devices of the Virtual Network.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm.
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/Mehmood B. Khan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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