DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4-7, 9, 12-15, 19, 21, 29 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chauhan (US-PGPUB 2020/0112589).
Regarding claim 1, Chauhan teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a management function from a policy controller, a first message including a data forwarding policy indicative of a configuration on how to forward data according to a data forwarding requirement from an original data sender [Para 158, receives information about how to forward traffic based on forwarding requirement]; sending, by the management function to a network function, a second message according to the first message [Para 158, additional messages are sent based on the first message for data processing]; and obtaining, by the network function, an indication indicating a request for data forwarding and a corresponding flag indicating an ID swapping rule according to the second message [Para 170-171, based on the second message identity of the traffic is changed based on rules such as privacy rules].
Regarding claim 2, Chauhan teaches determining, by the management function, the second message according to the first message, wherein the second message includes the indication and the corresponding flag [Para 158-159, second message is based on the first message based on the message policies and security rules].
Regarding claim 4, Chauhan teaches the position ID is assigned by the management function to the destination of the data packet [Para 113, position of the packet with regards to geographical location is assigned to the packet].
Regarding claim 5, Chauhan teaches the position ID of the destination is assigned based on an ID of another network function associated with the destination [Para 113, position of the packet with regards to geographical location is assigned to the packet].
Regarding claim 6, Chauhan teaches the second message includes a third message from management function to a second network function and a fourth message from the second network function to the network function [Para 158-159, second message includes multiple messages based on packet processing needed].
Regarding claim 7, Chauhan teaches selecting, by the management function, the second network function from a set of second network functions according to the first message [Para 158, further processing is done on the data based on what needs to be done]; sending the third message to the second network function, wherein the third message includes the data forwarding policy [Para 158-159, further messages are sent based on the type of forwarding]; determining, by the second network function, the indication and the corresponding flag according to the data forwarding policy, and sending, by the second network function to the network function, the indication and the corresponding flag [Para 158-159, further processing is done on the data based on the policy and flags are determined based on the policy].
Regarding claim 9, Chauhan teaches sending, by the network function to an access network (AN) node, a public key associated with the second network function for encrypting a destination ID of a data packet [Para 93, public key is used for encryption].
Regarding claim 12, Chauhan teaches sending, by the network function to the policy controller, a policy request to trigger the policy controller to generate the data forwarding policy, wherein the policy request includes the data forwarding requirement [Para 158-159].
Regarding claim 13, Chauhan teaches obtaining, by the network function from an access network node associated with the original data sender, the data forwarding requirement [Para 158-159].
Regarding claim 14, Chauhan teaches the data forwarding requirement is included in a data packet from the original data sender [Para 158-159].
Regarding claim 15, Chauhan teaches generating, by the policy controller, the data forwarding policy after receiving the policy request [Para 158]; and sending, by the policy controller to the management function, the second message including the data forwarding policy [Para 158-159].
Regarding claim 19, Chauhan teaches a communication system comprising: at least one processor; and non-transient memory storing machine readable instructions which when executed by the least one processor implement a management function, a policy controller and a network function, the management function, policy controller and network function configured for: receiving, by the management function from a policy controller, a first message including a data forwarding policy indicative of a configuration on how to forward data according to a data forwarding requirement from an original data sender [Para 158, receives information about how to forward traffic based on forwarding requirement]; sending, by the management function to a network function, a second message according to the first message [Para 158, additional messages are sent based on the first message for data processing]; and obtaining, by the network function, an indication indicating a request for data forwarding and a corresponding flag indicating an ID swapping rule according to the second message [Para 170-171, based on the second message identity of the traffic is changed based on rules such as privacy rules].
Regarding claim 21, Chauhan teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a network function, a message including a data forwarding policy, the data forwarding policy indicative of a configuration on how to forward data according to a data forwarding requirement from an original data sender [Para 158]; determining, by the network function, an indication indicating a request for data forwarding and a corresponding flag indicating an ID swapping rule according to the data forwarding policy [Para 170-171]; and sending, by the network function to another network function, the indication and the corresponding flag [Para 158-159]; wherein the network function is trusted by the original data sender [Para 158-159].
Regarding claim 29, Chauhan teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a policy controller, a policy request to trigger the policy controller to generate a data forwarding policy, the policy request including a data forwarding requirement from an original data sender [Para 158-159]; generating, by the policy controller, the data forwarding policy after receiving the policy request [Para 158-159]; and sending, by the policy controller, a first message to a management function, the first message including the data forwarding policy indicative of a configuration on how to forward data according to the data forwarding requirement [Para 158-159].
Regarding claim 30, Chauhan teaches the data forwarding policy indicative of a configuration on how to forward data further depends on network traffic information, wherein the network traffic information includes at least one traffic parameter associated with one or more of the network function and another network function associated with the network function [Para 158-159].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 8, 10, 11 and 22 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Salmela et al. (US-PGPUB 2018/0048462) teaches applying hash function to existing identity. A resulting value is set as identity for a constrained device, where the existing identity comprises a generation hash value in a hash chain formed by applying the hash function to a device public key. The identity is stored in a secure storage in the constrained device.
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/Chandrahas B Patel/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464