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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3 and 24-27 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 24-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ALI-TOLPPA et al. (WO 2020/168457 A1) in view of in view of Li et al. (CN-110430583-A).
Regarding claim 1, ALI-TOLPPA et al. teach a method, comprising: adjusting, by a network entity, at least one parameter associated with mapping at least one network slice coverage area into a minimum set of access network elements (see page 4, lines 9 -13: " determine that at least one state of a network slice is to be adjusted in a limited geographical area of at least one network resource; and adjust the at least one state of the network slice in the limited geographical area of the at least one network resource). ALI-TOLPPA et al. are silent to teach wherein adjusting the at least one parameter comprises adjusting an SSB beam configuration to shape a cell edge of the at least one network slice. Li et al. teach adjusting the at least one parameter comprises adjusting an SSB beam configuration to shape a cell edge of the at least one network slice (see abstract and its specification: the need to increase SSB beam coverage, the need to reduce SSB beam coverage and need adjusting handover parameter according to the optimization information, according to pre-set optimization algorithm determining the SSB beam optimizing configuration plan corresponding to the first cell, a first negotiation information corresponding to adjacent according to SSB beam optimization configuration scheme and a first cell of the second cell of the second base station sends the determined final SSB beam optimizing configuration plan corresponding to the first cell. SSB beam and corresponding to the first cell according to the final SSB beam optimization configuration scheme for optimizing configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to adjusting the at least one parameter comprises adjusting an SSB beam configuration to shape a cell edge of the at least one network slice of Li et al. to the method of ALI-TOLPPA et al. in order to ensure the entire cell area is covered and eliminate coverage loopholes.
Regarding claim 2, Li et al. also teach wherein the at least one parameter associated with at least one network slice comprises at least one of: antenna tilt configuration option; handover parameter configuration option; cell reselection configuration option; beam configuration option; compute resource configuration option; or command configured to enable slice support associated with at least one determined cell (see abstract and its specification: the need to increase SSB beam coverage, the need to reduce SSB beam coverage and need adjusting handover parameter according to the optimization information, according to pre-set optimization algorithm determining the SSB beam optimizing configuration plan corresponding to the first cell, a first negotiation information corresponding to adjacent according to SSB beam optimization configuration scheme and a first cell of the second cell of the second base station sends the determined final SSB beam optimizing configuration plan corresponding to the first cell. SSB beam and corresponding to the first cell according to the final SSB beam optimization configuration scheme for optimizing configuration).
Regarding claim 3, ALI-TOLPPA et al. also teach wherein the access network elements comprise at least one of: base station; evolved nodeB (eNB); next generation nodeB (gNB); centralized unit; distributed unit; cell; centralized unit control plane; or centralized unit user plane (see page 4: The at least one network resource may comprise a core network resource. The at least one network resource may comprise a radio access network resource. The at least one network resource may comprise a tracking area. The at least one network resource may comprise a cell).
Regarding claim 24, Li et al. also teach wherein adjusting the SSB beam configuration comprises adjusting at least one of a beamforming pattern, an azimuth direction, a horizontal direction, a number of SSB beams, or a number of SSB beam layers (see its specification: adjusting beam coverage angle, beam width and the antenna tilt parameters, or method using increasing and decreasing beam to adjust the beam coverage, the present invention does not limit the specific optimization algorithm. The antenna tilt parameters are considered as adjusting at least one of a beamforming pattern, an azimuth direction).
Regarding claim 25, Li et al. also teach and show wherein adjusting the SSB beam configuration comprises adjusting at least one SSB beam of a first access network element supporting the at least one network slice to provide coverage of the at least one network slice to at least a portion of a geographic area served by a second access network element (see fig. 1 and its specification : In practice, between two adjacent cells is capable of overlapping area exists, the SSB beam configuration scheme of one cell corresponding to itself not only considers the optimization information can be obtained by itself, also need to consider the cell to obtain the adjacent optimization information; S104 according to preset collecting point in the optimization information, according to pre-set optimization algorithm determining the SSB beam optimizing configuration plan corresponding to the first cell only is preset collecting SSB beam optimization configuration scheme point of optimization information determined according to the first cell. method to obtain more accurate SSB beam optimization configuration scheme, an embodiment of the invention may also receive optimization information sent from the adjacent, therefore, this embodiment of the invention further comprises a first negotiation information corresponding to the second cell to the second base station receives the sent by the adjacent cell of the first cell to the second cell, the first negotiation information comprises the preset collecting point of the optimization information).
Regarding claim 26, Li et al. also teach wherein the second access network element is not configured to support the at least one network slice, and wherein adjusting the at least one SSB beam avoids reconfiguring the second access network element to support the at least one network slice (see its specification: adjusting beam coverage angle, beam width and the antenna tilt parameters, or method using increasing and decreasing beam to adjust the beam coverage, the present invention does not limit the specific optimization algorithm. The antenna tilt parameters are considered as adjusting at least one of a beamforming pattern, an azimuth direction).
Regarding claim 27, Li et al. also teach determining whether reconfiguring one or more beams is sufficient to improve network performance; and in response to determining that reconfiguring the one or more beams is not sufficient to improve the network performance, reconfiguring a cell to support the at least one network slice (see its specification: adjusting beam coverage angle, beam width and the antenna tilt parameters, or method using increasing and decreasing beam to adjust the beam coverage, the present invention does not limit the specific optimization algorithm. The antenna tilt parameters are considered as adjusting at least one of a beamforming pattern, an azimuth direction).
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 DAVID Q NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7844. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jinsong Hu can be reached at 5712723965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID Q NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
