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 Amendment
Examiner acknowledges receipt of Applicant's amendment filed 12/11/2025.
In the amendment, Applicant amended claims 3 and 4.
Claims 3-4 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filled on 12/11/2025 has been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 4, amended claim 3 "the transmission and reception circuitry receives a registration accept message including first control information, the first control information constraining which Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI)s are simultaneously provided." is persuasive. However, the claims have been amended and the following new grounds of rejection (using the previous references to Tamura) were necessitated by these amendments. Tamura discloses, “the NSR information may indicate that a given network slice (or S-NSSAI) cannot be used simultaneously with another network slice." [¶0076]. Here, it suggests, that network slices of a higher or same priority can be used simultaneously (based on priority), as well as “cannot be used simultaneously” are type of constrains.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 5, amended claim 3 "the controller treats the first control information as information independent of access type." 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.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 6, amended claim 3 "... determines S-NSSAis to be included in a requested Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) based on the first control information," is persuasive. However, the claims have been amended and the following new grounds of rejection (using the previous references to Tamura) were necessitated by these amendments. Tamura discloses, based on the NSR information, whether to request the core network to establish a new PDU Session associated with an S-NSSAI included in the Allowed NSSAI. In other words, the UE 1 uses the NSR information to determine whether or not to send a PDU Session Establishment Request message..." [¶0087]). Here during the establish a new PDU Session first control information is used, which determined S-NSSAIs to be included.
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.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamura et al. (US 20230276351 A1, hereinafter, Tamura) in view of Drevon et al. (US 20210243678 A1, hereinafter, Drevon).
Regarding Claim 3, Tamura discloses, a User Equipment (UE) comprising (Fig. 23):
transmission and reception circuitry (Fig. 23, Element 2301, RF Transceiver);
a controller (Element 2305, Baseband and Application Processor); and
a storage (Element 2306, Memory),
wherein the transmission and reception circuitry receives a registration accept message including first control information, the first control information constraining which Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI)s are simultaneously provided (Fig.2, "For example, when the UE 1 is using a network slice given a higher priority by the NSR information, the UE 1 may recognize that network slices of lower priority cannot be used at the same time. Alternatively, the NSR information may indicate that a given network slice (or S-NSSAI) cannot be used simultaneously with another network slice." [¶0076], see also, [¶0111] and [¶0134]), Here, it suggests, that network slices of a higher or same priority can be used simultaneously (based on priority), as well as “cannot be used simultaneously” are type of constrains.
the controller stores the first control information in the storage ("...a UE includes at least one memory and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive control information broadcast in a cell of an access network. The control information includes a list of at least one network slice identifier, and further includes slice restriction information indicating whether there is a restriction on use of a network slice identified by each of the at least one network slice identifier and a description of the restriction." [¶0020]), and
, and determines S-NSSAIs to be included in a requested Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) based on the first control information ("The following provides a specific example of the behavior of the UE 1 after receiving the NSR information from the AMF 2. FIG. 6 shows an example of the operation of the UE 1. In step 601, the UE 1 receives Allowed NSSAI and NSR information in a registration procedure. In step 602, the UE 1 determines, based on the NSR information, whether to request the core network to establish a new PDU Session associated with an S-NSSAI included in the Allowed NSSAI. In other words, the UE 1 uses the NSR information to determine whether or not to send a PDU Session Establishment Request message..." [¶0087]). Here during the establish a new PDU Session first control information is used, which determined S-NSSAIs to be included.
Tamura doesn’t explicitly disclose, the controller treats the first control information as information independent of access type.
Drevon in analogous art discloses, the controller treats the first control information as information independent of access type ("FIGS. 1-14 disclose embodiments of a communication system in which access type control information is added to network function (NF) requests to send (NAS) signaling to the user equipment and/or N2 (NGAP) signaling to the access network that serves the user equipment. The access type control information allows the AMF to determine whether the NAS container is specific to 3GPP access, is specific to non-3GPP access, or is access independent..." [¶0087]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Tamura with the idea of treating control information as information independent of access type as disclosed by Drevon. The rationale of decoupling the slice selection process from the underlying radio access technology (RAT), the network can improve flexibility, efficiency, and provide resilient service.
Regarding Claim 4, Tamura discloses, a communication control method performed by a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 23), the communication control method comprising:
receiving a registration accept message including first control information, the first control information constraining which Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI)s are simultaneously provided (Fig.2, "For example, when the UE 1 is using a network slice given a higher priority by the NSR information, the UE 1 may recognize that network slices of lower priority cannot be used at the same time. Alternatively, the NSR information may indicate that a given network slice (or S-NSSAI) cannot be used simultaneously with another network slice." [¶0076], see also, [¶0111] and [¶0134]), Here, it suggests, that network slices of a higher or same priority can be used simultaneously (based on priority), as well as “cannot be used simultaneously” are type of constrains.
storing the first control information ("...a UE includes at least one memory and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive control information broadcast in a cell of an access network. The control information includes a list of at least one network slice identifier, and further includes slice restriction information indicating whether there is a restriction on use of a network slice identified by each of the at least one network slice identifier and a description of the restriction." [¶0020]);
("The following provides a specific example of the behavior of the UE 1 after receiving the NSR information from the AMF 2. FIG. 6 shows an example of the operation of the UE 1. In step 601, the UE 1 receives Allowed NSSAI and NSR information in a registration procedure. In step 602, the UE 1 determines, based on the NSR information, whether to request the core network to establish a new PDU Session associated with an S-NSSAI included in the Allowed NSSAI. In other words, the UE 1 uses the NSR information to determine whether or not to send a PDU Session Establishment Request message..." [¶0087]). Here during the establish a new PDU Session first control information is used, which determined S-NSSAIs to be included.
Tamura doesn’t explicitly disclose, treating the first control information as information independent of access type;
Drevon in analogous art discloses, treating the first control information as information independent of access type ("FIGS. 1-14 disclose embodiments of a communication system in which access type control information is added to network function (NF) requests to send (NAS) signaling to the user equipment and/or N2 (NGAP) signaling to the access network that serves the user equipment. The access type control information allows the AMF to determine whether the NAS container is specific to 3GPP access, is specific to non-3GPP access, or is access independent..." [¶0087]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Tamura with the idea of treating control information as information independent of access type as disclosed by Drevon. The rationale of decoupling the slice selection process from the underlying radio access technology (RAT), the network can improve flexibility, efficiency, and provide resilient service.
Conclusion
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/MUHAMMAD AINUL HUDA/Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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