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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 5, 7, 9, 14, 17 and 19 objected to because of the following informalities: undefined abbreviations. Claims 2, 5, 7, 9, 14, 17 and 19 recite abbreviations including “PDU”, “ID”, and “TNL” without specifying what each of these abbreviation stands for. Appropriate correction is required. For the purpose of determining claim scopes, these abbreviations are interpreted as “protocol data unit”, “identifier”, and “transport network layer”, respectively.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 5, 8-9, 12-14 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fujishiro (US 2023/0254668).
Fujishiro discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 1, a method of a target base station (see gNB 200B in Fig. 10) for controlling a MBS session resource, the method comprising:
receiving a handover request from a source base station (see step S105 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200A sends a handover request to gNB 200B);
controlling whether to configure a user plane resource for an MBS session for a UE based on the handover request message (see step S106 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200B determines whether to accept the handover request for UE 100 based on the handover request received in step S105); and
upon making determination to configure the user plane resource, transmitting, to a core network entity, a setup request message for allocating the user plane resource for the MBS session (see S106-S107 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200B determines whether to accept the handover request and sends an establishment request to the AMF 300B upon determines to accept the handover).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the handover request message (see “handover request message” recited in paragraph [0082]) include at least one of an MBS session ID for an active MBS session (see “second identifier is MBS session information” recited in paragraph [0082]), information for local MBS session resource setup, information for the PDU session resource setup associated with the local MBS session (see “first identifier is UPF information” recited in paragraph [0082]), MBS service area information, and MBS area session ID information.
Regarding claim 5, wherein the setup request message for allocating the user plane resource for the MBS session (see S107 in Fig. 10, wherein the gNB 200B transmits an establishment request to the AMF 300B, wherein “Here, the gNB 200B transmits, to the AMF 300B, at least one of the first identifier (UPF information) or the second identifier (MBS session information) included in the handover request message from the gNB 200A” as recited in paragraph [0088]).
Regarding claim 8, a method of a source base station (see gNB 200A in Fig. 10) for controlling a MBS session resource, the method comprising:
transmitting a handover request for a UE to a target base station upon making determination to handover the UE (see step S105 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200A sends a handover request to gNB 200B for UE 100 upon determination of handover in step S104);
receiving radio resource configuration for an MBS session determined by the target base station based on the handover request message (see handover response including radio configuration in step S109 in Fig. 10); and
transmitting the radio resource configuration for the MBS session to the UE (see handover (RRC Reconfiguration) instruction transmitted to the UE in step S110 of Fig. 10 and paragraph [0097]).
Regarding claim 9, wherein the handover request message (see “handover request message” recited in paragraph [0082]) include at least one of an MBS session ID for an active MBS session (see “second identifier is MBS session information” recited in paragraph [0082]), information for local MBS session resource setup, information for the PDU session resource setup associated with the local MBS session (see “first identifier is UPF information” recited in paragraph [0082]), MBS service area information, and MBS area session ID information.
Regarding claim 12, wherein the radio resource configuration for the MBS session includes at least one of radio resource configuration configured for an active state MBS session and radio resource configuration information to be released for an inactive state MBS session (see “The handover instruction message may include at least part of the information described above included in the handover response message (e.g., the information of the MBS session permitted to be accepted by the gNB 200B, the information of the MBS session rejected to be accepted by the gNB 200B, and the radio configuration)” recited in paragraph [0097]; wherein the accepted MBS session are considered to be active state and the rejected MBS sessions are considered to be the claimed sessions released for an inactive state).
Regarding claim 13, a target base station (see gNB 200B in Fig. 10) for controlling a MBS session resource, the comprising:
a receiver (see receiver 220 in Fig. 3) to receive a handover request from a source base station (see step S105 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200A sends a handover request to gNB 200B);
a controller (see controller 230 in Fig. 3) configured to control whether to configure a user plane resource for an MBS session for a UE based on the handover request message (see step S106 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200B determines whether to accept the handover request for UE 100 based on the handover request received in step S105); and
a transmitter (see transmitter 210 in Fig. 3) configured to, when determining to configure the user plane resource, transmit, to a core network entity, a setup request message for allocating the user plane resource for the MBS session (see S106-S107 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB 200B determines whether to accept the handover request and sends an establishment request to the AMF 300B upon determines to accept the handover).
Regarding claim 14, wherein the handover request message (see “handover request message” recited in paragraph [0082]) include at least one of an MBS session ID for an active MBS session (see “second identifier is MBS session information” recited in paragraph [0082]), information for local MBS session resource setup, information for the PDU session resource setup associated with the local MBS session (see “first identifier is UPF information” recited in paragraph [0082]), MBS service area information, and MBS area session ID information.
Regarding claim 17, wherein the setup request message for allocating the user plane resource for the MBS session (see S107 in Fig. 10, wherein the gNB 200B transmits an establishment request to the AMF 300B, wherein “Here, the gNB 200B transmits, to the AMF 300B, at least one of the first identifier (UPF information) or the second identifier (MBS session information) included in the handover request message from the gNB 200A” as recited in paragraph [0088]).
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.
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) 3-4, 11 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujishiro as applied to claims 1, 8 and 13 above, and further in view of Ling (US 2024/0040339).
Fujishiro discloses the features as shown above.
Fujishiro also discloses the following features.
regarding claims 3 and 15, wherein controlling whether to configure the user plane resource for the MBS session (see step S106 in Fig. 10, wherein gNB determines whether to accept the handover request with the specified MBS session in step S105) comprises controlling to initiate shared delivery setup for the MBS session in an event that shared delivery for the MBS session is not configured (see shared MBS data delivery shown in Fig. 7 and paragraphs [0062]-[0064]; wherein in the configuration shown in Fig. 10, wherein MBS sessions are communicated via the gNB, shared MBS data delivery as shown in Fig. 7 is to be performed, and therefore the MBS connection establishment in step S108 must include a procedure to configure the shared delivery for the MBS session in an even that the shared delivery for the MBS session is not configured.
Fujishiro does not explicitly disclose the following features: regarding claims 3 and 15, controlling to initiate shared delivery setup for the MBS session in an event that the UE is positioned in an MBS service area for the MBS session (Fujishiro discloses the initiation of the shared delivery setup for the MBS session, but does not disclose the event of the UE being positioned in or out of an MBS service area); regarding claims 4, 11 and 16, wherein the controlling whether to configure the user plane resource for the MBS session comprises controlling not to allocate a radio network resource for the MBS session in an event that the UE is not positioned in an MBS service area for the MBS session.
Ling discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 3 and 15, controlling to initiate shared delivery setup for the MBS session (as disclosed in Fujishiro as shown above) in an event that the UE is positioned in an MBS service area for the MBS session (see “providing Multicast Broadcast (MB) service in a local service area… determining whether a terminal device joining a MB session associated with the local service area is out of the local service area” recited in the abstract, wherein the MB service is provided to the UE based on whether the UE is in the local service area of the MB service).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 16, wherein the controlling whether to configure the user plane resource for the MBS session comprises controlling not to allocate a radio network resource for the MBS session in an event that the UE is not positioned in an MBS service area for the MBS session (see “In this case, it assumes that Target NG-RAN detects that UE will not be in the local MBS service area after handover. Upon detecting the event, Target NG-RAN should get the Location Criteria in step 7d of FIG. 11 in MB Session Resource Setup Req. Target NG-RAN should remove associated MB Session info from UE context locally, and send N2 message: MB Session Remove to Target AMF. After the handover procedure (i.e. after step 12 of FIG. 11), Target AMF should send NAS message: MB Session Remove to UE” recited in paragraph [0146], wherein the UE not in the MBS service area is removed from the MB session and therefore the user plane resource for the MBS session is not allocated to the UE).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Fujishiro using features, as taught by Ling, in order to provide location based service and allow an optimal usage of network resources and better user experience (see paragraph [0006] of Ling).
Claim(s) 6-7 and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujishiro.
Fujishiro discloses the features as shown above.
Fujishiro does not explicitly disclose the following features: regarding claims 6 and 18, after transmitting the setup request message, receiving a response message for identifying the user plane resource setup for the MBS session from the core network entity; regarding claims 7 and 19, wherein the response message for identifying the user plane resource setup for the MBS session includes at least one of an MBS session ID, an MBS area session ID and shared user plane transmission TNL information .
However, Fujishiro does disclose the following features.
Regarding claims 6 and 18, after transmitting the setup request message, receiving a response message for identifying the user plane resource setup for the MBS session from the core network entity (see Fig. 10, following step S107, “The AMF 300B may notify the gNB 200B of the specified content” recited in paragraph [0090]. Although Fujishiro does not specify what is included in the specified content; Fujishiro does disclose the prior paragraph [0089], which recites “When the AMF 300B knows a correspondence relationship between the MBS session and the UPF 300A, the AMF 300B may specify the UPF 300A with which the gNB 200B is to establish the MBS connection, based on the second identifier”; therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the specified content is directed to the UPF establishing the MBS connection in step S108 in Fig. 10 in order to prepare the gNB 200B for the MBS connection establishment procedure in step S108 of Fig. 10).
Regarding claims 7 and 19, wherein the response message for identifying the user plane resource setup for the MBS session includes at least one of an MBS session ID, an MBS area session ID and shared user plane transmission TNL information (see Fig. 10, following step S107, “The AMF 300B may notify the gNB 200B of the specified content” recited in paragraph [0090]. Although Fujishiro does not specify what is included in the specified content; Fujishiro does disclose the prior paragraph [0089], which recites “When the AMF 300B knows a correspondence relationship between the MBS session and the UPF 300A, the AMF 300B may specify the UPF 300A with which the gNB 200B is to establish the MBS connection, based on the second identifier”, wherein “the second identifier” is an identifier for “MBS session information” as shown in paragraph [0088], such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the specified content transmitted by the AMF include the second identifier in order to identify the MBS session to be established in step S108 of Fig. 10).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim (US 2024/0380631) discloses a target RAN that allows or reject handover based on whether the terminal is located within the MBS service area (paragraph [0164]). However, Kim would not qualify as prior arts if the foreign priority date of the current Application is perfected.
Liu (US 2023/0300681) and Xu (US 2022/0322159) each discloses a handover procedure including MBS session requests similar to that of the current Application (see Fig. 5 of Liu and Fig. 7 of Xu).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUTAI KAO whose telephone number is (571)272-9719. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at (571)272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUTAI KAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473