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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on September 15, 2023 and September 14, 2023 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on September 14, 2023. These drawings are acceptable.
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.
Claim(s) 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (US 2023/0056855) in view of Fu et al. (hereinafter “Fu”, US 2023/0370926).
Regarding claims 16, and 18, Jiang discloses a wireless terminal (i.e., terminal 11 as shown in Fig. 1, terminal 800 as shown in Fig. 9), and a method by a wireless terminal configured to communicate with an access node of a radio access network (RAN) (i.e., the terminal 11 is configured to communicate with a radio access network (e.g., base station 12) as shown in Fig. 1, and as described in paragraphs 0022-0023), the RAN being configured to support one or more network slices, each of the one or more network slices providing a designated service within a public land mobile network (PLMN), the wireless terminal comprising:
receiver circuitry (i.e., communication component 816 as shown in Fig. 8) configured to receive neighboring cell network slice information via system information (i.e., the terminal receives a candidate cell via SIB3, SIB4 or SIB5 as described in paragraphs 0083-0085. Also, the terminal receives a correspondence table between serving cells and network slices supported by a frequency and/or a neighbor cell of the frequency broadcast by the base station as described in paragraphs 0227-0228), the neighboring cell network slice information comprising:
identities of one or more network slices (i.e., a list of network slices supported by the neighbor cell as described in paragraph 0227-0229);
a list of one or more inter-frequency carrier frequency information elements (i.e., a list of network slices supported by the frequency is indicated in intra-system inter-frequency cell information (InterFreqCarrierFreqInfo) of SIB4, or a list of network slices supported by the neighbor cell is indicated in intra-system inter-frequency cell information (InterFreqNeighCellInfo) in intra-system inter-frequency cell carrier frequency information (InterFreqCarrierFreqInfo) as described in paragraph 0229), each of the one or more inter-frequency carrier frequency information elements comprises a radio frequency and identities of one or more neighboring cells on the radio frequency (i.e., a correspondence table between serving cells and network slices supported by a frequency and/or a neighbor cell of the frequency broadcast by the base station as described in paragraphs 0227-0228); and
an index indicating an association between the one or more network slices and a radio frequency included in one of the one or more inter-frequency carrier frequency information elements (i.e., a correspondence table between serving cells and network slices supported by a frequency and/or a neighbor cell of the frequency broadcast by the base station as described in paragraphs 0227-0228).
Jiang, however, does not expressly disclose the remaining features of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Fu discloses cell selection method, terminal and storage medium. Fu also discloses a wireless terminal (i.e., a computer device 900 as shown in Fig. 9 implemented as a terminal as described in paragraph 0257) comprises a processor circuitry (i.e., processor 901) configured to:
select a network slice (i.e., a first intended slice as described in paragraph 0031); and
perform a cell reselection procedure based on the selected network slice and the neighboring cell network slice information (i.e., the terminal obtains first information for indicating that the second cell does not support the first intended slice, and performs cell reselection according to the first information as described in paragraphs 0032-0034).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references, and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to ensure that the terminal can normally perform cell selection when the second cell does not support a slice and avoiding loss of coverage.
Regarding claim 17, Jiang discloses an access node of a radio access network (RAN) configured to communicate with a wireless terminal (i.e., terminal 11 as shown in Fig. 1, terminal 800 as shown in Fig. 9), the RAN being configured to support one or more network slices, each of the one or more network slices providing a designated service within a public land mobile network (PLMN), the access node comprising:
transmitter circuitry configured to transmit neighboring cell network slice information via system information (i.e., the terminal receives a candidate cell via SIB3, SIB4 or SIB5 as described in paragraphs 0083-0085. Also, the terminal receives a correspondence table between serving cells and network slices supported by a frequency and/or a neighbor cell of the frequency broadcast by the base station as described in paragraphs 0227-0228), the neighboring cell network slice information comprising:
identities of one or more network slices (i.e., a list of network slices supported by the neighbor cell as described in paragraph 0227-0229);
a list of one or more inter-frequency carrier frequency information elements (i.e., a list of network slices supported by the frequency is indicated in intra-system inter-frequency cell information (InterFreqCarrierFreqInfo) of SIB4, or a list of network slices supported by the neighbor cell is indicated in intra-system inter-frequency cell information (InterFreqNeighCellInfo) in intra-system inter-frequency cell carrier frequency information (InterFreqCarrierFreqInfo) as described in paragraph 0229), each of the one or more inter-frequency carrier frequency information elements comprises a radio frequency and identities of one or more neighboring cells on the radio frequency (i.e., a correspondence table between serving cells and network slices supported by a frequency and/or a neighbor cell of the frequency broadcast by the base station as described in paragraphs 0227-0228); and
an index indicating an association between the one or more network slices and a radio frequency included in one of the one or more inter-frequency carrier frequency information elements (i.e., a correspondence table between serving cells and network slices supported by a frequency and/or a neighbor cell of the frequency broadcast by the base station as described in paragraphs 0227-0228),
Jiang, however, does not expressly disclose the remaining features of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Fu discloses cell selection method, terminal and storage medium. Fu also discloses wherein the neighboring cell network slice information causes the wireless terminal (i.e., the terminal obtains first information for indicating that the second cell does not support the first intended slice as described in paragraphs 0032-0034) to:
select a network slice (i.e., a first intended slice as described in paragraph 0031); and
perform a cell reselection procedure based on the selected network slice (i.e., the terminal obtains first information for indicating that the second cell does not support the first intended slice, and performs cell reselection according to the first information as described in paragraphs 0032-0034).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references, and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to ensure that the terminal can normally perform cell selection when the second cell does not support a slice and avoiding loss of coverage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Xu et al. (US 2023/0362798) discloses network slicing with radio access network sharing. Xu et al. also discloses neighboring cells slices information includes PLMN Identity Index, S-NSSAI information, Cell Sub-list, and Cell Information as shown in Fig. 7.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE CAI whose telephone number is (571)272-7798. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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/Wayne H Cai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644