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 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.
Claims 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nokia, “Slice specific cell reselection”, R2-2105240, in view of Chen et al (US 2022/0303884 A1).
Regarding claim 16 and 18, Nokia teaches a wireless terminal/method comprising:
receiver circuitry configured to receive a customized mapping configuration which configures one or more network slice groups, each of the one or more network slice groups comprising one or more network slices identified by respective Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) (page 4, “UE is signalled in a dedicated manner a mapping of S-NSSAIs to slice groups and related priorities: {Priority 3: SG-3 (S-NSSAI 1 + S-NSSAI 2), Priority 2: SG-2 (S-NSSAI 1), Priority 1: SG-3 (S-NSSAI 2)}”, it’s noted that SG stands for slice group)
processor circuitry configured to identify each of the one or more network slice groups by a corresponding group index (page 7, Section 3.5, “A new index as a slice group index”, last line of page 7, “new signaling mechanism to provide the mapping of slices to the slice group indices”, it implied that each of the one or more network slice groups can be identified by a corresponding group index).
Nokia doesn’t explicitly teach that Configured NSSAI provisioned in the wireless terminal.
Chen teaches that Configured NSSAI provisioned in the wireless terminal ([0051], “the term “configured S-NSSAI” refers to NSSAI provisioned in the UE 110 that is applicable to one or more PLMNs”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to implement the specific teaching of Chen within the reselection framework of Nokia. The motivation of this combination is to ensure that the radio-layer groupings (slice groups) are correctly mapped to the actual subscriptions and services authorized for the user (configured NSSAI). This allows the terminal to predictably identify which of its provisioned slices belong to which radio-layer group index to enable efficient frequency-layer steering.
Regarding claim 17, Nokia in view of Chen further teaches that the receiver circuitry is further configured to receive system information comprising one or more group indices, the one or more group indices being associated with respective list(s) of one or more radio frequencies (Nokia, page 3, last paragraph, “When a UE is camping in a cell in RRC Idle or Inactive, the UE has acquired the frequency priority per slice group (through RRCRelease or SIB): {Frequency 1: Priority 3 SG-2, Priority 2 SG-3} {Frequency 2: Priority 5 SG-1, Priority 3 SG-3} {Frequency 3: Priority 5 SG-2}”, it’s noted that SIB stands for system information block), and the processor circuitry is further configured to:
determine, based on one of the list(s), a radio frequency(ies) on which a network slice group from the one or more network slice groups is supported (page 4, Fig. 2.3-2; step 1, “Selecting on or more frequencies with respect to frequency priorities of the selected Group ID” and page 5, lines 4-5); and
perform a cell reselection procedure on the radio frequency(ies) (Fig. 2.3-2, step 2-5 and final step Camp on the cell).
Regarding claim 19, Nokia teaches a base station comprising:
processor circuitry configured to generate a customized mapping configuration which configures one or more network slice groups, each of the one or more network slice groups comprising one or more network slices identified by respective Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) (page 4, “UE is signalled in a dedicated manner a mapping of S-NSSAIs to slice groups and related priorities: {Priority 3: SG-3 (S-NSSAI 1 + S-NSSAI 2), Priority 2: SG-2 (S-NSSAI 1), Priority 1: SG-3 (S-NSSAI 2)}”, it’s noted that SG stands for slice group)
transmitter circuitry configured to transmit the customized mapping configuration to the wireless terminal (page 4, “UE is signalled in a dedicated manner a mapping of S-NSSAIs to slice groups and related priorities: {Priority 3: SG-3 (S-NSSAI 1 + S-NSSAI 2), Priority 2: SG-2 (S-NSSAI 1), Priority 1: SG-3 (S-NSSAI 2)}”, it’s noted that SG stands for slice group), wherein, the customized mapping configuration causes the wireless terminal to identify each of the one or more network slice groups by a corresponding group index (page 7, Section 3.5, “A new index as a slice group index”, last line of page 7, “new signaling mechanism to provide the mapping of slices to the slice group indices”, it implied that each of the one or more network slice groups can be identified by a corresponding group index).
Nokia doesn’t explicitly teach that Configured NSSAI provisioned in the wireless terminal.
Chen teaches that Configured NSSAI provisioned in the wireless terminal ([0051], “the term “configured S-NSSAI” refers to NSSAI provisioned in the UE 110 that is applicable to one or more PLMNs”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to implement the specific teaching of Chen within the reselection framework of Nokia. The motivation of this combination is to ensure that the radio-layer groupings (slice groups) are correctly mapped to the actual subscriptions and services authorized for the user (configured NSSAI). This allows the terminal to predictably identify which of its provisioned slices belong to which radio-layer group index to enable efficient frequency-layer steering.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIMING LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3859. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SIMING LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
Prosecution Insights