Detailed Action
The office action is in response to the communications filed on 01/20/2024.
Notice of 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 .
Claims Status
Claims 19-26, 28-36, and 38-40 have been cancelled.
Claims 1-17 and 27 have been amended.
Claims 1-18, 27, and 37 are pending in this application.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s preliminary amendment, filed 01/31/2024, has been entered and considered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/02/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Prior Art Made of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Li et al. (Publication No. US 2022/0330117)The source base station sends a Handover Request message to the target base station, the target base station performs RAN slice re-mapping, the target base station sends a slice re-mapping request to the core network, and the core network performs RAN slice re-mapping and sends a response message to the target base station; see ¶ 54.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-10, 17-18, and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 1 recites the following limitations:
> “determine, at a target master node of a master cell group associated with a communications device”;
> “one or more of: a target secondary node of a secondary cell group associated with the communications device for providing dual connectivity for the communications device; and”;
> “one or more secondary cells of the target secondary node”;
> “wherein the determining uses information associated with one or more of: one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device; and a registration area of the communications device”.
Each of these limitations would be practical to perform in the mind with the aid of pencil and paper, thus directed towards a mental process (see MPEP §2106.04(a)(2)(III)). Each of these limitations work together on a on a set of data (e.g. slices and registration area of the communication device), and return a result (e.g. determining the target secondary node and the secondary node). As result, the claim is not patent eligible.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application. MPEP §2106.05(g) details similar data gather steps that have been found by the courts to be well understood routine, and conventional.
Claim 2 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine the target secondary node from a plurality of candidate secondary nodes”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 2, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 3 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to determine the one or more secondary cells from a plurality of candidate secondary cells ”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 3, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 4 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive said information”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 4, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 5 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive said information from a source master node”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 5, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 6 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive at the target master node a handover request for the target master node to be the master node of the master cell group associated with the communications device”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 6, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 7 recites “the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive the information in the handover request”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 7, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 8 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information associated with the registration area comprises the registration area of the communications device”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 8, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 9 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information associated with the one or more allowed and/or configured slices comprises a list of allowed slices and/or a list of configured slices”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 9, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 10 recites “the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the list of allowed slices is provided by allowed network slice selection assistance information”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 10, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 17 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the request which is caused to be sent to the target secondary node comprises information about one or more candidate secondary node cells ”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 17, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 18 recites “the apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the one or more candidate secondary node cells belong to one or more tracking areas associated with the registration area of the communications device”. The claim provides additional limitations that describe mental processes. As result, when additional features of claim 18, when considered alone and in combination, are still directed to an abstract idea which contains nothing significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim 27 recites the following limitations:
> “receive, at a target secondary node of a secondary cell group associated with a communications device, a request from a target master node of a master cell group associated with the communications device,”
>”the request comprising one or more of: information associated with one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device; information associated with a registration area of the communications device; and information about one or more candidate secondary cells of the target secondary node;
>“wherein the apparatus is configured to select one or more secondary node cells of the target secondary node based on a match between the information associated with one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device and one or more slices supported by the respective secondary node cells.”
Each of these limitations would be practical to perform in the mind with the aid of pencil and paper, thus directed towards a mental process (see MPEP §2106.04(a)(2)(III)). Each of these limitations work together on a on a set of data (e.g. one or more information). First the data is gathered (e.g. receive request) (see MPEP §2106.05(g) details similar data gather steps that have been found by the courts to be well understood routine, and conventional). Second, return a result based on the gathered data (e.g. selecting the target secondary node and the secondary node). Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application. MPEP §2106.05(g) details similar data gather steps that have been found by the courts to be well understood routine, and conventional.
Claim 37 is directed towards a method rather than the apparatus of claim 1, however the same rationale applies to claim 37 as provided in the rejection to claim 1. As result, claim 37 is not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-12, 14-16, 27, and 37 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (Patent Publication No. US 2023/0063126, hereinafter referred as Zhou) in view of Han et al. (Publication No. US 2021/0099921, hereinafter referred as Han).
Regarding claims 1 and 37, Zhou discloses at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to (It is inherent that node [apparatus] includes at least one processor and at least one a memory in order to execute the following steps.):
determine, at a target master node of a master cell group associated with a communications device, one or more of (A user terminal [communication device] is in dual connectivity with a source gNB, wherein the source gNB is the master node in dual connectivity, and the secondary node of the dual connectivity is a source ng-eNB; see figure 3 & ¶ 125. The source gNB [master node] sends handover request to a target master node [apparatus]; see figure 3 Step 302-304):
a target secondary node of a secondary cell group associated with the communications device for providing dual connectivity for the communications device (The target master node [apparatus] determines to configure target dual connectivity, wherein the target master node selects at least one en-gNB as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB [target secondary node]; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.); and
one or more secondary cells of the target secondary node (When configuring target dual connectivity, the target master node selects at least one en-gNB as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.),
Zhou disclose sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request enable determining uses information associated with one or more of: one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device; and a registration area of the communications device. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the registration area (RA) information of the terminal device and the network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) supported by the terminal device; see ¶ 15-16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. RA or NSSAI) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 2, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to determine the target secondary node from a plurality of candidate secondary nodes (When configuring target dual connectivity, the target master node selects at least one en-gNB [secondary nodes] as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.).
Regarding claim 3, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to determine the one or more secondary cells from a plurality of candidate secondary cells (The target master node [apparatus] determines to configure target dual connectivity, wherein the target master node selects at least one en-gNB as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB [target secondary node]; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.).
Regarding claim 4, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to receive said information (The source gNB [master node] sends handover request [information] to a target master node [apparatus]; see figure 3 Step 302-304).
Regarding claim 5, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to receive said information from a source master node (The source gNB [master node] sends handover request [information] to a target master node [apparatus] ; see figure 3 Step 302-304).
Regarding claim 6, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to receive at the target master node a handover request for the target master node to be the master node of the master cell group associated with the communications device (The source gNB [master node] sends handover request to a target master node [apparatus], wherein the handover request is associated with the user terminal [communication device]; see figure 3 Step 302-304 & ¶ 125.).
Regarding claim 7, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 6. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to receive the information in the handover request (The source gNB [master node] sends handover request [information] to a target master node [apparatus] ; see figure 3 Step 302-304).
Regarding claim 8, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request includes information associated with the registration area, and wherein information associated with the registration area comprises the registration area of the communications device. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the registration area (RA) information of the terminal device; see ¶ 16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. RA) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 9, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request includes the information associated with the one or more allowed and/or configured slices, wherein the information associated with the one or more allowed and/or configured slices comprises a list of allowed slices and/or a list of configured slices. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) supported by the terminal device; see ¶ 15. The NSSAI supported by the terminal device may also be referred to as allowed NSSAI or allowed S-NSSAI, wherein the NSSAI supported by the terminal device is one or more pieces [list] of S-NSSAI available to the terminal device in a current registration area; see ¶ 150. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. NSSAI) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 10, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 9. In addition, Zhou discloses sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request includes the list of allowed slices, wherein the list of allowed slices is provided by allowed network slice selection assistance information. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) supported by the terminal device; see ¶ 15. The NSSAI supported by the terminal device may also be referred to as allowed NSSAI or allowed S-NSSAI, wherein the NSSAI supported by the terminal device is one or more pieces [list] of S-NSSAI available to the terminal device in a current registration area; see ¶ 150. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. NSSAI) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 11, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses that the apparatus is configured to cause a request to be sent to the target secondary node (When configuring target dual connectivity, the target master node selects at least one en-gNB as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.).
Regarding claim 12, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 11. In addition, Zhou discloses the request to be sent to the target secondary node comprises a secondary node addition request (When configuring target dual connectivity, the target master node selects at least one en-gNB as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135. Furthermore, the target eNB sends a target secondary node addition request carrying first information to the target en-gNB; see figure 3 step 306.).
Regarding claim 14, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 11. In addition, Zhou disclose sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request comprises one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device; and the registration area of the communications device. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the registration area (RA) information of the terminal device and the network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) supported by the terminal device; see ¶ 15-16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. RA or NSSAI) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 15, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 14. In addition, Zhou discloses sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request includes information associated with the registration area, and wherein the information about the registration area in the request comprises the registration area. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the registration area (RA) information of the terminal device; see ¶ 16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. RA) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 16, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 14. In addition, Zhou discloses sending a handover request, but fails to explicitly disclose that the handover request includes the information associated with the one or more allowed, wherein the information about the one or more allowed slices in the request comprises allowed network slice selection assistance information. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) supported by the terminal device; see ¶ 15. The NSSAI supported by the terminal device may also be referred to as allowed NSSAI or allowed S-NSSAI, wherein the NSSAI supported by the terminal device is one or more pieces [list] of S-NSSAI available to the terminal device in a current registration area; see ¶ 150. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. NSSAI) of Han in order enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 27, Zhou discloses at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to (It is inherent that node [apparatus] includes at least one processor and at least one a memory in order to execute the following steps.):
receive, at a target secondary node of a secondary cell group associated with a communications device, a request from a target master node of a master cell group associated with the communications device (The target master node determines to configure target dual connectivity based on the handover request received from the source gNB; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135. When configuring target dual connectivity, the target master node selects at least one en-gNB as the target secondary node, denoted as SgNB; see figure 3 step 305 & ¶ 134-135.),
Zhou disclose selecting the SgNB based on the handover request received from the source gNB, but fails to explicitly disclose that the request comprising one or more of: information associated with one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device; information associated with a registration area of the communications device; and information about one or more candidate secondary cells of the target secondary node; wherein the apparatus is configured to select one or more secondary node cells of the target secondary node based on a match between the information associated with one or more allowed and/or configured slices of the communications device and one or more slices supported by the respective secondary node cells. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message sent by the source access network device to the target access network device includes the registration area (RA) information of the terminal device and the network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) supported by the terminal device; see ¶ 187-188. If the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device, it indicates that the network slice selection assistance information of the terminal device is valid; see ¶ 190. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. RA or NSSAI) of Han in order to enable the determination on whether the target access network device is also located in the registration area of the terminal device.
Claim 13 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. ( Patent Publication No. US 2023/0063126, hereinafter referred as Zhou) in view of Han et al. (Publication No. US 2021/0099921, hereinafter referred as Han) and further in view of Park et al. (Publication No. US 2018/0324645, hereinafter referred as Park).
Regarding claim 13, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 11. In addition, Zhou discloses the target eNB [master secondary node] sends a target secondary node request carrying first information to the target en-gNB [target secondary node] (see figure 3), but fails to explicitly disclose that the request to be sent to the target secondary node comprises a secondary node modification request. However, in analogous art, Park discloses that the first base station may send a second message to a second base station, see ¶ 211. The second message may indicate a secondary node modification request for the wireless device; see figure 23 & ¶ 211. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou request by replacing it with the modification request of Park in order to improve communication reliability by supporting network handover based on the modification request.
Claims 17 and 18 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. ( Patent Publication No. US 2023/0063126, hereinafter referred as Zhou) in view of Han et al. (Publication No. US 2021/0099921, hereinafter referred as Han) and further in view of Cui et al. (Publication No. US 2023/0345325, hereinafter referred as Cui).
Regarding claim 17, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 1. In addition, Zhou discloses the target eNB [master secondary node] sends a target secondary node request carrying first information to the target en-gNB [target secondary node] (see figure 3), but fails to explicitly disclose that the request which is caused to be sent to the target secondary node comprises information about one or more candidate secondary node cells. However, in analogous art, Cui discloses that obtaining a handover command for handover from the source cell to a target cell, the handover command including activation indication for an activation of a secondary cell (SCell) of the target cell; see ¶ 210. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou request by incorporating the activation information of Cui in order to start the RF tuning process for the activation of the SCell of the target cell.
Regarding claim 18, Zhou as modified discloses the parent claim 17. In addition, Zhou disclose the target eNB [master secondary node] sends a target secondary node request carrying first information to the target en-gNB [target secondary node] (see figure 3), but fails to explicitly disclose that the one or more candidate secondary node cells belong to one or more tracking areas associated with the registration area of the communications device. However, in analogous art, Han discloses that the handover request message may include registration area information of the terminal device, and the registration area information is used to indicate a tracking area (tracking area) corresponding to the terminal device; see ¶ 189. The target access network device may determine, based on the registration area information, whether the source access network device and the target access network device belong to a same registration area; see ¶ 190. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhou handover request by incorporating the information (e.g. RA) of Han in order to that the target access network device determines, based on the registration area information, whether the network slice selection assistance information, supported by the terminal device, in the handover request message is valid, thereby improving the communication efficiency; see ¶ 17.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HECTOR REYES whose telephone number is (571)270-0239. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6-5.
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/H.R/Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/KEVIN T BATES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472