Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This communication is in response to the Application No. 18/294,694 filed on 2/2/24. Claims 1 – 6 has been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
5. Claim(s) 1 – 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Won (US 2021/0258857).
Regarding claim 1, A User Equipment (UE) comprising:
transmission and reception circuitry (transmit and/or receive communications carrier, paragraph 4, 79);
storage circuitry (memory, paragraph 9, 78); and
controlling circuitry (controller, paragraph 48, and throughout the spec),
wherein
the transmission and reception circuitry is configured to:
transmits a registration request message including (registration request message, paragraph 109, 114, 138; In some embodiments, in response to receiving a requestion rejection message) information indicating that the UE supports an equivalent Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) in a registration procedure (the SNPN-specific attempt counter for 3GPP access for the current SNPN in case of SNPN, paragraph 140, 153, 273 – 280, 367); and
receive a registration accept message including an equivalent SNPN list containing an SNPN identity (if the initial registration request is accepted by the network, the AMF 108 can or shall send a REGISTRATION ACCEPT message to the UE 102, paragraph 136, 470),
the controlling circuitry is configured to store the equivalent SNPN list in the storage circuitry (list of SNPS, paragraph 273, 283), and
in a case that the registration procedure is not for emergency service, the controlling circuitry is configured to delete an SNPN identity that is in a temporarily forbidden SNPNs list, from the equivalent SNPN list stored in the storage circuit (a “permanently forbidden SNPNs” list and a “temporarily forbidden SNPNs” list are managed by a UE 102 operating in SNPN access mode instead of forbidden PLMN lists; c) inter-system change to and from S1 mode is not supported; d) emergency services are not supported in SNPN access mode; e) CAG is not supported in SNPN access mode; f) with respect to the 5GMM cause values: 1) 5GMM cause values #74 “Temporarily not authorized for this SNPN” and #75 “Permanently not authorized for this SNPN” are supported whereas these 5GMM cause values cannot be used in a PLMN; paragraph 369 - 374).
Regarding claim 2, The UE according to claim 1, wherein the controlling circuitry is configured to delete the equivalent SNPN list stored in the storage circuitry, in a case that the transmission and reception circuitry receives a registration reject message without integrity protection including a 5GMM cause value indicating an illegal UE (the UE 102 can or shall delete stored information on entries (or SNPNs) for which N1 mode is not allowed when the UE is switched off, the USIM is removed or timer TG expires, paragraph 273, 318, may send back to the UE 102 a reject message (e.g., a registration reject message) including an approapriate 5GMM cause value. If the initial registration request is rejected due to general NAS level mobility management congestion control, the network can or shall set the 5GMM cause value to #22 “congestion” and assign a back-off timer T3346; paragraph 137, 254, 273, 374 - 377).
Regarding claim 3, The UE according to claim 1, wherein the controlling circuitry is configured to delete the equivalent SNPN list stored in the storage circuitry, in a case that a USIM is removed from the UE (The UE 102 can or shall consider the USIM as invalid for 5GS services until switching off or the UICC containing the USIM is removed, paragraph 216, 218, 273).
Regarding claim 4, An Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (paragraph 54) comprising:
transmission and reception circuitry (transmit and/or receive communications carrier, paragraph 4, 79); and
controlling circuitry (controller, paragraph 48, and throughout the spec), wherein
the transmission and reception circuitry is configured to receive a registration request message (registration request message, paragraph 109, 114, 138; In some embodiments, in response to receiving a requestion rejection message) including information indicating that a User Equipment (UE) supports an equivalent Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) in a registration procedure ((the SNPN-specific attempt counter for 3GPP access for the current SNPN in case of SNPN, paragraph 140, 153, 273 – 280, 367),
the controlling circuitry is configured to include an equivalent SNPN list containing an SNPN identity in a registration accept message as a response message to the registration request message (list of SNPS storage, paragraph 273, 283), and
the transmission and reception circuitry is configured to transmit the registration accept message to the UE, the registration accept message making the UE delete an SNPN identity that is in a temporarily forbidden SNPNs list, from the equivalent SNPN list stored in the UE, in a case that the registration procedure is not for emergency service (a “permanently forbidden SNPNs” list and a “temporarily forbidden SNPNs” list are managed by a UE 102 operating in SNPN access mode instead of forbidden PLMN lists; c) inter-system change to and from S1 mode is not supported; d) emergency services are not supported in SNPN access mode; e) CAG is not supported in SNPN access mode; f) with respect to the 5GMM cause values: 1) 5GMM cause values #74 “Temporarily not authorized for this SNPN” and #75 “Permanently not authorized for this SNPN” are supported whereas these 5GMM cause values cannot be used in a PLMN; paragraph 369 - 374).
Regarding claim 5, The AMF according to claim 4, wherein the transmission and reception circuitry is configured to transmit, to the UE, a registration reject message without integrity protection including a 5GMM cause value indicating an illegal UE, the registration reject message making the UE delete the equivalent SNPN list stored in the UE (the UE 102 can or shall delete stored information on entries (or SNPNs) for which N1 mode is not allowed when the UE is switched off, the USIM is removed or timer TG expires, paragraph 273, 318, may send back to the UE 102 a reject message (e.g., a registration reject message) including an approapriate 5GMM cause value. If the initial registration request is rejected due to general NAS level mobility management congestion control, the network can or shall set the 5GMM cause value to #22 “congestion” and assign a back-off timer T3346; paragraph 137, 254, 273, 374 - 377).
Regarding claim 6, A communication control method performed by a User Equipment (UE), the communication control method comprising:
transmitting a registration request message including information indicating that the UE supports an equivalent Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) in a registration procedure ((registration request message, paragraph 109, 114, 138; In some embodiments, in response to receiving a requestion rejection message; the SNPN-specific attempt counter for 3GPP access for the current SNPN in case of SNPN, paragraph 140, 153, 273 – 280, 367);
receiving a registration accept message including an equivalent SNPN list containing an SNPN identity, storing the equivalent SNPN list in the UE (list of SNPS identify and store, paragraph 273, 283), and
in a case that the registration procedure is not for emergency service, deleting an SNPN identity that is in a temporarily forbidden SNPNs list, from the equivalent SNPN list stored in the UE (a “permanently forbidden SNPNs” list and a “temporarily forbidden SNPNs” list are managed by a UE 102 operating in SNPN access mode instead of forbidden PLMN lists; c) inter-system change to and from S1 mode is not supported; d) emergency services are not supported in SNPN access mode; e) CAG is not supported in SNPN access mode; f) with respect to the 5GMM cause values: 1) 5GMM cause values #74 “Temporarily not authorized for this SNPN” and #75 “Permanently not authorized for this SNPN” are supported whereas these 5GMM cause values cannot be used in a PLMN; paragraph 369 - 374).
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TANMAY K SHAH whose telephone number is (571)270-3624. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri - 8:00 - 5:00.
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, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. 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.
TANMAY K. SHAH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2632
/TANMAY K SHAH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632