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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to application filed 11/28/2025.
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 of this title, 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.
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 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 1-3, 7, 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (US 2023/0421407 A1 – Priority date 03/12/2021) in view of Li et al. (US 2019/0158408 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zhao discloses a method of an apparatus for providing a multi virtual local area network (VLAN) service to user equipment (UE) ([0117]: when a terminal initiates establishment of a session to a network, an IP address needs to be allocated to the session of the terminal. When a plurality of sessions are established on the terminal, one IP address is allocated to each session. The IP address of the session of the terminal may be allocated by a network element (for example, an SMF or a UPF) in a core network), the method comprising:
storing VLAN routing information that includes user equipment information, which is information on user equipments subscribing to the multi VLAN service, and session information ([0140]-[0141]: the UPF determines that the data packet corresponds to the first session. To be specific, the UPF stores a correspondence between each session and subnet information of a subnet);
receiving data from a first user equipment and extracting user equipment information and session information from the received data ([0140]-[0141]: After determining the subnet information corresponding to the source IP address in the data packet, the UPF determines, based on the subnet information corresponding to the source IP address and the correspondence, a session corresponding to the subnet information);
determining whether the extracted user equipment information and session information is included in the VLAN routing information ([0121]: the UPF can match a received data packet (which may be a multicast packet or a broadcast packet) with the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal. If the data packet received by the UPF matches the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal); determining the received data as a VLAN routing target if the extracted user equipment information and session information is included in the VLAN routing information ([0162]: the UPF determines that the source IP address matches the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1, and forwards the data packet to the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1); and
transmitting the received data to a second user equipment corresponding to a destination of the received data based on the VLAN routing information ([0205]: the UPF obtains a destination IP address in the data packet, and determines, based on the destination IP address, whether the data packet is a multicast packet or a broadcast packet in a subnet. If the data packet is a multicast packet or a broadcast packet in a subnet, the UPF obtains a VLAN ID from the data packet, and if the UPF determines that the VLAN ID belongs to the list of matched VLANs in the PDR, the UPF replicates the data packet and forwards the data packet to the PDU session corresponding to the PDR), wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping between a primary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the first user equipment and a secondary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the second user equipment ([0142]: For example, the SMF sends a PDR to the UPF, where the PDR carries the VLAN set. IP addresses of sessions of all terminals in a same VLAN correspond to a same IP subnet, that is, one VLAN corresponds to one IP subnet. IP addresses of sessions of terminals in different VLANs may correspond to a same IP subnet or may correspond to different IP subnets, that is, different VLANs may correspond to a same IP subnet or may correspond to different IP subnets).
However, Zhao does not disclose wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping between a primary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the first user equipment and a secondary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the second user equipment and the user plane function routes data via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier.
In an analogous art, Li discloses wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping between a primary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the first user equipment and a secondary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the second user equipment ([0246]: . The request may include an IP address list/range or IP prefix (for IP type traffic), VLAN ID(s) (for Ethernet type traffic), indicating allowed IP address/prefix or allowed VLAN ID(s) for the UE group. The request may include a group address (e.g. multicast address) that can be used as destination address by member UEs for sending traffic (e.g. multicast traffic or one-to-many traffic containing the group address as destination address) to the UE group (e.g. all the member UEs or all the other member UEs of the group); and the user plane function routes data via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier ([0147]: the UP of the group PDU session may have a tree structure. One of the UPFs of the UP may be selected as the root of the tree by the SMF. The single UE sends UL traffic, which is steered via an established bridge to the tree UP of the group PDU session. The bridge may be established according to embodiments of the present invention. Within the tree UP, the traffic is broadcast along the tree. [0247]: information (e.g. UE IDs) indicating which member UE(s) of the group is allowed to send traffic (e.g. one-to-many or multicast traffic) to the UE group (i.e. all the other UEs in the group) by using the group address as destination in the traffic (the group address may be provided by the requesting entity as described in the previous bullet or allocated to the UE group by the GMF), metadata of the UE group, describing e.g. the name and/or the purpose of the UE group and/or the application associated with the UE group.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao to comprise “wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping between a primary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the first user equipment and a secondary user equipment IP address range including an IP address of the second user equipment and the user plane function routes data via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier” taught by Li.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to facilitate communication efficiency between different end users of different PDU sessions (Li, [0023]).
Regarding claim 2, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 1, wherein:
the VLAN routing information comprises i) session identifiers of sessions connected to a plurality of user equipments subscribing to the multi VLAN service and ii) Internet Protocol (IP) addresses allocated to the plurality of user equipments, each mapped to the session identifiers (Zhao, [0130]: The SMF stores a correspondence between an identifier of the first session and a transaction identifier. Therefore, the SMF can determine, based on the transaction identifier in the DHCP response, that the configuration information of the IP address in the DHCP response corresponds to the first session. Then, the SMF determines subnet information of the IP address based on the configuration information of the IP address);
the transmitting comprises: determining a session identifier matched with a destination IP address of the received data from the VLAN routing information (Zhao, [0121]: the UPF can match a received data packet (which may be a multicast packet or a broadcast packet) with the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal. If the data packet received by the UPF matches the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal);
converting a session identifier of the received data to the determined session identifier (Zhao, [0159]: the UPF obtains a destination IP address in the received data packet, and determines whether the data packet is a multicast packet or a broadcast packet in a subnet. If the data packet is a multicast packet or a broadcast packet in a subnet, the UPF obtains a source IP address in the data packet, and then performs an AND operation between the source IP address and a subnet mask of the PDU session, to derive an IP network number and an IP subnet number that correspond to the source IP address in the data packet); and transmitting the received data with the converted session identifier to a second user equipment corresponding to the destination IP address (Zhao, [0205]: the UPF obtains a destination IP address in the data packet, and determines, based on the destination IP address, whether the data packet is a multicast packet or a broadcast packet in a subnet. If the data packet is a multicast packet or a broadcast packet in a subnet, the UPF obtains a VLAN ID from the data packet, and if the UPF determines that the VLAN ID belongs to the list of matched VLANs in the PDR, the UPF replicates the data packet and forwards the data packet to the PDU session corresponding to the PDR); and
the session identifier matched the destination IP address is a session identifier of a session connected to the second user equipment (Zhao, [0121]: the UPF can match a received data packet (which may be a multicast packet or a broadcast packet) with the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal. If the data packet received by the UPF matches the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal).
Regarding claim 3, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 2. Zhao discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information includes session identifiers, network identifiers (Zhao, [0130]: The SMF stores a correspondence between an identifier of the first session and a transaction identifier. Therefore, the SMF can determine, based on the transaction identifier in the DHCP response, that the configuration information of the IP address in the DHCP response corresponds to the first session. Then, the SMF determines subnet information of the IP address based on the configuration information of the IP address), and VLAN group identifiers of user equipments subscribing to the multi VLAN service (Zhao, [0198]: The list of VLANs allowed to be used includes an identifier (for example, a VLAN ID) of one or more VLANs allowed to be used by the terminal. When the list of VLANs allowed to be used includes identifiers of a plurality of VLANs, IP addresses of PDU sessions of terminals in the plurality of VLANs correspond to a same IP subnet, that is, one list of VLANs allowed); the determining the received data as a VLAN routing target comprises i) determining whether a network identifier matched to a session identifier extracted from the received data is included in the VLAN routing information, ii) determining whether a destination IP address extracted from the received data is included in the VLAN routing information in an event that the network identifier is included in the VLAN routing information (Zhao, [0206]: the SMF configures, for the UPF by using the PDR based on the list of matched VLANs that is provided by the DN-AAA server and that corresponds to the PDU session, the list of matched VLANs that corresponds to the PDU session. One list of matched VLANs corresponds to one IP subnet, so that the UPF can send a received multicast packet or broadcast packet to a corresponding PDU session based on an IP subnet granularity), iii) determining the received data as a VLAN routing target in an event that the destination IP address is included in the VLAN routing information (Zhao, [0162]: the UPF respectively compares the IP network number (that is, 140.252) and the IP subnet number (that is, 255) corresponding to the source IP address with an IP network number and an IP subnet number in the IP subnet information in the PDR 1, and determines that both the IP network numbers and the IP subnet numbers are the same. Therefore, the UPF determines that the source IP address matches the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1, and forwards the data packet to the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1).
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose wherein: the VLAN routing information includes IP address ranges.
In an analogous art, Li discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information includes IP address ranges ([0246]: The request may include an IP address list/range or IP prefix (for IP type traffic), VLAN ID(s) (for Ethernet type traffic), indicating allowed IP address/prefix or allowed VLAN ID(s) for the UE group).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao to comprise “wherein: the VLAN routing information includes IP address ranges” taught by Li.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled a SMF to configure two or more UPFs so that the UPFs are able to forward the traffic from one UE to another (Yang, [0026]).
Regarding claim 7, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: prior the storing, further comprising: receiving a session establishment request for the plurality of user equipments from a session management function (SMF); and the VLAN routing information is obtained from the session establishment request (Zhao,[0117]: when a terminal initiates establishment of a session to a network, an IP address needs to be allocated to the session of the terminal. When a plurality of sessions are established on the terminal, one IP address is allocated to each session. [0206]: the SMF configures, for the UPF by using the PDR based on the list of matched VLANs that is provided by the DN-AAA server and that corresponds to the PDU session, the list of matched VLANs that corresponds to the PDU session. One list of matched VLANs corresponds to one IP subnet, so that the UPF can send a received multicast packet or broadcast packet to a corresponding PDU session based on an IP subnet granularity).
Regarding claim 10, Zhao discloses a method of an authentication apparatus for providing a multi virtual local area network (VLAN) to user equipment, the method comprising:
receiving a VLAN service authentication request of a target user equipment for creating a session from a session management function (SMF) ([0149]-[0150]: A terminal initiates a PDU session establishment. In the PDU session establishment procedure, an SMF sends an authentication/authorization request to a DN-AAA server. Correspondingly, the DN-AAA server receives the authentication/authorization request); and
transmitting a VLAN service authentication response including information on an Internet Protocol (IP) address allocated to the user equipment to the SMF ([0152]-[0153]: The DN-AAA server sends an authentication/authorization reply to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the authentication/authorization reply. The authentication/authorization reply carries an authentication/authorization result, configuration information of an IP address, and a request ID. The configuration information of the IP address includes an IP address and an IP subnet mask of a PDU session), wherein the allocated IP address is transferred to a user plane function (UPF) by the SMF and used to perform VLAN communication between user equipments by the UPF ([0155]-[0157]: The SMF sends an N4 session establishment request to a UPF. Correspondingly, the UPF receives the N4 session establishment/modification request. The N4 session establishment/modification request carries a PDR, and the PDR includes the subnet information of the IP subnet corresponding to the PDU session…when the subnet information in the PDR includes an IP network number and an IP subnet number of the PDU session, the UPF may determine the IP subnet mask based on the IP network number and the IP subnet number), wherein the authentication apparatus provides IP mapping information including an allocated IP address of a primary user equipment and a secondary use equipment to the SMF ([0152]-[0153]: The DN-AAA server sends an authentication/authorization reply to the SMF. Correspondingly, the SMF receives the authentication/authorization reply. The authentication/authorization reply carries an authentication/authorization result, configuration information of an IP address, and a request ID. The configuration information of the IP address includes an IP address and an IP subnet mask of a PDU session), and the SMF transfer the IP mapping information to a user plane function (UPF) to perform VLAN communication between user equipments ([0142]: For example, the SMF sends a PDR to the UPF, where the PDR carries the VLAN set. IP addresses of sessions of all terminals in a same VLAN correspond to a same IP subnet, that is, one VLAN corresponds to one IP subnet).
However, Zhao does not disclose wherein the primary user equipment is the target user equipment and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment that establishes a VLAN communication link to the target user equipment, the VLAN communication being managed through the SMF.
In an analogous art, Li discloses wherein the primary user equipment is the target user equipment and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment that establishes a VLAN communication link to the target user equipment, the VLAN communication being managed through the SMF ([0130]: the SMF may configure a UPF that is closest to the RAN in the UP. For detecting P2P traffic in the DL direction, the SMF may configure a UPF that is closest to the DN in the UP. [0246]-[0247]: The request may include an IP address list/range or IP prefix (for IP type traffic), VLAN ID(s) (for Ethernet type traffic), indicating allowed IP address/prefix or allowed VLAN ID(s) for the UE group. The request may include a group address (e.g. multicast address) that can be used as destination address by member UEs for sending traffic (e.g. multicast traffic or one-to-many traffic containing the group address as destination address) to the UE group (e.g. all the member UEs or all the other member UEs of the group)
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao to comprise “wherein the primary user equipment is the target user equipment and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment that establishes a VLAN communication link to the target user equipment, the VLAN communication being managed through the SMF” taught by Li.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to facilitate communication efficiency between different end users of different PDU sessions (Li, [0023]).
Regarding claim 11, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 10, wherein: the target user equipment is a primary user equipment that is connected to a secondary user equipment and supports network access of the secondary user equipment; after the transmitting, the method comprising: receiving a VLAN service authentication request of the secondary user equipment from the primary user equipment (Li, [0289]: UE transmits a request to the AMF to establish a PDU session. The request can integrate a request for UE group (e.g. a multicast group) creation. The request may include the UE's identity information (e.g. group-level UE ID or DN-related identity information received from the GMF (as described above) before the current procedure), which may be used by the GMF for authenticating/authorizing the UE for establishing the PDU Session); determining whether the secondary user equipment subscribes for the multi VLAN service based on secondary user equipment information identified from the VLAN service authentication request; allocating an IP address within an IP range matched to a VLAN group identifier determined based on an network identifier extracted from the VLAN service authentication request or the secondary user equipment information in an event that the secondary user equipment subscribes to the multi VLAN service (Li, [0289]: the GMF may provide the SMF with information (e.g. UE group ID(s)) identifying the UE group(s) mapped from the group-level UE ID (which can be interpreted as DN (data network)-related identity information) received from the UE via the SMF. The SMF may provide this information to the PCF to obtain policies that are related to the UE group(s) from the PCF. Additionally or alternatively, the SMF may use this information to identify packet handling instructions or rules related to the UE group(s) and configure the instructions or rules into the UPF for handling traffic associated to the UE group(s). [0283]: the GMF provides authentication/authorization result/data to the SMF, which indicates the result of the authentication/authorization. The data may include a list of disallowed source or destination network addresses (e.g. IP address or prefix). They are used to identify the traffic that the PDU Session is not allowed to carry (in the UL direction or DL direction). Alternatively, a list of allowed source or destination network addresses may be included in the data for identifying allowed traffic); and transmitting a VLAN service authentication response including the allocated IP address to the primary user equipment (Li, [0289]: The GMF may also notify relevant UEs (e.g. of the group) of the UE group). The same rationale applies as in claim 10.
Regarding claim 12, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 11, wherein after the allocating, the method further comprising: transmitting the IP address allocated to the secondary user equipment to the SMF (Li, [0283]: the GMF provides authentication/authorization result/data to the SMF, which indicates the result of the authentication/authorization. The data may include a list of disallowed source or destination network addresses (e.g. IP address or prefix). They are used to identify the traffic that the PDU Session is not allowed to carry (in the UL direction or DL direction); the IP address allocated to the secondary user equipment is transmitted to the UPF from the SMF and used for the VLAN communication (Li, [0153]: the SMF 922 obtains operator policy from the selected PCF 926. In operation (907) the SMF 922 selects a UPF according to the group location information and the application location information. [0289]: UPF selection is performed by the SMF). The same rationale applies as in claim 11.
Claims 4-6, 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao in view of Li, as applied to claim 2, in further view of Yang et al. (US 2022/0150166 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 3. Zhao discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information includes the session identifier, and the network identifier, which are matched with a plurality of VLAN group identifiers (Zhao,[0130]: The SMF stores a correspondence between an identifier of the first session and a transaction identifier. Therefore, the SMF can determine, based on the transaction identifier in the DHCP response, that the configuration information of the IP address in the DHCP response corresponds to the first session. Then, the SMF determines subnet information of the IP address based on the configuration information of the IP address. [0198]: The list of VLANs allowed to be used includes an identifier (for example, a VLAN ID) of one or more VLANs allowed to be used by the terminal. When the list of VLANs allowed to be used includes identifiers of a plurality of VLANs, IP addresses of PDU sessions of terminals in the plurality of VLANs correspond to a same IP subnet, that is, one list of VLANs allowed); wherein the determining comprises: determining the received data as a VLAN routing target in an event that the VLAN group identifiers are identical (Zhao, [0121]: the UPF can match a received data packet (which may be a multicast packet or a broadcast packet) with the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal. If the data packet received by the UPF matches the IP subnet information of the session of the terminal. [0205]: UPF determines that the VLAN ID belongs to the list of matched VLANs in the PDR, the UPF replicates the data packet and forwards the data packet to the PDU session corresponding to the PDR; or if the VLAN ID does not belong to the list of matched VLANs in the PDR)..
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose wherein: the VLAN routing information includes the IP address range; prior to the determining the received data as a VLAN routing target, the method comprise: determining whether a VLAN group identifier matched to an IP range including the destination IP address is identical to a VLAN group identifier matched to an IP range including a source IP address extracted from the received data.
In an analogous art, Yang discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information includes the IP address range; prior to the determining the received data as a VLAN routing target, the method comprise: determining whether a VLAN group identifier matched to an IP range including the destination IP address is identical to a VLAN group identifier matched to an IP range including a source IP address extracted from the received data ([0064]: identify UE-to-UE traffic from the originating UE, either via a Service Data Flow (SDF) filter where the destination IP address is another UE's address, e.g. a range of destination IP addresses (for the addresses range reserved for the group. [0084]: the first PDR includes first PDI to enable UPF 206 to identify the PDU as pertaining to a 5G LAN group traffic (e.g., the PDI specifies a source and destination address range, or any other significant bit(s) in the PDU which can be used to identify the application used for the communication within a given 5G LAN group).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li to comprise “wherein: the VLAN routing information includes the IP address range; prior to the determining the received data as a VLAN routing target, the method comprise: determining whether a VLAN group identifier matched to an IP range including the destination IP address is identical to a VLAN group identifier matched to an IP range including a source IP address extracted from the received data” taught by Yang.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled a SMF to configure two or more UPFs so that the UPFs are able to forward the traffic from one UE to another (Yang, [0026]).
Regarding claim 5, Zhao-Li-Yang discloses the method of claim of claim 4, further comprising: discarding the received data the VLAN group identifiers are not identical after the determining (Zhao, [0205]: if the VLAN ID does not belong to the list of matched VLANs in the PDR, the UPF does not forward the data packet to the PDU session).
Regarding claim 6, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose wherein, after the storing, further comprising: delivering the received data to a data network in an event that the destination IP address determined from the received data is not registered at the VLAN routing information.
In an analogous art, Yang discloses wherein, after the storing, further comprising: delivering the received data to a data network in an event that the destination IP address determined from the received data is not registered at the VLAN routing information ([0383]-[0384]: upon receiving such user plane traffic, the SMF will figure out which UPF is serving the destination UE, therefore to provision relevant PDR/FAR to the UPF forwarding the packets, and any intermediate UPFs (for potential communication from a UE served by that UPF to the same destination UE), to enable it forward the traffic to the UPF serving the destination UE; [0384] Or, provision a new URR with a new reporting trigger, preferably called “Unknown 5GLAN traffic” and associated with the default PDR, so the UPF will send PFCP Session Report Request message, report to the SMF the packets for UE-to-UE traffic, i.e. the packets towards the destination UE IP address is not deliverable; so that the SMF can provision relevant PDR1a/FAR1a to the UPF for 5G LAN Group 1 N4 session, and any intermediate UPFs (for potential communication from a UE served by that UPF to the same destination UE), to enable it forward the traffic to the UPF serving the destination UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li to comprise “wherein, after the storing, further comprising: delivering the received data to a data network in an event that the destination IP address determined from the received data is not registered at the VLAN routing information” taught by Yang.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled a SMF to configure two or more UPFs so that the UPFs are able to forward the traffic from one UE to another (Yang, [0026]).
Regarding claim 8, Zhao-Li discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose wherein: after the storing, further comprising: receiving VLAN routing addition information from a session management function (SMF), wherein the VLAN routing addition information includes information on a secondary user equipment connected to a primary user equipment, wherein the primary user equipment is a user equipment directly connected to a session, and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment connected to a session through the primary user equipment; and mapping the VLAN routing addition information to a session identifier of the primary user equipment connected to the secondary user equipment and storing the mapped VLAN routing addition information; the second user equipment is the primary user equipment which is identified based on a session identifier matched to a destination IP address extracted from the received data; and the received data is routed to the secondary user equipment by the primary user equipment.
In an analogous art, Yang discloses wherein: after the storing, further comprising: receiving VLAN routing addition information from a session management function (SMF), wherein the VLAN routing addition information includes information on a secondary user equipment connected to a primary user equipment, wherein the primary user equipment is a user equipment directly connected to a session, and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment connected to a session through the primary user equipment ([0062]: SMF 208 provides each of the UPFs 206, 214 with both a set of Packet Detection Rules (PDRs) and Forwarding Action Rules (FARs), which define how traffic from the respective UEs 218,220 is handled. In this example, the first UPF is able to forward traffic from the first UE to the second UE (e.g., from UE-A 218 to UE-B 220) using a tunnel connection 222 to the second UPF); and mapping the VLAN routing addition information to a session identifier of the primary user equipment connected to the secondary user equipment and storing the mapped VLAN routing addition information; the second user equipment is the primary user equipment which is identified based on a session identifier matched to a destination IP address extracted from the received data; and the received data is routed to the secondary user equipment by the primary user equipment ([0080]: UPF 214, upon receiving GTP-U PDU 369, UPF 214 uses information included in the GTP-U PDU 369 to find a PDR 196 matching information included in the GTP-U PDU 369 (e.g. a source address and a destination address of the PDU transmitted by UE A). In some embodiments, the step of using information included in the GTP-U PDU 369 to find PDR 196 comprises using information included in the GTP-U PDU 369, e.g., a local TEID, to identify a first N4 session (e.g., the N4 session corresponding to a 5G LAN group to which UE A and UE C belong. UPF 206 receiving a transmission (e.g., GTP-U PDU 303 transmitted by a access network node or a PDU transmitted by another UPF over an Nx interface) comprising a PDU transmitted by UE A (e.g., PDU 301 or PDU 351) (hereafter “the UE PDU), wherein the UE PDU includes at least a destination address of the second UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li to comprise “wherein: after the storing, further comprising: receiving VLAN routing addition information from a session management function (SMF), wherein the VLAN routing addition information includes information on a secondary user equipment connected to a primary user equipment, wherein the primary user equipment is a user equipment directly connected to a session, and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment connected to a session through the primary user equipment; and mapping the VLAN routing addition information to a session identifier of the primary user equipment connected to the secondary user equipment and storing the mapped VLAN routing addition information; the second user equipment is the primary user equipment which is identified based on a session identifier matched to a destination IP address extracted from the received data; and the received data is routed to the secondary user equipment by the primary user equipment” taught by Yang.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled a SMF to configure two or more UPFs so that the UPFs are able to forward the traffic from one UE to another (Yang, [0026]).
Regarding claim 9, Zhao-Li-Yang discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the VLAN routing information includes i) general packet radio service tunnelling protocol (GTP) ID as the session identifier, data network name (DNN) as a network identifier, a VLAN group identifier, a user equipment identifier of a user equipment connected to a session (Yang, [0014]: UE can access the 5G LAN-type service by establishing a PDU Session targeting the DNN associated with the 5G-LAN group. The PDU session establishment request message (5G LAN-VN DNN, etc.) is sent from UE to the SMF. [0083]: UPF 206 using information included in the transmission to find a first PDR (e.g., PDR 304) matching information included in the transmission (e.g. a source address and a destination address of the UE PDU), wherein the first PDR identifies a first FAR (e.g., FAR 306). In some embodiments, the step of using information included in the transmission to find the first PDR comprises UPF 206 using information included in the transmission (e.g., a local TEID allocated earlier for the PDU session of the UE A (to receive GTP-U PDU from a access network) or a local TEID allocated earlier for an N4 session created for a specific 5G LAN group), a IP address range allocated to the user equipment connected to the session, and an IP address range allocated to the secondary user equipment which is a lower level user equipment of the user equipment connected to the session (Yang, [0064]: identify UE-to-UE traffic from the originating UE, either via a Service Data Flow (SDF) filter where the destination IP address is another UE's address, e.g. a range of destination IP addresses (for the addresses range reserved for the group. [0084]: the first PDR includes first PDI to enable UPF 206 to identify the PDU as pertaining to a 5G LAN group traffic (e.g., the PDI specifies a source and destination address range, or any other significant bit(s) in the PDU which can be used to identify the application used for the communication within a given 5G LAN group). The same rationale applies as in claim 8.
Claims 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (US 2023/0421407 A1) in view of Li et al. (US 2019/0158408 A1) in further view of Kim et al. (US 2024/0007330 A1 – Priority date 03/25/2021).
Regarding claim 13, Zhao discloses an apparatus connected to internal nodes of a core network and performing operations as a user plane function (UPF) for providing a multi virtual local area network (VLAN) to user equipment ([0117]: when a terminal initiates establishment of a session to a network, an IP address needs to be allocated to the session of the terminal. When a plurality of sessions are established on the terminal, one IP address is allocated to each session. The IP address of the session of the terminal may be allocated by a network element (for example, an SMF or a UPF) in a core network, the apparatus comprising:
a memory configured to store VLAN routing information including user equipment information and session information of user equipments subscribing the multi VLAN service ([0140]-[0141]: the UPF determines that the data packet corresponds to the first session. To be specific, the UPF stores a correspondence between each session and subnet information of a subnet. After determining the subnet information corresponding to the source IP address in the data packet, the UPF determines, based on the subnet information corresponding to the source IP address and the correspondence, a session corresponding to the subnet information).
However, Zhao does not disclose wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping information between a primary user equipment IP address range and a secondary user equipment IP address range, and at least one VLAN router is configured to relay data of the secondary user equipment via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier.
In an analogous art, Li discloses wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping information between a primary user equipment IP address range and a secondary user equipment IP address range ([0246]: . The request may include an IP address list/range or IP prefix (for IP type traffic), VLAN ID(s) (for Ethernet type traffic), indicating allowed IP address/prefix or allowed VLAN ID(s) for the UE group. The request may include a group address (e.g. multicast address) that can be used as destination address by member UEs for sending traffic (e.g. multicast traffic or one-to-many traffic containing the group address as destination address) to the UE group (e.g. all the member UEs or all the other member UEs of the group); and at least one VLAN router is configured to relay data of the secondary user equipment via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier ([0026]: the bridge may be established between a radio access network (RAN) node lying between one of the UEs and its associated UP and a component of the UP associated with the other UE. [0147]: the UP of the group PDU session may have a tree structure. One of the UPFs of the UP may be selected as the root of the tree by the SMF. The single UE sends UL traffic, which is steered via an established bridge to the tree UP of the group PDU session. The bridge may be established according to embodiments of the present invention. Within the tree UP, the traffic is broadcast along the tree. [0247]: information (e.g. UE IDs) indicating which member UE(s) of the group is allowed to send traffic (e.g. one-to-many or multicast traffic) to the UE group (i.e. all the other UEs in the group) by using the group address as destination in the traffic (the group address may be provided by the requesting entity as described in the previous bullet or allocated to the UE group by the GMF), metadata of the UE group, describing e.g. the name and/or the purpose of the UE group and/or the application associated with the UE group.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao to comprise “wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping information between a primary user equipment IP address range and a secondary user equipment IP address range, and at least one VLAN router is configured to relay data of the secondary user equipment via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier” taught by Li.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to facilitate communication efficiency between different end users of different PDU sessions (Li, [0023]).
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose at least one processor configured to create at least one VLAN router per each VLAN group for relaying communication between user equipments belonging to a same VLAN group through the created at least one VLAN router, wherein the at least one VLAN router determines that the received data is a VLAN routing target in an event that user equipment information and session information extracted from a first user equipment is included in the VLAN routing information and transmitting the received data to a second user equipment which is a destination of the received data based on the VLAN routing information.
In an analogous art, Kim discloses at least one processor configured to create at least one VLAN router ([0088]: the VSW may be defined for each enterprise. The VSW may deliver a received packet to users in a virtual group, or may deliver a packet to deliver to the packet classifier) per each VLAN group for relaying communication between user equipments belonging to a same VLAN group through the created at least one VLAN router ([0012]: receiving an Ethernet packet from a user plane function (UPF), obtaining a source medium access control (MAC) address and virtual local area network (VLAN) identification information of the Ethernet packet, identifying a virtual switch (VSW) of an enterprise corresponding to the source MAC address and the VLAN identification information, and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the VSW. [0078]: the packet classifier may transmit the corresponding packet to all of users of the same virtual group in the VSW), wherein the at least one VLAN router determines that the received data is a VLAN routing target in an event that user equipment information and session information extracted from a first user equipment is included in the VLAN routing information and transmitting the received data to a second user equipment which is a destination of the received data based on the VLAN routing information (fig. 10, [0144]: One VSW may support one VNG. Each member of the VNG may have a unique MAC address. The VSW has N-ary port(s). Each port is associated with a specific tunnel, and the tunnel technology supported for each port may differ. For example, the table shown in FIG. 10 may support 24 ports. In various embodiments, the port of the VSW may be shared by a plurality of users. That is, several virtual group members may transmit and receive Ethernet packets through the same tunnel. [0146]: The VSW may monitor a message from the DHCP server and update the IP address corresponding to each MAC address. The IP address information is used if the VSW processes the ARP protocol).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li to comprise “at least one processor configured to create at least one VLAN router per each VLAN group for relaying communication between user equipments belonging to a same VLAN group through the created at least one VLAN router, wherein the at least one VLAN router determines that the received data is a VLAN routing target in an event that user equipment information and session information extracted from a first user equipment is included in the VLAN routing information and transmitting the received data to a second user equipment which is a destination of the received data based on the VLAN routing information” taught by Kim.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled identifying a virtual switch (VSW) of an enterprise corresponding to the source MAC address and the VLAN identification information, and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the VSW (Kim, [0012]).
Regarding claim 14, Zhao-Li-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 13, wherein: the VLAN routing information includes mapping information of session identifiers of sessions connected to a plurality of user equipments subscribing the VLAN service and IP addresses allocated to the plurality of user equipments (Kim, fig. 10: Virtual network group with MAC address map to IP address and port number. The port number map to a VLAN ID and tunnel); and the at least one VLAN router is configured to convert the session identifier of the received data to a session identifier matched to a destination IP address of the received data in order to transmit the received data to the second user equipment corresponding to the destination IP address (Kim, [0142]: The VSW may internally include the following configuration table for MAC address based switching. One VSW may support one VNG. Each member of the VNG may have a unique MAC address. The VSW has N-port(s). Each port is associated with a specific tunnel, and the tunnel technology supported for each port may differ. For example, the table shown in FIG. 10 may support 24 ports. In various embodiments, the port of the VSW may be shared by a plurality of users. That is, several virtual group members may transmit and receive Ethernet packets through the same tunnel). The same rationale applies as in claim 13.
Regarding claim 15, Zhao-Li-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 14. Zhao discloses wherein further comprising: a packet detection circuit configured to analyze the received data based on a packet detection rule (PDR) and relay the received data based on a forwarding detection rule based on the analysis result (Zhao, [0162]: the UPF respectively compares the IP network number (that is, 140.252) and the IP subnet number (that is, 255) corresponding to the source IP address with an IP network number and an IP subnet number in the IP subnet information in the PDR 1, and determines that both the IP network numbers and the IP subnet numbers are the same. Therefore, the UPF determines that the source IP address matches the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1, and forwards the data packet to the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1).
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose relay the received data to the at least one VLAN router based on a forwarding detection rule.
In an analogous art, Kim discloses relay the received data to the at least one VLAN router based on a forwarding detection rule ([0093]: UL Ethernet frame forwarding indicates transmitting an Ethernet frame received from the UPF to the VSW of the VNG to which the corresponding device is subscribed. Target VSW information may be identified based on a UPF IP address transmitting the corresponding Ethernet frame, a GTP tunnel ID, a source MAC address of the corresponding Ethernet frame, and a VLAN ID. According to an embodiment, the packet classifier may identify the target VSW information in an SRC MAC ADDR table).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li to comprise “relay the received data to the at least one VLAN router based on a forwarding detection rule” taught by Kim.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled identifying a virtual switch (VSW) of an enterprise corresponding to the VLAN identification information, and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the VSW (Kim, [0012]).
Regarding claim 16, Zhao-Li-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 15. Zhao discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information comprises mapping information on session identifiers, IP address ranges, network identifiers, and VLAN group identifiers of user equipments subscribing the multi VLAN service (Zhao, [0117]: when a terminal initiates establishment of a session to a network, an IP address needs to be allocated to the session of the terminal. When a plurality of sessions are established on the terminal, one IP address is allocated to each session. [0206]: the SMF configures, for the UPF by using the PDR based on the list of matched VLANs that is provided by the DN-AAA server and that corresponds to the PDU session, the list of matched VLANs that corresponds to the PDU session. One list of matched VLANs corresponds to one IP subnet, so that the UPF can send a received multicast packet or broadcast packet to a corresponding PDU session based on an IP subnet granularity); the packet detection circuit is configured to: extract a session identifier, a destination IP address, and a source IP address from the received data according to the packet detection rule, determine a network identifier matched to the session identifier from the VLAN routing information, and relay the received data to a corresponding to the VLAN group identifier according to the forwarding detection rule (Zhao, [0162]: the UPF respectively compares the IP network number (that is, 140.252) and the IP subnet number (that is, 255) corresponding to the source IP address with an IP network number and an IP subnet number in the IP subnet information in the PDR 1, and determines that both the IP network numbers and the IP subnet numbers are the same. Therefore, the UPF determines that the source IP address matches the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1, and forwards the data packet to the PDU session 1 corresponding to the PDR 1).
However, Zhao-Li does not disclose relay the received data to a VLAN router corresponding to the VLAN group identifier according to the forwarding detection rule
In an analogous art, Kim discloses relay the received data to a VLAN router corresponding to the VLAN group identifier according to the forwarding detection rule ([0093]: UL Ethernet frame forwarding indicates transmitting an Ethernet frame received from the UPF to the VSW of the VNG to which the corresponding device is subscribed. Target VSW information may be identified based on a UPF IP address transmitting the corresponding Ethernet frame, a GTP tunnel ID, a source MAC address of the corresponding Ethernet frame, and a VLAN ID. According to an embodiment, the packet classifier may identify the target VSW information in an SRC MAC ADDR table).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li to comprise “relay the received data to a VLAN router corresponding to the VLAN group identifier according to the forwarding detection rule” taught by Kim.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled identifying a virtual switch (VSW) of an enterprise corresponding to the VLAN identification information, and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the VSW (Kim, [0012]).
Regarding claim 17, Zhao-Li-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the packet detection circuit is configured to: determine whether a VLAN group identifier matched to the source IP address of the received data is identical to a VLAN group identifier matched to the destination IP address of the received data based on the VLAN routing information; delivering the received data to the VLAN router in an event that the VLAN group identifiers are identical (Zhao, [0125]: the packet classifier may identify whether a MAC address and a VLAN ID match. The packet classifier may identify the MAC address and the VLAN ID from a predefined table (e.g., the DST MAC ADDR table of FIG. 6). The MAC address indicates the destination address. The MAC address may be used to identify a tunnel associated with the terminal. If the MAC address and the VLAN ID of the received packet match the MAC address and the VLAN ID of the entry in the existing table, the packet classifier may perform operation 707. [0127]: the packet classifier may transmit an Ethernet packet to the destination. The packet classifier may transmit the Ethernet packet through the tunnel according to the destination address); and discarding the received data in an event that the VLAN group identifiers are not identical (Zhao, [0125]: If the MAC address and the VLAN ID of the received packet do not match the MAC address and the VLAN ID of the entry in the existing table, the packet classifier may perform operation 713. [0131]: the packet classifier may delete the Ethernet packet).
Regarding claim 18, Zhao-Li-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: a tunneling interface configured to be connected to tunneling sessions of the plurality of user equipments and to be connected to the at least one router (Zhao,[0140]: the VSW may be connected to one or more packet classifiers (ELB #1, ELB #2, . . . , ELB #N). An interface between the VSW and the packet classifier may use the tunneling protocol such as GTP-U. The VSW may be connected with a virtual router (VRT).
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao in view of Li in view of Kim, as applied to claims 18, in view of Yang et al. (US 2022/0150166 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Zhao-Li-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 18.
However, Zhao-Li-Kim does not disclose a data network router configured to route the received data to a corresponding data network, wherein the packet detection circuit is configured to transmit the received data to the data network router in an event that the determined session identifier or the destination IP address is not registered at the VLAN routing information.
In an analogous art, Yang discloses a data network router configured to route the received data to a corresponding data network, wherein the packet detection circuit is configured to transmit the received data to the data network router in an event that the determined session identifier or the destination IP address is not registered at the VLAN routing information ([0383]-[0384]: upon receiving such user plane traffic, the SMF will figure out which UPF is serving the destination UE, therefore to provision relevant PDR/FAR to the UPF forwarding the packets, and any intermediate UPFs (for potential communication from a UE served by that UPF to the same destination UE), to enable it forward the traffic to the UPF serving the destination UE; [0384] Or, provision a new URR with a new reporting trigger, preferably called “Unknown 5GLAN traffic” and associated with the default PDR, so the UPF will send PFCP Session Report Request message, report to the SMF the packets for UE-to-UE traffic, i.e. the packets towards the destination UE IP address is not deliverable; so that the SMF can provision relevant PDR1a/FAR1a to the UPF for 5G LAN Group 1 N4 session, and any intermediate UPFs (for potential communication from a UE served by that UPF to the same destination UE), to enable it forward the traffic to the UPF serving the destination UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filed date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhao-Li-Kim to comprise “a data network router configured to route the received data to a corresponding data network, wherein the packet detection circuit is configured to transmit the received data to the data network router in an event that the determined session identifier or the destination IP address is not registered at the VLAN routing information” taught by Yang.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled a SMF to configure two or more UPFs so that the UPFs are able to forward the traffic from one UE to another (Yang, [0026]).
Regarding claim 20, Zhao-Li-Kim-Yang discloses the apparatus of claim 19, wherein: the IP address range includes a primary user equipment IP address range of IP addresses allocated to a primary user equipment, a secondary user equipment IP address range of IP addresses allocated to at least one secondary user equipment wherein the primary user equipment is a user equipment directly connected to the sessions, and the secondary user equipment is a user equipment connected to the sessions through the primary user equipment (Yang, [0064]: identify UE-to-UE traffic from the originating UE, either via a Service Data Flow (SDF) filter where the destination IP address is another UE's address, e.g. a range of destination IP addresses (for the addresses range reserved for the group. [0084]: the first PDR includes first PDI to enable UPF 206 to identify the PDU as pertaining to a 5G LAN group traffic (e.g., the PDI specifies a source and destination address range, or any other significant bit(s) in the PDU which can be used to identify the application used for the communication within a given 5G LAN group); the VLAN routing information includes mapping information of the primary user equipment IP address range and the secondary user equipment IP address range; and the at least one VLAN router is configured to: determine the primary user equipment IP address range from the VLAN routing information using the destination IP address (Yang, [0027]: UPF using information included in the transmission to find a first packet detection rule, PDR, matching information included in the transmission (e.g. a source address and a destination address of the PDU), wherein the first PDR identifies a first forwarding action rule, FAR, wherein the first FAR includes an indication (e.g., Destination Interface set to “5G-LAN internal”) indicating that the PDU requires further ingress processing); convert a session identifier of the determined primary user equipment IP address range with a session identifier of the received data, and deliver the received data to a primary user equipment connected to a secondary user equipment corresponding to the destination IP address (Yang, [0080]: UPF 214, upon receiving GTP-U PDU 369, UPF 214 uses information included in the GTP-U PDU 369 to find a PDR 196 matching information included in the GTP-U PDU 369 (e.g. a source address and a destination address of the PDU transmitted by UE A). In some embodiments, the step of using information included in the GTP-U PDU 369 to find PDR 196 comprises using information included in the GTP-U PDU 369, e.g., a local TEID, to identify a first N4 session (e.g., the N4 session corresponding to a 5G LAN group to which UE A and UE C belong) prior to finding the first PDR 196). The same rationale applies as in claim 19.
Additional References
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicants disclosure.
Salkintzis, US 2024/0244695 A1: Port Mapping for Multi-Access Data Connection.
Zhu et al., US 2023/0164066 A1: Route Configuration Method and Apparatus.
Parron et al., US 2021/0345113 A1: Provisioning of VLAN IDS in 5G Systems.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/J.C.T/Examiner, Art Unit 2446
/BRIAN J. GILLIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2446