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 06/11/2026.
Claims 1-9, 13-20 are pending in this application.
Claims 10-12 are canceled.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/11/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments regarding Yang (see remarks pg. 10) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant assert that “Yang fails to disclose or suggest the claimed UPF routing decision architecture…In particular, Yang does not disclose determining, based on VLAN routing information, whether received data is a VLAN routing target or a DN routing target, selecting a VLAN router or a DN router based on that determination, and forwarding the received data through the selected router.” Examiner respectfully disagrees.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., UPF determining, based on VLAN routing information, whether received data is a VLAN routing target or a DN routing target) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Moreover, Yang discloses 5G LAN-virtual network capable of supporting 5G LAN-type service ([0047]). The SMF provides each of the UPFs with both a set of Packet Detection Rules (PDRs) and Forwarding Action Rules (FARs) (e.g. stored information), which define how traffic from the respective UEs 218,220 is handled ([0062]). Yang also disclose PDR and FAR provide information that may explicitly indicate whether an uplink traffic flow is routed to the DN (e.g. data network) or to another PDU session anchor UPF (via Nx interface) or locally routed (e.g. 5G-LAN group). The packets for different 5G-LAN group may be marked with respective VLAN tagging by UPF ([0015], [0018]). Yang discloses the FAR associated with the matching PDR includes Destination Interface=“5G LAN internal” together with a Network Instance “5G LAN Group 1”, this will trigger that the packet is sent back the ingress, e.g. routing engine (e.g. router). The UPF identifies the N4 Session for the UE2 by matching the PDR defined in that N4 session, based on UE2's Destination Address and Source Interface set to “5G-LAN Internal” (i.e. VLAN routing) ([0365]-[0366]). Furthermore, the value of the second FAR's Destination Interface IE is set to “Access”. Before UPF 206 forwards PDU 301 to UE B, UPF 206 adds a header to PDU 301 based on outer header creation information included in the second FAR 312, thereby generating a second GTP-U PDU 319 that consists of the outer header and PDU 301. That is, UPF 206 forwards PDU 301 to UE B by transmitting GTP-U PDU 319 to RAN 300 (e.g. DN router), which will then transmit PDU 301 to UE B (i.e. DN routing) ([0074], [0368]). In other words, Yang discloses the UPF determining how to route an uplink traffic flow based on PDR and FAR (e.g. VLAN routing information). The determination is made based whether the Destination Interface is set to “5G LAN internal” or “Access”.
Upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made for independent claim 1 over Yang et al. (US 2022/0150166 A1) in view of newly cited reference Talebi Fard et al. (herein after Talebi, US 2020/0351984 A1). Regarding independent claim 13, a new ground (s) of rejection is made over Yang et al. (US 2022/0150166 A1) in view of newly cited reference Talebi (US 2020/0351984 A1) in view of previously cited reference and Kim (US 2024/0007330 A1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claim recites “…storing VLAN routing information that includes user equipment information, which is information…and session information…” It is unclear whether the session information is a separate information stored or if it is part of the user equipment information or routing information. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2022/0150166 A1) in view of Talebi Fard et al. (herein after Talebi, US 2020/0351984 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yang discloses a method of an apparatus for providing a multi virtual local area network (VLAN) service to user equipment (UE) ([0047]: 5G LAN-virtual network: a virtual network capable of supporting 5G LAN-type service), the method comprising:
storing VLAN routing information that includes user equipment information which is information on user equipments subscribing to the multi VLAN service ([0015]: SMF stores all the PDU session contexts targeting the same DNN associated with the 5G-LAN group. [0018]: SMF generates PDU forwarding rules and provides them to the UPF. [0058]: the SMF 208 can provide the UPF with both a set of Packet Detection Rules (PDRs) and Forwarding Action Rules (FARs), which define how traffic from UEs 202, 204 is handled. [0106]: wherein the PDU includes a source address field containing an address of a first UE and a destination address field containing an address of a second UE (e.g. user equipment information)), and session information ([0030], [0119]-[0120]: generating the first FAR, wherein the first FAR includes: i) an indication (e.g., “Internal” and/or “5G-LAN”… ii) an identifier (e.g., “internal,” “5G-LAN,” and/or an N4 session identifier) for use in identifying a set of one or more PDRs (e.g., a set of PDRs whose source interface attribute is set to the identifier. Providing the first PDR and the first FAR to a first user plane function, UPF, selected to serve the first UE. NOTE: The SMF stores UE information and session information to generate PDR and FAR, which are provided to the UPF. The UPF uses PDR and FAR for routing decisions);
receiving data from a first user equipment and extracting user equipment information and session information from the received data ([0363]-[0364]: The UPF receives an incoming packet which is intended for UE2 from RAN and identifies (e.g. extract) UE1's N4 session based on the Local TEID allocated by the UPF earlier. The UPF finds a PDR (e.g. UE address and session ID) in that N4 session to match the packet, where the PDR is identifying the packets is intended for UE to UE communication in 5G LAN Group 1, e.g. towards the UE2 which is served by the same UPF);
determining, based on the VLAN routing information, whether the received data is a VLAN routing target or a data network (DN) routing target ([0015]: PDR and FAR provide information that may explicitly indicate whether an uplink traffic flow is routed to the DN or to another PDU session anchor UPF (via Nx interface) or locally routed (e.g. VLAN group). [0018]: The packets for different 5G-LAN group may be marked with respective VLAN tagging by UPF);
selecting a VLAN router when the received data is determined to be a VLAN routing target ([0365]-[0366]: The FAR associated with the matching PDR includes Destination Interface=“5G LAN internal” together with a Network Instance “5G LAN Group 1”, this will trigger that the packet after being removal of Outer GTP-U header is sent back the ingress, e.g. routing engine (e.g. router). The UPF identifies the N4 Session for the UE2 by matching the PDR defined in that N4 session, based on UE2's Destination Address and Source Interface set to “5G-LAN Internal”) and selecting a DN router when the received data is determined to be a DN routing target; and forwarding the received data through the selected router ([0074]: The value of the second FAR's Destination Interface IE is set to “Access”. Before UPF 206 forwards PDU 301 to UE B, UPF 206 adds a header to PDU 301 based on outer header creation information included in the second FAR 312, thereby generating a second GTP-U PDU 319 that consists of the outer header and PDU 301. That is, UPF 206 forwards PDU 301 to UE B by transmitting GTP-U PDU 319 to RAN 300, which will then transmit PDU 301 to UE B. [0368]: The UPF processes the associated FAR to that PDR, adds an Outer Header which is set to the remote TEID allocated for UE2's PDU Session to the packet, together with Destination Interface set to “Access”(e.g. data network), so that the UE3 will be able to receive the packet);
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 ([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). [0118]: generating a first packet detection rule, PDR, associated with a first user equipment (i.e. first UE with IP address/range). [0128]: UPF serving the second UE is the first UPF and the set of PDRs and/or the second PDR is associated with an N4 session identifier associated with the second UE (i.e. PDR contains address range. In other words, the second PDR for the second UE contains IP address/range). [0134]: the first FAR includes: i) the indication that at least a second PDR should be applied to packets that match the first PDR, and ii) the identifier (e.g., an N4 session identifier) for use in identifying a set of one or more PDRs (i.e. the FAR maps the first and second PDR (with PDI) corresponding to the first UE and second UE).
However, Yang does not disclose 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, Talebi discloses the user plane function routes data via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier ([0289]: Multicast information may comprise an identifier/address of a UE acting as a VLAN switch/router and a port number that connects a VLAN group associated with the group to the network via the UE-T, a VLAN ID, V-TAG, C-TAG, S-TAG, VLAN TAG. [0333]-[0335]: the SMF may send to the UPF, a packet detection rule (PDR) comprising the multicast address. The PDR may comprise a forwarding action rule (FAR). The SMF may configure the UPF to send data packets to the group based on elements of the PDR and the FAR. The data notification message further comprises a packet detection rule identifier (PDR ID) associated with the group (e.g. group policy identifier). The UPF may determine that a destination address for the data packets is a multicast address. The UPF may determine a multicast information. The UPF may send the data packets to the group and/or the at least one wireless device(s). The group may be identified by the multicast address (e.g. UE acting as VLAN switch/router for VLAN 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 Yang to comprise “the user plane function routes data via the primary user equipment based on a hierarchical VLAN mapping table or group policy identifier” taught by Talebi.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled the UPF to determine that multicast information may be employed to transmit data packets to at least one wireless device and/or group (Talebi, [0333]-[0334]).
Regarding claim 6, Yang-Talebi discloses the method of claim 1.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 (Yang, [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).
Regarding claim 7, Yang-Talebi 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 (Yang, [0014]: PDU session establishment request message (5G LAN-VN DNN, etc.) is sent from UE to the SMF. During PDU session establishment, the SMF determines the traffic routing approach by correlating all the PDU session contexts targeting the same DNN associated with the 5G-LAN group. [0015]: SMF stores all the PDU session contexts targeting the same DNN associated with the 5G-LAN group).
Regarding claim 8, Yang-Talebi discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: after the storing, further comprising: receiving VLAN routing addition information from a session management function (SMF) (Yang, [0062]: SMF 208 provides each of the UPFs 206, 214 with both a set of Packet Detection Rules (PDRs) and Forwarding Action Rules (FARs), 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 (Yang, [0062]: 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 (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. 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).
Regarding claim 9, Yang-Talebi 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).
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang in view of Talebi, as applied to claim 2, in further view of Zhao et al. (US 2023/0421407 A1)).
Regarding claim 2, Yang-Talebi 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 (Yang, [0030], [0119]-[0120]: generating the first FAR, wherein the first FAR includes: i) an indication (e.g., “Internal” and/or “5G-LAN”… ii) an identifier (e.g., “internal,” “5G-LAN,” and/or an N4 session identifier) for use in identifying a set of one or more PDRs (e.g., a set of PDRs whose source interface attribute is set to the identifier. Providing the first PDR and the first FAR to a first user plane function, UPF, selected to serve the first UE) and ii) Internet Protocol (IP) addresses allocated to the plurality of user equipments, each mapped to the session identifiers (Yang,[0058]: the SMF 208 can provide the UPF with both a set of Packet Detection Rules (PDRs) and Forwarding Action Rules (FARs), which define how traffic from UEs 202, 204 is handled. [0106]: wherein the PDU includes a source address field containing an address of a first UE and a destination address field containing an address of a second UE).
However, Yang-Talebi does not disclose the transmitting comprises: determining a session identifier matched with a destination IP address of the received data from the VLAN routing information; converting a session identifier of the received data to the determined session identifier; and transmitting the received data with the converted session identifier to a second user equipment corresponding to the destination IP address; and the session identifier matched the destination IP address is a session identifier of a session connected to the second user equipment.
In an analogous art, Zhao discloses the transmitting comprises: determining a session identifier matched with a destination IP address of the received data from 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); converting a session identifier of the received data to the determined session identifier ([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 (e.g. convert) 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 ([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 ([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).
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 Yang-Talebi to comprise “the transmitting comprises: determining a session identifier matched with a destination IP address of the received data from the VLAN routing information; converting a session identifier of the received data to the determined session identifier; and transmitting the received data with the converted session identifier to a second user equipment corresponding to the destination IP address; and the session identifier matched the destination IP address is a session identifier of a session connected to the second user equipment” taught by Zhao.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to determining, based on the subnet information, that the data packet corresponds to a session in the subnet; and sending the data packet via the corresponding session (Zhao, [0006]).
Regarding claim 3, Yang-Talebi-Zhao discloses the method of claim 2. Yang discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information includes IP address ranges (Yang,[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).).
However, Yang-Talebi does not disclose wherein: the VLAN routing information includes session identifiers, network identifiers, and VLAN group identifiers of user equipments subscribing to the multi VLAN service; 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, 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.
In an analogous art, Zhao discloses wherein: the VLAN routing information includes session identifiers, network identifiers ([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 ([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 ([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 ([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).
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 Yang-Talebi to comprise “wherein: the VLAN routing information includes session identifiers, network identifiers, and VLAN group identifiers of user equipments subscribing to the multi VLAN service; 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, 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” taught by Zhao.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to determining, based on the subnet information, that the data packet corresponds to a session in the subnet; and sending the data packet via the corresponding session (Zhao, [0006]).
Regarding claim 4, Yang-Talebi-Zhao discloses the method of claim 3. 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).
However, Yang-Talebi does not disclose wherein: the VLAN routing information includes the session identifier, and the network identifier, which are matched with a plurality of VLAN group identifiers; wherein the determining comprises: determining the received data as a VLAN routing target in an event that the VLAN group identifiers are identical.
In an analogous art, 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)..
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 Yang-Talebi to comprise “wherein: the VLAN routing information includes the session identifier, and the network identifier, which are matched with a plurality of VLAN group identifiers; wherein the determining comprises: determining the received data as a VLAN routing target in an event that the VLAN group identifiers are identical” taught by Zhao.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to determining, based on the subnet information, that the data packet corresponds to a session in the subnet; and sending the data packet via the corresponding session (Zhao, [0006]).
Regarding claim 5, Yang-Talebi-Zhao 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). The same rationale applies as in claim 2.
Claims 13-15, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2022/0150166 A1) in view of Talebi et al. (US 2020/0351984 A1) in further view of Kim et al. (US 2024/0007330 A1 – Priority date 03/25/2021).
Regarding claim 13, Yang 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 ([0047]: 5G LAN-virtual network: a virtual network capable of supporting 5G LAN-type service. [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), the apparatus comprising:
a memory configured to store VLAN routing information, including user equipment information ([0015]: SMF stores all the PDU session contexts targeting the same DNN associated with the 5G-LAN group. [0018]: SMF generates PDU forwarding rules and provides them to the UPF. [0058]: the SMF 208 can provide the UPF with both a set of Packet Detection Rules (PDRs) and Forwarding Action Rules (FARs), which define how traffic from UEs 202, 204 is handled. [0106]: wherein the PDU includes a source address field containing an address of a first UE and a destination address field containing an address of a second UE (e.g. user equipment information), and session information of user equipments subscribing the multi VLAN service ([0030], [0119]-[0120]: generating the first FAR, wherein the first FAR includes: i) an indication (e.g., “Internal” and/or “5G-LAN”… ii) an identifier (e.g., “internal,” “5G-LAN,” and/or an N4 session identifier) for use in identifying a set of one or more PDRs (e.g., a set of PDRs whose source interface attribute is set to the identifier. Providing the first PDR and the first FAR to a first user plane function, UPF, selected to serve the first UE. NOTE: The SMF stores UE information and session information to generate PDR and FAR, which are provided to the UPF. The UPF uses PDR and FAR for routing decisions);
wherein the at least one processor is configured to: determine, based on the VLAN routing information, whether received data is a VLAN routing target or a data network (DN) routing target ([0015]: PDR and FAR provide information that may explicitly indicate whether an uplink traffic flow is routed to the DN or to another PDU session anchor UPF (via Nx interface) or locally routed (e.g. 5G-LAN group). [0018]: The packets for different 5G-LAN group may be marked with respective VLAN tagging by UPF);
select a VLAN router when the received data is determined to be a VLAN routing target ([0365]-[0366]: The FAR associated with the matching PDR includes Destination Interface=“5G LAN internal” together with a Network Instance “5G LAN Group 1”, this will trigger that the packet after being removal of Outer GTP-U header is sent back the ingress, e.g. routing engine (e.g. router). The UPF identifies the N4 Session for the UE2 by matching the PDR defined in that N4 session, based on UE2's Destination Address and Source Interface set to “5G-LAN Internal”) and select a DN router when the received data is determined to be a DN routing target; and forward the received data through the selected router ([0074]: The value of the second FAR's Destination Interface IE is set to “Access”. Before UPF 206 forwards PDU 301 to UE B, UPF 206 adds a header to PDU 301 based on outer header creation information included in the second FAR 312, thereby generating a second GTP-U PDU 319 that consists of the outer header and PDU 301. That is, UPF 206 forwards PDU 301 to UE B by transmitting GTP-U PDU 319 to RAN 300, which will then transmit PDU 301 to UE B. [0368]: The UPF processes the associated FAR to that PDR, adds an Outer Header which is set to the remote TEID allocated for UE2's PDU Session to the packet, together with Destination Interface set to “Access”), so that the UE3 will be able to receive the packet);
wherein the VLAN routing information includes mapping information between a primary user equipment IP address range and a secondary user equipment IP address range([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). [0118]: generating a first packet detection rule, PDR, associated with a first user equipment (i.e. first UE with IP address/range). [0128]: UPF serving the second UE is the first UPF and the set of PDRs and/or the second PDR is associated with an N4 session identifier associated with the second UE (i.e. PDR contains address range. In other words, the second PDR for the second UE contains IP address/range). [0134]: the first FAR includes: i) the indication that at least a second PDR should be applied to packets that match the first PDR, and ii) the identifier (e.g., an N4 session identifier) for use in identifying a set of one or more PDRs (i.e. the FAR maps the first and second PDR (with PDI) corresponding to the first UE and second UE).
However, Yang does not disclose 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, Talebi discloses 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 ([0289]: Multicast information may comprise an identifier/address of a UE acting as a VLAN switch/router and a port number that connects a VLAN group associated with the group to the network via the UE-T, a VLAN ID, V-TAG, C-TAG, S-TAG, VLAN TAG. [0333]-[0335]: the SMF may send to the UPF, a packet detection rule (PDR) comprising the multicast address. The PDR may comprise a forwarding action rule (FAR). The SMF may configure the UPF to send data packets to the group based on elements of the PDR and the FAR. The data notification message further comprises a packet detection rule identifier (PDR ID) associated with the group (e.g. group policy identifier). The UPF may determine that a destination address for the data packets is a multicast address. The UPF may determine a multicast information. The UPF may send the data packets to the group and/or the at least one wireless device(s). The group may be identified by the multicast address (e.g. UE acting as VLAN switch/router for VLAN 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 Yang to comprise “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 Talebi.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled the UPF to determine that multicast information may be employed to transmit data packets to at least one wireless device and/or group (Talebi, [0333]-[0334]).
However, Yang-Talebi 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],[0165]: the VSW may be defined (e.g. create) 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, [0102]: 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 SRC MAC ADDR table of FIG. 3 ). The MAC address indicates the source address. The MAC address may be used for identifying an enterprise of the UE. [0205]: If a session of the Ethernet packet received from the VSW is mapped to the IP address, the Ethernet packet may be mapped to the IP packet, and the IP packet may be forwarded to the UPF corresponding to the corresponding IP packet. [0229]: the storage unit 1703 may store the table for mapping the source MAC addresses, the VLAN IDs, and the VSW information. According to an embodiment, if the network node is the VSW of FIG. 1 , the storage unit 1703 may store the table for mapping the ports and the destination tunnel information).
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 Yang-Talebi 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, Yang-Talebi-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, Yang-Talebi-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 14. Yang 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 (Yang, [0365]-[0366]: The FAR associated with the matching PDR includes Destination Interface=“5G LAN internal” together with a Network Instance “5G LAN Group 1”, this will trigger that the packet after being removal of Outer GTP-U header is sent back the ingress, e.g. routing engine (e.g. router). The UPF identifies the N4 Session for the UE2 by matching the PDR defined in that N4 session, based on UE2's Destination Address and Source Interface set to “5G-LAN Internal”).
However, Yang-Talebi 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 Yang-Talebi 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 18, Yang-Talebi-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 (Talebi, [0289]: Multicast information may comprise a tunnel identifier of the group. Multicast information may comprise an AN tunnel (identifier) for the group. Multicast information may comprise one or more tunnel identifiers associated with members of the group… Multicast information may comprise an identifier/address of a UE acting as a VLAN switch/router and a port number that connects a VLAN group associated with the group to the network via the UE-T, a VLAN ID, V-TAG, C-TAG, S-TAG, VLAN TAG, and/or the like). The same rationale applies as in claim 15.
Regarding claim 19, Yang-Talebi-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 18, wherein 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 (Yang, [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).
Regarding claim 20, Yang-Talebi-Kim 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).
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang in view of Talebi et in view of Kim, as applied to claim 15, in further view of Zhao et al. (US 2023/0421407 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Yang-Talebi-Kim discloses the apparatus of claim 15. Kim discloses relay the received data to a VLAN router corresponding to the VLAN group identifier according to the forwarding detection rule (Kim, [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).
However, Yang-Talebi-Kim does not disclose 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; 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.
In an analogous art, 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 ([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 [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).
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 Yang-Talebi-Kim to comprise “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; 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” taught by Zhao.
One of ordinary skilled in the art would have been motivated because it would have enabled to determining, based on the subnet information, that the data packet corresponds to a session in the subnet; and sending the data packet via the corresponding session (Zhao, [0006]).
Regarding claim 17, Yang-Talebi-Kim-Zhao 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). The same rationale applies as in claim 16.
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
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/J.C.T/Examiner, Art Unit 2454
/OSCAR A LOUIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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