DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/30/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
-Applicant argued the combination does not disclose: “sending a notifyMOIAttribute ValueChanges to the ASP that has multiple different status values dependent on whether the instantiation has been wholly or partially successful or unsuccessful”
Examiner Respectfully Disagrees:
3GPP in figure 7.1.2.1-1 discloses sending different status values to ASP dependent on whether the instantiation has been wholly successful or unsuccessful. In 7.1.2.1-1, 3GPP at step 7.2 ESCP after receiving response from NFVO, discloses it analyzes the response and sends to ASP notification to indicate EASRequirements MOI and EASFunction MOI have been created (FINISHED); At step 7.3 discloses after receiving response from NFVO, discloses ESCP analyzes the response and sends to ASP, notification to indicate EASRequirements MOI creation has failed (failed). The system (ESCP) is capable of sending notification to the ASP based on the request is finished or failed. A mere addition of notification category as partially finished to the existing FINISHED and FAILED status notifications using the similar programing as to “finished” and “failed” status notifications with parameter change is an obvious variation. For instance, out of the 5 requests if 2 are finished and 3 are failed, it is an obvious engineering choice to a person having ordinary skill in the art to configure the system (ESCP) to send one notification indicating that the requests as partially failed or partially finished instead of sending 5 individual notification for each request. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make an engineering choice that avoids unnecessary and redundant notification communication. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to send one notification communication indicating partially failed or partially failed.
Further, this aspect amounts to printed matter or programming applied to existing system to add a feature of sending partially failed notification to existing notification sending of FINISHED and FAILED notification of the prior art without changing the structure of the system. This amounts to programming the system to add additional notification category. A Mere printed matter (programming) application on the system where programing it to add additional notification category to pre-existing category types of FINISHED and FAILED that is taught by the prior art without any change on the structure of the system is an obvious variation, not inventive concept. MPEP 2111.05 states that Once it is determined that the limitation is directed to printed matter, the examiner must then determine if the matter is functionally or structurally related to the associated physical substrate. See In re DiStefano, 808 F.3d 845, 117 USPQ2d 1267-1268 (Fed. Cir. 2015). If a new and unobvious functional relationship between the printed matter and the substrate does not exist. USPTO personnel need not give patentable weight to printed matter. See In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
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.
Claims 25-28, 32-35, and 37-40 are 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 claims comprise overlapping limitation scope included in the independent claims they depend on making it difficult to determine the limits and bounds of the claims hence rendering the claims indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 21-23, and 25-41 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “5G; Management and orchestration; Edge Computing Management (3GPP TS 28.538 version 17.1.0 Release 17)” hereinafter 3GPP, further in view of (DE102021125097).
Regarding claim 21. 3GPP discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS) (figure 7.1.2.1-1 ECSP producer of provisioning MnS corresponds to apparatus) to:
receive, from an application service provider (ASP) based on consumption of a provisioning MnS with a createMOI operation (figure 7.1.2.1-1 ASP consumer of provisioning MnS), a request to instantiate at least one edge application server (EAS) virtual network function (VNF), the request including deployment requirements to deploy the at least one EAS VNF (7.1.2.1 EAS Deployment and figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 1 discloses ASP consumes the provisioning MnS with createMOI operation (see clause 11.1.1.1. in TS 28.532 [w]) for EASRequirements IOC to request ECSP provisioning MnS producer to start the EAS VNF instantiation, where the EASRequirements IOC contains the deployment requirements, including (but not limited to) the following attributes: - the service areas (i.e., geographical, or topological) where the UEs can access the edge computing service (see clause 7.3.3 in TS 28.558 [2]). - Software image information and virtual resource information (e.g. software image location, minimum RAM, disk requirements) (see clause 7.1.6.5 and 7.1.9 in ETSI NFV IFA-011 [7]). - QoS requirements (e.g. bandwidth, end-to-end latency). - service continuity requirements (e.g. whether service continuity is required). - Affinity/Anti-a);
create, in response to reception of the request, a first Managed Object Instance (MOI) for an EAS requirements information object class (IOC) (7.1.2.1 EAS Deployment and figure 7.1.2.1-1 steps 3-7 discloses ECSP provisioning MnS producer analyses the deployment requirements to determine which EDN and how many EAS instance(s) should be instantiated to satisfy the deployment requirements, and downloads the EAS VNF software image from the software image location. The EDN can be selected either by considering the individual requirement or by grouping the multiple requirements as single selection criteria. 4. ECSP provisioning MnS producer invokes the InstantiateNsRequest or UpdateNsRequest operation (see clause 7.3.3 and 7.3.5 in ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]) to request NFVO via the Os-Ma-nfvo interface to instantiate a NS instance including the EAS VNF instance. 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC. 7. If all VNF instance(s) have been successfully instantiated, then: 7.1. ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC. 7.2. ECSP provisioning MnS producer notifies ASP about the successful instantiation of EAS with the creation of MOIs for the EASRequirement IOC and EASFunction(s) IOC); and
send, to the ASP, a response to the request indicating that the first MOI has been successfully created (7.1.2.1 EAS Deployment and figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 7 discloses 7. If all VNF instance(s) have been successfully instantiated, then: 7.1. ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC).
request a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO), via an Os-Ma-nfvo interface, to instantiate a network slice (NS) instance including the at least one EAS VNF (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 4 discloses request to insatiate EAS VNF sent to NFVo the interface used corresponds to Os-Ma-nfvo interface and the network comprising the VNF corresponds to slice) ;
receive a notification indicating a result of instantiation of the at least one EAS VNF (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 5 discloses the ESCP producer of provisioning MnS receives notification to indicate the result of EAS instantiation);
determine, based on the notification, whether the instantiation has been successful for at least one EAS VNF instance of the at least one EAS VNF ((figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 6 discloses the ESCP producer of provisioning MnS analyzes the received notification from NFVO and determines if the instantiate succeeded or failed and creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC respectively); and
send, to the ASP, a notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges that has a status of "FINISHED", "PARTIALLYFAILED", or "FAILED" based on a determination of whether the instantiation has been successful for all, some, or none, respectively, of the at least one EAS VNF (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 7.2 discloses ESCP sends to ASP notification to indicate EASRequirements MOI and EASFunction MOI)s) have been created (FINISHED); step 7.3 discloses ESCP sends to ASP notification to indicate EASRequirements MOI creation has failed (failed). The system (ESCP) is capable of sending notification to the ASP based on the request is finished or failed. A mere addition of notification category as partially finished using the same programing as to the other notification categories such as “finished” and “failed” with parameter change is an obvious variation. For instance, out of the 5 requests if 2 are finished and 3 are failed, it is an obvious engineering choice to a person having ordinary skill in the art to configure the system (ESCP) to send one notification indicating that the requests as partially failed or partially finished instead of sending 5 individual notification for each request. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make an engineering choice that avoids unnecessary and redundant notification communication. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to send one notification communication indicating partially failed or partially failed. Further, this aspect amounts to printed matter or programming applied to existing system to add a feature of sending partially failed notification to existing notification sending of FINISHED and FAILED notification of the prior art without changing the structure of the system. This amounts to programming the system to add additional notification category. A Mere printed matter (programming) application on the system where programing it to add additional notification category to pre-existing category types of FINISHED and FAILED that is taught by the prior art without any change on the structure of the system is an obvious variation, not inventive concept. MPEP 2111.05 states that Once it is determined that the limitation is directed to printed matter, the examiner must then determine if the matter is functionally or structurally related to the associated physical substrate. See In re DiStefano, 808 F.3d 845, 117 USPQ2d 1267-1268 (Fed. Cir. 2015). If a new and unobvious functional relationship between the printed matter and the substrate does not exist. USPTO personnel need not give patentable weight to printed matter. See In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
But, 3GPP does not explicitly disclose: an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions ([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP; [0099] discloses Example 20 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a plurality of MOIs including an EAS LCM descriptor identifier, an EAS VNF instance identifier, and EAS profile information elements).
Joey further discloses what 3GPP discloses that is request a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO), via an Os-Ma-nfvo interface, to instantiate a network slice (NS) instance including the at least one EAS VNF (functions ([0096-0098] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP…[0098] discloses Example 19 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-18, wherein instantiating the instantiable EAS for edge computing for the ASP includes: downloading an EAS VNF software image from an image storage location; and providing a network function message to an NFVO via an Os-Ma-nfvo interface to instantiate the instantiable EAS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was effectively filed to combine the teaching of 3GPP with Joey. The modification would allow using hardware components to EAS deployment to enable fast processing of the deployment process than a software module system.
Regarding claim 22. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 21.
3GPP further discloses, wherein attributes of the EAS requirements IOC include:
at least one service area where a user equipment (UE) is able to access an edge computing service provided by the at least one EAS VNF, software image information and virtual resource information for the at least one EAS VNF, service continuity requirements for the at least one EAS VNF, and affinity and anti-affinity requirements for the at least one EAS VNF with other existing EAS on a target edge data network (EDN) ((7.1.2.1 EAS Deployment and figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 1 discloses ASP consumes the provisioning MnS with createMOI operation (see clause 11.1.1.1. in TS 28.532 [w]) for EASRequirements IOC to request ECSP provisioning MnS producer to start the EAS VNF instantiation, where the EASRequirements IOC contains the deployment requirements, including (but not limited to) the following attributes: - the service areas (i.e., geographical, or topological) where the UEs can access the edge computing service (see clause 7.3.3 in TS 28.558 [2]). - Software image information and virtual resource information (e.g. software image location, minimum RAM, disk requirements) (see clause 7.1.6.5 and 7.1.9 in ETSI NFV IFA-011 [7]). QoS requirements (e.g. bandwidth, end-to-end latency). - service continuity requirements (e.g. whether service continuity is required). - Affinity/Anti-affinity).
Regarding claim 23. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 21.
Joey further discloses, wherein the processing circuitry further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to:
analyze the deployment requirements to determine which edge data network (EDN) and how many EAS instances are to be instantiated to satisfy the deployment requirements; and
download an EAS VNF software image from a software image location ([0011] discloses the ASP can consume the LCM MnS using the instantiateEasReq operation to request the ECSP to instantiate the EAS with an EAS LCM descriptor that includes (but is not limited to) the following attributes:
- EAS-LCM Descriptor ID: the identifier of the EAS-LCM descriptor;
- Service area: the geographical service area served by the EAS; 141 - EAS VNF descriptor: Information about instantiating the EAS VNF;
- Software image information;
- Software image location: a file location from which the software image can be downloaded…[0012]The ECSP management system can use the EAS LCM descriptor (e.g. B. the service area) and specify that two EAS instances - EAS #1 and EAS #2 - should be instantiated. The ECSP management system can download the EAS VNF software image from a software image location and request the Network Function Virtualization Orchestration (NFVO) through an Os-Ma-NFVO interface to instantiate EAS #1 and EAS #2. The ECSP management system can send inslantiateEasResp to notify the ASP that EAS #1 and EAS #2 have been instantiated);
Regarding claim 25. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 21.
3GPP discloses, wherein the apparatus further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to:
in response to the determination that the instantiation has been successful, create an EAS Function MOI for an EAS Function IOC, with an attribute referencing to the first MOI (figure 7.1.2.1 discloses step 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC; 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC.; and
send, to the ASP, a notifyMOICreation to notify the ASP about creation of the EAS Function MOI (figure 7.1.2.1 discloses 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC. 7. If all VNF instance(s) have been successfully instantiated, then: 7.1. ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC. 7.2. ECSP provisioning MnS producer notifies ASP about the successful instantiation of EAS with the creation of MOIs for the EASRequirement IOC and EASFunction(s) IOC).
Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions ([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP; [0099] discloses Example 20 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a plurality of MOIs including an EAS LCM descriptor identifier, an EAS VNF instance identifier, and EAS profile information elements).
Regarding claim 26. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 21.
3GPP discloses, wherein the apparatus further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to:
in response to a determination that the instantiation of each of the at least one EAS VNF instance has been successful, send, to the ASP, a notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges that has a status of "FINISHED" , an attribute referencing to the first MOI, and an attribute referencing to an EAS Function MOI to notify the ASP that deployment of the at least one EAS VNF was successful (figure 7.1.2.1 sees steps 5-7 discloses 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC. 7. If all VNF instance(s) have been successfully instantiated, then: 7.1. ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC. 7.2. ECSP provisioning MnS producer notifies ASP (the notification message corresponds to notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges) about the successful instantiation of EAS with the creation of the EASRequirement IOC MOI and EASFunction(s) IOC MOI that corresponds to an attribute referencing to the first MOI, and an attribute referencing to an EAS Function MOI respectively; figure 7.4.2-1 discloses 1. A consumer (i.e., ASP) consumes the provisioning MnS with modifyMOIAttributes operation (see TS 28.532 [5]) to configure the EASID (clause 7.2.4 in TS 23.558 [2]). 2. ECSP management system (apparatus) returns notifyMOIAttributes to notify the consumer that attributes have been changed).
Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions ([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP; [0099] discloses Example 20 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a plurality of MOIs including an EAS LCM descriptor identifier, an EAS VNF instance identifier, and EAS profile information elements).
Regarding claim 27. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 21.
3GPP discloses , wherein the apparatus further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to:
in response to a determination that the instantiation of at least one of the at least one EAS VNF instance has been successful but at least another of the at least one EAS VNF instance has not been successful, send, to the ASP, a notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges that has a status of "PARTIALLYFAILED", an attribute referencing to the first MOI, and an attribute referencing to an EAS Function MOI to notify the ASP that deployment of the at least one EAS VNF partially failed (figure 7.1.2.1 sees steps 5-7 discloses 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC. 7. If all VNF instance(s) have been successfully instantiated, then: 7.1. ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC. 7.2. ECSP provisioning MnS producer notifies ASP about the successful instantiation of EAS with the creation of the EASRequirement IOC MOI and EASFunction(s) IOC MOI that corresponds to an attribute referencing to the first MOI, and an attribute referencing to an EAS Function MOI respectively. Otherwise: 7.3 ECSP provisioning MnS producer notifies ASP about the un-successful instantiation of the EAS as EASRequieremet MOI creation has failed; The system (ESCP) is capable of sending notification to the ASP based on the request is finished or failed. A mere addition of notification category as partially finished using the same programing as to the other notification categories such as “finished” and “failed” with parameter change is an obvious variation. For instance, out of the 5 requests if 2 are finished and 3 are failed, it is an obvious engineering choice to a person having ordinary skill in the art to configure the system (ESCP) to send one notification indicating that the requests as partially failed or partially finished instead of sending 5 individual notification for each request. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make an engineering choice that avoids unnecessary and redundant notification communication. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to send one notification communication indicating partially failed or partially failed. Further, this aspect amounts to printed matter or programming applied to existing system to add a feature of sending partially failed notification to existing notification sending of FINISHED and FAILED notification of the prior art without changing the structure of the system. This amounts to programming the system to add additional notification category. A Mere printed matter (programming) application on the system where programing it to add additional notification category to pre-existing category types of FINISHED and FAILED that is taught by the prior art without any change on the structure of the system is an obvious variation, not inventive concept. MPEP 2111.05 states that Once it is determined that the limitation is directed to printed matter, the examiner must then determine if the matter is functionally or structurally related to the associated physical substrate. See In re DiStefano, 808 F.3d 845, 117 USPQ2d 1267-1268 (Fed. Cir. 2015). If a new and unobvious functional relationship between the printed matter and the substrate does not exist. USPTO personnel need not give patentable weight to printed matter. See In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004)).
Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions ([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP; [0099] discloses Example 20 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a plurality of MOIs including an EAS LCM descriptor identifier, an EAS VNF instance identifier, and EAS profile information elements).
Regarding claim 28. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 21.
3GPP, wherein the apparatus further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to (Figure 7.1.2.1-1 ECSP):
in response to a determination that no instantiation of the at least one EAS VNF instance has been successful, send, to the ASP a notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges that has a status of "FAILED", an attribute referencing to the first MOI, and an attribute referencing to an EAS Function MOI to notify the ASP about unsuccessful instantiation of the at least one EAS VNF (Figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 7.3 discloses ECSP sends notification (notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges) to ASP for failed instantiation. Step 7.2 discloses the notification message indicates EASRequeieremt MOI and EASfunction MOI).
Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: to perform functions ([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP; [0099] discloses Example 20 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a plurality of MOIs including an EAS LCM descriptor identifier, an EAS VNF instance identifier, and EAS profile information elements).
Regarding claim 29. The apparatus of claim 21.
3GPP discloses, wherein edge computing services are provided by the ASP, ECSP, and public land mobile network (PLMN) operators, where the ASP is responsible for the creation of the at least one EAS and application clients (AC), the ECSP is responsible for deployment of edge data networks (EDN) that contain the at least one EAS and Edge Enabler Server (EES) and the PLMN operator is responsible for the deployment of 5th generation (5G) network functions (4.1 Concept of edge computing management The edge computing services are provided by edge computing service providers (ECSP), application service providers (ASP), and PLMN operators (see annex B in TS 23.558 [1]), where ASP is responsible for the creation of edge application servers (EAS) and application clients (AC), ECSP is responsible for the deployment of edge data networks (EDN) that contain EAS and EES, and PLMN operator is responsible for the deployment of 5G network functions, such as 5GC and 5G NR; Figure 4.1-1 discloses ESCP management system that comprises ECSP is used deployment of EAS VNF EES VNF and ECS VNF of EDN, and PLMN management system is responsible of 5GC VNF deployment when instantiated by PLMN operator; Figure 7.1.2.1-1 discloses the ASP is responsible for the creation of the at least one EAS and application clients (AC), the ECSP is responsible for the deployment of edge data networks (EDN) that contain the at least one EAS and Edge Enabler Server (EES)).
Regarding claim 30. In the combination, Joey discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the one or more processors to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to, when the instructions are executed (([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP... The storage of instructions executed by the processor coupled to ECSP management system corresponds to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ).
All other limitations of claim 30 are similar with the limitations of claim 21 are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 31. The combination discloses medium of claim 30
3GPP discloses wherein: to request the instantiation, the instructions, when executed, configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to invoke an InstantiateNsRequest to request a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO), via an Os-Ma-nfvo interface (figure 7.1.2.1-1 discloses at step 4 the ECSP provisioning MnS sends a request to NFVO to instantiate EAS VNF and at step 5 receives notification from NFVP that indicates result of EAS instantiation); and
the notification is received from the NFVO figure 7.1.2.1-1 discloses at step 4 the ECSP provisioning MnS sends a request to NFVO to instantiate EAS VNF and at step 5 receives notification from NFVP that indicates result of EAS instantiation. The interface between ECSP provisioning MnS and NFVO corresponds to Os-Ma-nfvo interface).
Similarly Joey discloses wherein: to request the instantiation, the instructions, when executed, configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to invoke an InstantiateNsRequest or UpdateNsRequest operation to request a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO), via an Os-Ma-nfvo interface([0011] discloses the ASP can consume the LCM MnS using the instantiateEasReq operation to request the ECSP to instantiate the EAS with an EAS LCM descriptor that includes (but is not limited to) the following attributes:
- EAS-LCM Descriptor ID: the identifier of the EAS-LCM descriptor;
- Service area: the geographical service area served by the EAS; 141 - EAS VNF descriptor: Information about instantiating the EAS VNF;
- Software image information;
- Software image location: a file location from which the software image can be downloaded…[0012]The ECSP management system can use the EAS LCM descriptor (e.g. B. the service area) and specify that two EAS instances - EAS #1 and EAS #2 - should be instantiated. The ECSP management system can download the EAS VNF software image from a software image location and request the Network Function Virtualization Orchestration (NFVO) through an Os-Ma-NFVO interface to instantiate EAS #1 and EAS #2. The ECSP management system can send inslantiateEasResp to notify the ASP that EAS #1 and EAS #2 have been instantiated);
Regarding claim 32. The combination discloses medium of claim 31.
All other limitations of claim 32 are similar with the limitations of claim 25 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 33. The combination discloses medium of claim 31.
All other limitations of claim 33 are similar with the limitations of claim 26 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 34. The combination discloses medium of claim 31.
All other limitations of claim 34 are similar with the limitations of claim 27 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 35. The combination discloses medium of claim 31.
All other limitations of claim 35 are similar with the limitations of claim 28 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 36. 3GPP discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS) to:
receive, from an application service provider (ASP) based on consumption of a provisioning MnS with a createMOI operation, a request to instantiate at least one edge application server (EAS) virtual network function (VNF), the request including deployment requirements to deploy the at least one EAS VNF (Figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 1 discloses ASP consumes the provisioning MnS with createMOI operation (see clause 11.1.1.1. in TS 28.532 [w]) for EASRequirements IOC to request ECSP provisioning MnS producer to start the EAS VNF instantiation, where the EASRequirements IOC contains the deployment requirements);
request a NFV Orchestrator (NFVO) to instantiate a network slice (NS) instance including the at least one EAS VNF (VNF (Figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 4 discloses 4. ECSP provisioning MnS producer invokes the InstantiateNsRequest or UpdateNsRequest operation (see clause 7.3.3 and 7.3.5 in ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]) to request NFVO via the Os-Ma-nfvo interface to instantiate a NS instance including the EAS VNF instance);
receive, from the NFVO, a notification indicating a result of instantiation of the at least one EAS VNF (Figure 7.1.2.1-1 steps 5-6 discloses 5. NFVO sends a notification to ECSP provisioning MnS producer indicating the result of instantiation procedure (see clause 7.3.3.4 and 7.3.5.4 of ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [6]). 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC).
determine, based on the notification, whether the instantiation has been successful for at least one EAS VNF instance of the at least one EAS VNF ((figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 6 discloses the ESCP producer of provisioning MnS analyzes the received notification from NFVO and determines if the instantiate succeeded or failed and creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC respectively); and
send, to the ASP, a notifyMOIAttributeValueChanges that has a status based on a determination of whether the instantiation has been successful for all, some, or none of the at least one EAS VNF, the status for successful instantiation for all, some, and none of the at least one EAS VNF being different (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 7.2 discloses ESCP sends to ASP notification to indicate EASRequirements MOI and EASFunction MOI)s) have been created (FINISHED); step 7.3 discloses ESCP sends to ASP notification to indicate EASRequirements MOI creation has failed (failed). The system (ESCP) is capable of sending notification to the ASP based on the request is finished or failed. A mere addition of notification category as partially finished using the same programing as to the other notification categories such as “finished” and “failed” with parameter change is an obvious variation. For instance, out of the 5 requests if 2 are finished and 3 are failed, it is an obvious engineering choice to a person having ordinary skill in the art to configure the system (ESCP) to send one notification indicating that the requests as partially failed or partially finished instead of sending 5 individual notification for each request. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make an engineering choice that avoids unnecessary and redundant notification communication. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to send one notification communication indicating partially failed or partially failed. Further, this aspect amounts to printed matter or programming applied to existing system to add a feature of sending partially failed notification to existing notification sending of FINISHED and FAILED notification of the prior art without changing the structure of the system. This amounts to programming the system to add additional notification category. A Mere printed matter (programming) application on the system where programing it to add additional notification category to pre-existing category types of FINISHED and FAILED that is taught by the prior art without any change on the structure of the system is an obvious variation, not inventive concept. MPEP 2111.05 states that Once it is determined that the limitation is directed to printed matter, the examiner must then determine if the matter is functionally or structurally related to the associated physical substrate. See In re DiStefano, 808 F.3d 845, 117 USPQ2d 1267-1268 (Fed. Cir. 2015). If a new and unobvious functional relationship between the printed matter and the substrate does not exist. USPTO personnel need not give patentable weight to printed matter. See In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994); In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
But, 3GPP does not explicitly disclose: an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: perform functions
However, in the same field of endeavor, Joey discloses an apparatus configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) producer of provisioning management service (MnS), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to configure the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to: perform functions ([0096] discloses Example 17 may include an apparatus (apparatus) of an NR ECSP management system, the apparatus comprising an RF interface and one or more processors (processing circuitry) coupled to the RF interface and configured to: receive an instantiateEasReg message from an ASP via an LCM MnS interface, the instantiateEasReq message including an EAS LCM descriptor and requesting that one EAS from a plurality of EASs be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP; select an instantiable EAS from the plurality of EASs to be instantiated for edge computing with the ASP based on the EAS LCM descriptor; instantiate the instantiable EAS for edge computing with the ASP; and provide an instantiateEasResp message to the ASP via the LCM-MnS interface, wherein the instantiateEasResp message indicates that the instantiable EAS for edge computing is instantiated with the ASP; [0099] discloses Example 20 may include the apparatus of any of Examples 17-19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a plurality of MOIs including an EAS LCM descriptor identifier, an EAS VNF instance identifier, and EAS profile information elements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was effectively filed to combine the teaching of 3GPP with Joey. The modification would allow using hardware components to EAS deployment to enable fast processing of the deployment process than a software module system.
Regarding claim 37. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 36.
3GPP discloses, wherein the processing circuitry further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to:
in response to the determination that the instantiation has been successful, create an EAS Function Managed Object Instance (MOI) for an EAS Function information object class (IOC), with an attribute referencing to an MOI for an EAS requirements IOC send, to the ASP, a notifyMOICreation to notify the ASP about creation of the EAS Function MOI ( Figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 6-7discloses 6. If the VNF instantiation has been successful, ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASFunction IOC. If all VNF instance(s) have been successfully instantiated, then: 7.1. ECSP provisioning MnS producer creates the MOI for EASRequirements IOC. 7.2. ECSP provisioning MnS producer notifies ASP about the successful instantiation of EAS with the creation of MOIs for the EASRequirement IOC and EASFunction(s) IOC); and
Regarding claim 38. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 36.
All other limitations of claim 38 are similar with the limitations of claim 26 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 39. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 36.
All other limitations of claim 39 are similar with the limitations of claim 27 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 40. The combination discloses apparatus of claim 36.
All other limitations of claim 40 are similar with the limitations of claim 28 and are rejected on similar basis.
Regarding claim 41.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein:
3GPP discloses the request is a createMOI request (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 1 discloses the request is createMOI request), the response is a createMOI response (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 2 discloses the response is createMOI response), and the processing circuitry further configures the ECSP producer of provisioning MnS to send the createMOI response to the ASP prior to requesting the NFVO to instantiate the NS instance of the at least one EAS VNF (figure 7.1.2.1-1 step 1 discloses the request is createMOI request sent at step 1; createMOI response is sent back at step 2 and at step 4 after the first two steps, request to instantiate EAS VNF is sent to NFVO).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-WO2024196065.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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