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 is a first office action in response to application filed, with the above serial number, on 21 December 2023 in which claims 1-15 are presented for examination. Claims 1-15 are therefore pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Lund (hereinafter “Lund”, 2019/0222533).
As per Claim 1, Lund discloses a method executed at a network node, in a network of devices, for providing one or more networking functionalities on the fly, the method comprising:
identifying a gap in telecommunications service offering in the network of devices (at least paragraph 18; network function manager (NFM) 105 manages lifecycle of the scalable unit of network function 121 by creating, maintaining and terminating the instances 111 thereof. The NFV orchestrator (NFVO) 103 may operate in conjunction with the NFM 105 to manage the scalable unit of network functions 121);
determining that the one or more networking functionalities, upon deployment, at least partly fill the identified gap (at least paragraph 18-20; the NFM 107 may send a request to the NFVO 103 to allocate virtualized resources, such as a VM with a specified amount of memory, a specified amount of storage, a specific operating system and a network connection, such a Local Area Network, to executing an instance of a unit of network function. In response to the request, the NFVO 103 may identify appropriate resources from the available resources 135);
deploying, at least temporarily, the one or more networking functionalities in the network (at least paragraph 19; One or more of the instances 111 of the scalable unit of network functions 121 may be deployed using the virtualized resources 135);
periodically assessing relevance of maintaining deployment of the one or more networking functionalities in the network (at least paragraph 24; metrics data may, for example, be received via a communication bus linking the training system and the framework 100, and in this case the metrics data may be provided periodically or in response to an event); and
upon determination that the one or more networking functionalities are superfluous, at least temporarily decommissioning the one or more functionalities (at least paragraph 18, 60; eg. lifecycle of network function; In the event that the load state is indicative of an underload, the scaling system may cause deallocation of some of the allocated resources to the instance 111, thereby freeing up resources for use by other instances of the same or different unit of network functions 121. In the event that the load state is indicative of an overcapacity, the scaling system may cause another instance of the unit of network function 121 to be created to share the load with the instance 111. In the event that the load state is indicative of an under capacity, the scaling system may cause one or more instances of the unit of network function 121 to be terminated, thereby freeing up resources for use by other instances).
As per Claim 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising negotiating the deployment with one or more of the devices therebefore (at least paragraph 21; KPIs and their associated thresholds may, for example, be maintained in an NF-D associated with the scalable unit of network function 121 for use by a system, such as the EM 115, the NFVO 103 and/or the NFM 105 to assess whether or not scaling is required. In examples, scaling may involve allocating more or less resources, and/or adding or removing instances).
As per Claim 3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the gap is performed by receiving a request from one or more of the devices (at least paragraph 20, 60; scaling system may, for example, request the NFVO 103 for resources, which, either alone or in conjunction with the EM 115 and/or the NFM 105, may cause allocation of more virtualized resources 135; the NFM 107 may send a request to the NFVO 103 to allocate virtualized resources).
As per Claim 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the gap is performed by autonomously detecting deterioration of the telecommunication service offering at the network node (at least paragraph 23; a training system (not shown), which could for example be comprised in the EM 115, the NFVO 103, the NFM 105, and/or another system located internally or externally to the communications network and/or the framework 100, determines one or more triggers for scaling the or another instance of the scalable unit of network function 121. The training system receives metrics data corresponding to metrics associated with usage of the instance 111 of the scalable unit of network function 121 (block 201), with each of the metrics being indicative of one or more usage characteristics associated with the instance).
As per Claim 5. The method of claim 1, wherein periodically assessing is performed using a timer and wherein determination is made that the one or more networking functionalities are superfluous upon expiry of the timer (at least paragraph 27; identifying one or more patterns at different times when a load state, such as an overloaded state, is being experienced).
Claims 6-15 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1-5 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Thyagarajan (hereinafter “Thyagarajan”, 2019/0079804).
As per Claim 1, Thyagarajan discloses a method executed at a network node, in a network of devices, for providing one or more networking functionalities on the fly (at least paragraph 36-38; IaaS, NaaS, and/or NFaaS), the method comprising:
identifying a gap in telecommunications service offering in the network of devices (at least paragraph 44; if the need for the number of instances of a network function change due to loading or other factors, instances of the network function may be created);
determining that the one or more networking functionalities, upon deployment, at least partly fill the identified gap (at least paragraph 44, 61; if the need for the number of instances of a network function change due to loading or other factors, instances of the network function may be created; At 82, the system dynamically determines if more resources are needed in which case the additional resources are allocated at 85);
deploying, at least temporarily, the one or more networking functionalities in the network (at least paragraph 44-48, 36; deployment and scaling of VF virtual functions);
periodically assessing relevance of maintaining deployment of the one or more networking functionalities in the network (at least paragraph 58; provide elasticity in processing requirements wherein additional sites, and consequently, additional virtual functions, may be made available as part of the provision of network functions. In this case, the policy logic may be based on SIP load feedback from site 2 52. There may be a special event such as the launch of a new handset or a popular promotion that causes what otherwise may be an overload of virtual functions hosted at site 2 52. Based on a feedback trigger, which may, for example, be automatic based on loading parameters and guidelines or be performed manually by an operator monitoring the loading, additional site 4 54 may be brought online to provide the elasticity to accommodate the additional loading at site 2 52. The policies may use the geo-proximity of site 2 52, site 3 53 and site 4 54 to weight the round robin allocation between those sites. The load balancer 18 may continue to monitor the load and when the demand on site 2 52 recedes, then site 4 54 may be taken offline); and
upon determination that the one or more networking functionalities are superfluous, at least temporarily decommissioning the one or more functionalities (at least paragraph 61; If no, the system dynamically determines whether less resources are needed. If not, then the monitoring continues in real time at 81. If less resources are needed, then resources are deallocated at 84 in accordance with the policy considerations and the load balancing and monitoring loop continues at 77).
As per Claim 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising negotiating the deployment with one or more of the devices therebefore (at least paragraph 44; eg. load balancer 18 may perform round robin allocation tasks whereby certain network functions are distributed in an even, cyclical process to maintain equal loads across network functions. In an aspect, the load balancer 18 may perform weighted round robin allocations of network functions to favor distribution of the processing load to a particular resource or resources. The load balancer 18 may also perform health monitoring based, loading based, or other active/active or active/passive based redundancy (1+1 or N+K or cluster or other) capabilities).
As per Claim 3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the gap is performed by receiving a request from one or more of the devices al 44-46, Fig. 7; eg. pods of devices and VF that monitor functions and identify scaling needs).
As per Claim 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the gap is performed by autonomously detecting deterioration of the telecommunication service offering at the network node (at least paragraph 58; provide elasticity in processing requirements wherein additional sites, and consequently, additional virtual functions, may be made available as part of the provision of network functions. In this case, the policy logic may be based on SIP load feedback from site 2 52. There may be a special event such as the launch of a new handset or a popular promotion that causes what otherwise may be an overload of virtual functions hosted at site 2 52. Based on a feedback trigger, which may, for example, be automatic based on loading parameters and guidelines or be performed manually by an operator monitoring the loading, additional site 4 54 may be brought online to provide the elasticity to accommodate the additional loading at site 2 52. The policies may use the geo-proximity of site 2 52, site 3 53 and site 4 54 to weight the round robin allocation between those sites. The load balancer 18 may continue to monitor the load and when the demand on site 2 52 recedes, then site 4 54 may be taken offline).
As per Claim 5. The method of claim 1, wherein periodically assessing is performed using a timer and wherein determination is made that the one or more networking functionalities are superfluous upon expiry of the timer (at least paragraph 36).
Claims 6-15 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1-5 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY G TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on (571)272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443