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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see REMARKS, filed 01/26/2026, with respect to 102 rejections of claims 1, 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 18 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Huang-Fu et al..
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) 1, 2, 4, 6-7, 9-11, 13, 15-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang-Fu et al. (US 20200351755 A1) in view of Nokia (5GMM cause value for CAG, 3GPP TSG-CT WG1 Meeting #117, C1-193510, Reno (NV), USA, 13-17 May 2019.
Regarding claim 1, Huang-Fu et al. teach A method for managing a closed access group (CAG) feature by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
transmitting, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), a registration request message (Huang-Fu [0033] The UE 124 can send a registration request message to the AMF 130 to initiate the registration procedure 500, at step S502) including information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature (Huang-Fu [0031] if the CAG only bit 306 is set to “0,” “indication that the UE is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells” is not set), wherein the information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature is a one-bit information (Huang-Fu [0031] a CAG only bit 306) provided in a 5GMM capability information element of the registration request message (Huang-Fu [0038] the UE 124 can set the CAG bit to “CAG Supported” in a 5GMM capability IE of the registration request message); and
receiving, from the AMF, a registration reject message including non-access-stratum (NAS) cause (Huang-Fu [0033] At step S504, if the registration request message is rejected by the network, the AMF 130 shall send a registration reject message to the UE 124 including an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG or authorized for CAG cells only))in response to the registration request message in case that the UE does not support the CAG feature and the UE is allowed to access a 5G system (5GS) via a CAG cell only (Huang-Fu [0033] an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG)).
Huang-Fu et al. do not teach
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7, NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
However, Nokia teaches
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7 (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed), NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Huang-Fu et al. by incorporating Nokia cause # 7 when the UE request registering to a 5G system to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the UE camps a non-CAG cell of a network (Nokia Summary of change: If the UE is accessing the network via a non-CAG cell) which supports the CAG feature .(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124) and the AMF supports the CAG feature (Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124)).
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The method of claim 1,
wherein the NAS cause #7 indicates 5GS services are not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed),
wherein the NAS cause #11 indicates a public and mobile network (PLMN) is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #11 (PLMN not allowed)),, and
wherein the NAS cause #27 indicates an N1 mode is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #27 (N1 mode not allowed)).
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 6, Huang-Fu et al. teach A method for managing a closed access group (CAG) feature by an access and mobility management function (AMF) (AMF 130 in Fig. 1), the method comprising:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a registration request message
(Huang-Fu [0033] The UE 124 can send a registration request message to the AMF 130 to initiate the registration procedure 500, at step S502) including information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature (Huang-Fu [0031] if the CAG only bit 306 is set to “0,” “indication that the UE is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells” is not set), wherein the information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature is a one-bit information (Huang-Fu [0031] a CAG only bit 306) provided in a 5GMM capability information element of the registration request message (Huang-Fu [0038] the UE 124 can set the CAG bit to “CAG Supported” in a 5GMM capability IE of the registration request message); and
transmitting, to the UE, a registration reject including non-access-stratum (NAS) cause (NAS) cause (Huang-Fu [0033] At step S504, if the registration request message is rejected by the network, the AMF 130 shall send a registration reject message to the UE 124 including an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG or authorized for CAG cells only))in response to the registration request message in case that the UE does not support the CAG feature and the UE is allowed to access a 5G system (5GS) via a CAG cell only (Huang-Fu [0033] an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG)).
Huang-Fu et al. do not teach
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7, NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
However, Nokia teaches
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7 (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed), NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Huang-Fu et al. by incorporating Nokia cause # 7 when the UE request registering to a 5G system to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The method of claim 6, wherein the AMF supports the CAG feature .(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124) and the UE camps a non-CAG cell (Nokia Summary of change: If the UE is accessing the network via a non-CAG cell) of a network which supports the CAG feature .(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124).
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The method of claim6,
wherein the NAS cause #7 indicates 5GS services are not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed),
wherein the NAS cause #11 indicates a public and mobile network (PLMN) is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #11 (PLMN not allowed)),, and
wherein the NAS cause #27 indicates an N1 mode is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #27 (N1 mode not allowed)).
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 10, Huang-Fu et al. teach A user equipment (UE) (Huang-Fu [0045] the apparatus 1000 can be the UE 124) for managing a closed access group (CAG) feature, the UE comprising:
a transceiver (transmitting circuitry 1008 and receiving circuitry 1004 in Fig. 10); and
a controller (processing circuitry 1006 in Fig. 10) coupled with the transceiver and configured to control to:
transmit, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), a registration request message (Huang-Fu [0033] The UE 124 can send a registration request message to the AMF 130 to initiate the registration procedure 500, at step S502) including information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature (Huang-Fu [0031] if the CAG only bit 306 is set to “0,” “indication that the UE is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells” is not set), wherein the information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature is a one-bit information (Huang-Fu [0031] a CAG only bit 306) provided in a 5GMM capability information element of the registration request message (Huang-Fu [0038] the UE 124 can set the CAG bit to “CAG Supported” in a 5GMM capability IE of the registration request message); and
receive, from the AMF, a registration reject message ()including non-access-stratum (NAS) cause (Huang-Fu [0033] At step S504, if the registration request message is rejected by the network, the AMF 130 shall send a registration reject message to the UE 124 including an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG or authorized for CAG cells only))in response to the registration request message in case that the UE does not support the CAG feature and the UE is allowed to access a 5G system (5GS) via a CAG cell only (Huang-Fu [0033] an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG)).
Huang-Fu et al. do not teach
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7, NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
However, Nokia teaches
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7 (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed), NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Huang-Fu et al. by incorporating Nokia cause # 7 when the UE request registering to a 5G system to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The UE of claim 10, wherein the UE camps a non- CAG cell (Nokia Summary of change: If the UE is accessing the network via a non-CAG cell) of a network which supports the CAG feature .(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124) and the AMF supports the CAG feature.(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124.
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The UE of claim 10,
wherein the NAS cause #7 indicates 5GS services are not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed),
wherein the NAS cause #11 indicates a public and mobile network (PLMN) is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #11 (PLMN not allowed)),, and
wherein the NAS cause #27 indicates an N1 mode is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #27 (N1 mode not allowed)).
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 15, Huang-Fu et al. teach) An access and mobility management function (AMF) for managing a closed access group (CAG) feature, the AMF comprising:
a transceiver (Huang-Fu [0027] an access and mobility management function (AMF) 130 can communicate with the BS 122 via an S1-MME interface and communicate with the serving GW 132 and the PDN GW 114 via an S11 interface) ; and
a controller coupled with the transceiver (Note: inherent in a network node such as an AMF) and configured to control to:
receive, from a user equipment (UE), a registration request message (Huang-Fu [0033] The UE 124 can send a registration request message to the AMF 130 to initiate the registration procedure 500, at step S502) including information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature (Huang-Fu [0031] if the CAG only bit 306 is set to “0,” “indication that the UE is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells” is not set), wherein the information indicating that the UE does not support the CAG feature is a one-bit information (Huang-Fu [0031] a CAG only bit 306) provided in a 5GMM capability information element of the registration request message (Huang-Fu [0038] the UE 124 can set the CAG bit to “CAG Supported” in a 5GMM capability IE of the registration request message); and
receiving, from the AMF, a registration reject message ()including non-access-stratum (NAS) cause (Huang-Fu [0033] At step S504, if the registration request message is rejected by the network, the AMF 130 shall send a registration reject message to the UE 124 including an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG or authorized for CAG cells only))in response to the registration request message in case that the UE does not support the CAG feature and the UE is allowed to access a 5G system (5GS) via a CAG cell only (Huang-Fu [0033] an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG)).
transmit, to the UE, a registration reject including non-access-stratum (NAS) cause (NAS) cause (Huang-Fu [0033] At step S504, if the registration request message is rejected by the network, the AMF 130 shall send a registration reject message to the UE 124 including an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG or authorized for CAG cells only))in response to the registration request message in case that the UE does not support the CAG feature and the UE is allowed to access a 5G system (5GS) via a CAG cell only (Huang-Fu [0033] an appropriate 5GMM cause value, such as a value cause #76 (Not authorized for this CAG)).
Huang-Fu et al. do not teach
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7, NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
However, Nokia teaches
wherein the NAS cause is one of NAS cause #7 (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed), NAS cause #11, and NAS cause #27.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Huang-Fu et al. by incorporating Nokia cause # 7 when the UE request registering to a 5G system to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The AMF of claim 15, wherein the AMF supports the CAG feature .(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124) and the UE camps a non-CAG cell (Nokia Summary of change: If the UE is accessing the network via a non-CAG cell) of a network which supports the CAG feature .(Huang-Fu [0032] the AMF 130) can provision the CAG information list to the UE 124.
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Huang-Fu et al. and Nokia teaches The AMF of claim 15,
wherein the NAS cause #7 indicates 5GS services are not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #7 (5GS services not allowed),
wherein the NAS cause #11 indicates a public and mobile network (PLMN) is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #11 (PLMN not allowed)),, and
wherein the NAS cause #27 indicates an N1 mode is not allowed (Nokia 5.5.1.2.5 #27 (N1 mode not allowed)).
The motivation of doing so would have included UE registration attempts to 5G system.
Conclusion
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/SAID M ELNOUBI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2644