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 .
The claims 1-20 are pending.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wei Qing et al (WO 2021/023425 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Wei Qing teaches a Quality of Service (QoS) adjustment method (Abstract), comprising: transmitting, by a first network entity (entity 100), first information (assistance information 101) to a second network entity (second entity 110 or Core Network, CN, entity), the first information being used to adjust a transmission demand or a QoS parameter or a QoS configuration (Fig. 1. 4; paragraph disclose providing to a second entity a request for an adjustment or QoS information for the adjustment from a first QoS profile to a second QoS profile of a first QoS flow, wherein the request or the QoS information is based on the assistance information 101; claim 1 discloses “An entity (100), particularly a Radio Access Network, RAN, entity, for adjusting Quality of Service, QoS, of at least one QoS flow in a RAN, wherein the entity (100) is configured to: obtain assistance information (101) for an adjustment of at least one QoS profile for the at least one QoS flow of at least one wireless communication device (400), particularly of at least one UE; and provide, to a second entity (110), particularly to a Core Network, CN, entity, a request for an adjustment (102) or QoS information (103) for the adjustment from a first QoS profile to a second QoS profile of a first QoS flow, wherein the request (102) or the QoS information (103) is based on the assistance information (101)”),
wherein the first information comprises at least one of: information related to an air interface;
information related to a Radio Access Network (RAN) (page 22-23 disclose the assistance information 101 may include: 1. Information used for evaluating the QoS adjustment possibility at the NG-RAN. For example, the assistance information 101 may be used to inform the entity 100 when and where and how to evaluate the QoS adjustment possibility, i.e., to perform the evaluation of the RAN capability for supporting the adjustment for the at least one QoS flow. The evaluation results may be which QoS profile(s) satisfy the evaluation criteria. For instance: • Triggering events for the evaluation: handover, PDU session setup/modification, radio resource condition changes. • The related configuration of the evaluation, e.g.: time (e.g., periodicity), location (e.g., entering a cell/T A/area of interest), priority for the QoS adjustment in case of multiple candidate QoS profiles and QoS flows. • Whether to evaluate only the original QoS profile or all the QoS profiles, which have higher preference/priority/rank than the active QoS profile. • Evaluation criteria at RAN (e.g. allowed switching cost.). For example, the entity 100 may use this information and the evaluation result to determine whether to adjust the QoS profile itself and/or notify the second entity 110 (here in the 5GC); 2. Information used to configure the QoS adjustment at the entity 100 (RAN entity), for instance: • Whether the entity 100 should only provide the evaluation results to the 5GC or whether it should also perform the QoS profile adjustment (i.e., implementation of the adjustment of the QoS profile at the RAN/NG-RAN or not). • In which situation should the entity 100 perform the QoS profile adjustment (e.g., time, location, event, etc.); 3. Information related to the notification, for instance: • Indication of early (i.e. after the evaluation performance by entity 100) and/or late notification (i.e., after the QoS adjustment). • Whether additional parameters are needed in the notification (e.g., switching cost from NG-RAN perspectives). • Notification timing (e.g., allowed notification latency in case situation changed). • Target of the notification (e.g., to entity 110 (5GC), and/or to UE 400)); or information related to a terminal.
With respect to claim 2, Wei Qing teaches wherein the first information has a granularity unit of one of: a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN); an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); a User Plane Function (UPF); a Session Management Function (SMF); a network device; a cell; a terminal; at least two UPFs for a same service; at least two SMFs for a same service; at least two terminals in an active state; at least two terminals in a connected state; at least two terminals in an inactive state; at least two terminals in a non-idle state; a single QoS flow; an average value of at least two QoS flows; a single Packet Data Unit (PDU) session (page 21, lines 24-26 disclose the assistance information 101 may be for at least one PDU session, and/or for at least one QoS profile, and/or for at least one QoS flow, and/or for at least one wireless communication device 400, and/or for at least one RAN entity); an average value of at least two PDU sessions; a single data stream; an average value of at least two data streams; a single frame; an average value of at least two frames; a single data packet; an average value of at least two data packets; a single application; an average value of at least two applications; a single application data unit; an average value of at least two application data units; a single logical channel; an average value of at least two logical channels; a single carrier; and an average value of at least two carriers.
With respect to claim 3, Wei Qing teaches wherein the first information contains at least one of: uplink information; downlink information; the uplink information and the downlink information; air interface channel quality; a quantity of terminals that have accessed; a quantity of activated PDU sessions; a transmission delay; a transmission error rate; a packet loss rate; a resource utilization rate; a Listen Before Talk (LBT) failure probability; a configuration for an air interface resource; a load of the air interface resource; a bandwidth of the air interface resource; a frequency point of the air interface resource; or a statistical duration (page 22, line 19 disclose the assistance information 101 may be obtained from an entity 200 located in the 5GC, i.e., a CN entity, specifically 5GC entity 200).
With respect to claim 4, Wei Qing teaches wherein said transmitting, by the first network entity, the first information to the second network entity comprises: transmitting, by the first network entity, the first information to the second network entity periodically; or transmitting, by the first network entity, the first information to the second network entity in response to a trigger event (page 20, line 21 disclose that is, embodiments of the invention propose to also provide the assistance information 101 to the entity 100 (e.g. configurations on NG-RAN multi-QoS-profile treatment options (e.g., able or not to adjust QoS for RAN, report before or after the adjustment, report only the selected QoS profile or also some additional information), the priority/preference from 5GC on QoS profile and/or QoS flow selection, allowed switching cost in the sense of allowed packet loss, allowed service interruption time, UE measurement, etc.)).
With respect to claim 5, Wei Qing teaches measuring or collecting, by the first network entity, the first information (claim 1 discloses “An entity (100), particularly a Radio Access Network, RAN, entity, for adjusting Quality of Service, QoS, of at least one QoS flow in a RAN, wherein the entity (100) is configured to: obtain assistance information (101) for an adjustment of at least one QoS profile for the at least one QoS flow of at least one wireless communication device (400), particularly of at least one UE; and provide, to a second entity (110), particularly to a Core Network, CN, entity, a request for an adjustment (102) or QoS information (103) for the adjustment from a first QoS profile to a second QoS profile of a first QoS flow, wherein the request (102) or the QoS information (103) is based on the assistance information (101)”).
With respect to claim 6, Wei Qing teaches wherein the first network entity comprises at least one of a network device or a terminal (claim 1 discloses “An entity (100), particularly a Radio Access Network, RAN, entity, for adjusting Quality of Service, QoS, of at least one QoS flow in a RAN, wherein the entity (100) is configured to: obtain assistance information (101) for an adjustment of at least one QoS profile for the at least one QoS flow of at least one wireless communication device (400), particularly of at least one UE; and provide, to a second entity (110), particularly to a Core Network, CN, entity, a request for an adjustment (102) or QoS information (103) for the adjustment from a first QoS profile to a second QoS profile of a first QoS flow, wherein the request (102) or the QoS information (103) is based on the assistance information (101)”).
With respect to claim 7, Wei Qing teaches wherein the second network entity comprises at least one of an AMF, an SMF, a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Application Function (AF), an application server, a data network node, a Central Network Control (CNC) node, or an access network device (Fig. 1 and 4).
The limitations of claim 8 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 9 are rejected in the analysis of claim 2 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 10 are rejected in the analysis of claim 3 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 11 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 12 are rejected in the analysis of claim 6 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 13 are rejected in the analysis of claim 7 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 14 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 15 are rejected in the analysis of claim 2 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 16 are rejected in the analysis of claim 3 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 17 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 18 are rejected in the analysis of claim 6 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
The limitations of claim 19 are rejected in the analysis of claim 7 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
With respect to claim 20, Wei Qing teaches wherein said adjusting, based on the first information, the transmission demand or the QoS parameter or the QoS configuration comprises: adjusting, based on the first information, the transmission demand or a QoS parameter of a QoS flow or a QoS configuration of the QoS flow (claim 1 discloses “An entity (100), particularly a Radio Access Network, RAN, entity, for adjusting Quality of Service, QoS, of at least one QoS flow in a RAN, wherein the entity (100) is configured to: obtain assistance information (101) for an adjustment of at least one QoS profile for the at least one QoS flow of at least one wireless communication device (400), particularly of at least one UE; and provide, to a second entity (110), particularly to a Core Network, CN, entity, a request for an adjustment (102) or QoS information (103) for the adjustment from a first QoS profile to a second QoS profile of a first QoS flow, wherein the request (102) or the QoS information (103) is based on the assistance information (101)”; page 4, line 1 disclose an entity, particularly a RAN entity, for adjusting QoS of at least one QoS flow in a RAN, wherein the entity is configured to: obtain assistance information for an adjustment of at least one QoS profile for the at least one QoS flow of at least one wireless communication device, particularly of at least one UE; and provide, to a second entity, particularly to a Core Network, CN, entity, a request for an adjustment or QoS information for the adjustment from a first QoS profile to a second QoS profile of a first QoS flow, wherein the request or the QoS information is based on the assistance information); or adjusting, based on the first information, the transmission demand or the QoS parameter of the QoS flow or the QoS configuration of the QoS flow in accordance with a granularity unit at which the first information is transmitted; or adjusting, based on the first information, all configured or activated transmission demands, or QoS parameters of all configured or activated QoS flows, or QoS configurations of all configured or activated QoS flows.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEIKH T NDIAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-3914. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm.
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/CHEIKH T NDIAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
1/5/2025