DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-20 have been examined and are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/21/2024 has been found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
4. The drawings were received on 12/27/2023. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
5. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-4, 6-11, 13-17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0070757 A1 to He et al. (hereinafter “He”).
Regarding Claim 1, He discloses a method for routing data traffic for an Internet service in a communication network, the method comprising:
detecting, using an Internet service disruption routing module, a failure of a component in a first Internet service chain in the communication network (He: [0048-0049] – a network function (NF) may be applied in an SMF and/or UPF. Figure 2 with [0060-0062] – NFs are implemented via interfaces between the plurality of NFs, establishing one or more service chains. [0063-0065] – it is well-known that the SMF is operable to determine a failed connection in the service chain (3GPP TS23.007); therefore, the SMF comprises components and programming that correspond to an “Internet service disruption routing module”. “SMF” will be noted throughout this correspondence as the Internet service disruption routing module.), the first Internet service chain comprising a first user plane function (UPF) (He: [0048-0049], [0060-0065] – a UPF is part of the network illustrated in Figure 2 and therefore within the scope of a first Internet service chain. [0068] describes another UPF may be selected based on the determined service disruption which necessarily requires a first service chain (disrupted) and a second service chain (back-up UPF).), and a first Internet interface and the first Internet service chain having at least one assigned session (He: [0048-0049], [0060-0068], with Figure 2 – the UPF amongst the plurality of other illustrated devices/components comprises multiple interfaces operative to route Internet PDU sessions via a plurality of the components (a service chain).);
selecting, using the Internet service disruption routing module, at least one component of a second Internet service chain (He: Figure 4 with [0078], Figure 6 with [0100-0106] – the SMF selects another, viable UPF for routing IP traffic.);
transmitting, using the Internet service disruption routing module, a signal to a radio access network (RAN) in the communication network indicating the selected at least one component of the second Internet service chain (He: Figure 2 (illustrating N3 interface), [0060], Figure 6 with [0106-0107], [0112] – SMF sends a message to access network (RAN) AN N3 for indicating a new UPF (UPF-0 to UPF-1).); and
redirecting, using the RAN, data traffic for the at least one assigned session of the first Internet service chain to the at least one component of the second Internet service chain (He: [0113-0117] – corresponds to redirecting at least uplink traffic via (R)AN and UPF-1.). Examiner further notes Figure 7 with [0118-0135] describe another scenario for selecting a UPF based on a failed connection and therefore also relevant to the above embodiment.
Regarding Claim 2, He discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first UPF comprises a plurality of service entities and each of the plurality of service entities has a corresponding Internet interface and a corresponding interface to the RAN (He illustrates in Figure 2 the plurality of interfaces at the at least one UPF to the plurality of service entities, including the (R)AN.).
Regarding Claim 3, He discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the failure of a component in the first Internet service chain is a failure of the first Internet interface (He: Figures 2 and 6 with [0100-0103] – SMF detects a failure on N4 interface, between SMF and UPF-0.) and the selected at least one component of a second Internet service chain is a second Internet interface corresponding to a service entity of the first UPF and an interface to the RAN (He: [0113-0117] – corresponds to redirecting at least uplink traffic via (R)AN and UPF-1.).
Regarding Claim 4, He discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the Internet service disruption routing module is associated with the first UPF (He: Figures 2 and 6 with [0048-0049], [0060-0068] – the SMF is associated with the UPF.).
Regarding Claim 6, He discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the communication network comprises a plurality of UPFs (He: Figure 6 with [0100-0117] – a plurality of UPF are present for selection; Figure 7 with [0118-0135] – a plurality of UPF are present for selection.).
Regarding Claim 7, He discloses the method according to claim 6, wherein the failure of a component in the first Internet service chain is a failure of the first UPF and the selected at least one component of a second Internet service chain is a second UPF of the plurality of UPFs (He: Figure 4 with [0078], Figure 6 with [0100-0118] – the SMF recognizes a fault in UPF-0 and selects another, viable UPF(-1) for routing IP traffic.).
Regarding Claim 8, He discloses the method according to claim 6, wherein the Internet service disruption routing module is associated with a session management function (SMF) of the communication network that is in communication with the plurality of UPFs (He: Figures 2 and 6 with [0048-0049], [0060-0068] – the SMF is associated with the UPF.).
Claims 9-11, 13, and 14, directed to an apparatus embodiment of claims 1-3, 6, and 7, recite similar features as claims 1-3, 6, and 7, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 1-3, 6, and 7. Please see above rejections of claims 1-3, 6, and 7. He further discloses the apparatus as a system including at least a memory with computer instructions and one or more processors in at least Figures 15-19.
Claims 15-17, 19, and 20 directed to an article of manufacturing embodiment of claims 1-3, 6, and 7, recite similar features as claims 1-3, 6, and 7, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 1-3, 6, and 7. Please see above rejections of claims 1-3, 6, and 7. He further discloses the article of manufacturing as a non-transitory computer-readable medium in at least [0192-0199].
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 5, 12 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
10. Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
11. The prior art made of record (please see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Examiner notes the following references not by order of relevance, but to include relevant portions Applicant should consider when issuing a response.
US PGPub 2025/0193115 A1 to Liu et al. at [0004];
US PGPub 2023/0370938 A1 to Hua et al. at [0009-0021], [0256-0267];
US PGPub 2022/0417771 A1 to Shimoda et al. at [0177];
US PGPub 2022/0247688 A1 to Puente Pestana et al. at [0015], [0030-0031], [0086], [0111];
US PGPub 2021/0344606 A1 to Taylor et al. at [0082];
US PGPub 2020/0413468 A1 to Chen et al. at [0078-0079];
US PGPub 2019/0222521 A1 to Flinck et al. at [0010-0011], [0037], [0068-0079];
US PGPub 2019/0182153 A1 to Gundavelli et al. at [0019-0020], [0034-0040], [0147];
US PGPub 2019/0089447 A1 to Sang et al. at [0147]; and
US PGPub 2017/0150420 A1 to Olsson et al. at [006-0069], [0270-0297].
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at (571) 272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 December 5, 2025