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
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendment and RCE filed, 16 September 2026, of application filed, with the above serial number, on 31 January 2024 in which claims 1-4, 7, 10-16, 18-22, 27-35 have been amended. Claims 1-35 are pending in the application.
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 1-35 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 amended independent claims recite an apparatus, a UE, a device, and a network entity; it is not clear of the relation of any of these nodes and if they are different or overlapping; eg. if the apparatus…at a device is the device.
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) 1-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al (hereinafter “Li”, 2021/0282003) in view of Shrivastava et al (hereinafter “Shrivastava”, 2022/0132468).
As per Claim 1, Li discloses an apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) delegation service, comprising:
one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and configured to cause the UE delegation service to:
obtain a service establishment request message that requests for the UE delegation service to manage service information that indicates one or more services from a list of services provided by a device in a wireless network or one or more other network services, wherein the service information is for coordination with a network entity, the one or more other network services, or any combination of the network entity and the one or more other network services (at least paragraph 181-183, 186, Fig. 13; UDM/UDR/NRF receiving from UE service capabilities in service request message and storing in a table; UE advertising service capability);
obtain, from the network entity or the one or more other network services, a service enquiry that requests the service information for the device managed by the UE delegation service (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications; other UEs requesting and subscribing to service notifications of AS or UEs); and
output, to the network entity or the one or more other network services the service information for the device (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications).
Li fails to explicitly disclose the UE’s service information being service preference information. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shrivastava. Shrivastava discloses, in an analogous art, a UE sending an interest indication of services, the interest indication comprising UE capability and service preferences (at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shrivastava’s service preference information with Li as Shrivastava teaches that the UE may be capable of services but may not be necessarily interested or prefer to have a service provided, allowing for resources to be released, for example, if the UE can provide or receive a service but has a preference not to, allowing a gNB to dynamically allocate resources (at least Shrivastava paragraph 45, 48).
As per Claim 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE delegation service to:
obtain an update to the service preference information for the device; and
output, to the network entity or the one or more other network services, the updated service preference information (at least paragraph 187-188, 199; allows the UE to update or delete this information by directly contacting the NRF; NRF notifies).
As per Claim 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE delegation service to:
obtain a subscription request that indicates for the UE delegation service to output, to the network entity or the one or more other network services, one or more changes in the service preference information for the device (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications; other UEs requesting and subscribing to service notifications of AS or UEs).
As per Claim 4. The apparatus of claim 1, the service preference information comprising service preference information for one or more features supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more feature groups supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more functionalities supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more codebook indexes used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more antenna patterns used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more beams configured for the device or used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more operating modes used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more geographical areas, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 71; network function NF; Table 2: eg. service capability details/ service area/location; at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48 service preference for features UE capable of).
As per Claim 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE delegation service to:
obtain, from a service consumer, a second service preference enquiry requesting the list of services provided by the device; and
output, to the service consumer, the list of services provided by the device and one or more of an identity of the device, service identifier information, and service profile information for the list of services provided by the device (at least paragraph 188; In addition, the NRF may notify other UEs that asked to be notified; Table 2: UE ID, ID of service capability and type of capabilities and details).
As per Claim 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the service establishment request message comprises a request to register the device with the UE delegation service and an indication of one or more of an identifier of the device, service configuration preference information, prioritization information for the list of services provided by the device, measurement gap preferences, radio access technology (RAT) preferences, network type preferences, service instance applicability information that indicates one or more conditions for configuration of a service instance, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 183-186; table 2; UE initial registration request including service capabilities and including UE ID).
As per Claim 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE delegation service is implemented at a discovery and selection service, at the network entity, at a subscription service, or at the one or more other network services (at least paragraph 144, 183, 175-180; NRF supports service discovery function).
As per Claim 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the service preference enquiry comprises one or more of an identifier of the device, one or more service identifiers of one or more services, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 184-188, table 2; other NFs or UEs that register and subscribe for notification to type of service capability; AMF network entity using UE ID to determine if UE can advertise services).
As per Claim 9. The apparatus of claim 1, the device comprising an operations and management entity, a service management and orchestration entity, or a UE (at least paragraph 183; UE).
As per Claim 10, Li discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a device in a wireless network, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and configured to cause the device to:
transmit a service establishment request message that requests for a user equipment (UE) delegation service to manage service information that indicates one or more services from a list of services provided by the device or one or more other network services, wherein the service information is for coordinating with a network entity, the one or more other network services, or any combination of the network entity and the one or more other network services (at least paragraph 181-183, 186, Fig. 13; UDM/UDR/NRF receiving from UE service capabilities in service request message and storing in a table; UE advertising service capability);
receive, from the network entity, a service profile configuration that configures the device to provide a first service of the list of services provided by the device or with a first network service based at least in part on the service information (at least paragraph 180-186, 146-147, 73 and table 2; service capability table with service ID, types and details and services allowed to be advertised; UE capability profile with service capabilities; eg. core network configures location); and
communicate service data in accordance with the service profile configuration (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications).
Li fails to explicitly disclose the UE’s service information being service preference information. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shrivastava. Shrivastava discloses, in an analogous art, a UE sending an interest indication of services, the interest indication comprising UE capability and service preferences (at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shrivastava’s service preference information with Li as Shrivastava teaches that the UE may be capable of services but may not be necessarily interested or prefer to have a service provided, allowing for resources to be released, for example, if the UE can provide or receive a service but has a preference not to, allowing a gNB to dynamically allocate resources (at least Shrivastava paragraph 45, 48).
As per Claim 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the device to: transmit, to the UE delegation service an update to the service preference information for the device based at least in part on a change in the service preference information for the device, a change in geographical location of the device, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 187-188, 199; allows the UE to update or delete this information by directly contacting the NRF; NRF notifies).
As per Claim 12. The apparatus of claim 10, the service preference information comprising service preference information of the device for one or more features supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more feature groups supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more functionalities supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more codebook indexes used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more antenna patterns used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more beams configured for the device or used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more operating modes used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more geographical areas, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 71; network function NF; Table 2: eg. service capability details/ service area/location; at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48 service preference for features UE capable of).
As per Claim 13. The apparatus of claim 10, the service profile configuration comprising a service identifier, service prioritization information, a periodicity associated with reporting information related to one or more services, an indication of one or more triggers for reporting the information related to the one or more services, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 180-186, 146-147, and table 2; service capability table with service ID, types and details).
As per Claim 14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the device to: receive, from the network entity or the one or more other network services, an indication of service preference information for one or more other devices of the wireless network (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications; other UEs requesting and subscribing to service notifications of AS or UEs).
As per Claim 15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the service establishment request message comprises a request to register the device with the UE delegation service and an indication of one or more of an identifier of the device, service configuration preference information, prioritization information for the list of services provided by the device, measurement gap preferences, radio access technology (RAT) preferences, network type preferences, service instance applicability information that indicates one or more conditions for configuring a service instance, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 183-186; table 2; UE initial registration request including service capabilities and including UE ID).
As per Claim 16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the device to: transmit, to the network entity or the one or more other network services, an acknowledgement message in response to the service profile configuration (at least paragraph 185-187; eg. NRF sends response back with URI).
As per Claim 17. The apparatus of claim 10, the device comprising an operations and management entity, a service management and orchestration entity, or a UE (at least paragraph 183; UE).
As per Claim 18, Li discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and configured to cause the network entity to:
output, to a user equipment (UE) delegation service, a service enquiry that requests service information that indicates one or more [capabilities] of a device in a wireless network for one or more services from a list of services provided by the device or one or more [capabilities] for one or more network services, wherein the service information is managed by the UE delegation service (at least paragraph 183, 188, 196, 204; other NFs and UEs that asked to subscribe and be notified about new services);
obtain the service [capabilities] information for the device; and output, to the device, a service profile configuration that indicates a first service of the list of services provided by the device or a first network service based at least in part on the service information (at least paragraph 169, 188, 204, 280; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications; NRF may send out the notification, including the subscription ID and the ID of the entity (e.g., SCS/AS or UE) that provides the new service capability, along with some or all of the information listed in Table 2 for that service capability; Once a UE obtains network connectivity, UE hosted IoT applications will typically perform service discovery in order to find IoT Servers (i.e. SCS/AS's) and IoT Applications (e.g. hosted on other UEs) that provide their desired services).
Li fails to explicitly disclose the UE’s service information being service preference information. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shrivastava. Shrivastava discloses, in an analogous art, a UE sending an interest indication of services, the interest indication comprising UE capability and service preferences (at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shrivastava’s service preference information with Li as Shrivastava teaches that the UE may be capable of services but may not be necessarily interested or prefer to have a service provided, allowing for resources to be released, for example, if the UE can provide or receive a service but has a preference not to, allowing a gNB to dynamically allocate resources (at least Shrivastava paragraph 45, 48).
As per Claim 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the service preference enquiry comprises one or more of an identifier of the device, one or more service identifiers of one or more services, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 188, 196, 204; eg. service provided by UE ID, or service capability subscribed to, etc).
As per Claim 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the network entity to: output a subscription request that indicates for the UE delegation service to output, to the network entity, one or more changes in the service preference information for the device (at least paragraph 187-188; update to service capability information being subscribed to).
As per Claim 21. The apparatus of claim 18, the service preference information comprising service preference information of the device for one or more features supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more feature groups supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more functionalities supported by the device, service preference information of the device for one or more codebook indexes used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more antenna patterns used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more beams configured for the device or used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more operating modes used at the network entity, service preference information of the device for one or more geographical areas, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 71; network function NF; Table 2: eg. service capability details/ service area/location; at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48 service preference for features UE capable of).
As per Claim 22. The apparatus of claim 18, the service profile configuration comprising a service identifier, service prioritization information, a periodicity associated with reporting information related to one or more services, an indication of one or more triggers to report the information related to the one or more services, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 180-186, 146-147, and table 2; service capability table with service ID, types and details).
As per Claim 23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the network entity to: obtain, from a second network entity, an identifier of the device and a selection service identifier that identifies the network entity as being a selection service for the device; select one or more services for the device based at least in part on the identifier of the device and the selection service identifier; and output, to the second network entity, an indication of one or more service identifiers of the one or more services, one or more supported functions of the one or more services, routing information associated with the one or more services, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 188, 244-269 for network entity selection of UE service capability; In addition, the NRF may notify other UEs that asked to be notified; Table 2: UE ID, ID of service capability and type of capabilities and details).
As per Claim 24. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the network entity to: output, to a discovery and selection service, an identifier of the device and a selection service identifier that identifies the discovery and selection service as being a selection service for the device; and obtain, from the discovery and selection service, an indication of one or more service identifiers of one or more services selected for the device, one or more supported functions of the one or more services, routing information associated with the one or more services, or any combination thereof (at least paragraph 144, 183, 175-180; NRF supports service discovery function; table 2 with service ID information and other network entity selecting service discovered).
As per Claim 25. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the network entity to: output, to the device, an indication of service preference information for one or more additional devices in the wireless network (at least paragraph 188, 244-269 for network entity selection of UE service capability; In addition, the NRF may notify other UEs that asked to be notified; Table 2: UE ID, ID of service capability and type of capabilities and details; UE, others and the providing UE receiving table 2 information).
As per Claim 26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the network entity to: obtain, from the device, an acknowledgement message in response to the service profile configuration (at least paragraph 185-187; eg. NRF sends response back with URI).
As per Claim 27. The apparatus of claim 18, the network entity comprising a discovery and selection service, a radio access network entity, an access and mobility service, a topology management service, a subscription service, or one or more other network services (at least paragraph 183, 188; Fig. 1, 12; any NF asked to be notified).
As per Claim 28. The apparatus of claim 18, the device comprising an operations and management entity, a service management and orchestration entity, or a UE (at least paragraph 183; UE).
As per Claim 29, Li discloses a method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE) delegation service, comprising:
obtaining a service establishment request message requesting for the UE delegation service to manage service information that indicates one or more services from a list of services provided by a device in a wireless network or one or more other network services, wherein the service information is for coordinating with a network entity, the one or more other network services, or any combination of the network entity and the one or more other network services (at least paragraph 181-183, 186, Fig. 13; UDM/UDR/NRF receiving from UE service capabilities in service request message and storing in a table; UE advertising service capability);
obtaining, from the network entity or the one or more other network services, a service enquiry requesting the service information for the device managed by the UE delegation service (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications; other UEs requesting and subscribing to service notifications of AS or UEs); and
outputting, to the network entity or the one or more other network services, the service information for the device (at least paragraph 188, 204; NRF notifies other NF’s about new services that have subscribed for notifications).
Li fails to explicitly disclose the UE’s service information being service preference information. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shrivastava. Shrivastava discloses, in an analogous art, a UE sending an interest indication of services, the interest indication comprising UE capability and service preferences (at least Shrivastava paragraph 53, 48). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shrivastava’s service preference information with Li as Shrivastava teaches that the UE may be capable of services but may not be necessarily interested or prefer to have a service provided, allowing for resources to be released, for example, if the UE can provide or receive a service but has a preference not to, allowing a gNB to dynamically allocate resources (at least Shrivastava paragraph 45, 48).
As per Claim 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: obtaining an update to the service preference information for the device; and outputting, to the network entity or the one or more other network services the updated service preference information (at least paragraph 187-188, 199; allows the UE to update or delete this information by directly contacting the NRF; NRF notifies).
Claims 31-35 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 10, 1, 29, 18 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The application typically uses both terms ‘service preferences and capabilities’ interchangeably, see par. 73, 82, 121, 129, 163, 177, 184, etc. Thus, the prior art Li, which discloses UE capabilities, simply does not disclose the use of the term ‘preference’ and the rejection is modified above.
It is further noted the claim language, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, indicates a single preference for a single service, in other words any request for a service wherein it is inherent a request for a service to be provided is preferred over the request for the service to not be provided.
See also paragraph 215-219, 139 of Starsinic for service preference information of a UE/WTRU
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 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
