Detailed Action
1. This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 07/06/2026. In virtue of this communication, claims 1, 3-14, and 18-19 are currently pending in this Office Action. Claim 19 is newly added.
Response to Arguments
2. In Remarks, applicant argues for the amended claim limitations “wherein the RACH information includes information indicating an identifier of the slice group associated with the resource and an identifier of a slice for which a RACH is performed”.
However, the amended claim limitations are considered obvious by the rationales found in the newly cited prior art as explained in the claim rejection set forth below. See greater details in the claim rejection section.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. 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.
4. There are insufficient antecedent basis for the limitations in the following claims:
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the first log information" in the second line of claim.
Claim 9 recites “log information”, “the log information” and “the second log information” in the clam. Check claims 10-12 accordingly as depending on claim 9.
Claim 19 recites “a network node”, “a user equipment”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 of this title, 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.
6. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4.Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
7. Claims 1, 3-14, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. Pub. No.: US 2023/0029004 A1 in view of Lohr et al. Pub. No.: US 2024/0064817 A1.
Claim 1
Gao discloses a communication control (fig. 1-15 for cell reselection based on slice information) method executed in a user equipment (UE in fig. 1-3) comprising:
performing, by the user equipment, a random access procedure using a resource associated with a slice group (UE random access procedure in fig. 1 and fig. 6 in view of par. 0201, see selecting network slice group in par. 0188, resource included in SIB in par. 0193, RACH resource in par. 0197-0198 and see par. 0205 for RACH resource configuration for the network slice group NSG 2); and
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transmitting, by the user equipment, RACH information acquired when the random access procedure is performed to a network node (RAN node in fig. 1 & 6, 602 in fig. 6 for performing random access procedure by UE using specific RACH resource information).
Although Gao does not explicitly show: “wherein the RACH information includes information indicating an identifier of the slice group associated with the resource and an identifier of a slice for which a RACH is performed”, the claim limitations are considered obvious by the following rationales.
In fact, Gao explains RACH resource information for network slice group (fig. 6) with SST field that identifies the slice type (par. 0169) and an ID of the search space for random access (par. 0200). It mean that Gao, as depicted in fig. 5, SST filed would have identified the network slice group unless claim explicitly exclude the identifier for slice service and slice network type. However, Gao do not describe an identifier of a slice and thus, further evidence is provided herein. In particular, Lohr teaches UE for receiving slice specific RACH configuration containing a set of random access parameters specific to a slice group identity (1205 in fig. 12) and RACH configuration SliceId-r17 (fig. 4 and par. 0076).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify slice specific information of Gao by providing slice-specific random access configuration as taught in Lohr. Such a modification would have provided a user equipment UE a random access procedure configuration to access a network slice for a wireless communication network so that the random access could be partitioned and prioritized in an optimized way for saving network resources as suggested in par. 0002-0006 of Lohr.
Claim 3
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the RACH information is at least one selected from information relating to a random access occasion (Gao, PRACH occasion in fig. 13; fig. 12-13 of Lohr), information relating to a preamble (Gao, preamble in fig. 10 & 13-14), and information indicating a priority random access purpose to a slice (Gao, reselection priority in par. 0182-0185; RACH in fig. 12-13 of Lohr; for these reasons, the combined prior art meets the claim requirement).
Claim 4
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the user equipment receives a parameter for the slice-specific RACH from the network node (Gao, network slice group or a list of S-NSSAI in par. 0183, see preamble in fig. 10 and parameter for PRACH in fig. 13; Lohr, RACH in fig. 12-13; accordingly, the combined prior art renders the claim obvious).
Claim 5
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the first log information includes one of a number of random access preambles transmitted from the user equipment (Gao, preamble in fig. 10 & 13), a total number of consecutive random access preambles transmitted from the user equipment (Gao, number of RACH occasions in par. 0217 and see fig. 13), and contention detection (Lohr, a contention resolution message in par. 0115-0116; the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117).
Claim 6
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the RACH information includes one of a cell ID of a cell in which the slice-specific RACH is performed (Gao, RACH in fig. 6 as depicted in fig. 1, see PCI in par. 0179), a random access purpose (Gao, RACH procedure in fig. 6), and the number of RACH occasions (Gao, the number of RACH occasions in par. 0217 and see fig. 13; for these reasons, the combined prior art renders the claim obvious).
Claim 7
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the RACH information includes one of resource information or resource ID for the RO on which the RACH attempt is performed (Gao, PRACH Index and occasion index in fig. 13), resource information or resource ID for a preamble on which the RACH attempt is performed (Gao, preamble in fig. 10), information indicating a priority RACH purpose (Gao, priority in par. par. 0187-0188), and an identifier of a slice or slice group to which the priority RACH is performed (Gao, cell reselection priority in par. 0188; accordingly, the combined prior art meets the claim requirement).
Claim 8
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the RACH information includes one of a time stamp (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117), position information (Gao, RACH resource in frequency domain, time domain, preamble domain in par. 0202; search space in par. 0200), and a radio condition (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117).
Claim 9
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, further comprising:
performing, by the user equipment, slice-specific cell reselection using a prioritized frequency mapped per slice group (Gao, fig. 4 & 6 for performing RACH as depicted in fig. 1 and cell reselection based on slice specific in fig. 6, see slice group in par. 0182, S-NSSAI and par. 0188, and see frequency in fig. 7-9, 11 & 14);
recording, by the user equipment, log information in a memory (Gao, fig. 5; fig. 12-13 of Lohr), the log information being acquired when the slice-specific cell reselection is performed (Gao, fig. 4 for slice specific cell reselection or selection); and
the transmitting includes transmitting, by the user equipment, the second log information to the network node (Gao, fig. 4 would include transmission steps as depicted in fig. 1; accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected the combined prior art to perform equally well to the claim).
Claim 10
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 9, wherein the log information is at least one selected from the group consisting of an identifier of a desired slice group (Gao, cell selection comprises group ID of the S-NASSI groups in par. 0175 & 0178; Lohr, fig. 12-13), information indicating that the slice-specific cell reselection has been completed or has failed, information indicating existing in a cell supporting or not supporting the identifier of the desired slice group, information indicating existing in a cell supporting or not supporting priority access to the desired slice group, and information of a reselected cell or a frequency (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117).
Claim 11
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 9, wherein the log information includes one of information indicating which cell or frequency is reselected in order of the priority specified by the slice-specific cell reselection parameter (Gao, cell selection based on slice specific in fig. 4 and cell reselection priority per network slice or network slice group in par. 0181), information for reselected cell or frequency, a cell ID for reselected cell or frequency, and an absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN) for reselected cell or frequency (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117).
Claim 12
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 9, wherein the log information includes one of an identifier of a desired slice or intended slice (Gao, fig. 4 for selecting or reselecting cell with slice specific and see par. 0177-0178, S-NASSI or group ID for network slices), information indicating that the slice-specific cell reselection is failed (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117), information indicating existing in a cell not support the slice, information indicating existing in a cell not supporting priority access for the slice, and information of the reselected cell or frequency (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117).
Claim 13
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 9, wherein the log information includes one of a time stamp (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117), position information (Gao, search space ID in par. 0200, RACH resource in frequency domain, timer domain, preamble domain in par. 0202), and a radio condition (the combined prior art meets the claim’s condition as alternative limitation, see Markush claims in MPEP 2117).
Claim 14
Gao discloses a mobile communication system (a wireless communication system in fig. 1-15) comprising:
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a user equipment (UE in fig. 1-2); and
a network node (RAN node in fig. 1 & 3);
wherein the user equipment comprising transceiver circuitry (communication unit 220 in fig. 2) and processing circuitry (processor 200 in fig. 2) operatively associated with the transceiver circuitry and configured to execute processes (processor 200 in fig. 2 would execute program code 212 to perform RACH procedure in fig. 1, 4, 6 & 15 via communication unit 220) of:
performing, by the user equipment (storage unit 210 in fig. 2), a random access procedure using a resource associated with a slice group (UE random access procedure in fig. 1 and fig. 6 in view of par. 0201, see selecting network slice group in par. 0188, resource included in SIB in par. 0193, RACH resource in par. 0197-0198 and see par. 0205 for RACH resource configuration for the network slice group NSG 2);
transmitting, by the user equipment, RACH information acquired when the random access procedure is performed to a network node (RAN node in fig. 1 & 6, 602 in fig. 6 for performing random access procedure by UE using specific RACH resource information).
Although Gao does not explicitly show: “wherein the RACH information includes information indicating an identifier of the slice group associated with the resource and an identifier of a slice for which a RACH is performed”, the claim limitations are considered obvious by the following rationales.
In fact, Gao explains RACH resource information for network slice group (fig. 6) with SST field that identifies the slice type (par. 0169) and an ID of the search space for random access (par. 0200). It mean that Gao, as depicted in fig. 5, SST filed would have identified the network slice group unless claim explicitly exclude the identifier for slice service and slice network type. However, Gao do not describe an identifier of a slice and thus, further evidence is provided herein. In particular, Lohr teaches UE for receiving slice specific RACH configuration containing a set of random access parameters specific to a slice group identity (1205 in fig. 12) and RACH configuration SliceId-r17 (fig. 4 and par. 0076).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify slice specific information of Gao by providing slice-specific random access configuration as taught in Lohr. Such a modification would have provided a user equipment UE a random access procedure configuration to access a network slice for a wireless communication network so that the random access could be partitioned and prioritized in an optimized way for saving network resources as suggested in par. 0002-0006 of Lohr.
Claim 18
Gao discloses a user equipment (UE in fig. 1-2) comprising:
transceiver circuitry (communication unit 220 in fig. 2); and
processing circuitry (processor 200 in fig. 2) operatively associated with the transceiver circuitry and configured to execute processes of (processor 200 in fig. 2 would execute program code 212 to perform RACH procedure in fig. 1, 4, 6 & 15 via communication unit 220):
performing, by the user equipment (storage unit 210 in fig. 2), a random access procedure using a resource associated with a slice group (UE random access procedure in fig. 1 and fig. 6 in view of par. 0201, see selecting network slice group in par. 0188, resource included in SIB in par. 0193, RACH resource in par. 0197-0198 and see par. 0205 for RACH resource configuration for the network slice group NSG 2);
transmitting, by the user equipment, RACH information acquired when the random access procedure is performed to a network node (RAN node in fig. 1 & 6, 602 in fig. 6 for performing random access procedure by UE using specific RACH resource information).
Although Gao does not explicitly show: “wherein the RACH information includes information indicating an identifier of the slice group associated with the resource and an identifier of a slice for which a RACH is performed”, the claim limitations are considered obvious by the following rationales.
In fact, Gao explains RACH resource information for network slice group (fig. 6) with SST field that identifies the slice type (par. 0169) and an ID of the search space for random access (par. 0200). It mean that Gao, as depicted in fig. 5, SST filed would have identified the network slice group unless claim explicitly exclude the identifier for slice service and slice network type. However, Gao do not describe an identifier of a slice and thus, further evidence is provided herein. In particular, Lohr teaches UE for receiving slice specific RACH configuration containing a set of random access parameters specific to a slice group identity (1205 in fig. 12) and RACH configuration SliceId-r17 (fig. 4 and par. 0076).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify slice specific information of Gao by providing slice-specific random access configuration as taught in Lohr. Such a modification would have provided a user equipment UE a random access procedure configuration to access a network slice for a wireless communication network so that the random access could be partitioned and prioritized in an optimized way for saving network resources as suggested in par. 0002-0006 of Lohr.
Claim 19
Gao, in view of Lohr, discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, from a network node, a user equipment information request message (see MPEP 2111, request could be any information such as RRC setup request in fig. 1 of Gao; 1210 in fig. 12 of Lohr, wherein the transmitting the RACH information includes transmitting a user equipment information response message including the RACH information to the network node in response to the user equipment information request message (steps 1215-1220-1225 in fig. 12 of Lohr; and thus, the combined prior art renders the claim obvious).
Conclusion
8. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAN HTUN whose telephone number is (571)270-3190. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7 AM - 5 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jinsong Hu can be reached on 5712723965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAN HTUN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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