DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s Amendment filed on November 20, 2025 has been reviewed.
Claim 16 is amended in the amendment.
Claims 1-20 have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on June 23, 2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation is: a computing device configured to at least: determine….; in independent claim 1.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claims 2-7 likewise interpreted.
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 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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shetty et al. (US 2023/0362658 A1), hereinafter referred to as Shetty, in view of Gupta et al. (US 11,711,727 B1).
With respect to claim 1, Shetty teaches A system, comprising:
a radio access network (RAN)-enabled edge server located at a cell site (slicing is performed from at least the enterprise or subscriber edge at UE domain 110, through the Radio Access Network (RAN) 120, through the 5G access edge and the 5G core network 130, and to the data network 140, para. 0036), the RAN-enabled edge server being configured to execute distributed unit (DU) functions for a RAN (performing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration of the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network or the NSA network having high radio resource utilization, para. 0074), the RAN-enabled edge server including a physical layer accelerator specialized for DU physical layer communication (performing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration of the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network or the NSA network having high radio resource utilization, para. 0074); and
a computing device configured to at least:
determine that the RAN-enabled edge server has excess resource capacity beyond a quantity necessary to execute the DU functions for the RAN (high utilization of radio resources can result in a decline in a quality of service (QoS) for connected user equipment (UE), or in a reduced ability to support additional UE connections, the SA network 208B have a higher demand for radio resources than the NSA network 208A, which may have excess capacity, the NSA network 208A have a higher demand for radio resources than the SA network, which have excess capacity or additional bandwidth; the radio resources reallocated between the SA and NSA networks, para. 0060-0061);
determine a demand for the excess resource capacity from a cloud provider network (the SA network 208B have a higher demand for radio resources than the NSA network 208A, which have excess capacity, the NSA network 208A have a higher demand for radio resources than the SA network, which have excess capacity or additional bandwidth; the radio resources reallocated between the SA and NSA networks, para. 0061);
determine whether to offer the excess resource capacity to customers of the cloud provider network based at least in part on the demand (network functions that offer their services to other network functions via common framework interfaces to support this wide range of services and network functions across an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networks incorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generation architectures, para. 0038; the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062); and
Shetty does not explicitly teach
determine a mapping of the excess resource capacity to one or more machine instance types based at least in part on one or more of available processor, memory, or storage resources.
However, Gupta teaches
determine a mapping of the excess resource capacity to one or more machine instance types based at least in part on one or more of available processor, memory, or storage resources (improving the scalability and overall performance of a radio-based network by transferring network functions previously provided by proprietary hardware to virtual machine instances operated by a cloud computing provider with elasticity under a utility computing model, col. 4, lines 21-46; a particular computing device 418 may execute different types of VM instances, which may offer different quantities of resources available via the computing device 418. For example, some types of VM instances may offer more memory and processing capability than other types of VM instances, col. 24, lines 1-15) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 2, Shetty teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the excess resource capacity includes capacity on the physical layer accelerator (the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 3, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The system of claim 1 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the computing device is further configured to at least disable one or more processor cores of the RAN-enabled edge server in response to determining that the demand is below a minimum threshold (the RBN management service 424 determine that the observed performance falls beneath a minimum threshold, or that the observed utilization exceeds a maximum threshold. In such a case, the RBN management service 424 may automatically scale a quantity of a VM instance, container, function, or other allocated computing capacity 421 (FIG. 4) performing a network function in the RBN 103, col. 31, lines 5-30) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 4, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The system of claim 1 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the computing device is further configured to at least migrate one or more workloads of third-party customers away from the RAN-enabled edge server to another RAN-enabled edge server in response to determining to allocate additional resources to the DU functions (the network function orchestrator 270 can also onboard new NFs, manage migration to new or updated versions of existing NFs, identify NF sets that are suitable for a particular network slice or larger network, and orchestrate NFs across different computing devices and sites that make up the radio-based network, col. 20, lines 3-22) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 5, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The system of claim 1 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the computing device is further configured to at least offer one or more processor cores of the RAN-enabled edge server for use by the customers in response to determining that the demand exceeds a minimum threshold (the RBN management service 424 determine that the observed performance falls beneath a minimum threshold, or that the observed utilization exceeds a maximum threshold. In such a case, the RBN management service 424 may automatically scale a quantity of a VM instance, container, function, or other allocated computing capacity 421 (FIG. 4) performing a network function in the RBN 103, col. 31, lines 5-30) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 6, Shetty teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the demand is associated with a bid value for the excess resource capacity from one or more of the customers (This network slicing permits for the controlled composition of the 5G network with the specific network functions and provided services that are required for a specific usage scenario. In other words, network slicing enables a 5G network operator to deploy multiple, independent 5G networks where each is customized by instantiating only those features, capabilities, and services required to satisfy a given subset of the UEs or a related business customer needs, para. 0039).
With respect to claim 7, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The system of claim 1 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the demand includes a first portion corresponding to a demand by the customers to execute workloads based at least in part on a geographical proximity of the cell site to a location, and a second portion corresponding to a demand by the customers to execute workloads within a region of the cloud provider network that encompasses the cell site (the RBN management service 424 determine that the observed performance falls beneath a minimum threshold, or that the observed utilization exceeds a maximum threshold. In such a case, the RBN management service 424 may automatically scale a quantity of a VM instance, container, function, or other allocated computing capacity 421 (FIG. 4) performing a network function in the RBN 103, col. 31, lines 5-30) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 8, Shetty teaches A computer-implemented method, comprising:
determining that a radio access network (RAN)-enabled edge server has excess capacity (slicing is performed from at least the enterprise or subscriber edge at UE domain 110, through the Radio Access Network (RAN) 120, through the 5G access edge and the 5G core network 130, and to the data network 140, para. 0036), the RAN-enabled edge server being located at a cell site and configured to perform functions for a first RAN of a first communication service provider (CSP) (performing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration of the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network or the NSA network having high radio resource utilization, para. 0074), the RAN-enabled edge server including a physical layer accelerator utilized for the functions of the first RAN (network functions that offer their services to other network functions via common framework interfaces to support this wide range of services and network functions across an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networks incorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generation architectures, para. 0038; the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062); and
Shetty does not explicitly teach
deploying functions for a second RAN of a second CSP in response to determining that the RAN-enabled edge server has the excess capacity.
However, Gupta teaches
deploying functions for a second RAN of a second CSP in response to determining that the RAN-enabled edge server has the excess capacity (improving the scalability and overall performance of a radio-based network by transferring network functions previously provided by proprietary hardware to virtual machine instances operated by a cloud computing provider with elasticity under a utility computing model, col. 4, lines 21-46; a particular computing device 418 may execute different types of VM instances, which may offer different quantities of resources available via the computing device 418, some types of VM instances may offer more memory and processing capability than other types of VM instances, col. 24, lines 1-15) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the method of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 9, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the functions of the first RAN and the functions of the second RAN have different resource requirements (the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 10, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the RAN-enabled edge server is operated as an extension of a cloud provider network (this network slicing permits for the controlled composition of the 5G network with the specific network functions and provided services that are required for a specific usage scenario. In other words, network slicing enables a 5G network operator to deploy multiple, independent 5G networks where each is customized by instantiating only those features, capabilities, and services required to satisfy a given subset of the UEs or a related business customer needs, para. 0039).
With respect to claim 11, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising disabling one or more processor cores of the RAN-enabled edge server that are unused by the functions of the first RAN and the functions of the second RAN (This network slicing permits for the controlled composition of the 5G network with the specific network functions and provided services that are required for a specific usage scenario. In other words, network slicing enables a 5G network operator to deploy multiple, independent 5G networks where each is customized by instantiating only those features, capabilities, and services required to satisfy a given subset of the UEs or a related business customer needs, para. 0039).
With respect to claim 12, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising offering a portion of the excess capacity on the RAN-enabled edge server for use by customers of a cloud provider network, the portion of the excess capacity being that which remains after deploying the functions of the second RAN (network functions that offer their services to other network functions via common framework interfaces to support this wide range of services and network functions across an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networks incorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generation architectures, para. 0038; the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 13, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the physical layer accelerator is specialized for distributed unit (DU) physical layer communication (performing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration of the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network or the NSA network having high radio resource utilization, para. 0074, and the functions of the second RAN utilize excess capacity of the physical layer accelerator (the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 14, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein both the first RAN and the second RAN operate at the cell site (slicing is performed from at least the enterprise or subscriber edge at UE domain 110, through the Radio Access Network (RAN) 120, through the 5G access edge and the 5G core network 130, and to the data network 140, para. 0036).
With respect to claim 15, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 8 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the second RAN operates from a different cell site within a geographic proximity of the cell site (the RBN management service 424 determine that the observed performance falls beneath a minimum threshold, or that the observed utilization exceeds a maximum threshold. In such a case, the RBN management service 424 may automatically scale a quantity of a VM instance, container, function, or other allocated computing capacity 421 (FIG. 4) performing a network function in the RBN 103, col. 31, lines 5-30) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the method of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 16, Shetty teaches A computer-implemented method, comprising:
determining that a radio access network (RAN)-enabled edge server has excess capacity in terms of at least one of: processing resources or memory resources (random access memory (RAM) to processor, para. 0124), the RAN-enabled edge server being located at a cell site and configured to perform at least one of: distributed unit (DU) functions or centralized unit (CU) functions for a RAN (high utilization of radio resources can result in a decline in a quality of service (QoS) for connected user equipment (UE), or in a reduced ability to support additional UE connections, the SA network 208B have a higher demand for radio resources than the NSA network 208A, which may have excess capacity, the NSA network 208A have a higher demand for radio resources than the SA network, which have excess capacity or additional bandwidth; the radio resources reallocated between the SA and NSA networks, para. 0060-0061);
determining a set of one or more different machine instance types of a plurality of different machine instance types that can be deployed using the excess capacity (network functions that offer their services to other network functions via common framework interfaces to support this wide range of services and network functions across an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networks incorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generation architectures, para. 0038; the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062); and
Shetty does not explicitly teach
offering to allocate the set of the one or more different machine instance types on the RAN-enabled edge server to customers of a cloud provider network.
However, Gupta teaches
offering to allocate the set of the one or more different machine instance types on the RAN-enabled edge server to customers of a cloud provider network (improving the scalability and overall performance of a radio-based network by transferring network functions previously provided by proprietary hardware to virtual machine instances operated by a cloud computing provider with elasticity under a utility computing model, col. 4, lines 21-46; a particular computing device 418 may execute different types of VM instances, which may offer different quantities of resources available via the computing device 418. For example, some types of VM instances may offer more memory and processing capability than other types of VM instances, col. 24, lines 1-15) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the method of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 17, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 16 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the RAN-enabled edge server includes a physical layer accelerator specialized for DU physical layer communication, the DU functions of the RAN utilize the physical layer accelerator, and the set of the one or more different machine instance types includes a machine instance type that uses excess capacity of the physical layer accelerator to provide a capability (improving the scalability and overall performance of a radio-based network by transferring network functions previously provided by proprietary hardware to virtual machine instances operated by a cloud computing provider with elasticity under a utility computing model, col. 4, lines 21-46; a particular computing device 418 may execute different types of VM instances, which may offer different quantities of resources available via the computing device 418. For example, some types of VM instances may offer more memory and processing capability than other types of VM instances, col. 24, lines 1-15) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the method of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
With respect to claim 18, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of different machine instance types includes machine instance types having at least one of: different respective resource capacities or different capabilities (network functions that offer their services to other network functions via common framework interfaces to support this wide range of services and network functions across an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networks incorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generation architectures, para. 0038; the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 19, Shetty teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the set of the one or more machine instance types includes a reserved machine instance type (network functions that offer their services to other network functions via common framework interfaces to support this wide range of services and network functions across an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networks incorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generation architectures, para. 0038; the utilization of the radio resources is a load on a vDU in the SA network 208B and the NSA network 208A and select a vDU 204B or 204A with excess capacity from the SA network or the NSA network, respectively, that has excess capacity by the RIC 202 and send a message to a vCU 206B or 206A in the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A, respectively, that has excess capacity to reallocate radio resources associated with the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network 208B or the NSA network 208A having high radio resource utilization, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 20, Shetty in view of Gupta teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 16 as described above,
Further, Gupta teaches wherein the set of the one or more machine instance types includes an ephemeral machine instance type (the RBN management service 424 determine that the observed performance falls beneath a minimum threshold, or that the observed utilization exceeds a maximum threshold. In such a case, the RBN management service 424 may automatically scale a quantity of a VM instance, container, function, or other allocated computing capacity 421 (FIG. 4) performing a network function in the RBN 103, col. 31, lines 5-30) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on November 20, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the following reasons:
Applicant’s main arguments are that “Shetty does not show or suggest a "physical layer accelerator," as claimed, nor does the Office Action explain what in Shetty allegedly corresponds to a "physical layer accelerator." For at least this reason alone, Applicant respectfully requests that the rejection of claim 1 be withdrawn.” (Argument 1, REMARKS pages 8-9); and “Shetty contains no discussion of execution requirements for DU functions (e.g., resource capacity in terms of processor and memory requirements), much less "resource capacity ... to execute the DU functions." Accordingly, Shetty does not show or suggest "determining that the RAN-enabled edge server has excess resource capacity beyond a quantity necessary to execute the DU functions for the RAN," as recited in claim 1, and the rejection of claim 1 should be withdrawn for this reason alone.” (Argument 2, REMARKS page 9).
Examiner respectfully disagrees with the above arguments.
In response to Applicant’s Argument 1 that “Shetty does not show or suggest a "physical layer accelerator," as claimed, nor does the Office Action explain what in Shetty allegedly corresponds to a "physical layer accelerator." For at least this reason alone, Applicant respectfully requests that the rejection of claim 1 be withdrawn.” it is noted that Shetty teaches performing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration of the vDU with excess capacity to the SA network or the NSA network having high radio resource utilization (para. 0074). Further, Shetty teaches one vCU control multiple vDUs, which are physical layers at various sites, one SA-vCU control multiple SA vDUs. Likewise, one NSA-vCU may control multiple NSA vDUs. One or more SA-vDUs allocated to be NSA-vDUs for NSA users. Similarly, one or more NSA vDUs allocated to be SA vDUs for SA users. Also, the SA-vCU control one or more NSA-vDUs. Likewise, the NSA-vCU control one or more SA-vDUs (para. 0054; fig. 2).
In response to Applicant’s Argument 2 that “Shetty contains no discussion of execution requirements for DU functions (e.g., resource capacity in terms of processor and memory requirements), much less "resource capacity ... to execute the DU functions." Accordingly, Shetty does not show or suggest "determining that the RAN-enabled edge server has excess resource capacity beyond a quantity necessary to execute the DU functions for the RAN," as recited in claim 1, and the rejection of claim 1 should be withdrawn for this reason alone.” it is noted that Shetty teaches high utilization of radio resources can result in a decline in a quality of service (QoS) for connected user equipment (UE), or in a reduced ability to support additional UE connections, the SA network 208B have a higher demand for radio resources than the NSA network 208A, which have excess capacity, the NSA network 208A have a higher demand for radio resources than the SA network, which have excess capacity or additional bandwidth; the radio resources reallocated between the SA and NSA networks (para. 0060-0061). Shetty does not explicitly teach execution requirements for DU functions (e.g., resource capacity in terms of processor and memory requirements), much less "resource capacity ... to execute the DU functions."
However, Gupta teaches improving the scalability and overall performance of a radio-based network by transferring network functions previously provided by proprietary hardware to virtual machine instances operated by a cloud computing provider with elasticity under a utility computing model (col. 4, lines 21-46); a particular computing device 418 may execute different types of VM instances, which may offer different quantities of resources available via the computing device 418, some types of VM instances may offer more memory and processing capability than other types of VM instances (col. 24, lines 1-15) in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
Therefore, based on Shetty in view of Gupta, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Gupta to the system of Shetty in order to permit traffic to enter or leave from sites further downstream from the core network as taught by Gupta (col. 7, lines 1-17).
For the above reasons, Examiner believed that rejection of the last Office action was proper and within their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification. See MPEP 2111 [R-1] Interpretation of Claims-Broadest Reasonable Interpretation.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL.
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 extension fee 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.
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/H.H.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2447
January 8, 2026
/JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447