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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. 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 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.
2. 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.
3. Claims 1, 6-9 and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication US 2022/0417900 to Li et al. (hereinafter Li) in view of U.S. Publication No. US 2023/0300738 to Liu et al. (hereinafter Liu)
As to claims 1 and 9, Li discloses a method for obtaining slice information, applied to a terminal device, the method comprising:
in response to a Non-Access Stratum of a terminal device receiving a registration accept message or a configuration update command message that carries allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) or in response to the Non-Access Stratum of the terminal device updating the allowed NSSAI, sending, by the Non-Access Stratum of the terminal device, intended slice information to an Access Stratum of the terminal device (Li; Fig.1: Step 2 and step 3; [0051]-[0052] shows and discloses NAS layer of the UE receives registration accept message with the allowed slice. The allowed slice Information can include one or more slices, where each slice is indexed by a Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI). The UE NAS layer indicates one or more allowed slices to the UE's AS layer. Here Li is applied for the 1st alternative (i.e a terminal device receiving a registration accept message));
Liu discloses of slice information received by the access stratum, however fails to disclose of using the intended slice information in cell selection. However, Liu discloses
receiving and storing, by the Access stratum of the terminal device, the intended slice information, so as to use the intended slice information in cell reselection, wherein the intended slice information is the allowed NSSAI or a subset of the allowed NSSAI (Liu; Abstract; [0006]; [0033]-[0039] discloses Access stratum receives slice related information from NAS and using the slice related information for cell selection).
It is obvious for a person of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teachings before the effective filing date of the invention. One would be motivated to combine the teachings and select a cell by the access stratum based on the allowed NSSAI in order to select a particular cell.
As to claims 6 and 14, the limitations of claim 6 and 14 are dependent on the 2nd alternative (i.e. a configuration update command message) of the claim 1 and 9. Claims 1 and 9 are rejected based on the 1st alternative (i.e. a registration accept message) of the claims 1 and 9 and therefore the limitations of claims 6 and 14 are considered here.
As to claims 7 and 15, the limitations of claim 6 and 14 are dependent on the 3rd alternative (i.e. the Non-Access Stratum of the terminal device updating the allowed NSSAI) of the claim 1 and 9. Claims 1 and 9 are rejected based on the 1st alternative (i.e. a registration accept message) of the claims 1 and 9 and therefore the limitations of claims 7 and 15 are considered here.
As to claims 8 and 16, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition, Li-Liu discloses wherein the intended slice information is the allowed NSSAI received by the terminal device or a subset of the allowed NSSAI received by the terminal device (Li; [0051] discloses UE send Registration request to the core network (e.g., Access and Mobility Management Function), the core network accept the request and sends, to the UE's NAS layer, the registration accept message with the allowed slice information. The allowed slice Information can include one or more slices, where each slice is indexed by a Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI). Here Li is applied for the 1st alternative); or
the intended slice information is the allowed NSSAI updated by the terminal device or a subset of the allowed NSSAI updated by the terminal device.
4. Claims 2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication US 2022/0417900 to Li et al. (hereinafter Li) in view of U.S. Publication No. US 2023/0300738 to Liu et al. (hereinafter Liu) in view of U.S. Publication No, US 2024/0015798 to Cheng et al. (hereinafter Cheng)
As to claims 2 and 10, Li-Liu discloses selecting, by the Access Stratum of the terminal device, a suitable cell for access according to the intended slice information. Liu-Liu fails to disclose supported slice information in a broadcast message. However, Cheng discloses
supported slice information in a broadcast message (Cheng; [0132] discloses network slice indices supported by the network may be broadcast to the UE)
It is obvious for a person of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teachings before the effective filing date of the invention. One would be motivated to combine the teachings in order to avoid compromising the security of the UE
5. Claims 4 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pre-Grant Publication US 2022/0417900 to Li et al. (hereinafter Li) in view of U.S. Publication No. US 2023/0300738 to Liu et al. (hereinafter Liu) in view of U.S. Publication No, US 2021/0037455 to Zhu et al. (hereinafter Zhu)
As to claims 4 and 12, Li-Liu discloses Non-Access Stratum of the terminal device receiving the allowed NSSAI, but fails to disclose requesting message carrying NSSAI. However, Zhu discloses
sending, by the terminal device, a registration request message to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the registration request message carrying requested NSSAI, and the requested NSSAI carrying information of Single-NSSAI (S-NSSAI) that the terminal device intends to access (Zhu; Fig.13B:1320; [0184]); and
receiving, by the Non-Access Stratum of the terminal device, the registration accept message sent by the AMF (Zhu; Fig.13B:1335; [0187]).
It is obvious for a person of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teachings before the effective filing date of the invention. One would be motivated to combine the teachings so that the UE can select a cell based on the registration request message and registration accept message.
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 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.
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/FAISAL CHOUDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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