Detailed Action
1. This Action is in response to Applicant's Patent Application filed on September 11, 2023. Claims 1-19 are currently pending in the present application. This Action is made Non-Final.
America Invents Act (AIA ) Information
2. 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
3. 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.
4. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
5. 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 non-obviousness.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1, 2 and 5-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parekh; Shyam et al. (US 20220322192 A1), hereafter “Parekh,” in view of SEBIRE BENOIST PIERRE et al. (WO 2022029064 A1) , hereafter “SEBIRE”.
Consider claim 1, Parekh discloses an apparatus of a near-real-time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (near-RT RIC), the apparatus comprising (see fig. 2 #206; par. 0053: “Near real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC): Near-RT RIC is a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of O-RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions over the E2 interface”):
a data storage device to store one or more input parameters received via one or more of an E2 interface or an Al interface (see fig. 2, par. 0089: “The xApps (at the Near-RT-RIC (206)) uses an “E2” interface to collect near real-time RAN (100) information and to provide value-added services using these primitives, guided by the policies/configuration and the enrichment data provided by the “A1” interface from the xApps at the Non-RT-RIC (204);” and par. 0090: “ In one example, the “E2” and “A1” interface may be used to collect control messages, subscription messages (e.g., subscription to RSRP/RSRQ reports and Limited-time subscription for A3 events and A3 RSRP/RSRQ Reports, cell loading information by QCI), policy trigger messages, indication messages, machine learning (ML) management and enrichment information types of messages, and the like.” Examiner’s Analysis: the Near-RT-RIC collects near real-time RAN (100) information (e.g. data storing) of inputs, QCI); and
one or more processors to dynamically determine, based on the one or more input parameters, a cell reselection for a cell provided by an open RAN (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU) in a fifth generation (5G) communication system (see fig. 2, par. 0009: “identifying a target cell for handover (HO) by a Radio access network (RAN) controller in an open RAN (O-RAN) environment. The method includes steps of obtaining at least one quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI) level associated with at least one active bearer in the plurality of user equipment, obtaining a received signal strength value, a first load values and a plurality of second load values for each of the plurality of neighbour cells and selecting the target cell from the plurality of neighbour cells based on at least one QCI level in the plurality of user equipment and the received signal strength value, the first load value and the plurality of second load values for each the plurality of neighbour cells;” par. 0083: “The RAN (100), herein, is implemented in the O-RAN computing architecture (200). The RAN (100) may implement a single radio access technology (RAT) (4G/5G) or multiple RATs (4G and 5G) using the base stations (104, 106a, 106b, 106c . . . 106n) located in the RAN (100);” par. 0087: “The O-RU is O-RAN Radio Unit, which is a logical node hosting Low-PHY layer and RF processing based on a lower layer functional split” and par. 0132: “such as a general purpose processor device, a digital signal processor (DSP)” Examiner’s Analysis: identifying a target cell to hand over to or select based on collecting QCI from the EU (e.g. dynamically reselecting a cell)).
Parekh, however, does not particular refer to the following limitation taught by SEBIRE, in analogous art; a cell reselection priority (see par. 0051: “the cell reselection-related information may cause the UE to perform signal measurements, or to prioritize performing signal measurements, from cells or network nodes that support one or more network slices or CAGs that are used by the UE”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Parekh and have it include the teachings of SEBIRE. The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 2 in view of claim 1 above. SEBIRE further discloses wherein the one or more processors further dynamically determine a cell reselection sub-priority responsive to the one or more input parameters (see par. 0109: “cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG)”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 5 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include cell bandwidths of neighbor cells (see fig. 2, par. 0083: “The data collection of the SMO framework (202) may include, for example, data related to a bandwidth of a wireless communication network and at least one of the plurality of UEs (112a-e).”).
Consider claim 6 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include frequencies of neighbor cells (see fig. 2, par. 0083: “The data collection of the SMO framework (202) may include, for example, data related to a bandwidth of a wireless communication network and at least one of the plurality of UEs (112a-e).”).
Consider claim 7 in view of claim 1 above. SEBIRE further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include device capabilities of one or more user equipment (UE) devices (see par. 045: “A CAG may be identified by a CAG identifier that may be broadcast in system information (e.g., SIB1) by a gNB or cell. Thus, a gNB or cell may broadcast a CAG identifier of one or more CAGs to indicate (e.g., to CAG-capable UEs)”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 8 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include a number of bearers or packet data unit (PDU) sessions established in neighbor cells (see par. 0025: “identified order number for each of at least one QCI value for each active bearer for the UE, performing sorting of neighbour cells by comparing a received signal strength and a PRB utilization value of each of the plurality of neighbour cells with at least two received signal strength thresholds and the first load value for each of the neighbour cells and selecting a target cell from the sorted plurality of neighbour cells”).
Consider claim 9 in view of claim 1 above. SEBIRE further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include available slices in a target cell (see par. 039: “Each network slice may be identified with a slice identifier, e.g., which may be a S-NSSAI (Single - Network Slice Selection Assistance Information). A S-NSSAI is may be used to uniquely identify a network slice. The S-NSSAI may include two components: the SST (Slice/Service Type) to identify the network slice type, and an optional SD (Slice Differentiator) to differentiate among different network slices of the same type”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 10 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include central processing unit (CPU) and memory utilization in a neighbor cell node (see par. 0077: “base station loads, in terms of number of UEs served, total computational, energy, memory, wireless resource usage levels (e.g., PRB utilization levels) of the base station, etc., are also made available to the RAN controller (102) by MRs”).
Consider claim 11 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include a service flow parameter (see par. 0025: “identified order number for each of at least one QCI value for each active bearer for the UE, performing sorting of neighbour cells by comparing a received signal strength and a PRB utilization value of each of the plurality of neighbour cells with at least two received signal strength thresholds and the first load value for each of the neighbour cells and selecting a target cell from the sorted plurality of neighbour cells”).
Consider claim 12 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include an indicator of support for radio resource control (RRC) inactive states (see par. 0086: “which is a logical node hosting RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol, SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol) and PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol). O-CU-CP is O-RAN Central Unit-Control Plane, which is a logical node hosting the RRC and the control-plane part of the PDCP protocol”).
Consider claim 13 in view of claim 1 above. Parekh, further discloses wherein the one or more input parameters include a transport network path indicator (see par. 0025: “identified order number for each of at least one QCI value for each active bearer for the UE, performing sorting of neighbour cells by comparing a received signal strength and a PRB utilization value of each of the plurality of neighbour cells with at least two received signal strength thresholds and the first load value for each of the neighbour cells and selecting a target cell from the sorted plurality of neighbour cells”).
Consider claim 14, Parekh discloses a method, performed by a near-real time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (near-RT RIC) in an open RAN (O-RAN) 5G system (5GS), of changing a cell reselection for intra-frequency neighbor cells, inter-frequency neighbor cells, or inter-RAT neighbor cells, the method comprising (see fig. 2 #206; par. 0053: “Near real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC): Near-RT RIC is a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of O-RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions over the E2 interface;” par. par. 0083: “The RAN (100), herein, is implemented in the O-RAN computing architecture (200). The RAN (100) may implement a single radio access technology (RAT) (4G/5G) or multiple RATs (4G and 5G) using the base stations (104, 106a, 106b, 106c . . . 106n) located in the RAN (100)”):
engaging in an E2 setup establishment with an E2 node (see par. 0053: “Near real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC): Near-RT RIC is a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of O-RAN elements and resources via fine-grained
data collection and actions over the E2 interface”);
engaging in an A1 connection establishment with a RAN service management and orchestrator (SMO) (see fig. 2, par. 0089: “the “A1” interface from the xApps at the Non-RT-RIC (204). An “O1” interface collects data for training in the Non-RT RIC (204) (integrated with the SMO (202)).”);
participating in a RIC subscription procedure with the E2 node (see par. 0090: “the “E2” and “A1” interface may be used to collect control messages, subscription messages (e.g., subscription to RSRP/RSRQ reports and Limited-time subscription for A3 events and A3 RSRP/RSRQ Reports, cell loading information by QCI), policy trigger messages, indication messages, machine learning (ML) management and enrichment information types of messages, and the like”);
participating in a query policy procedure with the SMO (see pars. 0089 and 0090);
receiving one or more input parameters from one or more of the E2 node and the SMO (see fig. 3, par. 0093: “the method obtains at least one quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI) level associated with at least one active bearer in the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) (being considered for handover). The at least one QCI level corresponds to the QoS value required by at least one active bearer in the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) (particularly, the one being considered for handover) to provide a service. The at least one active bearer corresponds to the active connections between the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) and the packet data network gateway to provide the service”); and
dynamically determining a cell reselection based on the one or more input parameters received from one or more of the E2 node or the SMO (see fig. 2, par. 0009: “identifying a target cell for handover (HO) by a Radio access network (RAN) controller in an open RAN (O-RAN) environment. The method includes steps of obtaining at least one quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI) level associated with at least one active bearer in the plurality of user equipment, obtaining a received signal strength value, a first load values and a plurality of second load values for each of the plurality of neighbour cells and selecting the target cell from the plurality of neighbour cells based on at least one QCI level in the plurality of user equipment and the received signal strength value, the first load value and the plurality of second load values for each the plurality of neighbour cells;” par. 0083: “The RAN (100), herein, is implemented in the O-RAN computing architecture (200). The RAN (100) may implement a single radio access technology (RAT) (4G/5G) or multiple RATs (4G and 5G) using the base stations (104, 106a, 106b, 106c . . . 106n) located in the RAN (100);” par. 0087: “The O-RU is O-RAN Radio Unit, which is a logical node hosting Low-PHY layer and RF processing based on a lower layer functional split” and par. 0132: “such as a general purpose processor device, a digital signal processor (DSP)” Examiner’s Analysis: identifying a target cell to hand over to or select based on collecting QCI from the EU (e.g. dynamically reselecting a cell)).
Parekh, however, does not particular refer to the following limitation taught by SEBIRE, in analogous art; a cell reselection priority and sub-priority (see par. 0019: ““cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG)and par. 0051: “the cell reselection-related information may cause the UE to perform signal measurements, or to prioritize performing signal measurements, from cells or network nodes that support one or more network slices or CAGs that are used by the UE”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Parekh and have it include the teachings of SEBIRE. The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 15 in view of claim 14 above. Parekh further discloses triggering a RIC control procedure with the E2 node to cause it to broadcast an updated SIB2, SIB4, or SIB5 (see par. 0080: “In some examples, the base station (104) can be configured to broadcast the HO parameters or the updated HO parameters to the plurality of UEs (112a-e) served by the base station (104). The HO parameters, in one example, may also be communicated to the neighbour base stations (106a and 106b) using the “Xn” interface;” Examiner’s Note: SIB2 or SIB4 or SIB5, e.g. the updated HO parameters).
SEBIRE further discloses the cell reselection priority and sub-priority (see par. 0109: “cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG);”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 16 in view of claim 14 above. Parekh further discloses triggering a RIC control procedure with the E2 node to cause it to generate an RRC release message (see par. 0095: “selects the target cell from the plurality of neighbour cells (108a, 108b) based on at least one QCI level in the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) (being considered for handover), the received signal strength value, the first load value and the plurality of second load values for each the plurality of neighbour cells; par. 0056: “O-CU-CP is O-RAN Central Unit-Control Plane, which is a logical node hosting the RRC and the control-plane part of the PDCP protocol” Examiner’s Analysis: handover involves the RRC release message).
SEBIRE further discloses with the cell reselection priority and sub-priority for a UE moving to an RRC idle or inactive state (see par. 0109: “cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG);” par. 0027: “a UE may, for example, transition from a connected state (e.g., RRC Connected) to an unconnected state, such as an Idle state (e.g., RRC Idle) or Inactive state (e.g., RRC Inactive), e.g., in which the UE may sleep (a low power state) much of the time while in Idle state or Inactive state. In Idle state or Inactive state, the UE does not have a connection established with any cell, and mobility (e.g., determining which cell the UE will be camped on or which cell to select as the serving cell for the UE) is controlled by the UE”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 17, Parekh discloses a method, performed by an E2 node in an open RAN (O-RAN) 5G system (5GS), of changing a cell reselection for intra-frequency neighbor cells, inter-frequency neighbor cells, or inter-RAT neighbor cells, the method comprising (see fig. 2 #206; par. 0053: “Near real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC): Near-RT RIC is a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of O-RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions over the E2 interface;” par. par. 0083: “The RAN (100), herein, is implemented in the O-RAN computing architecture (200). The RAN (100) may implement a single radio access technology (RAT) (4G/5G) or multiple RATs (4G and 5G) using the base stations (104, 106a, 106b, 106c . . . 106n) located in the RAN (100)”):
engaging in an E2 setup establishment with a near-real time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (near-RT RIC) (see par. 0053: “Near real-time RAN Intelligent Controller (Near-RT RIC): Near-RT RIC is a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of O-RAN elements and resources via fine-grained data collection and actions over the E2 interface”);
providing the near-RT RIC with input parameters that the near-RT RIC uses to determine an updated cell reselection (see par. 0080: “In some examples, the base station (104) can be configured to broadcast the HO parameters or the updated HO parameters to the plurality of UEs (112a-e) served by the base station (104). The HO parameters, in one example, may also be communicated to the neighbour base stations (106a and 106b) using the “Xn” interface;”
receiving from the near-RT RIC a RIC control request with the updated cell reselection (see fig. 3, par. 0093: “the method obtains at least one quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI) level associated with at least one active bearer in the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) (being considered for handover). The at least one QCI level corresponds to the QoS value required by at least one active bearer in the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) (particularly, the one being considered for handover) to provide a service. The at least one active bearer corresponds to the active connections between the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) and the packet data network gateway to provide the service”).
Parekh, however, does not particular refer to the following limitation taught by SEBIRE, in analogous art; a cell reselection priority and sub-priority (see par. 0019: ““cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG)and par. 0051: “the cell reselection-related information may cause the UE to perform signal measurements, or to prioritize performing signal measurements, from cells or network nodes that support one or more network slices or CAGs that are used by the UE”); and signaling the updated cell reselection priority and sub-priority towards a UE (see par. 0102: “The UE may be notified, e.g., via configuration or via message or broadcast signalling, that RAT2 has cells that support network slices Y and Z used by the UE. Thus, the UE may perform measurement of signals from (cells of) RAT2, or may prioritize measurement of signals from cells of RAT2, over measurement of other RAT signals (e.g., from cells of RAT3) that do not support a network slice or CAG used by the UE. [0103] 2) Frequency (or frequency band) X supports slices Y and Z”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Parekh and have it include the teachings of SEBIRE. The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 18 in view of claim 17 above. SEBIRE further discloses signaling the updated cell reselection priority and sub-priority at the cell level by broadcasting a SIB (see par. 0101: “The network signals (in current SIB, or a new SIB), may include cell reselection-related information or parameters transmitted as one or more of the following slice (re)selection information: information indicating that certain RATs (radio access technologies), or certain frequencies (or frequency bands), or certain cells support specific network slice(s)” and par. 0109: “cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG)”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
Consider claim 19 in view of claim 17 above. Parekh further discloses using an RRC release message (see par. 0095: “selects the target cell from the plurality of neighbour cells (108a, 108b) based on at least one QCI level in the plurality of user equipment (112a-e) (being considered for handover), the received signal strength value, the first load value and the plurality of second load values for each the plurality of neighbour cells; par. 0056: “O-CU-CP is O-RAN Central Unit-Control Plane, which is a logical node hosting the RRC and the control-plane part of the PDCP protocol” Examiner’s Analysis: handover involves the RRC release message).
SEBIRE further discloses signaling the updated cell reselection priority and sub-priority at the UE level (see par. 0101: “The network signals (in current SIB, or a new SIB), may include cell reselection-related information or parameters transmitted as one or more of the following slice (re)selection information: information indicating that certain RATs (radio access technologies), or certain frequencies (or frequency bands), or certain cells support specific network slice(s)” and par. 0109: “cell reselection-related priority information, indicating a priority of a cell reselection of specific slices or CAGs. For example, this information may indicate that slice3 and sliced are indicated as high priority. Thus, the UE, in response to this priority information, may measure signals from cells that support one or more of these high priority slices (e.g., slice3, sliced), and/or UE may measure and attempt to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports one or more of these indicated priority slices, as a priority (e.g., performed first); and/or measurement and/or performing (attempting to perform) cell reselection to cells that do not support the indicated high priority slices or CAGs would be performed as a lower priority (e.g., performed later, or performed only if there are no cells that support the high priority slices or CAGs, or performed after first measuring and attempting to perform cell reselection to a cell that supports a high priority slice or CAG)”). The motivation would have been in order to reselect the cell that is most appropriate for the active connection (see par. 0051).
8. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parekh in view of SEBIRE as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lindheimer; Christofer et al. (US 20200267632 A1) , hereafter “Lindheimer.”
Consider claim 4, Parekh, in view of SEBIRE discloses all the limitations that this claim depends upon, but does not particularly refer to the following limitation as taught be, Lindheimer in analogous art; wherein the one or more input parameters include a tracking area code (TAC) and a RAN notification area (RNA) (see par. 0085: “the indication of the RNA comprises a plurality of PLMNs each associated with a plurality of TACs. In some examples, the indication of the RNA further comprises at least one radio access network area code RANAC associated with each TAC.”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Parekh, in view of SEBIRE and have it include the teachings of Lindheimer. The motivation would have been in order to provide an area tracking mechanism (see par. 0085).
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claim(s) 3 (is/are) objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
10. The following prior arts are made of record and not relied upon, but is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20230319662 A1: discloses a user-level TS intelligent handover method that is compliant with the O-RAN standards…
US 20250097825 A1: discloses a near-real-time radio access network intelligent controller…
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Marcos Batista, whose telephone number is (571) 270-5209. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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/MARCOS BATISTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
April 21, 2026
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