DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/19/26 has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The applicant has amended the following:
Claims: 21 and 23 have been amended.
Claims: 24-26 have not been amended.
Claims: 1-20 and 22 have been cancelled.
Claims: 27-40 have been withdrawn.
EXAMINER’S NOTE:
The examiner notes that the applicant’s amendments have changed the scope of the claims which necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented herein.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 21 and 23-27 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection includes a new combination of references with new citations and does not rely on the previous specific combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 21 and 24-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHANG et al. (US Patent Publication 2026/0059293 herein after referenced as Shang) in view of HONG (US Patent Publication 2022/0337486 herein after referenced as Hong) and further in view of DAO et al. (US Patent Publication 2020/0228420 herein after referenced as Dao).
Regarding claim 21, Shang discloses:
A method performed by a first network data analytics function (NWDAF) of a first public land mobile network (PLMN) in a communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a consumer network function (NF), an analytics request for a roaming user equipment (UE); (Shang, Fig. 10 & [0429]-[0430] discloses In step S101, NF (i.e. reads on from a consumer UE) in VPLMN (i.e. reads on a first PLMN in a communication system) sends the first request information (i.e. reads on receiving an analytics request for a roaming UE) to V-NWDAF (i.e. reads on a first NWDAF) and discloses the first request information may be requests/subscribes analytics (i.e. reads on analytics request). NF in VPLMN sends the requests/subscribes analytics to V-NWDAF, where the requests/subscribes analytics includes a purpose of obtaining data and/or analysis result regarding a specific UE, a group of UEs, or any UE including first identity information of the specific UE, the group of UEs or any UE, that is, the first identity information of the first UE, and the requests/subscribes analytics further includes roaming indication information indicating that these UE are roaming UEs (i.e. reads on for a roaming UE) and VPLMN identity information VPLMN_ID of VPLMN; Shang, [0217] discloses For another example, NF in VPLMN may be a consumer NF (i.e. reads on consumer NF) in VPLMN; Shang, Fig. 1 & [0190] discloses As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system (i.e. reads on in a communication system) is a communication system based on cellular mobile communication technology, and may include: several UEs 110 and several base stations 120; Shang, [0005] discloses According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, an information processing method is provided, which is performed by a network function NF in a visited public land mobile network VPLMN; Shang, [0427] discloses the first request information is used to request data and/or analysis result; Shang, [0012] discloses the NWDAF is a visited network data analytics function V-NWDAF or a home network data analytics function H-NWDAF).
determining that analytics or data(Shang, Fig. 10 & [0437] discloses the first request information may be an analytics request (i.e. reads on based on the analytics request). V-NWDAF determines, (i.e. reads on determining) based on the operator policy, VPLMN roaming agreement and the user consent information of UE specific to VPLMN, whether to allow the analysis result (i.e. reads on that analytics or data are required) from VPLMN to be provided to NF in VPLMN. If yes, V-NWDAF discovers H-NWDAF (i.e. reads on discovering at least one NWDAF of the second PLMN), and sends an analysis request to H-NWDAF; Shang, [0415] discloses In an optional embodiment, the first request information may be an analytics request. V-NWDAF determines whether to allow NF in VPLMN to request data and/or analysis result based on policy information configured in V-NWDAF or provided to V-NWDAF; Shang, [0012] discloses the NWDAF is a visited network data analytics function V-NWDAF or a home network data analytics function H-NWDAF).
transmitting, to the second NWDAF, a roaming analytics request for the roaming UE to obtain analytics required by the first NWDAF from the second NWDAF (Shang, Fig. 10 & [0437]-[0439] discloses If yes, V-NWDAF discovers H-NWDAF, and sends (i.e. reads on transmitting) an analysis request (i.e. reads on a roaming analytics request) to H-NWDAF (i.e. reads on to the second NWDAF) and discloses In step S105, H-NWDAF (i.e. reads on from the second NWDAF) sends first response information (i.e. reads on to obtain analytics required) to V-NWDAF (i.e. reads on by the first NWDAF) and discloses the first response information may be an analysis response. H-NWDAF exposes the data and/or analysis result in the home network, and sends the analysis response to V-NWDAF, where the analysis response includes the data and/or analysis result for NF in VPLMN; Shang, [0283] discloses When NF in VPLMN is allowed to request data and/or analysis result, the first request information is sent to H-NWDAF to request the data and/or analysis of the first UE, thereby further reducing the risk of privacy information e.g., data and/or analysis result being leaked; Shang, [0430] discloses In an optional embodiment, the first request information may be requests/subscribes analytics. NF in VPLMN sends the requests/subscribes analytics to V-NWDAF, where the requests/subscribes analytics includes a purpose of obtaining data and/or analysis result regarding a specific UE, a group of UEs, or any UE including first identity information of the specific UE, the group of UEs or any UE, that is, the first identity information of the first UE, and the requests/subscribes analytics further includes roaming indication information indicating that these UE are roaming UEs and VPLMN identity information VPLMN_ID of VPLMN; Shang, [0239] discloses Accordingly, in the roaming scenario, NF in VPLMN can obtain the data and/or analysis result of the first UE from NWDAF. On the one hand, the interaction of data and/or analysis result can be realized in the roaming scenario; and on the other hand, the interaction of data and/or analysis result in the roaming scenario can be implemented based on the user consent information, thereby reducing the risk of privacy e.g., the data and/or analysis result being leaked in the roaming scenario).
the roaming analytics request including information for identifying the roaming UE and information for identifying the analytics required by the first NWDAF; (Shang, [0430] discloses In an optional embodiment, the first request information may be requests/subscribes analytics. NF in VPLMN sends the requests/subscribes analytics to V-NWDAF, where the requests/subscribes analytics includes (i.e. reads on the roaming analytics request including) a purpose of obtaining data and/or analysis result regarding a specific UE (i.e. reads on information for identifying the analytics required), a group of UEs, or any UE including first identity information of the specific UE (i.e. reads on information for identifying the roaming UE), the group of UEs or any UE, that is, the first identity information of the first UE, and the requests/subscribes analytics further includes roaming indication information indicating that these UE are roaming UEs and VPLMN identity information VPLMN_ID of VPLMN; Shang, [0283] discloses When NF in VPLMN is allowed to request data and/or analysis result, the first request information is sent to H-NWDAF to request the data and/or analysis of the first UE, thereby further reducing the risk of privacy information e.g., data and/or analysis result being leaked; Shang, [0205] discloses purpose of data processing: data analytics service, which may be a service operation name, where specific analysis identity information is used as input of the service operation name; that is, “Purpose of Data Processing: refers to a data analytics service, can be service operation name e.g., Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe, with specific analytics ID input).
and as a response to the roaming analytics request, receiving, from the second NWDAF the analytics for the roaming UE, (Shang, Fig. 10 & [0437]-[0439] discloses If yes, V-NWDAF discovers H-NWDAF, and sends an analysis request (i.e. reads on as a response to the roaming analytics request) to H-NWDAF and discloses In step S105, H-NWDAF (i.e. reads on from the second NWDAF) sends first response information (i.e. reads on receiving the analytics for the roaming UE) to V-NWDAF and discloses the first response information may be an analysis response. H-NWDAF exposes the data and/or analysis result in the home network, and sends the analysis response to V-NWDAF, where the analysis response includes the data and/or analysis result for NF in VPLMN).
Shang discloses a first NWDAF in the first PLMN receiving an analytics request from an NF and in response, discovering a second NWDAF in a second PLMN and sending the analytics request to the second NWDAF and the first NWDAF receiving a response from the second NWDAF wherein the first analytics request is for data or analytics of a specific UE but fails to explicitly recite a determination that the analytics or data from a second PLMN are required or that the discovery of the second NWDAF involves the use of an NRF or that the analytics are derived from data collected from NF in the second PLMN and therefore fails to disclose “determining that analytics or data from a second PLMN are required based on the analytics request; transmitting, to a network repository function (NRF) of the first PLMN, a query for discovering at least one NWDAF of the second PLMN, the query including an identifier (ID) of the second PLMN; receiving, from the NRF, information on a second NWDAF of the second PLMN;” and “wherein the analytics is derived based on data collected from at least one network function serving the roaming UE in the second PLMN.”
In a related field of endeavor, Hong discloses:
determining that analytics or data from a second PLMN are required (Hong, Fig. 10 & [0162] discloses The H-NWDAF determines (i.e. reads on determining that) whether the network element functions e.g. the AF, V-SMF and H-SMF from which data (i.e. reads on analytics or data) is required to be collected are within the service area (i.e. reads on from a second PLMN are required) of the H-NWDAF and The V-SMF is not within the service area of the H-NWDAF, and S1050 is executed; Hong, Fig. 10 & [0167]-[0168] discloses In S1050, the H-NWDAF queries the NWDAF to which the V-SMF belongs and discloses Since the V-SMF is not within the service area of the H-NWDAF, the H-NWDAF queries the NWDAF network function to which the V-SMF belongs from the V-NRF through the H-NRF and The query message carries the network function type of the NWDAF and the V-SMF identifier and The H-NWDAF obtains the network function identifier of the V-NWDAF serving the V-SMF; Hong, Fig. 10 & [0158] discloses In the embodiment, it is assumed that a certain UE is registered in a network operator PLMN 2 and roams to a PLMN 1 and a V-NWDAF and a V-NRF represent network functions of the visited PLMN 1 and The H-NWDAF and an H-SMF represent network functions of the home PLMN 2).
based on the analytics request; (Hong, Fig. 10 & [0161] discloses An H-NWDAF network function receives the request (i.e. reads on based on the analytics request), determines that it is necessary to collect data from AF and SMF network functions for analyzing the communication condition of the UE and The NWDAF sends a query message to a UDM or an NEF to query the AF network function and the SMF network function associated with the UE and The NWDAF receives an AF identifier, a V-SMF identifier and an H-SMF identifier of the network functions associated with the UE fed back by a query result).
transmitting, to a network repository function (NRF) of the first PLMN, a query for discovering at least one NWDAF of the second PLMN; receiving, from the NRF, information on a second NWDAF of the second PLMN; (Hong, Fig. 10 & [0168] discloses Since the V-SMF is not within the service area of the H-NWDAF, the H-NWDAF queries the NWDAF network function to which the V-SMF (i.e. reads on a query for discovering at least one NWDAF of the second PLMN) belongs from the V-NRF through the H-NRF (i.e. reads on transmitting to a NRF of the first PLMN) and The query message carries the network function type of the NWDAF and the V-SMF identifier and The H-NWDAF obtains the network function identifier of the V-NWDAF (i.e. reads on receiving information on a second NWDAF of the second PLMN) serving the V-SMF; Hong, [0010]-[0011] discloses The source NWDAF sends a query request message (i.e. reads on transmitting a query) to a Network Repository Function NRF (i.e. reads on to a NRF), where the query request message includes NWDAF selection assistance information, and the NWDAF selection assistance information includes home information of the at least one network function and discloses The source NWDAF receives (i.e. reads on receiving) a query response message sent by the NRF (i.e. reads on from the NRF), where the query response message includes information of the target NWDAF, and the at least one network function is located within a service area of the target NWDAF; Hong, Fig. 3 & [0080]-[0082] discloses Since the at least one network function from which data is required to be collected by the source NWDAF is not located within the service area of the source NWDAF, the source NWDAF cannot directly collect network data of the at least one network function and Before collecting the network data of the at least one network function, the source NWDAF may first send the query request message to the NRF, where the query request message includes the NWDAF selection assistance information, and the NWDAF selection assistance information includes the home information of the at least one network function and Then, after receiving the query request message, the NRF may determine the service area of which NWDAF the at least one network function is located within according to the home information of the at least one network function and discloses The NWDAF selection assistance information is related information for assisting in selecting the NWDAF to which the at least one network function belongs, and includes the home information of the at least one network function and The NWDAF selection assistance information includes at least one of the following pieces of information: slice information of the network function, an identifier of the network function, or location information of the network function and The location information of the network function represents a geographical location, a tracking area, an IP address, a cell, operator information, vendor information and other information of the at least one network function for effectively distinguishing between service areas and discloses In S3020, the source NWDAF receives a query response message sent by the NRF, where the query response message includes information of a target NWDAF, and the at least one network function is located within the service area of the target NWDAF).
wherein the analytics is derived based on data collected from at least one network function serving the roaming UE in the second PLMN (Hong, [0102] discloses After receiving the network function data collection response, the source NWDAF may acquire the network data fed back by the at least one network function (i.e. reads on from at least network function serving the roaming UE in the second PLMN) and The source NWDAF performs service analysis processing according to the received data (i.e. reads on based on data collected) to obtain the service analysis result (i.e. reads on the analytics is derived), and then sends the service analysis result to the NWDAF consumer, thereby completing the service analysis across NWDAFs and If the source NWDAF needs to collect data from network functions located within multiple different NWDAFs, the source NWDAF performs service analysis processing after receiving the data fed back by all network functions from which data is required to be collected, and then the analysis result may be obtained. In this way, for various network functions in the network, service analysis can be performed at any location in the network, so that the centralized management and operation of the network are achieved; Hong, [0170] discloses An H-NWDAF consumer sends a message to the V-NWDAF to request data collection (i.e. reads on data collected) from the V-SMF network function (i.e. reads on from the at least one network function serving in the second PLMN) and The message carries information such as content of collected data for example, session information related to the UE (i.e. reads on the roaming UE), the network function identifier of the collected object V-SMF, etc.; Hong, Fig. 10 & [0162] discloses The H-NWDAF determines whether the network element functions e.g. the AF, V-SMF and H-SMF from which data is required to be collected are within the service area of the H-NWDAF and The V-SMF is not within the service area of the H-NWDAF, and S1050 is executed).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Shang to incorporate the teachings of Hong for the purpose of providing the system with a means to discover the correct NWDAF to request information from when located in different service areas (Hong, [0162] & [0168]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario (Shang, [0544]) and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of requesting data from a source NWDAF in a first PLMN to a target NWDAF in a second PLMN as taught by Shang) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of requesting data from a source NWDAF in a first PLMN to a target NWDAF in a second PLMN, wherein the source NWDAF determines that data needs to be requested from the target NWDAF in the second PLMN and sends a request to an NRF to discover the target NWDAF in the second PLMN and wherein the first PLMN may be a home PLMN and the second PLMN may be a visited PLMN as taught by Hong) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of requesting data from a source NWDAF in a first PLMN to a target NWDAF in a second PLMN (i.e. as taught by both Shang & Hong) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Shang in view of Hong discloses a first NWDAF sending a query to the NRF in order to discover second NWDAFs but fails to explicitly recite that the query to the NRF includes an ID of a PLMN and therefore fails to disclose “the query including an identifier (ID) of the second PLMN”.
In a related field of endeavor, Dao discloses:
the query including an identifier (ID) of the second PLMN (Dao, [0113] discloses an NF instance/SI e.g. NF-A instance/SI 333, at step 410, needs to use a data analytic service of NWDAF and The NF-A instance/SI 333 sends a message (i.e. reads on the query) to the network repository function NRF e.g. NRF 401 to discover NWDAF set 310 and/or an NWDAF instance/SI e.g. NWDAF instance/SI 311 and The message may carry one or more of following information: Service type of the NF-A instance/SI 333, service type of NWDAF or Type(s) of Data Analytic Service of NWDAF e.g. mobility management, traffic routing, UPF load, IoT security, UE mobility pattern, UE communication pattern, duration to use the data analytic service such as start and end times the NF-A instance/SI 333 may use data analytic service(s), network information such as S-NSSAI(s), NSI-ID(s), DNN(s), PLMN ID(s) (i.e. reads on including an ID of the second PLMN), LADN ID(s), UE Information such as Internal Group ID, UE ID(s), Application information such as Application ID, NF information such as NF IDs and The data analytic service will be performed based on the input information; Dao, [0139]-[0140] discloses the NWDAF instance/SI 311 may need to collect data from one or multiple network functions, such as NF-A set 330 and NF-B set 340 and For illustration, the NWDAF instance/SI 311 may need to collect data from NF-A set 330. The NWDAF instance/SI 311 may send a request to discover NF(s), may include and not limited to, NF-A Set 330 and/or NF-A Subset, and/or NF-A instances/SIs 333 and 334, to the NRF 401 and The NWDAF instance/SI 311 may include one or more of following information: and discloses a. Network information: e.g. PLMN ID(s), S-NSSAI(s), NSI-ID(s), DNN(s), DNAI(s) to collect data from; Dao, [0094] discloses For example some functionalities of coordinator functions of NF Set such as NWDAF SI SCs 315 and 325, NF-A SI SC 335 and/or NF-B SI SC 345 may be implemented in the Data Storage Function and In one example shown in FIG. 3B, when the NWDAF SI SC 315 receives data request from NWDAF service instance(s) 311/312).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Shang in view of Hong to incorporate the teachings of Dao for the purpose of providing the system with a means to select the NWDAF according to various alternative types of input including PLMN ID (Dao, [0113]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario (Shang, [0544]) and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of discovering NWDAFs wherein an NWDAF discovery request is sent to an NRF as taught by Hong) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of discovering NWDAFs wherein an NWDAF discovery request is sent to an NRF, wherein the discovery request includes a PLMN ID as taught by Dao) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of discovering NWDAFs wherein an NWDAF discovery request is sent to an NRF (i.e. as taught by both Hong & Dao) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 24, Shang in view of Hong and further in view of Dao discloses:
The method of claim 21, (see claim 21).
wherein the first PLMN is a home PLMN (HPLMN) of the roaming UE and the second PLMN is a visited PLMN (VPLMN) of the roaming UE (Shang, [0097] discloses In some embodiments, the NWDAF is a V-NWDAF or an H-NWDAF; Hong, Fig. 10 & [0158] discloses In the embodiment, it is assumed that a certain UE is registered in a network operator PLMN 2 and roams to a PLMN 1 and a V-NWDAF and a V-NRF represent network functions of the visited PLMN 1 and The H-NWDAF and an H-SMF represent network functions of the home PLMN 2; Hong, [0170] discloses An H-NWDAF consumer sends a message to the V-NWDAF to request data collection from the V-SMF network function and The message carries information such as content of collected data for example, session information related to the UE, the network function identifier of the collected object V-SMF, etc.).
Regarding claim 25, Shang in view of Hong and further in view of Dao discloses:
The method of claim 21, (see claim 21).
wherein the first PLMN is a visited PLMN (VPLMN) of the roaming UE and the second PLMN is a home PLMN (HPLMN) of the roaming UE (Shang, [0276] discloses when V-NWDAF receives the first request information sent by NF in VPLMN, it sends the first request information to H-NWDAF, thereby causing H-NWADF to obtain the user consent information of the first UE and Therefore, it is beneficial for H-NWDAF to obtain the user information of the first UE in the roaming scenario, and determine, based on the user consent information of the first UE, whether to send the data and/or analysis result of the first UE to NF in VPLMN and In this way, on the one hand, the interaction of data and/or analysis result can be realized in the roaming scenario; and on the other hand, the interaction of data and/or analysis result in the roaming scenario can be implemented based on the user consent information, thereby reducing the risk of privacy e.g., the data and/or analysis result being leaked in the roaming scenario).
Regarding claim 26, Shang in view of Hong and further in view of Dao discloses:
The method of claim 21, further comprising (see claim 21).
identifying user consent of the roaming UE for network data analytics (Shang, [0276] discloses when V-NWDAF receives the first request information sent by NF in VPLMN, it sends the first request information to H-NWDAF, thereby causing H-NWADF to obtain the user consent information of the first UE and Therefore, it is beneficial for H-NWDAF to obtain the user information of the first UE in the roaming scenario, and determine, based on the user consent information of the first UE, whether to send the data and/or analysis result of the first UE to NF in VPLMN and In this way, on the one hand, the interaction of data and/or analysis result can be realized in the roaming scenario; and on the other hand, the interaction of data and/or analysis result in the roaming scenario can be implemented based on the user consent information, thereby reducing the risk of privacy e.g., the data and/or analysis result being leaked in the roaming scenario; Shang, [0030] discloses a user consent result indicating whether the data and/or analysis result is allowed to be provided to HPLMN and/or VPLMN).
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SHANG et al. (US Patent Publication 2026/0059293 herein after referenced as Shang) in view of HONG (US Patent Publication 2022/0337486 herein after referenced as Hong) in view of DAO et al. (US Patent Publication 2020/0228420 herein after referenced as Dao) and further in view of SHARIAT et al. (US Patent Publication 2021/0297843 herein after referenced as Shariat).
Regarding claim 23, Shang in view of Hong and further in view of Dao discloses:
The method of claim 21, (see claim 21).
Shang in view of Hong and further in view of Dao discloses the source NWDAF in a first PLMN performing data analysis on a combination of data received from a plurality of NWDAF but fails to explicitly recite that the data analysis on the combination of the data received from a plurality of NWDAF may be implemented by other NWDAF in other PLMNs and therefore fails to disclose “wherein analytics information is generated in a third NWDAF of the second PLMN.”
In a related field of endeavor, Shariat discloses:
wherein analytics information is generated in a third NWDAF of the second PLMN (Shariat, [0023] discloses a network function service consumer sends a discovery request to a Network Repository Function, NRF, including all required Analytics ID(s) and an area of interest, the NRF responding with one or more of a set of NWDAF instance IDs, each covering a set of Analytics ID(s), and at least part of the area of interest supported and AP ID, or other identifier, per Aggregator NWDAF instance(s) indicating possible aggregation point(s), the network function service consumer, based on its internal selection criteria, considering registered NWDAF capabilities and information from NRF, selects at least one NWDAF as Aggregator NWDAF, the network function service consumer sends a subscription request to Aggregator NWDAF to designate as an aggregation point, including Analytics IDs and area of interest per NWDAF to aggregate from, and either a) Aggregator NWDAF identifies its designation as aggregation point, or b) Aggregator NWDAF based on configuration, implementation or queries to NRF decides on mapping to specific NWDAFs to aggregate analytics, Aggregator NWDAF subscribes to all NWDAFs, NWDAFs notify with analytics specific parameters per analytics ID in the set of Analytics IDs, Per analytics ID, Aggregator NWDAF aggregates the target of analytics reporting across different NWDAFs for corresponding area of interest, and Aggregator NWDAF notifies to the network function service consumer with analytics specific parameters per analytics ID for all aggregated analytics IDs per NWDAF; Shariat, [0026] discloses A single instance or multiple instances of NWDAF 40 may be deployed in a Public land mobile network PLMN and In case multiple NWDAF 40 instances are deployed, embodiments of the disclosure support deploying the NWDAF 40 as a central NF, as a collection of distributed NFs, or as a combination of both i.e. some centralized and some distributed. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the combination of the cited teachings together as a whole that the consumer may be able to select an NWDAF from another PLMN as an aggregator NWDAF based on internal selection criteria and considering the NWDAF capabilities).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Shang in view of Hong and further in view of Dao to incorporate the teachings of Shariat for the purpose of providing the system with a means to be able to select a NWDAF to serve as an aggregator NWDAF according to specific selection criteria (Shariat, [0023]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario (Shang, [0544]) and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of requesting data analytics wherein an NWDAF discovery process is performed as taught by Shang & Hong) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of requesting data analytics wherein an NWDAF discovery process is performed, wherein the NWDAF discovery allows the selection of an aggregator NWDAF in a PLMN according to internal selection criteria and considering the NWDAF capabilities as taught by Shariat) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of requesting data analytics wherein an NWDAF discovery process is performed (i.e. as taught by both Shang & Hong & Shariat) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL Y MAPA whose telephone number is (571)270-5540. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM EST.
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, Anthony Addy can be reached at (571) 272 - 7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL Y MAPA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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