DETAILED ACTION
The Amendment filed 02/24/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Schliwa et al. (US Publication 2021/0314820).
With respect to claim 1, Schliwa teaches A method for receiving early warning information, wherein the method is applied to a subscriber, (UE/App, figure 9) and the method comprises:
sending a subscription request for early warning information, (which the core network can receive, from the AF, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required, prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance, Paragraph 177) wherein the early warning information is generated by a first network element according to a monitoring result of a target parameter of a subscribed party; (in which the access network can determine that, at approximately a first instance in the future, it is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement, Paragraph 173. Monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between an application server (AF) and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, Paragraph 176)
receiving the early warning information; (in which the core network can receive, from the AN, a first notification indicating that, at approximately a first instance in the future, the AN is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement. In such embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 760, in which the core network can send the first notification to the AF, paragraph 183) wherein the subscriber comprises at least one of a terminal or an application server. (monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between the application server and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, paragraph 185)
With respect to claim 2, Schliwa teaches A network device, (network node, processor, figure 10) comprising: a processor, a transceiver connected to the processor, and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; (memory, processor, figure 10)) wherein the processor is configured to load and execute the executable instructions to implement:
receiving a subscription request for early warning information from a subscriber; (which the core network can receive, from the AF, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required, prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance, Paragraph 177) monitoring a target parameter of a subscribed party according to the subscription request, wherein the target parameter is used for determining the early warning information; (in which the access network can determine that, at approximately a first instance in the future, it is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement, Paragraph 173. Monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between an application server (AF) and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, Paragraph 176) and
sending the early warning information based on the monitoring result of the target parameter; (in which the core network can receive, from the AN, a first notification indicating that, at approximately a first instance in the future, the AN is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement. In such embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 760, in which the core network can send the first notification to the AF, paragraph 183) wherein the subscriber comprises at least one of a terminal or an application server. (monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between the application server and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, paragraph 185)
With respect to claim 3, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: monitor whether the target parameter of the subscribed party triggers an early warning threshold according to the subscription request; in a case that the target parameter triggers the early warning threshold, send the early warning information based on the monitoring result of the target parameter; (in which the core network can receive, from the AF, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required, prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance. In some embodiments, the QoS requirement for the data flow can include one or more of the following: a guaranteed minimum bit rate, a guaranteed maximum packet delay, and a guaranteed maximum packet error rate, paragraph 177) or, in a case that the target parameter triggers the early warning threshold and a duration of the trigger reaches a preset time length, send the early warning information based on the monitoring result of the target parameter.
With respect to claim 4, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to perform at least one of following steps:
monitoring whether a quality of service (QOS) parameter of the subscribed party reaches a first early warning threshold; (in which the core network can receive, from the AF, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required, prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance. In some embodiments, the QoS requirement for the data flow can include one or more of the following: a guaranteed minimum bit rate, a guaranteed maximum packet delay, and a guaranteed maximum packet error rate, paragraph 177
monitoring whether a distance between the subscribed party and a designated area range reaches a second early warning threshold;
monitoring whether a degree of network congestion between the subscribed party and a first network element reaches a third early warning threshold;
monitoring whether power information of the subscribed party reaches a fourth early warning threshold;
monitoring whether computing power information of the subscribed party reaches a fifth early warning threshold.
With respect to claim 5, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to:
monitor whether a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) of the subscribed party reaches a first threshold; (in which the core network can receive, from the AF, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required, prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance. In some embodiments, the QoS requirement for the data flow can include one or more of the following: a guaranteed minimum bit rate, a guaranteed maximum packet delay, and a guaranteed maximum packet error rate, paragraph 177) or,
monitor whether a packet loss rate of the subscribed party reaches a second threshold; or,
monitor whether a time delay of the subscribed party reaches a third threshold. (The confidence value given in the QoS sustainability notification may also be associated with a specific exceeded QOS metric threshold, e.g., given per threshold. Although certain embodiments have been described in connection with RAN UE throughput and QoS flow retainability QoS metrics, certain embodiments described herein may be applicable to any QoS metrics (e.g., latency, reliability, etc.), Paragraph 40)
With respect to claim 6, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to:
according to the subscription request, calculate a predicted target parameter of the subscribed party based on the monitoring result of the target parameter, or acquire the predicted target parameter of the subscribed party; (Normal operation of the application proceeds for some period of time after the setup is complete, until the AN determines that it is likely to be non-compliant with the application's QoS requirement at some future time instance (labelled T.sub.1). In response, the AN sends a first notification of the likelihood of non-compliance to the CN, which then forwards the first notification to the AF, such that the AF receives the first notification at least T.sub.SG1 (i.e., safe-guard-time_disable) before the first instance (labelled ≤T.sub.1−T.sub.SG1 in FIG. 9). In response, and prior to T.sub.1, the AF controls and/or adapts the application (e.g., at least one service of the application) for safe operation during the AN non-compliance after T.sub.1. This can involve disabling or decreasing the operating margin for at least one service, a subset of at least one service, or the entire application, paragraph 198)
monitor whether the predicted target parameter of the subscribed party triggers an early warning threshold; (in which the access network can determine that, at approximately a first instance in the future, it is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement, Paragraph 173. Monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between an application server (AF) and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, Paragraph 176)
in a case that the predicted target parameter triggers the early warning threshold, send the early warning information, wherein the early warning information comprises an early warning advance amount, and the early warning advance amount is an estimated time value required for the target parameter to change to the predicted target parameter. (the access network can determine that, at approximately a first instance in the future, it is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement. The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 640, in which the access network can send, to the CN, a first notification indicating a likelihood of future AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement. The first notification can be sent at least the first safeguard time before the first instance, Paragraph 173)
With respect to claim 7, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to perform at least one of following steps:
monitoring whether a predicted QOS parameter of the subscribed party reaches a first early warning threshold; (the access network can receive, from the CN, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required by an application server (AF), prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance. In some embodiments, the QoS requirement for the data flow can include one or more of the following: a guaranteed minimum bit rate, a guaranteed maximum packet delay, and a guaranteed maximum packet error rate. In some embodiments, the operations of block 610 can include receiving the QoS requirement from the CN, wherein the QoS requirement implicitly indicates the first safeguard time, Paragraph 171)
monitoring whether a predicted distance between the subscribed party and a designated area range reaches a second early warning threshold, wherein the predicted distance is used for indicating an estimated distance between the subscribed party and the designated area range after a specified time length;
monitoring whether a predicted degree of network congestion between the subscribed party and a first network element reaches a third early warning threshold;
monitoring whether predicted power information of the subscribed party reaches a fourth early warning threshold;
monitoring whether predicted computing power information of the subscribed party reaches a fifth early warning threshold.
With respect to claim 8, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: monitor whether a predicted GBR of the subscribed party reaches a first threshold; (the access network can receive, from the CN, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required by an application server (AF), prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance. In some embodiments, the QoS requirement for the data flow can include one or more of the following: a guaranteed minimum bit rate, a guaranteed maximum packet delay, and a guaranteed maximum packet error rate. In some embodiments, the operations of block 610 can include receiving the QoS requirement from the CN, wherein the QoS requirement implicitly indicates the first safeguard time, Paragraph 171) or, monitor whether a predicted packet loss rate of the subscribed party reaches a second threshold; or, monitor whether a predicted time delay of the subscribed party reaches a third threshold.
With respect to claims 9 and 20, Schliwa teaches wherein the early warning information comprises at least one of following information: an estimated time length of triggering the early warning threshold; a confidence level of the early warning information; a QOS parameter of the subscribed party; (the access network can receive, from the CN, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required by an application server (AF), prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance. In some embodiments, the QoS requirement for the data flow can include one or more of the following: a guaranteed minimum bit rate, a guaranteed maximum packet delay, and a guaranteed maximum packet error rate. In some embodiments, the operations of block 610 can include receiving the QoS requirement from the CN, wherein the QoS requirement implicitly indicates the first safeguard time, Paragraph 171) location information of the subscribed party; a degree of network congestion between the subscribed party and a first network element.
With respect to claim 10, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire the target parameter from the terminal and/or a second network element, wherein the second network element and a first network element are different network elements. he operations of block 620 can include receiving the QoS requirement from the CN, wherein the QoS requirement implicitly indicates the second safeguard time. For example, the QoS requirement can implicitly indicate both the first and the second safeguard times, Paragraph 172)
With respect to claims 12 and 18, Schliwa teaches wherein request information of the subscription request comprises at least one of following information: an identifier or group identifier of the subscribed party; data flow information of the subscribed party; an early warning threshold; a value range of an early warning advance amount; whether to inform an estimated parameter value. (e RAN may assign some (i.e., zero or more) QoS flow identities (QFIs) to be setup to a Master RAN node and others to the Secondary RAN node. The AN Tunnel Info includes a tunnel endpoint for each involved (R)AN node, and the QFIs assigned to each tunnel endpoint. A QFI can be assigned to either the Master RAN node or the Secondary RAN node and not to both, Paragraph 158)
With respect to claim 14, Schliwa teaches wherein the early warning information is used by the subscriber to adjust a behavior of an application layer. (in which the application server can, in response to the first notification and prior to the first instance, control (e.g., adapt) at least one service of the application to facilitate safe operation of the application subsequent to first instance. In some embodiments, the operations of block 860 can include the operations of sub-block 862, where the application server can disable or reduce the operating margin for at least one of the following: the at least one service, a subset of the at least one service, and the entire application, Paragraph 193)
With respect to claim 16, Schliwa teaches A subscriber, (wireless device, Paragraph 10) comprising: a processor, a transceiver connected to the processor, and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor, and (memory, processor, figure 10) the processor is configured to load and execute the executable instructions to implement:
sending a subscription request for early warning information, (which the core network can receive, from the AF, a first safeguard time associated with the QoS requirement for the data flow. The first safeguard time (e.g., safe-guard-time_disable) can represent an amount of time required, prior to AN non-compliance with the QoS requirement, to adapt the application for safe operation during the AN non-compliance, Paragraph 177) wherein the early warning information is generated by a first network element according to a monitoring result of a target parameter of a subscribed party; (in which the access network can determine that, at approximately a first instance in the future, it is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement, Paragraph 173. Monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between an application server (AF) and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, Paragraph 176)
receiving the early warning information; (in which the core network can receive, from the AN, a first notification indicating that, at approximately a first instance in the future, the AN is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement. In such embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 760, in which the core network can send the first notification to the AF, paragraph 183) wherein the subscriber comprises at least one of a terminal or an application server. (monitoring access network (AN) compliance with a quality-of-service (QoS) requirement for a data flow between the application server and an application associated with a user equipment (UE) served by the AN, paragraph 185)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
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(a) 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
Claims 11, 13, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Schliwa et al. (US Publication 2021/0314820) in view of Quang et al. (US Publication 2025/0048068).
With respect to claim 11, Schliwa doesn’t teach wherein the processor is further configured to: receive request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message; or, receive the request information through a user plane function (UPF); or, receive the request information through a network exposure function (NEF).
Quang teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: receive request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message; or, receive the request information through a user plane function (UPF); or, receive the request information through a network exposure function (NEF). (UE may also provide UE specific data for the NWDAF to use in generating the analytics. Several methods are disclosed in which the UE may provide data for analytics over the user plane: over IP, NAS, or RRC protocols. Data may be sent by enhancing NAS and RRC protocols so the UE data may be routed to the NWDAF, Paragraph 76)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Schliwa with receive request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message as taught by Quang. The motivation for combining Schliwa and Quang is to be able to allowing communications, whether directly or indirectly, between UEs and UPFs with NWDAF, optimizations to the user plane can be made to improve network performance and simultaneously improve the user experience.
With respect to claim 13, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: based on the monitoring result of the target parameter, send the early warning information (in which the core network can receive, from the AN, a first notification indicating that, at approximately a first instance in the future, the AN is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement. In such embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 760, in which the core network can send the first notification to the AF, paragraph 183)
However, Schliwa doesn’t teach send the early warning information through a user plane function (UPF) or through a user plane function (UPF) or through a network exposure function (NEF).
Quang teaches send information through a user plane function (UPF) or through a user plane function (UPF) or through a network exposure function (NEF). (SMF may indicate that it will provide the data from the UPF to the NWDAF in future communications. Alternatively, the SMF may let the NWDAF collect data from the UPF using the Nsmf_EventExposure service of the SMF, Paragraph 82)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Schliwa with receive request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message as taught by Quang. The motivation for combining Schliwa and Quang is to be able to allowing communications, whether directly or indirectly, between UEs and UPFs with NWDAF, optimizations to the user plane can be made to improve network performance and simultaneously improve the user experience.
With respect to claim 17, Schliwa doesn’t teach wherein the processor is further configured to: send request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message; or, send request information through a user plane function (UPF); or, send request information through a network exposure function (NEF).
Quang teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: send request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message; or, send request information through a user plane function (UPF); or, send request information through a network exposure function (NEF). (UE may also provide UE specific data for the NWDAF to use in generating the analytics. Several methods are disclosed in which the UE may provide data for analytics over the user plane: over IP, NAS, or RRC protocols. Data may be sent by enhancing NAS and RRC protocols so the UE data may be routed to the NWDAF, Paragraph 76)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Schliwa with receive request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message as taught by Quang. The motivation for combining Schliwa and Quang is to be able to allowing communications, whether directly or indirectly, between UEs and UPFs with NWDAF, optimizations to the user plane can be made to improve network performance and simultaneously improve the user experience.
With respect to claim 19, Schliwa teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the early warning information (in which the core network can receive, from the AN, a first notification indicating that, at approximately a first instance in the future, the AN is likely to be non-compliant with the QoS requirement. In such embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 760, in which the core network can send the first notification to the AF, paragraph 183)
However, Schliwa doesn’t teach receive the early warning information through a user plane function (UPF) or through a user plane function (UPF) or through a network exposure function (NEF).
Quang teaches receive information through a user plane function (UPF) or through a user plane function (UPF) or through a network exposure function (NEF). (SMF may indicate that it will provide the data from the UPF to the NWDAF in future communications. Alternatively, the SMF may let the NWDAF collect data from the UPF using the Nsmf_EventExposure service of the SMF, Paragraph 82)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Schliwa with receive request information of the subscription request through a non-access stratum (NAS) message as taught by Quang. The motivation for combining Schliwa and Quang is to be able to allowing communications, whether directly or indirectly, between UEs and UPFs with NWDAF, optimizations to the user plane can be made to improve network performance and simultaneously improve the user experience.
Claims 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Schliwa et al. (US Publication 2024/0214293) in view of Tomala et al. (US Publication 2023/0292168).
With respect to claim 15, Schliwa doesn’t teach wherein the adjustment of the behavior of the application layer comprises at least one of following: a division of an AI model; a download of an AI model; a deletion of an AI model; a change of model information of an AI model.
Tomala teaches wherein the adjustment of the behavior of the application layer comprises at least one of following: a division of an AI model; a download of an AI model; a deletion of an AI model; a change of model information of an AI model. (While there might be different methods to involve the UE in ML execution and trigger ML model training, it is recommendable to define standard interfaces for the signaling of retrieving the ML model trained in the UE. 5G system support of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) for model distribution and transfer (download, upload, update, etc.) does not exist yet. When the ML model is trained in the UE, some example embodiments of the invention signal the configuration and/or the status of the ML model procedure to the network. MDT may be used as a signaling baseline to be extended for ML purposes, Paragraph 69)
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Schliwa with a download of an AI model as taught by Tomala. The motivation for combining Schliwa and Tomala is to be able to meet the challenges of joint optimizations of an ever-increasing number of performance measures.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to ABDULLAHI AHMED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3652. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khalid Kassim can be reached on 571-270-3370. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABDULLAHI AHMED/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
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