DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/11/2026 has been entered. In response to amendment filed on 8/11/2026, claims 1, 8 and 10 are amended and claims 4- 7, 9, 13- 16 are cancelled. Claims 1- 3, 8, 10- 12 are pending for examinations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) filed in the remarks on 7/14/2026 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. Applicant has amended independent claim; hence examiner believes that the scope has been changed, therefore considered a new reference Liu et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0322154 A1). Liu states in [0029] and Fig. 1 about …The RAN 105, for example, may include various radio access network nodes (RANNs) 104 and user equipments (UEs) 102, 124, and 126 that access the RANNs 104…; now refer to Fig. 2 and [0041] about #202…QCE 103 initiates the network slice measurement procedure by transmitting network slice measurement configuration information to one or more RANNs 104. The RANNs 104 (i.e. anyone of RANNS 104 can be first access network device and same way second access network device) receive the network slice measurement configuration information….; now refer to Fig. 2 in #214/216 and [0051] about …the RANN 104 may be configured to first determine the slice identifier (S-NSSAI) associated with the received (i.e. from UE here terminal device #102) QoE results/report using a correspondence (i.e. mapping) between the traffic identifier (DRB ID/QOS flow ID/PDU session ID, or any other optional traffic identifier) (i.e. traffic identifier or QMC ID (see [0049]) can be first identity) associated with the measurement report and the various S-NSSAIs, and forward the measurement report and the corresponding S-NSSAI (i.e. second identity) to the core network 101 or the QCE 10 (i.e. mapping table can be traffic identifier/ QMC ID [Wingdings font/0xDF]-[Wingdings font/0xE0] S-NSSAI correspondence)…; further see [0056] regarding…. For example, the core network may transmit the network slice measurement configuration information to the RANNs 104 via initial context setup request messages, handover request messages, or trace start messages associated with a specific UE 102 for requesting the specific UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. Alternatively, the RANN 104 may receive handover request message or trace start message associated with the specific UE 102 from another RANN, and such messages may include network slice measurement configuration information (i.e. refer [0058] about correspondence mapping table ) for requesting the particular UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. The network slice measurement configuration information contains network slice measuring policies for the particular UE 102 accessing the RANN 104; further see [0045, 0057] (regarding network slice measurement configuration information carried in that handover message includes the QMC ID together with the S-NSSAI list. So the source RANN's handover request to the target RANN carries exactly the identifier ↔ slice association the target RANN needs).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1- 2, 8, 10- 11, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0196248 A1) in view of Sun et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0098982 A1) and in further view of Liu et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0322154 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Jeong teaches a measurement information collection method (see abstract and Fig. 1G and 1H), comprising:
determining, by a first access network device, second identity information according to first identity information in received Quality Of Experience (QoE) measurement collection configuration information, wherein the first identity information is a QoE reference identity (see Fig. 1G,H wherein NG-RAN as a first access network device which receives QoE measurement configurations from OAM; now in context with [0133- 0135] refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) (i.e. first identity information here) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 (i.e. second identity information) and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE); and
sending, by the first access network device, measurement configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises the second identity information, and the measurement configuration information is used to indicate the terminal device to obtain a QoE measurement report and send the QoE measurement report and the second identity information (already described above see [0133] in operation 1h-25, the base station 1h-05 may transmit, to the UE AS 1h-10 (i.e. terminal device), logged QoE measurement configuration information for QoE measurement …which is received from an OAM or CN. ..; now refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station..).
wherein determining, by the first access network device, the second identity information according to the first identity information in received QoE measurement collection configuration information comprises: mapping, by the first access network device, the QoE reference identity in the QoE measurement collection configuration information to the second identity information according to mapping information (see Fig. 1G,H wherein NG-RAN as a first access network device which receives QoE measurement configurations from OAM; now in context with [0133- 0135] refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) (i.e. first identity information here) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 (i.e. second identity information) and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE).
But fails to state about used to determine a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement; and in a case of handover from the first access network device to a second access network device, sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device; wherein sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device comprises: sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device during a procedure of initiating a handover request to the second access network device.
However Sun teaches in [0037] regarding ... a target RAN node (i.e. second access network device) receives a second handover message from a second network node (i.e. first access network device), where the second handover message includes an identifier of at least one source network slice, and the second handover message further includes at least one of the following: an indication indicating whether at least one QoS flow of each of the at least one source network slice supports network slice re-mapping, and an indication indicating whether at least one QoS flow of each of the at least one source network slice supports network slice fallback. The target RAN node performs admission control based on the second handover message, where the admission control is used to determine whether to perform network slice re-mapping on the at least one QoS flow, and determine an identifier of a network slice to which the at least one QoS flow is re-mapped; or the admission control is used to determine whether to fall back the at least one QoS flow to a default network slice….
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Sun with the teachings of Jeong to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein to determine a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement; and in a case of handover from the first access network device to a second access network device, sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device; wherein sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device comprises: sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device during a procedure of initiating a handover request to the second access network device; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Jeong is silent about , “…wherein the mapping information is a mapping table between the QoE reference identity and the second identity information and the QoE reference identity in the mapping table and also silent about sending, by the first access network device, the mapping table to the second access network device hence to enable the second access network devoice to determine a network slice which a received QoE measurement report belong according to received second identity information”.
However Liu states in [0029] and Fig. 1 about …The RAN 105, for example, may include various radio access network nodes (RANNs) 104 and user equipments (UEs) 102, 124, and 126 that access the RANNs 104…; now refer to Fig. 2 and [0041] about #202…QCE 103 initiates the network slice measurement procedure by transmitting network slice measurement configuration information to one or more RANNs 104. The RANNs 104 (i.e. anyone of RANNS 104 can be first access network device and same way second access network device) receive the network slice measurement configuration information….; now refer to Fig. 2 in #214/216 and [0051] about …the RANN 104 may be configured to first determine the slice identifier (S-NSSAI) associated with the received (i.e. from UE here terminal device #102) QoE results/report using a correspondence (i.e. mapping) between the traffic identifier (DRB ID/QOS flow ID/PDU session ID, or any other optional traffic identifier) (i.e. traffic identifier or QMC ID (see [0049]) can be first identity) associated with the measurement report and the various S-NSSAIs, and forward the measurement report and the corresponding S-NSSAI (i.e. second identity) to the core network 101 or the QCE 10 (i.e. mapping table can be traffic identifier/ QMC ID [Wingdings font/0xDF]-[Wingdings font/0xE0] S-NSSAI correspondence)…; further see [0056] regarding…. For example, the core network may transmit the network slice measurement configuration information to the RANNs 104 via initial context setup request messages, handover request messages, or trace start messages associated with a specific UE 102 for requesting the specific UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. Alternatively, the RANN 104 may receive handover request message or trace start message associated with the specific UE 102 from another RANN, and such messages may include network slice measurement configuration information (i.e. refer [0058] about correspondence mapping table ) for requesting the particular UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. The network slice measurement configuration information contains network slice measuring policies for the particular UE 102 accessing the RANN 104; further see [0045, 0057] (regarding network slice measurement configuration information carried in that handover message includes the QMC ID together with the S-NSSAI list. So the source RANN's handover request to the target RANN carries exactly the identifier ↔ slice association the target RANN needs).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Jeong in view of Sun to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the mapping information is a mapping table between the QoE reference identity and the second identity information and the QoE reference identity in the mapping table and also silent about sending, by the first access network device, the mapping table to the second access network device hence to enable the second access network devoice to determine a network slice which a received QoE measurement report belong according to received second identity information; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 2, Jeong in view of Sun and Liu teaches as per claim 1, Jeong teaches further comprising: in a case where the QoE measurement report and the second identity information are received, determining, by the first access network device, the first identity information according to the second identity information; and determining, by the first access network device, address information of a core network device corresponding to the QoE measurement collection configuration information according to the first identity information, and sending the QoE measurement report to the core network device based on the address information.; see [0136]... The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE. …
Regarding claim 8, Jeong teaches a terminal device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the terminal device is caused to (see abstract and Fig. 1G and 1H; UE as a terminal here), comprising:
in a case where the terminal device receives measurement configuration information from a first access network device, obtain a Quality Of Experience (QoE) measurement report, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises second identity information, and the second identity information is determined by the first access network device according to first identity information which is a QoE reference identity (see [0133] in operation 1h-25, the base station 1h-05 may transmit, to the UE AS 1h-10 (i.e. terminal device), logged QoE measurement configuration information for QoE measurement …which is received from an OAM or CN. ..; now refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) (i.e. first identity information here) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 (i.e. second identity information) and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE); and
send the QoE measurement report and the second identity information (already discussed above see [0136].. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE. …)
wherein the first access network device maps the QoE reference identity in the QoE measurement collection configuration information to the second identity information according to mapping information (see Fig. 1G,H wherein NG-RAN as a first access network device which receives QoE measurement configurations from OAM; now in context with [0133- 0135] refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) (i.e. first identity information here) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 (i.e. second identity information) and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE).
But fails to state about to determine a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement; and in a case of handover from the first access network device to a second access network device, sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device; wherein sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device comprises: sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device during a procedure of initiating a handover request to the second access network device.
However Sun teaches in [0037] regarding ... a target RAN node (i.e. second access network device) receives a second handover message from a second network node (i.e. first access network device), where the second handover message includes an identifier of at least one source network slice, and the second handover message further includes at least one of the following: an indication indicating whether at least one QoS flow of each of the at least one source network slice supports network slice re-mapping, and an indication indicating whether at least one QoS flow of each of the at least one source network slice supports network slice fallback. The target RAN node performs admission control based on the second handover message, where the admission control is used to determine whether to perform network slice re-mapping on the at least one QoS flow, and determine an identifier of a network slice to which the at least one QoS flow is re-mapped; or the admission control is used to determine whether to fall back the at least one QoS flow to a default network slice….
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Sun with the teachings of Jeong to make system more effective. Having a mechanism to determine a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement; and in a case of handover from the first access network device to a second access network device, sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device; wherein sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device comprises: sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device during a procedure of initiating a handover request to the second access network device; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Jeong is silent about , “…wherein the mapping information is a mapping table between the QoE reference identity and the second identity information and the QoE reference identity in the mapping table and also silent about sending, by the first access network device, the mapping table to the second access network device hence to enable the second access network devoice to determine a network slice which a received QoE measurement report belong according to received second identity information”.
However Liu states in [0029] and Fig. 1 about …The RAN 105, for example, may include various radio access network nodes (RANNs) 104 and user equipments (UEs) 102, 124, and 126 that access the RANNs 104…; now refer to Fig. 2 and [0041] about #202…QCE 103 initiates the network slice measurement procedure by transmitting network slice measurement configuration information to one or more RANNs 104. The RANNs 104 (i.e. anyone of RANNS 104 can be first access network device and same way second access network device) receive the network slice measurement configuration information….; now refer to Fig. 2 in #214/216 and [0051] about …the RANN 104 may be configured to first determine the slice identifier (S-NSSAI) associated with the received (i.e. from UE here terminal device #102) QoE results/report using a correspondence (i.e. mapping) between the traffic identifier (DRB ID/QOS flow ID/PDU session ID, or any other optional traffic identifier) (i.e. traffic identifier or QMC ID (see [0049]) can be first identity) associated with the measurement report and the various S-NSSAIs, and forward the measurement report and the corresponding S-NSSAI (i.e. second identity) to the core network 101 or the QCE 10 (i.e. mapping table can be traffic identifier/ QMC ID [Wingdings font/0xDF]-[Wingdings font/0xE0] S-NSSAI correspondence)…; further see [0056] regarding…. For example, the core network may transmit the network slice measurement configuration information to the RANNs 104 via initial context setup request messages, handover request messages, or trace start messages associated with a specific UE 102 for requesting the specific UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. Alternatively, the RANN 104 may receive handover request message or trace start message associated with the specific UE 102 from another RANN, and such messages may include network slice measurement configuration information (i.e. refer [0058] about correspondence mapping table ) for requesting the particular UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. The network slice measurement configuration information contains network slice measuring policies for the particular UE 102 accessing the RANN 104; further see [0045, 0057] (regarding network slice measurement configuration information carried in that handover message includes the QMC ID together with the S-NSSAI list. So the source RANN's handover request to the target RANN carries exactly the identifier ↔ slice association the target RANN needs).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Jeong in view of Sun to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the mapping information is a mapping table between the QoE reference identity and the second identity information and the QoE reference identity in the mapping table and also silent about sending, by the first access network device, the mapping table to the second access network device hence to enable the second access network devoice to determine a network slice which a received QoE measurement report belong according to received second identity information; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 10, Jeong teaches a first access network device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the first access network device is caused to (see abstract and Fig. 1G and 1H), comprising:
determine second identity information according to first identity information in received Quality Of Experience (QoE) measurement collection configuration information, wherein the first identity information is a QoE reference identity (see Fig. 1G,H wherein NG-RAN as a first access network device which receives QoE measurement configurations from OAM; now in context with [0133- 0135] refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) (i.e. first identity information here) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 (i.e. second identity information) and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE); and
send measurement configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises the second identity information, and the measurement configuration information is used to indicate the terminal device to obtain a QoE measurement report and send the QoE measurement report and the second identity information (already described above see [0133] in operation 1h-25, the base station 1h-05 may transmit, to the UE AS 1h-10 (i.e. terminal device), logged QoE measurement configuration information for QoE measurement …which is received from an OAM or CN. ..; now refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station..).
wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the first access network device is caused to: map the first identity information in the QoE measurement collection configuration information to the second identity information according to mapping information (see Fig. 1G,H wherein NG-RAN as a first access network device which receives QoE measurement configurations from OAM; now in context with [0133- 0135] refer to [0136] ID (RRC level ID) used to identify the QoE measurement configuration at an RRC level: This ID may be included in RRC signaling when configuring QoE measurements and reporting the measurements. For example, if the RRC level ID is set to 1 when configuring a QoE measurement, a UE AS layer or application layer may include the RRC level ID as 1 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration. Also, the RRC level ID may be mapped to a QoE reference (a value that identifies a QoE measurement configuration at OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE level) (i.e. first identity information here) in the base station. For example, the base station that has received a QoE measurement configuration with the QoE reference set to 351 may map the QoE reference to the RRC level ID of 3 (i.e. second identity information) and store the mapping therebetween. The base station may then deliver QoE measurement configuration information containing the RRC level ID of 3 to the UE. The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE).
But fails to state about used to determine a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement; and in a case of handover from the first access network device to a second access network device, sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device; wherein sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device comprises: sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device during a procedure of initiating a handover request to the second access network device.
However Sun teaches in [0037] regarding ... a target RAN node (i.e. second access network device) receives a second handover message from a second network node (i.e. first access network device), where the second handover message includes an identifier of at least one source network slice, and the second handover message further includes at least one of the following: an indication indicating whether at least one QoS flow of each of the at least one source network slice supports network slice re-mapping, and an indication indicating whether at least one QoS flow of each of the at least one source network slice supports network slice fallback. The target RAN node performs admission control based on the second handover message, where the admission control is used to determine whether to perform network slice re-mapping on the at least one QoS flow, and determine an identifier of a network slice to which the at least one QoS flow is re-mapped; or the admission control is used to determine whether to fall back the at least one QoS flow to a default network slice….
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Sun with the teachings of Jeong to make system more effective. Having a mechanism determine a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement; and in a case of handover from the first access network device to a second access network device, sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device; wherein sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device comprises: sending, by the first access network device, the mapping information to the second access network device during a procedure of initiating a handover request to the second access network device; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Jeong is silent about , “…wherein the mapping information is a mapping table between the QoE reference identity and the second identity information and the QoE reference identity in the mapping table and also silent about sending, by the first access network device, the mapping table to the second access network device hence to enable the second access network devoice to determine a network slice which a received QoE measurement report belong according to received second identity information”.
However Liu states in [0029] and Fig. 1 about …The RAN 105, for example, may include various radio access network nodes (RANNs) 104 and user equipments (UEs) 102, 124, and 126 that access the RANNs 104…; now refer to Fig. 2 and [0041] about #202…QCE 103 initiates the network slice measurement procedure by transmitting network slice measurement configuration information to one or more RANNs 104. The RANNs 104 (i.e. anyone of RANNS 104 can be first access network device and same way second access network device) receive the network slice measurement configuration information….; now refer to Fig. 2 in #214/216 and [0051] about …the RANN 104 may be configured to first determine the slice identifier (S-NSSAI) associated with the received (i.e. from UE here terminal device #102) QoE results/report using a correspondence (i.e. mapping) between the traffic identifier (DRB ID/QOS flow ID/PDU session ID, or any other optional traffic identifier) (i.e. traffic identifier or QMC ID (see [0049]) can be first identity) associated with the measurement report and the various S-NSSAIs, and forward the measurement report and the corresponding S-NSSAI (i.e. second identity) to the core network 101 or the QCE 10 (i.e. mapping table can be traffic identifier/ QMC ID [Wingdings font/0xDF]-[Wingdings font/0xE0] S-NSSAI correspondence)…; further see [0056] regarding…. For example, the core network may transmit the network slice measurement configuration information to the RANNs 104 via initial context setup request messages, handover request messages, or trace start messages associated with a specific UE 102 for requesting the specific UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. Alternatively, the RANN 104 may receive handover request message or trace start message associated with the specific UE 102 from another RANN, and such messages may include network slice measurement configuration information (i.e. refer [0058] about correspondence mapping table ) for requesting the particular UE 102 to perform and report network slice QoE measurements. The network slice measurement configuration information contains network slice measuring policies for the particular UE 102 accessing the RANN 104; further see [0045, 0057] (regarding network slice measurement configuration information carried in that handover message includes the QMC ID together with the S-NSSAI list. So the source RANN's handover request to the target RANN carries exactly the identifier ↔ slice association the target RANN needs).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Jeong in view of Sun to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the mapping information is a mapping table between the QoE reference identity and the second identity information and the QoE reference identity in the mapping table and also silent about sending, by the first access network device, the mapping table to the second access network device hence to enable the second access network devoice to determine a network slice which a received QoE measurement report belong according to received second identity information; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 11, Jeong in view of Sun and Liu teaches as per claim 10, Jeon teaches wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the first access network device is caused to: in a case where the QoE measurement report and the second identity information are received, determining, by the first access network device, the first identity information according to the second identity information; and determining address information of a core network device corresponding to the QoE measurement collection configuration information according to the first identity information; wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the first access network device is further caused to send the QoE measurement report to the core network device based on the address information.; see [0136]... The UE may include information that the RRC level ID is 3 in a QoE measurement report generated based on the QoE measurement configuration information and transmit it to the base station, and the base station may confirm that the RRC level ID of 3 is mapped to QoE reference of 351 and transmit the QoE measurement report including the QoE reference of 351 to the OAM, CN, or TCE/MCE. …
Regarding claim 13, Jeong in view of Sun and Liu teaches as per claim 10, wherein the first identity information is a QoE reference identity; Jeong already discussed above in claim 10 see [0136] a QoE reference value.
Claim(s) 3 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0196248 A1) in view of Sun et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0098982 A1) and in further view of Liu et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0322154 A1) in view of Qualcomm, “QoE configuration and reporting”, r2-210994; see IDS filed on 9/5/2024 page 2, Cite#2..
Regarding claim 3, Jeong in view of Sun and Liu teaches as per claim 1, but Jeong fails to teach about wherein a data length of the second identity information is smaller than a data length of the first identity information; however Qualcomm states in page 3 regarding 6byte as a second identity and 3 byte as a first identity information. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Qualcomm with the teachings of Jeong in view of Sun and Liu to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein a data length of the second identity information is smaller than a data length of the first identity information; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 12, Jeong in view of Sun and Liu teaches as per claim 10, but Jeong fails to teach about wherein a data length of the second identity information is smaller than a data length of the first identity information; however Qualcomm states in page 3 regarding 6byte as a second identity and 3 byte as a first identity information. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Qualcomm with the teachings of Jeong in view of Sun and Liu to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein a data length of the second identity information is smaller than a data length of the first identity information; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 form for considered prior arts for record.
Reference Teyeb et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0345579 A1) teaches in [0467] In some embodiments, at least one of the following actions (or combination of these) are also performed: [0468] reset the SCG’s MAC and release the default MAC SCG configuration, if any; [0469] re-establish RLC entities for SRB3, if configured; [0470] store (e.g., in the UE AS SCG context, or in the UE AS SN related context) SN related context information such as S-KgNB (or S-KeNB) and encryption and integrity protection keys associated with the secondary key (S-KgNB or S-KeNB), the C-RNTI used in the source PSCell, the ROHC state, the stored QoS flow to DRB mapping rules, the cellIdentity and the physical cell identity of the source PSCell, and all other SCG-/SN-related parameters configured; [0471] indicates PDCP suspension to lower layers of all DRBs that are suspended; [0472] indicate the suspension of the SCG (and/or the suspension of the affected bearers) to upper layers.
Reference Byun et al. (US Pat. No. 11832277 B2) teaches in Col. 18 lines 15- 30 about In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RRC sublayer include: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and NG-RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs); mobility functions (including: handover and context transfer, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection, inter-RAT mobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure; NAS message transfer to/from NAS from/to UE.
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Art Unit 2479
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