DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 04/06/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
A1) The argument by the applicants states the “3GPP reference fails to disclose the specific proactive initiation step where the logical element (e.g., CEF) requests the MnS producer to create a measurement job as a prerequisite for converged charging” [Reply, page 7].
Response by the examiner: The newly added claim language states “request an MnS producer to create a measurement job to collect a performance measurement related to usage of an edge enabling infrastructure resource for an edge application server (EAS)”. This claim language broadly shows a logical element request MnS producer to create a measurement job. The argument is more specific than the actual claim language (ie. “CEF”, “prerequisite”). The 3GPP reference does disclose the “CEF consumes the MnS to create measurement job and subscribes to the notifications for performance data file reporting” [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2]. As shown in the cited figure of 3GPP, the CEF does request the MnS to create a measurement job to collect a performance measurement and the performance measurement is related to usage of an edge enabling infrastructure resource for an edge application server (EAS) [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; description of this figure on pages 7-8]. Therefore, the 3GPP reference does disclose this newly added claim limitation.
A2) The argument by the applicants states the “3GPP reference does not teach identifying the performance measurement specifically from a performance data report received according to that measurement job” [Reply, page 7].
Response by the examiner: The newly added claim language states “identify, from a performance data report received according to the measurement job, the performance measurement”. This claim language broadly states “identify the performance measurement” without further details of what “identify” is. The 3GPP reference does show the CEF received the performance data report with the performance measurements, based on the requested reporting method [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; bottom of page 7]. The CEF, then, generates charging data related to the collected performance data [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; top of page 8]. The CEF would have to “identify” the performance data, from the performance data report, in order to generate the charging data. Therefore, the 3GPP reference does disclose this newly added claim limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 21-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over "3GPP" [INTEL, "pCR Add possible solutions on charging for edge enabling infrastructure resources and services," 3GPP TSGSA5 Meeting #135e, S5-211425, Agenda Item: 7.5.1, 25 January to 03 February 2021, E-meeting, 11 pages] (cited in IDS, filed 11/02/2023) in view of Shu et al. ("Shu") [PGPUB 2024/0283870].
Regarding claim 21, the 3GPP reference discloses a logical element of the cellular system to: consume a management service (MnS) [ie. "CEF consumes the MnS to create measurement job"; 3GPP; Figures 7.3.4.1-3 and 7.3.4.2-2; pages 6-7];
request an MnS producer to create a measurement job to collect a performance measurement related to usage of an edge enabling infrastructure resource for an edge application server (EAS) [ie. the CEF requests an MnS producer to create a measurement job; 3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; description of this figure on pages 7-8];
identify, from a performance data report received according to the measurement job, the performance measurement [ie. "When the performance data (measurements or KPI) about usage of edge enabling infrastructure resource supporting the EAS is ready, the MnS producer reports the performance data to the CEF. The performance data about edge enabling infrastructure resource could be related to data volume transferred for the EAS, virtual CPU usage of the EAS, virtual memory usage of the EAS, virtual disk usage of the EAS, or the virtual storage of the EAS"; 3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; pg 7-8];
generate, based on the performance measurement, charging data related to the edge enabling infrastructure [ie. "The CEF generates charging data related to the collected performance data and sends the charging data request for the CHF to process the related charging data for CDR generation purpose"; 3GPP; pg 7-8];
transmit an indication of the charging data to a second logical element of the cellular system [ie. "charging data request for the CHF to process the related charging data for CDR generation purpose"; 3GPP; pg 8]; and
identify, based on the transmitted indication of the charging data, a Charging Data Response received from the second logical element [ie. "The CHF informs the CEF on the result of the request" [3GPP; pg 8].
The 3GPP reference does not specifically disclose a one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, upon implementation of the instructions by one or more processors of an electronic device in a cellular system, are to cause a logical element of the cellular system.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Shu reference discloses a one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, upon implementation of the instructions by one or more processors of an electronic device in a cellular system, are to cause a logical element of the cellular system [ie. CEF to CHF; Shu; fig 11 and 15; paragraphs 0029-0030, 0498, and 0575-0577]. The 3GPP and Shu references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage a charging system in wireless communication. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of hardware, taught by Shu, into the system, taught by 3GPP. The motivation for doing so would have been to show the physical system that causes the logical element to perform the steps to obtain predictable results.
Regarding claim 22, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the logical element is a charging enablement function (CEF) [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; pg 7-8] [Shu; para 0352-0354].
Regarding claim 23, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the second logical element is a charging function (CHF) [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; pg 7-8] [Shu; para 0354-0356].
Regarding claim 24, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the performance measurement is related to virtual central processing unit (CPU) usage, virtual memory usage, virtual disk usage, incoming data volume, or outgoing data volume [ie. "The performance data about edge enabling infrastructure resource could be related to data volume transferred for the EAS, virtual CPU usage of the EAS, virtual memory usage of the EAS, virtual disk usage of the EAS, or the virtual storage of the EAS"; 3GPP; pg 7].
Regarding claim 25, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the instructions are to transmit the indication of the charging data to the second logical element of the cellular system in a Charging Data Request [ie. "Charging Data Request [Event]: The CEF generates charging data related to the collected performance data and sends the charging data request for the CHF to process the related charging data for CDR generation purpose"; 3GPP; pg 8].
Regarding claims 26-30, the apparatus of claims 26-30 perform the similar steps as the article of manufacture claims 22-25. The combination of 3GPP-Shu teaches a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable media of claims 26-30, as referenced above. Therefore, claims 26-30 are rejected using the same art and rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 26-30, by the teachings of 3GPP-Shu.
Regarding claim 31, the 3GPP reference discloses a logical element of the cellular system to: identify, from a second logical element, an indication of charging data related to an edge enabling infrastructure, wherein the charging data is based on a performance measurement related to usage of an edge enabling infrastructure resource for an edge application server (EAS) [ie. "When the performance data (measurements or KPI) about usage of edge enabling infrastructure resource supporting the EAS is ready, the MnS producer reports the performance data to the CEF. The performance data about edge enabling infrastructure resource could be related to data volume transferred for the EAS, virtual CPU usage of the EAS, virtual memory usage of the EAS, virtual disk usage of the EAS, or the virtual storage of the EAS"; 3GPP; pg 7-8];
and wherein the performance measurement was collected via a measurement job created by a management service (MnS) producer in response to a request from the second logical element [ie. the CEF requests an MnS producer to create a measurement job; 3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; description of this figure on pages 7-8]; and
transmit, to the second logical element based on the charging data, a Charging Data Response [ie. "The CHF informs the CEF on the result of the request" [3GPP; pg 8].
The 3GPP reference does not specifically disclose one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, upon implementation of the instructions by one or more processors of an electronic device in a cellular system, are to cause a logical element of the cellular system.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Shu reference discloses one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, upon implementation of the instructions by one or more processors of an electronic device in a cellular system, are to cause a logical element of the cellular system [ie. CHF to CEF; Shu; fig 11 and 15; paragraphs 0029-0030, 0498, and 0575-0577]. The 3GPP and Shu references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage a charging system in wireless communication. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of hardware, taught by Shu, into the system, taught by 3GPP. The motivation for doing so would have been to show the physical system that causes the logical element to perform the steps to obtain predictable results.
Regarding claim 32, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the second logical element is a charging enablement function (CEF) [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; pg 7-8] [Shu; para 0352-0354].
Regarding claim 33, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the logical element is a charging function (CHF) [3GPP; Figure 7.3.4.2-2; pg 7-8] [Shu; para 0354-0356].
Regarding claim 34, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the performance measurement is related to virtual central processing unit (CPU) usage, virtual memory usage, virtual disk usage, incoming data volume, or outgoing data volume [ie. "The performance data about edge enabling infrastructure resource could be related to data volume transferred for the EAS, virtual CPU usage of the EAS, virtual memory usage of the EAS, virtual disk usage of the EAS, or the virtual storage of the EAS"; 3GPP; pg 7].
Regarding claim 35, the combination of 3GPP-Shu further discloses the indication of the charging data is received in a Charging Data Request [ie. "Charging Data Request [Event]: The CEF generates charging data related to the collected performance data and sends the charging data request for the CHF to process the related charging data for CDR generation purpose"; 3GPP; pg 8].
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON D CARDONE whose telephone number is (571)272-3933. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 8am-4pmEST.
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/JASON D CARDONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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