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 .
Status of Claims
The following is a non-final, first action on the merits, in response to application filed November 06, 2023. The preliminary amended claims 16-35, are currently pending. Claims 1-15, stand canceled.
Priority
Certified copy of priority documents are acknowledged which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 11/06/2023, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16, 21, 26 and 31, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al (hereinafter Lee) (US 2022/0330139).
Regarding claims 16, 21, 26 and 31, Lee discloses a method (device, entity) performed by a first access and mobility management function (AMF) entity in a wireless network (a method performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system) (abstract), the method comprising:
registering a plurality of user equipment (UEs) to at least one network slice requiring admission control (a registration request message from a UE, a request message for a slice availability check including information regarding an access type of a user equipment (UE), based on a registration request of the UE for one or more single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAIs), a network slice admission control function (NSACF) may be an NF for managing network slice) (abstract; paras. 0011, 0046, 0053);
transmitting, to a network slice admission control function (NSACF) entity, a first request message to update a total number of UEs registered per slice (transmitting, to a network slice admission control function (NSACF), a request message for a slice availability check including information regarding an access type of a user equipment (UE)) (abstract; paras. 0011, 0013, 0071); and
receiving, from the NSACF entity, a response message (receiving a response message including information regarding a result of the slice availability check, from the NSACF) (abstract; paras. 0011, 0014),
wherein the first request message includes a list of identities of the plurality of UEs registered at the first AMF entity and a list of corresponding single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) that require the admission control with the NSACF entity (the NSACF may manage a list of PDU session IDs of (a) PDU sessions(s) established in association with a network slice. The NSACF may manage the network slice, a UE ID (a list of UE IDs) of the PDU session(s) established in association with the network slice, and the list of PDU session IDs of the PDU session(s) established in association with the network slice.) (paras. 0066, 0085). Lee further discloses the AMF includes a transceiver, and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver and configured to transmit, to a NSACF, a request message for a slice availability check including information regarding an access type of a UE, based on a registration request of the UE for one or more S-NSSAIs (para. 0012).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-20, 22-25, 27-30 and 32-35, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
NPL:
3GPP; TSG SA; Procedures for the 5G system (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 17), 3GPP TS 23.502 V17.0.0, 31 March 2021, discloses an AMF triggers a number of UEs per network slice availability check and update procedure to update the number of UEs registered with a network slice to multiple NSACFs, the AMF sends an NSACF_Number Of UEs Per Slice Availability Check And Update Request message to the NSACF.
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/QUTBUDDIN GHULAMALI/
Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2632.