DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to applicant's communication filed on 06/17/2026, wherein:
Claim 1-13, and 17-22 are pending.
Claim 7, 19, and 21 are withdrawn.
Claim 14-16 are cancelled.
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)(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.
(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.
Claim 1-2, 6, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zong et al. (US 20210211904 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zong discloses a session binding relationship processing method applicable to a Policy Control Function entity (PCF) (Fig. 2), comprising:
in response to a case where a preset first condition for user group migration is met, determining a first user group, wherein the first user group comprises at least two session users (Fig. 2 step S120, ¶0201-0204: “S110: [0201] The PCF 1 satisfies a preset condition. That the preset condition is satisfied means that the PCF 1 cannot continue to serve some policy sessions… [0203] it should be understood that some policy sessions may be some of policy sessions served by the PCF 1. One policy session corresponds to one protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session of one terminal device”); and
sending a management create request message carrying information of the first user group and information of a current PCF to a Binding Support Function entity (BSF), so as to allow the BSF to establish a first binding relationship between the information of the user group and the information of the PCF according to the information of the first user group and the information of the current PCF (Fig. 2 step S130 and ¶0217-0219: “[0217] S130: The PCF 1 sends a notification message to another network element …[0219] Optionally, the PCF 1 may further add information of the target PCF(s) corresponding to the policy session group to the notification message”, ¶0233 discloses another network element being BSF).
Regarding claim 2, Zong discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the preset first condition comprises: detection of a failure of another PCF in a disaster-tolerant group to which the current PCF belongs (¶0202 disclose that the PCF1 is faulty and PCF1 belong to a PCF set); or reception of a session establishment redirect message sent by another PCF in the disaster- tolerant group to which the current PCF belongs, wherein the session establishment redirect message is sent by the another PCF in a case where a load does not meet a preset second condition.
Regarding claim 6, Zong discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the information of the first user group comprises an identification of the first user group (¶0218 – “The notification message is used to notify the another network element that the PCF 1 no longer serves the policy session group”); the information of the PCF comprises one of or any combination of: an identification of the PCF (¶0219 – “Optionally, the PCF 1 may further add information of the target PCF(s) corresponding to the policy session group to the notification message”), a Fully Qualified Domain Name of the PCF, a Diameter protocol host name of the PCF, and a Diameter protocol realm name of the PCF.
Regarding claim 17, the scope and content of the claim recites an electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; and a storage device having one or more programs stored thereon; when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors are caused to implement the session binding relationship processing method of claim 1, therefore, being addressed as presented in claim 1. Further details regarding processor and storage device are well-known computing element for network device to perform its function.
Regarding claim 18, the scope and content of the claim recites a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the session binding relationship processing method of claim 1, therefore, being addressed as presented in claim 1.
Claim 8, 13, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cakulev et al. (US 20210037375 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Cakulev discloses a session binding relationship processing method applicable to a Binding Support Function entity (BSF) (Fig. 5), comprising:
in response to receiving a management create request message sent by a first Policy Control Function entity (PCF), acquiring information of a first user group and information of the PCF which are carried in the management create request message (Fig. 5 step 510, ¶0052 – “For example, the BSF device… may receive, from a PCF device, a binding request, as described above. In some implementations, the binding request may include information relating to one or more of the PCF device... In some examples, such as when the UE is associated with a group of UEs, the binding request may include a group identifier associated with the group of UEs”), wherein the first user group comprises at least two session users (¶0052 – “In some examples, such as when the UE is associated with a group of UEs, the binding request may include a group identifier associated with the group of UEs”);
establishing a first binding relationship between the information of the user group and the information of the PCF according to the information of the first user group and the information of the PCF (Fig. 5 step 520-530 and ¶0053-0055 – “[0055] As further shown in FIG. 5, process 500 may include assigning a binding identifier to the binding data, the binding identifier being configured to index the binding data associated with the UE (block 540). For example, the BSF device (e.g., using a processor 420, a memory 430, a storage component 440, an input component 450, an output component 460, a communication interface 470, and/or the like) may assign a binding identifier to the binding data”); and
sending a management create response message to the first PCF (¶0065 – “For example, upon generating and/or storing the binding data and the binding identifier, the BSF device may generate a message confirming fulfillment of the binding request and including information relating to the binding data and/or the binding identifier. The BSF device may transmit the message with the binding response”).
Regarding claim 13, Cakulev discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the information of the first user group comprises an identification of the first user group (¶0052 – “In some examples, such as when the UE is associated with a group of UEs, the binding request may include a group identifier associated with the group of UEs”); the information of the PCF comprises one of or any combination of: an identification of the PCF (¶0052 – “In some examples, the binding request may include information relating to a network address of the PCF device”), a Fully Qualified Domain Name of the PCF, a Diameter protocol host name of the PCF, and a Diameter protocol realm name of the PCF.
Regarding claim 20, the scope and content of the claim recites an electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; and a storage device having one or more programs stored thereon; when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors are caused to implement the session binding relationship processing method of claim 8, therefore, being addressed as presented in claim 8. Further details regarding processor and storage device are well-known computing element for network device to perform its function.
Regarding claim 22, the scope and content of the claim recites a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the session binding relationship processing method of claim 8, therefore, being addressed as in claim 8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3-5, 9-12 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG HONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7928. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, JINSONG HU, can be reached on (571) 272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUNG HONG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
Prosecution Insights