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 .
Clarity of the Record – Claim Limitation Interpretation
Claims 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 18 and 19 recite in paraphrase ‘at least one or more of the following: a, b, c’. Given that an ‘and’ is not used, and in review of the provided disclosure, the scope of the claim is interpreted through plain meaning (MPEP 2111.01) that these elements are claimed in the alternative, meaning prior art showing any one of a or b or c; or more (i.e. ‘a and b’); would encompass the scope of the claimed limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1-5, 8-13, 16-20 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US Pub 20140273943) in view of Liu (US Pub 20220124539).
Re claim 1, Wu discloses a charging method, comprising:
acquiring, by a user equipment (Fig 1 el 102/104; Par 32), charging information (Fig 5 el s505/s510/s515; Par 9, 31, 43) of a quality of service (QoS) (Par 29, 40, 48),
wherein the charging information (Fig 5 el s510/s515; Par 31, 40, 43) is generated based on a proximity based service (ProSe) provided by the user equipment (Fig 5 el s510/s515; Par 31, 40, 43); and
transmitting the charging information to a network-side equipment (Fig 5 el s520; Par 47-48),
wherein the charging information comprises information of the QoS (Par 29, 40, 43, 48); however, Wu fails to explicitly disclose (1) wherein the information regarding the QoS comprises flow information regarding the QoS flow.
Regarding item (1) above, this design is however disclosed by Liu. Liu discloses wherein the information regarding the QoS comprise flow information regarding the QoS flow (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 which details QoS flow usage-based charging).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Wu in order to incorporate the QoS flow considerations of Liu based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance by specifying the consideration of QoS flow allows for a specific and focused evaluation of the service usage and allows for a more accurate and/or specific determination of charges to applied for the use of the service.
Re claim 16, Wu discloses a user equipment (Fig 1 el 102/104; Par 32), comprising: a memory (Fig 2 Par 32-33), a transceiver (Fig 2 Par 32-33) and a processor (Fig 2 Par 32-33), wherein: the memory is configured to store a computer program (Fig 2 Par 32-33); the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (Fig 2 Par 32-33); and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory (Fig 2 Par 32-33) to perform the following operation:
acquiring charging information (Fig 5 el s505/s510/s515; Par 9, 31, 43) of a quality of service (QoS) (Par 29, 40, 48),
wherein the charging information (Fig 5 el s510/s515; Par 31, 40, 43) is generated based on a proximity based service (ProSe) provided by the user equipment (Fig 5 el s510/s515; Par 31, 40, 43);
the transceiver is configured to transmit the charging information to a network-side equipment (Fig 5 el s520; Par 32, 47-48), wherein the charging information comprises information of the QoS (Par 29, 40, 43, 48); however, Wu fails to explicitly disclose (1) wherein the information regarding the QoS comprises flow information regarding the QoS flow.
Regarding item (1) above, this design is however disclosed by Liu. Liu discloses wherein the information regarding the QoS comprise flow information regarding the QoS flow (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 which details QoS flow usage-based charging).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Wu in order to incorporate the QoS flow considerations of Liu based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance by specifying the consideration of QoS flow allows for a specific and focused evaluation of the service usage and allows for a more accurate and/or specific determination of charges to applied for the use of the service.
Re claim 10, Wu discloses a charging method, comprising:
acquiring, by a network-side equipment (Fig 5 el s520; Par 47-48), charging information of a QoS (Par 31, 40, 43, 47-78) transmitted by a user equipment (Fig 5 el s520; Par 47-48), wherein the charging information is generated based on a proximity based service (ProSe) (Fig 5 el s510/s515; Par 31, 40, 43) provided by the user equipment (Fig 5 el s520; Par 47-48); and
transmitting the charging information (Fig 1 el 106 to 110, Par 25, 29; Fig 7 el s750, Par 59-60),
wherein the charging information comprises information of the QoS (Par 29, 40, 43, 48); however Wu fails to explicitly disclose (1) wherein the information regarding the QoS comprises flow information regarding the QoS flow; and (2) transmitting the charging information to a charging function (CHF).
Regarding items (1) and (2) above, this design is however disclosed by Liu. Liu discloses (1) wherein the information regarding the QoS comprises flow information regarding the QoS flow (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 which details QoS flow usage-based charging); and (2) transmitting the charging information to a charging function (CHF) (Fig 1-2 ‘CHF’, Par 47).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Wu in order to incorporate the QoS flow considerations of Liu based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance by specifying the consideration of QoS flow allows for a specific and focused evaluation of the service usage and allows for a more accurate and/or specific determination of charges to applied for the use of the service.
Re claim 24, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 10, Wu further discloses a network-side equipment, comprising: a memory (Fig 2 Par 32-33), a transceiver (Fig 2 Par 32-33) and a processor (Fig 2 Par 32-33), wherein: the memory is configured to store a computer program (Fig 2 Par 32-33); the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (Fig 2 Par 32-33); and the processor is configured to read the computer program (Fig 2 Par 32-33); wherein the transceiver is configured to perform the operations of the charging method according to claim 10 [see the rejection of clam 10 above].
Re claim 2, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the acquiring the charging information of the quality of service (QoS) flow (Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1) comprises: acquiring the charging information of the QoS flow based on a charging trigger event (Par 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – usage threshold triggering reporting); and/or, triggering to acquire the charging information of the QoS flow based on configuration information (Par 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration).
Re claim 17, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the user equipment according to claim 16, Liu further discloses wherein the processor (Fig 10, Par 194-197) is configured to read the computer program in the memory (Fig 10, Par 194-197) to perform the following operations: acquiring the charging information of the quality of service (QoS) flow (Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1) comprises: acquiring the charging information of the QoS flow based on a charging trigger event (Par 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – usage threshold triggering reporting); or, triggering to acquire the charging information of the QoS flow based on configuration information (Par 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration).
Re claim 11, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 10, Liu further discloses wherein before acquiring the charging information of the QoS flow transmitted by the user equipment (Par 53-55, 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting configuration is put in place prior to sending of usage reports), the method further comprises: configuring configuration information about the charging information for the user equipment (Par 53-55, 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting configuration).
Re claim 3, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 2, Liu further discloses wherein the charging trigger event comprises at least one or more of the following:
establishment of a ProSe link;
establishment of the QoS flow;
change in a QoS attribute parameter;
a time condition of a ProSe link, wherein the time condition of the ProSe link is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set time is met within a life period of the ProSe link (Par 47, 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration);
a data volume condition of the ProSe link, wherein the data volume condition of the ProSe link is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set data volume is met within a life period of the ProSe link (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – usage threshold triggering reporting);
a time condition of the QoS flow, wherein the time condition of the QoS flow is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set time is met within a life period of the QoS flow;
a data volume condition of the QoS flow, wherein the data volume condition of the QoS flow is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set data volume is met within a life period of the QoS flow.
Re claim 18, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the user equipment according to claim 17, Liu further discloses wherein the charging trigger event comprises at least one or more of the following:
establishment of a ProSe link;
establishment of the QoS flow;
change in a QoS attribute parameter;
a time condition of a ProSe link, wherein the time condition of the ProSe link is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set time is met within a life period of the ProSe link (Par 47, 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration);
a data volume condition of the ProSe link, wherein the data volume condition of the ProSe link is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set data volume is met within a life period of the ProSe link (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – usage threshold triggering reporting);
a time condition of the QoS flow, wherein the time condition of the QoS flow is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set time is met within a life period of the QoS flow;
a data volume condition of the QoS flow, wherein the data volume condition of the QoS flow is used to represent that a charging event is triggered in a case that a set data volume is met within a life period of the QoS flow.
Re claim 4, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 2, Liu further discloses wherein the configuration information comprises at least one or more of the following:
a collection period for generating a usage information report based on the charging information (Par 82, 92-94; Table 1 – collection period configuration);
a reporting period for reporting the charging information (Par 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration);
a first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether to report the charging information based on the QoS flow (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 which details QoS flow usage-based charging);
a second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to report a data volume of received data (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – data received threshold triggering reporting);
a third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to report a data volume of transmitted data (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – data transmitted threshold triggering reporting).
Re claim 19, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the user equipment according to claim 17, Liu further discloses wherein the configuration information comprises at least one or more of the following:
a collection period for generating a usage information report based on the charging information (Par 82, 92-94; Table 1 – collection period configuration);
a reporting period for reporting the charging information (Par 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration);
a first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether to report the charging information based on the QoS flow (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 which details QoS flow usage-based charging);
a second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to report a data volume of received data (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – data received threshold triggering reporting);
a third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to report a data volume of transmitted data (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – data transmitted threshold triggering reporting).
Re claim 12, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 11, Liu further discloses wherein the configuration information comprises at least one or more of the following: a collection period for generating a usage information report based on the charging information (Par 82, 92-94; Table 1 – collection period configuration); a reporting period for reporting the charging information (Par 82, 92, 120; Table 1 – reporting period configuration); a first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether to report the charging information based on the QoS flow (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 which details QoS flow usage-based charging); a second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether to report a data volume of received data (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – data received threshold triggering reporting); a third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether to report a data volume of transmitted data (Par 47, 84-86, 92, 120; Table 1 – data transmitted threshold triggering reporting).
Re claim 5, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 1, Liu further discloses further comprising:
after acquiring the charging information (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1), generating a usage information report comprising the charging information according to a collection period (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1) for generating the usage information report comprised in configuration information (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1);
wherein the transmitting the charging information to the network-side equipment comprises: transmitting the usage information report to the network-side equipment (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1) according to a reporting period in the configuration information (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1).
Re claim 20, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the user equipment according to claim 16, Liu further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to read the computer program in the memory (Fig 10, Par 194-197) to perform the following operations:
after acquiring the charging information (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1), generating a usage information report comprising the charging information according to a collection period (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1) for generating the usage information report comprised in configuration information (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1);
the transceiver the transmitting the charging information to the network-side equipment comprises: transmitting the usage information report to the network-side equipment (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1) according to a reporting period in the configuration information (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1).
Re claim 13, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 11, Liu further discloses wherein the acquiring the charging information of the QoS flow transmitted by the user equipment comprises:
acquiring a usage information report transmitted by the user equipment (Fig 5 steps 3-4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1) according to a reporting period of the charging information (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1), wherein the usage information report comprises the charging information (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 82, 92-94, Table 1).
Re claim 8, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the flow information of the QoS flow comprises at least one or more of the following: a QoS attribute parameter; a QoS characteristic parameter; a QoS flow identifier (PFI) (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 ‘QoS flow identity or type’);a transmission time of a first packet of a service data flow that matches the PFI; a transmission time of a last packet of the service data flow that matches the PFI; a time when the QoS flow occurs (Fig 5 step 4; Par 47, 90, 92-94, Table 1 time information related to identified QoS); an identifier of a serving network function.
Re claim 9, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 1, Liu further discloses wherein the charging information further comprises link information associated with the QoS flow (Table 1; Par 96, 133), wherein the link information comprises at least one or more of the following: a source IP address (Table 1; Par 96, 133); a target IP address (Table 1; Par 96, 133); a relay IP address; an IP multicast address of a ProSe group; an identifier of a device participating in the ProSe;a link identifier of a ProSe link.
Claims 6, 14 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu and Liu as applied to claims 1, 10 and 16 above, and further in view of Li (US Pub 20220322202).
Re claim 6, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 1, but fails however to explicitly disclose wherein the transmitting the charging information to the network-side equipment comprises: transmitting the charging information to a charging trigger function (CTF) or a charging enablement function (CEF) of the network-side equipment, wherein the charging information is forwarded to a CHF by the CTF or the CEF, wherein the charging information is used for the CHF to charge for the ProSe that occurs.
This design is however disclosed by Li. Li discloses wherein the transmitting the charging information to the network-side equipment comprises: transmitting the charging information to a charging trigger function (CTF) (Par 67, 78, Table 1) or a charging enablement function (CEF) of the network-side equipment, wherein the charging information is forwarded to a CHF (Par 67, 78, Table 1) by the CTF (Par 67, 78, Table 1) or the CEF, wherein the charging information is used for the CHF to charge for the ProSe that occurs (Par 67, 78, Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Wu in order to incorporate the charging information communication of Li based on the rationale of the use of known techniques to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance the specific use of the CTF processing to collect and process charging data allows for a more accurate and efficient communication with the CHF elements to finalize the charging processing in a way that reducing billing errors and improvise billing accuracy at the benefit of both the user and service provider.
Re claim 21, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole disclose the user equipment according to claim 16, but fails however to explicitly disclose wherein the transceiver transmitting the charging information to the network-side equipment comprises: transmitting the charging information to a charging trigger function (CTF) or a charging enablement function (CEF) of the network-side equipment, wherein the charging information is forwarded to a CHF by the CTF or the CEF, wherein the charging information is used for the CHF to charge for the ProSe that occurs.
This design is however disclosed by Li. Li discloses wherein the transmitting the charging information to the network-side equipment comprises: transmitting the charging information to a charging trigger function (CTF) (Par 67, 78, Table 1) or a charging enablement function (CEF) of the network-side equipment, wherein the charging information is forwarded to a CHF (Par 67, 78, Table 1) by the CTF (Par 67, 78, Table 1) or the CEF, wherein the charging information is used for the CHF to charge for the ProSe that occurs (Par 67, 78, Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Wu in order to incorporate the charging information communication of Li based on the rationale of the use of known techniques to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance the specific use of the CTF processing to collect and process charging data allows for a more accurate and efficient communication with the CHF elements to finalize the charging processing in a way that reducing billing errors and improvise billing accuracy at the benefit of both the user and service provider.
Re claim 14, the combined disclosure of Wu and Liu as a whole discloses the method according to claim 10, but fails however to explicitly disclose wherein the transmitting the charging information to the charging function (CHF) comprises: transmitting the charging information to the CHF through a charging trigger function (CTF) or a charging enablement function (CEF) by using a service-based interface exhibited by charging function (Nchf), wherein the charging information is used for the CHF to charge for the ProSe that occurs.
This design is however disclosed by Li. Li discloses wherein the transmitting the charging information to the charging function (CHF) comprises: transmitting the charging information to the CHF (Par 67, 78, Table 1) through a charging trigger function (CTF) (Par 67, 78, Table 1) or a charging enablement function (CEF) by using a service-based interface exhibited by charging function (Nchf), wherein the charging information is used for the CHF to charge for the ProSe that occurs (Par 67, 78, Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Wu in order to incorporate the charging information communication of Li based on the rationale of the use of known techniques to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance the specific use of the CTF processing to collect and process charging data allows for a more accurate and efficient communication with the CHF elements to finalize the charging processing in a way that reducing billing errors and improvise billing accuracy at the benefit of both the user and service provider.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL R NEFF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631