DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in reply communication filed on 2/21/2024.
Claims 1-18 are pending.
Claims 19-20 are cancelled.
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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recited, “GTP-U”, “gNBVRFs”, “VRF”, “DNVRFs”, “PFCP”, SR, “UPF”, “SID”. For clarity, it is suggested to describe what these acronyms are represented as in the claim.
Claims 2-18 are also objected to for the same reason as claim 1 above.
Appropriate corrections are required.
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) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for a patent.
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Grewal et al. (US 2024/0031908).
Regarding claim 17, Berzin discloses a controller [see Fig. 4, ¶ 71; controller 23], comprising:
a message reception unit [see ¶ 66; element inventory module 216] which receives a message including information of a plurality of gNBVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs, and a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of DNs [¶ 44, 61; receive EDC element registration information of an EDC identifier and an element identifier of each of EDCs 22, wherein a segment identifier 1220 for DU/CU 24B].
an association information generating unit [see ¶ 35; translation module 208] which generates association information associating the plurality of gNBVRFs with the plurality of DNVRFs based on the message [see ¶¶ 44-46; generate and store an EDC element registration information record for each of EDCs 22, in response to receiving the element registration information)/(based on the message), that may include an identifier for EDC 22A, a segment identifier 1210 for DU/CU 24A, a segment identifier 1211 for UPF 26A, a segment identifier 1212 for EC 28A];
an information acquiring unit [see ¶ 132; path computation module 214] which acquires PFCP session information notified when a UE is attached [see ¶¶ 66, 132; collect network fabric path information based on the link and routing metrics between the packet and optical domains];
a path information generating unit [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 64-68; Path computation module 214] which generates, based on the PFCP session information and the association information, the path information including an SID of a DNVRF corresponding to the UE [see ¶¶ 66-68, 132-133; generate a traffic class mapping structure that maps traffic classes (e.g., low latency class or high data rate class) to one or more computed paths contained within expected performance bounds and within the MEC domain; also see ¶¶ 42-43, controller 23 create/contruct paths based on element registration information provisioned, for example, during initial configuration of the network]; and
a path information advertisement unit [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 134; NSSMF module 210] which advertises the path information to the SR gateway [see ¶ 68; sends the computed path that is mapped to a traffic class to cause the second edge data center (e.g., edge data center 22B) to route traffic for the application workload according to the path mapped to the traffic class].
Regarding claim 18, the claim recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon, the program causes a computer to perform the controller recited as in claim 17; therefore, claim 18 is rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claim 17.
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 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) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 unpatentable over Berzin et al. (US 2021/0297891) in view of Patel et al. (US 2022/0345972).
Regarding claim 1, Berzin discloses a communication system [see Fig. 1, 4, ¶¶ 27, 71; network 2 for providing application workload routing], comprising:
a controller [see Fig. 4, ¶ 71; controller 23] and
an SR gateway [see Fig. 4, ¶¶ 71-72; 5G control plane 402] which converts a packet compliant with a GTP-U received from a mobile network into a packet compliant with an SRv6 [see Fig. 4, ¶ 78; performs node mapping/converting and selection of DU, CU and UPF, segment routing label stack information, for the device, wherein the CU and UPF used the packet switching in GTP-U compliant with SRv6 label stack compliant (see ¶¶ 81-82)],
the controller [see Fig. 1, 4, Controller 23] includes:
an association information generating unit [see ¶ 35; translation module 208] which generates association information associating the plurality of gNBVRFs with the plurality of DNVRFs based on the message [see ¶¶ 44-46; generate and store an EDC element registration information record for each of EDCs 22, in response to receiving the element registration information)/(based on the message), that may include an identifier for EDC 22A, a segment identifier 1210 for DU/CU 24A, a segment identifier 1211 for UPF 26A, a segment identifier 1212 for EC 28A];
an information acquiring unit [see ¶ 132; path computation module 214] which acquires PFCP session information notified when a UE is attached [see ¶¶ 66, 132; collect network fabric path information based on the link and routing metrics between the packet and optical domains];
a path information generating unit [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 64-68; Path computation module 214] which generates, based on the PFCP session information and the association information, the path information including an SID of a DNVRF corresponding to the UE [see ¶¶ 66-68, 132-133; generate a traffic class mapping structure that maps traffic classes (e.g., low latency class or high data rate class) to one or more computed paths contained within expected performance bounds and within the MEC domain; also see ¶¶ 42-43, controller 23 create/contruct paths based on element registration information provisioned, for example, during initial configuration of the network]; and
a path information advertisement unit [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 134; NSSMF module 210] which advertises the path information to the SR gateway [see ¶ 68; sends the computed path that is mapped to a traffic class to cause the second edge data center (e.g., edge data center 22B) to route traffic for the application workload according to the path mapped to the traffic class].
Berzin discloses all aspects of claim invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the SR gateway includes:
a VRF generating unit which generates: a plurality of gNBVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs; and
a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs; and a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of DNs; and
a message advertisement unit which advertises a message to the controller, the message including information of the plurality of gNBVRFs and the plurality of DNVRFs generated by the VRF generating unit.
However, Grewal discloses wherein the SR gateway [see Fig. 1, ¶¶ 63-67; multiple servers 12A-12X] includes:
a VRF generating unit [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 80; Virtualized cell site router 20A] which generates: a plurality of gNBVRFs [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 80; configured with VRFs 212A-212K], each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 80; collectively, “VRFs 212” for respective network slices implemented with respective L3VPNs]; and a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of DNs [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 81; each of the VRFs 212A-212K has a corresponding virtual network interface to DU 22A]; and
a message advertisement unit [see Figs. 3A, 10, ¶ 82; cRPD 324] which advertises a message to the controller, the message including information of the plurality of gNBVRFs and the plurality of DNVRFs generated by the VRF generating unit; and [see Fig. 10, ¶¶ 66, 160, 252; advertise the routing information (including reachability to application containers) using its routing protocols. cRPD 324 needs to program this learnt routing information to the vRouter agent 314/].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein the SR gateway includes: a VRF generating unit which generates: a plurality of gNBVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs; and a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs; and a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of DNs; and a message advertisement unit which advertises a message to the controller, the message including information of the plurality of gNBVRFs and the plurality of DNVRFs generated by the VRF generating unit” as taught by Grewal in the system of Berzin, so that it would enable packetized communication among applications running on virtual execution environments, such as containers or VMs, as well as among applications running on legacy (e.g., physical) environments. Software-defined networking contributes to network management [see Grewal; ¶ 8].
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 unpatentable over Grewal et al. (US 2024/0031908) in view of Patel et al. (US 2022/0345972).
Regarding claim 15, Grewal discloses a gateway [see Fig. 1, 2, ¶¶ 77, 80; server 12/200] comprising:
a converter unit [see Fig. 8, ¶¶ 77, 80; Container Networking Interfaces (CNIs) 312] which converts a packet [see Fig. 1, ¶¶ 47, 52, 81; each of the virtual network interfaces of DU 22A is mapped into a different L3VPN in vCSR 20A in order to, e.g., support a different one of multiple network slices].
a VRF generating unit [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 80; Virtualized cell site router 20A] which generates: a plurality of gNBVRFs [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 80; configured with VRFs 212A-212K], each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of gNBs [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 80; collectively, “VRFs 212” for respective network slices implemented with respective L3VPNs]; and a plurality of DNVRFs, each of which is a VRF corresponding to each of a plurality of DNs [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 81; each of the VRFs 212A-212K has a corresponding virtual network interface to DU 22A]; and
a message advertisement unit [see Figs. 3A, 10, ¶ 82; cRPD 324] which advertises a message to the controller, the message including information of the plurality of gNBVRFs and the plurality of DNVRFs generated by the VRF generating unit; and [see Fig. 10, ¶¶ 66, 160, 252; advertise the routing information (including reachability to application containers) using its routing protocols. cRPD 324 needs to program this learnt routing information to the vRouter agent 314/].
Grewal discloses all aspects of claim invention set forth above, but does not explicitly disclose a converter unit which converts a packet compliant with a GTP-U received from a mobile network into a packet compliant with an SRv6.
However, Patel discloses a converter unit [see Fig. 1, translation module 208] which converts a packet compliant with a GTP-U received from a mobile network into a packet compliant with an SRv6 [see Fig. 2, ¶ 35; converts the A-type direct inbound packets/GTP packet into B-type packets/SRv6 packet].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “a converter unit which converts a packet compliant with a GTP-U received from a mobile network into a packet compliant with an SRv6” as taught by Patel in the system of Berzin, so that it would to provide an improved approach for handling redirection of packets in a cellular communication network [see Patel; ¶ 5].
Regarding claim 16, the claim recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon, the program causes a computer to perform the gateway recited as in claim 15; therefore, claim 16 is rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claim 15.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-14 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
In additional to references cited that are used for rejection as set forth above, Yoo et al. STAMMERS et al. (US 2020/0137174) is also considered as relevant prior arts for rejection of in claims 2, for limitation “modifying interference management operations" (See Fig. 1B, 6, 7, ¶¶ 54-58).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHONG LA whose telephone number is (571)272-2588. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. (EST).
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/PHONG LA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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