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 .
This action is in response to the application filed on August 23, 2024
Claims 1-8 is/are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (lDSs) submitted on 03/12/2024, 04/23/2024, 08/06/2024 and 03/28/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C.
119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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 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)(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.
Claims 1,4,7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zee et al. (US 2019/0045351 A1).
As per Claim 1 Zee teaches a method for a core network node, the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, an interface setup request message including information for indicating a tracking area which the base station supports and a list of slices which are supported by the tracking area (Paragraph 0020 0149 0157, 0159, 0213, 0238 FIG. 6, The core network node 19, 20 receives a setup request message for establishing communication between the RAN node 12 and the core network node 19, 20, from the RAN node 12. The setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST message, with a list of TACs with the corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN), when provisioning the RAN node 12, the operator of the RAN node 12 will provide a Tracking Area Identity (TAI) for each cell within the RAN node 12, the correct network slice, the core network node further provides a list of slices supported for each S-PLMN. ), and transmitting, to the base station, a result of configuration for an interface based on the interface setup request message ( 0180, 0213, 0238 The RAN node 12 receives a result from the DB 130 comprising, the setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST).
As per Claim 4 Zee teaches a method for a base station, comprising:
transmitting, to a core network node, an interface setup request message including information for indicating a tracking area which the base station supports and a list of slices which are supported by the tracking area (Paragraph 0020 0149 0157, 0159, 0213, 0238 FIG. 6, The core network node 19, 20 receives a setup request message for establishing communication between the RAN node 12 and the core network node 19, 20, from the RAN node 12. The setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST message, with a list of TACs with the corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN), when provisioning the RAN node 12, the operator of the RAN node 12 will provide a Tracking Area Identity (TAI) for each cell within the RAN node 12, the correct network slice, the core network node further provides a list of slices supported for each S-PLMN. ), and receiving, from the core network node, a result of configuration for an interface based on the interface setup request message ( 0180, 0213, 0238 The RAN node 12 receives a result from the DB 130 comprising, the setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST).
As per Claim 7 Zee teaches a core network node comprising: at least one memory storing instructions(Paragraph 0241 comprises a memory 1705. The memory comprises one or more units to be used to store data on ); and at least one processor configured to process the instructions to: receive, from a base station, an interface setup request message including information for indicating a tracking area which the base station supports and a list of slices which are supported by the tracking area (Paragraph 0020 0149 0157, 0159, 0213, 0238 FIG. 6, The core network node 19, 20 receives a setup request message for establishing communication between the RAN node 12 and the core network node 19, 20, from the RAN node 12. The setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST message, with a list of TACs with the corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN), when provisioning the RAN node 12, the operator of the RAN node 12 will provide a Tracking Area Identity (TAI) for each cell within the RAN node 12, the correct network slice, the core network node further provides a list of slices supported for each S-PLMN. ), and transmit, to the base station, a result of configuration for an interface based on the interface setup request message. ( 0180, 0213, 0238 The RAN node 12 receives a result from the DB 130 comprising, the setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST).
As per Claim 8 Zee teaches a base station comprising:
at least one memory storing instructions (Paragraph 0241 comprises a memory 1705. The memory comprises one or more units to be used to store data on ); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions to: transmit, to a core network node, an interface setup request message including information for indicating a tracking area which the base station supports and a list of slices which are supported by the tracking area (Paragraph 0020 0149 0157, 0159, 0213, 0238 FIG. 6, The core network node 19, 20 receives a setup request message for establishing communication between the RAN node 12 and the core network node 19, 20, from the RAN node 12. The setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST message, with a list of TACs with the corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN), when provisioning the RAN node 12, the operator of the RAN node 12 will provide a Tracking Area Identity (TAI) for each cell within the RAN node 12, the correct network slice, the core network node further provides a list of slices supported for each S-PLMN. ), and receive, from the core network node, a result of configuration for an interface based on the interface setup request message ( 0180, 0213, 0238 The RAN node 12 receives a result from the DB 130 comprising, the setup request message may be transmitted over the S1 interface as e.g. an S1 SETUP REQUEST).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AlA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AlA 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 pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a)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(a) 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 2,3,5 and 6 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Zee et al. (USP: 2019/0045351), in view of Park et al. (UUP: 2019/0357129).
As per Claim 2 Zee teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the information for indicating the tracking area includes a tracking area core (TAC), and the list of slices includes at least one network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) (Paragraph 0020, 0157 with a list of TACs with the corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN) lists as parameters. Transmitting a S1 SETUP REQUEST message, with a list of TACs with corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN) lists as parameters, for each of the SCTP connections, which correspond to a core network node instance. ).
However Zee doesn’t explicitly disclose network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI)
Park discloses network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) (Paragraph 0007, 0594 the network may first determine the CCNF to be routed based on the NSSAI in RAN and may redirect the corresponding CCNF to another CCNF, the registration request message including a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for a slice requested by the UE and a priority information of the NSSAI..).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Eker to include the application characteristics (via the API), it may allocate radio link resources to that application (See Fox Paragraph 0231).
As per Claim 3 Zee teaches the method according to claim 2, However Zee doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the NSSAI includes information indicating a type of slices.
Park discloses wherein the NSSAI includes information indicating a type of slices (Paragraph 0007, 0594 the network may first determine the CCNF to be routed based on the NSSAI in RAN and may redirect the corresponding CCNF to another CCNF, the registration request message including a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for a slice requested by the UE and a priority information of the NSSAI..).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Eker to include the application characteristics (via the API), it may allocate radio link resources to that application (See Fox Paragraph 0231).
As per Claim 5 Zee teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the information for indicating the tracking area includes a tracking area core (TAC), and the list of slices includes at least one network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) (Paragraph 0020, 0157 with a list of TACs with the corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN) lists as parameters. Transmitting a S1 SETUP REQUEST message, with a list of TACs with corresponding Broadcast PLMN (B-PLMN) lists as parameters, for each of the SCTP connections, which correspond to a core network node instance. ).
However Zee doesn’t explicitly disclose network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI)
Park discloses network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) (Paragraph 0007, 0594 the network may first determine the CCNF to be routed based on the NSSAI in RAN and may redirect the corresponding CCNF to another CCNF, the registration request message including a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for a slice requested by the UE and a priority information of the NSSAI..).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Eker to include the application characteristics (via the API), it may allocate radio link resources to that application (See Fox Paragraph 0231).
As per Claim 6 Zee teaches the method according to claim 5, However Zee doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the NSSAI includes information indicating a type of slices.
Park discloses wherein the NSSAI includes information indicating a type of slices (Paragraph 0007, 0594 the network may first determine the CCNF to be routed based on the NSSAI in RAN and may redirect the corresponding CCNF to another CCNF, the registration request message including a network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for a slice requested by the UE and a priority information of the NSSAI..).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Eker to include the application characteristics (via the API), it may allocate radio link resources to that application (See Fox Paragraph 0231).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (See form 892).
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/SYED ALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468