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 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)(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, 10, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Vivo (UU based sensing), provided by applicant, hereinafter Vivo.
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Vivo discloses a wireless communication method comprising: receiving by an access and mobility management node (AMF, page 13) from a sensing network node (Sensing function/AF.NEF), a first message (sensing function selection) and one or more identifiers of target access network nodes (NG-RAN, page 13, step 4, selects NG-Rans based on target area, which inherently requires identifiers of the NG-Ran). Vivo discloses transmitting by the AMF to the target access network nodes (step 5) to request the target access network nodes to generate sensing data, wherein the sensing data is transmitted to the sensing network node (step 7) to allow the sensing network node to generate a result (steps 8-10).
Regarding claim 20, Vivo disclose a wireless communication method comprising (pages 12-14: receiving, by an access network node (NG-ran) from an access and mobility management node (AMF), a first message (sensing message, step 5); performing by the access network node, measurements to generate sensing data according to the first message (step 6, page 13), and transmitting, by the access network node, the sensing data to a sensing network node (sensing function) to allow the sensing network node to generate a calculated result according to the sensing data(steps 7-10).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 2, 4 11, 13, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivo in view of Hinkle (9,882,742).
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Vivo discloses all the particulars of the claim except for the sensing data being transmitted via tunnels between a sensing node and a network node. However, Hinkle teaches in an analogous art, a wireless system in which tunnels (140) are used for communications between target network access nodes, BS 1110) and sensing nodes (gateways 120). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include tunneling in order to package data efficiently.
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Vivo does not explicitly disclose the use of address information for the sensing network node. However, the use of address information for routing is known in art, as taught by Hinkle. Hinkle further teaches the use of address information in routing data to network nodes (Col. 1;15-45, Col 3;15-30). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include address information in order to route data and signaling properly.
Regarding claim 17, Vivo doesn’t disclose receiving at least one of a sensing quality of service or object types. However, Hinkle teaches the use of quality of service (abstract) as a requirement for communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include QoS information in order to prevent low quality or error prone communications.
Claim(s) 3, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivo and Hinkle as applied to claim2 above, and further in view of Iwai (2017/0251357).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, the combination of Vivo and Hinkle disclose all the particulars of the claim except for the address information comprises an Internet Protocol, IP address. Hinkle discloses the use of IP ports over UDP (abstract). However Iwai teaches that addresses in a mobile network include internet protocol or IP addresses (Figure 2b, a particular GUMMEI has an address mapped to an IP address which is an internet protocol address, also Figure 13 – Tunnel IDs are tied to MME IP addresses). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include IP addresses in order to route information through a network.
Claim(s) 5-8, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivo and Hinkle as applied to claim4 above, and further in view of Edge (2018/0343635).
Regarding claims 5 and 14, the combination of Vivo and Hinkle disclose the access mobility node is configured to receive address information of the target access nodes and also the sensing data is transmitted in tunnels based on address information. The combination of Vivo and Hinkle does not disclose the address information explicitly between mobility and target access nodes. However, Edge teaches the use of address information (cell ID, para 42) in a request for sensing data (location request) and using the address information to send things back to a sensing node (Figure 4, steps 419-420). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include address information for routing purposes.
Regarding claim 6, Edge further teaches the access mobility node (AMF) is configured to transmit the first message with a routing identifier of the sensing node (E_SMLC/LMF) to target access nodes, and receiving the address information from the target access nodes and sending it back to the sensing nodes (Figure 4, sending of OTDOA request and Transport messages to the target NB nodes, followed by information sent back to the LMF). Therefore, claim 6 is rejected given the same reasoning as in the rejection of claim 5 above.
Regarding claims 7-8 and 15, Edge further teaches the access and mobility management node (AMF 115) is configured to receive the sensing data and transmit it to the sensing node (steps 407-420). Claims 7-8 and 15 are rejected for the same reasoning as given in the rejection of claims 5 and 14 above.
Claim(s) 16, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivo in view of Cho (2020/0163042).
Regarding claims 16 and 19, Vivo discloses the use of a sensing network node and communication with an access mobility node (Page 13). Vivo discloses all the particulars of the claim except for the use of a tracking area identity (TAI) list which is received from a network exposure node, and determining one or more identifiers from the TAI list. However, Cho teaches a wireless network in which a TAI list (abstract, para 9) is used from a network exposure node (5g core network) and in which one or more identifiers can be determined from the TAI list (para 9, 14-15). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a TAI list in order to provide accurate location information.
Claim(s) 9 and 18 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivo in view of Hooker (9826370).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Vivo discloses all the particulars of the claim except for the transmission of information of one or more unavailable access nodes. However, Hooker teaches in a wireless system, if the system realizes a cell site (access network node) is unavailable (not visible), information about this is transmitted to the mobility node (steps 612, 616, Figures 2 and 6). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include information about unavailable nodes in order to provide a complete routing picture to the management portion of the network.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhu (2005/01189.
Kumar (2020/0296569) discloses mobility management in a 5g network
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WILLIAM GEORGE TROST IV
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2641
/WILLIAM G TROST IV/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641