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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a first office action in response to application filed, with the above serial number, on 27 March 2024 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Claims 1-20 are therefore pending in the application.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The claim has a typo “sliceis” in line 6. Appropriate correction is 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Foti (hereinafter “Foti”, 2021/0036919).
As per Claim 1, Foti discloses a method, comprising:
receiving first performance requirements associated with a first network slice of a mobile network (at least paragraph 4, 75; eg. ultra reliable low latency communication or emergency service need of 5GS network slice; Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) including a Service type SST);
determining, based on the first performance requirements, first configuration data associated with a first Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network slice of an IMS network, wherein the first IMS network slice is linked to the first network slice of the mobile network (at least paragraph 75-77; UE can be configured with mapping rules to map a 5GS slive type to IMS network slice type; eg. emergency 5G System (5GS) network slice can map to an IMS emergency network slice or a 5GS enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) network slice can map to an IMS VoLTE network slice); and
configuring and provisioning, based on the first configuration data, the first IMS network slice in the IMS network (at least paragraph 75, 82; UE 410 sends a registration message including the NS-ID of the requested IMS network slice 412 to an appropriate P-CSCF 416 (step 500). The registration message includes additional information such as, e.g., the IMPI and IMPU of the UE 410. The requested IMS network slice 412 is the one of the IMS network slices 412 that is used for a particular service desired by the UE 410. Note that the mapping between the IMS network slices 412 (i.e., the NS-IDs of the IMS network slices 412) and the respective services is known to the UE 410, e.g., via configuration or via a predefined mapping hard-coded or otherwise stored at the UE 410. Also, the appropriate P-CSCF 416 is determined by the UE 410).
As per Claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first configuration data further comprises: translating the performance requirements into configuration parameters for the first IMS network slice (at least paragraph 75, 82; requested IMS network slice 412 is the one of the IMS network slices 412 that is used for a particular service desired by the UE 410. Note that the mapping between the IMS network slices 412 (i.e., the NS-IDs of the IMS network slices 412) and the respective services is known to the UE 410, e.g., via configuration or via a predefined mapping hard-coded or otherwise stored at the UE 410).
As per Claim 3. The method of claim 2, wherein configuring and provisioning the first IMS network slice further comprises: instantiating at least one of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) or Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) in the IMS network; and provisioning the configuration parameters to the at least one of VNFs or CNFs (at least paragraph 58-60, 3, 52; each service in a network slice/virtual network; fig. 2).
As per Claim 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving second performance requirements associated with a second network slice of the mobile network; determining, based on the second performance requirements, second configuration data associated with a second IMS network slice of the IMS network, wherein the second IMS network slice is linked to the second network slice of the mobile network, of the IMS network; and configuring and provisioning, based on the second configuration data, the second IMS network slice in the IMS network (see claim 1 for similar claim mapping of first instance, with claim 4 being a second instance of same functionality; at least Fig. 2; eg. 5GS network slice 1 for service 1 and 5GS network slice 2 for service 2 and respective mapped IMS first slice and 2nd IMS slice).
As per Claim 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first IMS network slice comprises multiple first network elements (NEs) (at least Fig. 4; par. 78-79, eg. IMS network slice 412-1 has S-CSCF AND P-CSCF) and further comprising:
receiving a network slicing identifier (ID) associated with the first network slice of the mobile network, and wherein configuring and provisioning the first IMS network slice further comprises: generating mapping configuration tables, based on the network slicing ID and the first configuration data, for the multiple first NEs of the first IMS network slice (at least paragraph 63-64; UE indicates a first IMS network slice at IMS registration. This indication is provided by including a Network Slice Identifier (NS-ID) in, e.g., the IMS registration message; par. 75: mapping rules from existing Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) network slicing information to IMS specific slices; par. 82: UE 410 sends a registration message including the NS-ID of the requested IMS network slice 412 to an appropriate P-CSCF 416 (step 500)… the mapping between the IMS network slices 412 (i.e., the NS-IDs of the IMS network slices 412) and the respective services is known to the UE 410, e.g., via configuration or via a predefined mapping hard-coded or otherwise stored at the UE 410).
As per Claim 6. The method of claim 5, wherein generating the mapping configuration tables for the multiple first NEs further comprises: generating a respective mapping configuration table for each of the multiple first NEs, wherein each mapping configuration table maps the network slicing ID to one or more other NEs of an IMS service implemented by the first IMS network slice (at least paragraph 68; IMS network slices will be standardized to be usable across multiple operators, but some IMS network slices can be proprietary. To support flexibility, in some embodiments, a new Information Element (IE) is used across different domains that reflects the network slice for the used IMS session to enable the terminating domain to select the proper network slice for the target UE. This new IE is referred to herein as a Service Classifier Identifier (SC-ID). One or more NS-IDs can map into a single SC-ID. SC-IDs are standardized across domains (Network-to-Network Interface (NNI)) reflecting network slices. Note that if there is a 1-to-1 mapping between an NS-ID and an SC-ID, they are essentially the same but are labelled differently for flexibility. Note that an SC-ID has to be served by a single S-CSCF. This has to be considered during the mapping of multiple NS-IDs to one SC-ID; par. 71: Proprietary NS-IDs can map into proprietary SC-IDs; par. 114: S-CSCF 414-A sends an INVITE to an I-CSCF 418, where the INVITE includes the SC-ID determined by the S-CSCF 414-A (step 708). The I-CSCF 418 sends a query to the HSS 420 including the SC-ID (step 710). The HSS 420 locates the S-CSCF 414-B that the target UE is registered with and corresponds to the NS-ID(s) mapped to the SC-ID (step 712). The HSS 420 sends a response to the I-CSCF 418 including an S-CSCF ID of the S-CSCF 414-B located by the HSS 420).
As per Claim 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the mapping configuration tables link the first network slice of the mobile network to the multiple first NEs of the first IMS network slice (at least paragraph 63-64; UE indicates a first IMS network slice at IMS registration. This indication is provided by including a Network Slice Identifier (NS-ID) in, e.g., the IMS registration message; par. 75: mapping rules from existing Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) network slicing information to IMS specific slices; par. 82: UE 410 sends a registration message including the NS-ID of the requested IMS network slice 412 to an appropriate P-CSCF 416 (step 500)… the mapping between the IMS network slices 412 (i.e., the NS-IDs of the IMS network slices 412) and the respective services is known to the UE 410, e.g., via configuration or via a predefined mapping hard-coded or otherwise stored at the UE 410).
Claims 8-20 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1-7 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY G TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on (571)272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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