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 .
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 (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 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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Applicant submitted NPL titled “Support of reduced network slice availability” (Ericsson et al.).
As to claim 1, Ericsson teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from an access management function (AMF) entity, a location availability information associated with single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) indicating at least one cell of a tracking area (TA) where the S-NSSAI is available (see 5.15.8, 5.15.y.1 and 5.15.y2, AMF provides S-NSSAI location availability information to UE that defines which cells of a given TA in a RA a given S-NSSAI is available);
identifying whether the UE is located in the at least one cell of the TA where the S-NSSAI is available, based on the location availability information associated with the S-NSSAI; and in case that the location of the UE is outside of the at least one cell of the TA, determining not to send a non access stratum (NAS) message for a user data (see 5.15.8, 5.15.y.1 and 5.15.y2, using the S-NSSAI location availability information and knowledge of what cell it is camping on, the UE decides whether to request a given S-NSSAI).
As to claim 9, Ericsson teaches a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and a controller coupled with the transceiver (UE requires a controller and associated transceiver to perform its cited operations) configured to:
receive, from an access management function (AMF) entity, a location information associated with single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) indicating at least one cell of a tracking area (TA) including a first cell supporting the S-NSSAI in the TA and a second cell not supporting the S-NSSAI in the TA (see 5.15.8, 5.15.y.1 and 5.15.y2, AMF provides S-NSSAI location availability information to UE that defines which cells of a given TA in a RA a given S-NSSAI is available),
identify a location of the UE, based on the location information associated with the S-NSSAI; and in case that the location of the UE is inside the second cell, determine not to send a non access stratum (NAS) message for a user data (see 5.15.8, 5.15.y.1 and 5.15.y2, using the S-NSSAI location availability information and knowledge of what cell it is camping on, the UE decides whether to request a given S-NSSAI).
As to claims 5 and 13, Ericsson teaches an access management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system, the AMF comprising: a transceiver; and a controller coupled with the transceiver (AMF requires a controller and associated transceiver to perform its cited operations) configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a location information associated with single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) indicating at least one cell of a tracking area (TA) including a first cell supporting the S-NSSAI in the TA and a second cell not supporting the S-NSSAI in the TA (see 5.15.8, 5.15.y.1 and 5.15.y2, AMF provides S-NSSAI location availability information to UE that defines which cells of a given TA in a RA a given S-NSSAI is available),
wherein a location of the UE is identified, based on the location information associated with the S-NSSAI, and wherein in case that the location of the UE is inside the second cell, not to send a non access stratum (NAS) message for a user data is determined (see 5.15.8, 5.15.y.1 and 5.15.y2, using the S-NSSAI location availability information and knowledge of what cell it is camping on, the UE decides whether to request a given S-NSSAI).
As to claims 2, 5, 10 and 14, Ericsson further teaches wherein the controller is further configured to: receive, from the AMF, network slice area of service (NS-AoS) information indicating the at least one cell of the TA (see 5.15.y.1, 5.15.y2 and 5.15.y3, S-NSSAI location availability information may include NS-AoS information indicating cells in a given TA that supports a given S-NSSAI).
As to claims 3, 6 and 11, Ericsson further teaches wherein the controller is further configured to: receive, from the AMF, partially allowed NSSAI list indicating the at least one cell of the TA (see 5.15.y.1, 5.15.y2 and 5.15.y3, S-NSSAI location availability information may include partially allowed NSSAI for S-NSSAIs that are partially allowed in a given cell of a given TA).
As to claims 4, 8, 12 and 15, Ericsson further teaches wherein the controller is further configured to: receive, from the AMF, a reject message indicating that a sending of the user data is not allowed (see 5.15.y.1, 5.15.y2 and 5.15.y3, AMF may reject requested S-NSSAI that is not allowed for the cell in the TA the UE is currently camped in).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2025/0097833 (Ishii).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAZDA SABOURI whose telephone number is (571)272-8892. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am-7 pm.
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/MAZDA SABOURI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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