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
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, 3-4, 8-9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hang YU et al. (US 2025/0016867).
Regarding claim 1, Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) teaches a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, a paging message with an access type indicating non-third generation partnership (3GPP) access (i.e., the network side can initiate paging (Paging), requesting the terminal side to switch the access type of a specific PDU session from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access (that is, inter-access handover) [0036], [0050], [0070]); identifying whether the terminal has at least one protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the non-3GPP access for which single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the at least one PDU session is included in partially allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for 3GPP access (i.e., The UE determines whether to initiate a service request (Service Request) message. If the S-NSSAI associated with the established non-3GPP access PDU session is an allowed NSSAI for 3GPP access, the UE can carry the allowed PDU session status IE (Allowed PDU session status IE) in the service request message to inform the network side: the UE supports reactivation of the PDU session (that is, the type of the PDU session ID is switched from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access) [0035], [0050], [0070]); and in case that the terminal has the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is included in the partially allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, transmitting, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), information indicating the at least one PDU session for which the terminal allows user-plane resources to be re-established over the 3GPP access (i.e., After receiving the paging from the network side, if the S-NSSAI associated with the established non-3GPP access first PDU session is an allowed (allowed) NSSAI of 3GPP access, the terminal can transmit a first request message, where the first request message may be a service request message. The terminal can carry the allowed PDU session status IE (Allowed PDU session status IE) in the first request message to inform the network side: the UE supports reactivation of the PDU session (that is, the type of PDU session ID is switched from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access) [0035]-[0038], [0050], [0070]).
Regarding claim 2, Hang et al. further teaches in case that the terminal has the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is not included in the partially allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, determining not transmitting, to the AMF, the information indicating the at least one PDU session for which the terminal allows user-plane resources to be re-established over the 3GPP access ([0035]-[0041], [0070]).
Regarding claim 4, Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) teaches wherein the information is included in an allowed PDU session status information element of a registration request message or a service request message (i.e., the wireless terminal 30(26) may stay on the first radio band as shown in Act 35A-4 and may further be allowed to initiate a PDU session establishment procedure to establish, with a core network, a PDU session for the at least one network slice [0287]-[0289], [0308], [0518]-[0519]).
Regarding claim 8, Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) teaches a terminal in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver (typical feature of UE) and configured to: receive, a paging message with an access type indicating non-third generation partnership (3GPP) access (i.e., the network side can initiate paging (Paging), requesting the terminal side to switch the access type of a specific PDU session from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access (that is, inter-access handover) [0036], [0050], [0070]); identify whether the terminal has at least one protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the non-3GPP access for which single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the at least one PDU session is included in partially allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for 3GPP access (i.e., The UE determines whether to initiate a service request (Service Request) message. If the S-NSSAI associated with the established non-3GPP access PDU session is an allowed NSSAI for 3GPP access, the UE can carry the allowed PDU session status IE (Allowed PDU session status IE) in the service request message to inform the network side: the UE supports reactivation of the PDU session (that is, the type of the PDU session ID is switched from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access) [0035], [0050], [0070]); and in case that the terminal has the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is included in the partially allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, transmitting, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), information indicating the at least one PDU session for which the terminal allows user-plane resources to be re-established over the 3GPP access (i.e., After receiving the paging from the network side, if the S-NSSAI associated with the established non-3GPP access first PDU session is an allowed (allowed) NSSAI of 3GPP access, the terminal can transmit a first request message, where the first request message may be a service request message. The terminal can carry the allowed PDU session status IE (Allowed PDU session status IE) in the first request message to inform the network side: the UE supports reactivation of the PDU session (that is, the type of PDU session ID is switched from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access) [0035]-[0038], [0050], [0070]).
Regarding claim 9, Hang et al. further teaches in case that the terminal has the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is not included in the partially allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, determining not transmitting, to the AMF, the information indicating the at least one PDU session for which the terminal allows user-plane resources to be re-established over the 3GPP access ([0035]-[0041], [0070]).
Regarding claim 11, Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) teaches wherein the information is included in an allowed PDU session status information element of a registration request message or a service request message (i.e., the wireless terminal 30(26) may stay on the first radio band as shown in Act 35A-4 and may further be allowed to initiate a PDU session establishment procedure to establish, with a core network, a PDU session for the at least one network slice [0287]-[0289], [0308], [0518]-[0519]).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) in view of Ishii (US 2025/0097833).
Regarding claim 3, Hang teaches all the limitations above except identifying whether a tracking area identity (TAI) where the terminal is currently camped is in a list of a tracking area (TA) for which the S-NSSAI is allowed.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Ishii teaches In FIG. 49 registration area RA1 comprises tracking area TA1 and tracking area TA2, and registration area RA2 comprises tracking area TA3. Registration area RA2 may possibly comprises other tracking areas not illustrated. Each TA may be covered by one or more unillustrated cells. In the scenario of FIG. 49, a wireless terminal such as wireless terminal 30(47) may first camp on a cell within TA1 and acquire the common network slice-related information by system information broadcast. The wireless terminal may then perform the procedure of act 48-3 as shown in FIG. 48. During the procedure, the wireless terminal may obtain the current RA, i.e., TA1 and TA2, and an Allowed NSSAI ([0421]). FIG. 62 illustrates an example of such a scenario, wherein a wireless terminal camps on a cell, Cell 1 on frequency F1, of a tracking area, TA1, and initiates a registration procedure. TA1 supports a set of network slices S-NSSAIs: a and b. TA2, a collocated tracking area, supports a different set of network slices S-NSSAIs: b and c. In the scenario of FIG. 62, when the wireless terminal requests S-NSSAIs=(a, b and c) in the Requested NSSAI, the network will set (a, b) in the Allowed NSSAI and (c) in the Rejected NSSAI with Cause value=0001. As understood from Table 26 above, the Cause value=0001 means that the S-NSSAI is not available in the current registration area. The wireless terminal may stay on TA1 as long as it uses some of the network slices in the Allowed NSSAI. But when the wireless terminal decides to request a service for the rejected S-NSSAI=c, such as requesting a PDU session establishment, the wireless terminal may be redirected to a collocated cell or a frequency, e.g., redirected to Cell 2 of FIG. 62, that supports the rejected S-NSSAI ([0504], [0515], [0518]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention, to have implemented the technique of Shii within the system Hang in order to ensure that the UE only attempts to establish or maintain Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions for an S-NSSAI in tracking areas where that specific slice is supported by the network.
Claims 5-7 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) in view of Talebi Fard et al. (US 2020/0351984).
Regarding claim 5, Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) teaches access and mobility management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: identifying whether at least one protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the non-3GPP access for which single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the at least one PDU session is included in allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for 3GPP access (i.e., The UE determines whether to initiate a service request (Service Request) message. If the S-NSSAI associated with the established non-3GPP access PDU session is an allowed NSSAI for 3GPP access, the UE can carry the allowed PDU session status IE (Allowed PDU session status IE) in the service request message to inform the network side: the UE supports reactivation of the PDU session (that is, the type of the PDU session ID is switched from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access) [0035], [0050], [0070]).
Hang does not specifically teach in case that the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is not included in the allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, transmitting, to a network function (NF), a message indicating that a terminal is not reachable.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Talebi teaches If there is no PDU session that can be re-activated over the 3GPP access, the UE may include an empty List Of Allowed PDU Sessions. If the AMF receives a service request message from the UE via non-3GPP access (e.g., because the UE successfully connects to a non-3GPP access), the AMF may stop the paging procedure and may process the received service request procedure. If the AMF receives the service request message and the list of allowed PDU Sessions provided by the UE does not include the PDU Session for which the UE was paged, the AMF may notify the SMF that the UE was reachable but did not accept to re-activate the PDU session by invoking a Namf_EventExposure_Notify service… If there is no PDU session that can be re-activated over the 3GPP access, the UE may include an empty list of allowed PDU sessions. When the AMF receives the service request message and the list of allowed PDU sessions provided by the UE does not include the PDU session for which the UE was notified, the AMF may notify the SMF that the UE was reachable but did not accept to re-activate the PDU Session by invoking Namf_EventExposure_Notify service. If the AMF receives a service request message from the UE via non-3GPP access (e.g., because the UE successfully connects to a non-3GPP access), the AMF may stop the notification timer and processes the received service request procedure ([0321]-[0322]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention, to have implemented the technique of Talebi within the system of Hang in order to improve network efficiency by preventing unnecessary network attempts to activate PDU sessions over 3GPP access or non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 6, Hang in view of Talebi teaches all the limitations above. Talebi further teaches wherein the NF comprises a session management function (SMF) (fig. 1), and Talebi further teaches wherein, in case that the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is not included in the allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, paging to the terminal is not performed (i.e., If the UE is in CM-IDLE state, and the AMF determines that the UE is not reachable for paging, the AMF may send an Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer response to the NF (e.g., SMF) from which AMF received the request message [0311], [0315], [0321]-[0322]).
Regarding claim 7, Hang in view of Talebi teaches all the limitations above. Hang further teaches in case that the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is included in partially allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, receiving, from the terminal, the information indicating the at least one PDU session for which the terminal allows user-plane resources to be re-established over the 3GPP access ([0321]-[0322]).
Regarding claim 12, Hang et al. (US 2025/0016867) teaches an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system, the AMF comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver (typical feature of AMF) and configured to: identify whether at least one protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the non-3GPP access for which single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) associated with the at least one PDU session is included in allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) for 3GPP access (i.e., The UE determines whether to initiate a service request (Service Request) message. If the S-NSSAI associated with the established non-3GPP access PDU session is an allowed NSSAI for 3GPP access, the UE can carry the allowed PDU session status IE (Allowed PDU session status IE) in the service request message to inform the network side: the UE supports reactivation of the PDU session (that is, the type of the PDU session ID is switched from non-3GPP access to 3GPP access) [0035], [0050], [0070]).
Hang does not specifically teach in case that the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is not included in the allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, transmitting, to a network function (NF), a message indicating that a terminal is not reachable.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Talebi teaches If there is no PDU session that can be re-activated over the 3GPP access, the UE may include an empty List Of Allowed PDU Sessions. If the AMF receives a service request message from the UE via non-3GPP access (e.g., because the UE successfully connects to a non-3GPP access), the AMF may stop the paging procedure and may process the received service request procedure. If the AMF receives the service request message and the list of allowed PDU Sessions provided by the UE does not include the PDU Session for which the UE was paged, the AMF may notify the SMF that the UE was reachable but did not accept to re-activate the PDU session by invoking a Namf_EventExposure_Notify service… If there is no PDU session that can be re-activated over the 3GPP access, the UE may include an empty list of allowed PDU sessions. When the AMF receives the service request message and the list of allowed PDU sessions provided by the UE does not include the PDU session for which the UE was notified, the AMF may notify the SMF that the UE was reachable but did not accept to re-activate the PDU Session by invoking Namf_EventExposure_Notify service. If the AMF receives a service request message from the UE via non-3GPP access (e.g., because the UE successfully connects to a non-3GPP access), the AMF may stop the notification timer and processes the received service request procedure ([0321]-[0322]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention, to have implemented the technique of Talebi within the system of Hang in order to improve network efficiency by preventing unnecessary network attempts to activate PDU sessions over 3GPP access or non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 13, Hang in view of Talebi teaches all the limitations above. Talebi further teaches wherein the NF comprises a session management function (SMF) (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Hang in view of Talebi teaches all the limitations above. Talebi further teaches and Talebi further teaches wherein, in case that the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is not included in the allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, paging to the terminal is not performed (i.e., If the UE is in CM-IDLE state, and the AMF determines that the UE is not reachable for paging, the AMF may send an Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer response to the NF (e.g., SMF) from which AMF received the request message [0311], [0315], [0321]-[0322]).
Regarding claim 15, Hang in view of Talebi teaches all the limitations above. Hang further teaches in case that the at least one PDU session associated with the non-3GPP access for which the S-NSSAI associated with the at least one PDU session is included in partially allowed NSSAI for the 3GPP access, receiving, from the terminal, the information indicating the at least one PDU session for which the terminal allows user-plane resources to be re-established over the 3GPP access ([0321]-[0322]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN ALLAND GELIN whose telephone number is (571)272-7842. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FR 9-6 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JINSONG HU can be reached at 571-272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JEAN A GELIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643