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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 19, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “wherein the notify message comprises roaming status reporting information including a new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id, an access type of a User Equipment, UE, for accessing the new serving PLMN identified by the PLMN Id, and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN, HPLMN, or not”. It is however unclear if “Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id,” should be considered as separate parameters such as “PLMN” and “Id” or should be considered as a single parameter such as “PLMN Id”. Examiner suggests using parentheses for such terms as (SOR-AF), (UDM), (PLMN), (Id), (UE), and (HPLMN) for better clarification.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the PLMN Id" in line 6-7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation “roaming status reporting notify message is a Nudm_EventExposureNotify and/or the parameter provision update request message is a Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate request”. It is however unclear on what is meant by “Nudm_EventExposureNotify“ and “Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate”. Examiner suggests defining such terms.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the PLMN Id" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Furthermore Examiner suggests using parentheses for such terms as (3GPP).
Claim 7 recites the limitation “wherein the notify message comprises roaming status reporting information including a new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id, an access type of a User Equipment, UE, for accessing the new serving PLMN identified by the PLMN Id, and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN, HPLMN, or not”. It is however unclear if “Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id,” should be considered as separate parameters such as “PLMN” and “Id” or should be considered as a single parameter such as “PLMN Id”. Examiner suggests using parentheses for such terms as (SOR-AF), (UDM), (PLMN), (Id), (UE), (HPLMN), and (AMF) for better clarification.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the PLMN Id" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation “roaming status reporting notify message is a Nudm_EventExposureNotify and/or the parameter provision update request message is a Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate request”. It is however unclear on what is meant by “Nudm_EventExposureNotify“ and “Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate”. Examiner suggests defining such terms.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the PLMN Id" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Furthermore Examiner suggests using parentheses for such terms as (3GPP).
Claim 15 recites the limitation “wherein the notify message comprises roaming status reporting information including a new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id, an access type of a User Equipment, UE, for accessing the new serving PLMN identified by the PLMN Id, and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN, HPLMN, or not”. It is however unclear if “Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id,” should be considered as separate parameters such as “PLMN” and “Id” or should be considered as a single parameter such as “PLMN Id”. Examiner suggests using parentheses for such terms as (SOR-AF), (UDM), (PLMN), (Id), (UE), and (HPLMN) for better clarification.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the PLMN Id" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitation “roaming status reporting notify message is a Nudm_EventExposureNotify and/or the parameter provision update request message is a Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate request”. It is however unclear on what is meant by “Nudm_EventExposureNotify“ and “Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate”. Examiner suggests defining such terms.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "the PLMN Id" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Furthermore Examiner suggests using parentheses for such terms as (3GPP).
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-11, 15-16, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Won (US 2022/0264283).
Regarding claim 1, 15, Won discloses a method performed by a Steering of Roaming Application Function, SOR-AF (Steering of Roaming Application Function (SOR-AF), 119 of figure 5), for steering of roaming (Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are provided to facilitate identification of user equipment that supports connected mode control information for controlling a time to stay in a public land mobile network and A User Equipment (UE) may operate outside of an associated Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) by using a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN) and To accommodate preferred PLMN selections, the 3GPP has developed the control plane Steering of Roaming (SOR) feature to facilitate the movement of a UE across different VPLMNs as desired by the UE's HPLMN, abstract and [0004] and [0076] and figure 4), the method comprising:
receiving a roaming status reporting notify message from a Unified Data Management, UDM, (Unified Data Management Function (UDM), 118 of figure 5) wherein the notify message comprises roaming status reporting information including a new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id, an access type of a User Equipment, UE, for accessing the new serving PLMN identified by the PLMN Id, and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN, HPLMN, or not (At block 512, the UDM 118 causes transmission of an Nsoraf SoR_Get request message (correlating to a roaming status reporting notify message) to the SOR-AF 119…For example, the UDM 118 causes transmission to the SOR-AF 119 the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message comprising one or more of an identifier associated with the VPLMN 100A (correlating to new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN), a globally unique 5G Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) associated with the UE 102, an access type, an access type parameter, or a PEI associated with at least the UE 102. Further, the identifier associated with the VPLMN 100A and the access type parameters that at least indicate where the UE 102 is registering and the SOR-AF 119 can subscribe to the UDM 118 to be notified about the changes of the roaming status of the UE 102 identified by SUPI, [0100]-[0101] and figure 5 and [0004]);
generating an updated steering of roaming information based on the received roaming status reporting information including at least the access type (Upon receipt of the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message from the UDM 118, then the SOR-AF 119 generates and/or causes transmission of an Nsoraf SoR_Get response message to the UDM 118, see block 514…the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message comprising one or more of …an access type, an access type parameter and the SOR-AF 119 may cause transmission of the SOR information (e.g., one or more of PLMN-AT, the SOR-CMCI, the secured packet, or the like)…via the Nsoraf SoR_Get response message and the SOR-AF 119 can include a different list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations or a different secured packet for each Nsoraf SoR Get request , [0100]-[0101] and figure 5 and [0004] and [0112]); and
transmitting to the UDM a parameter provision update request message, wherein the update request message comprises the updated steering of roaming information (Upon receipt of the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message from the UDM 118, then the SOR-AF 119 generates and/or causes transmission of an Nsoraf SoR_Get response message (correlating to a parameter provision update request message) to the UDM 118, see block 514 and the SOR-AF 119 may cause transmission of the SOR information (e.g., one or more of PLMN-AT, the SOR-CMCI, the secured packet, or the like)…via the Nsoraf SoR_Get response message and the SOR-AF 119 can include a different list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations or a different secured packet for each Nsoraf SoR Get request and the update of the UE 102 with a new list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations, [0100]-[0101] and [0112] and figure 5 and [0112]).
Regarding claim 7, Won discloses a method performed by a Unified Data Management, UDM (Unified Data Management Function (UDM), 118 of figure 5), for steering of roaming (Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are provided to facilitate identification of user equipment that supports connected mode control information for controlling a time to stay in a public land mobile network and A User Equipment (UE) may operate outside of an associated Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) by using a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN) and To accommodate preferred PLMN selections, the 3GPP has developed the control plane Steering of Roaming (SOR) feature to facilitate the movement of a UE across different VPLMNs as desired by the UE's HPLMN, abstract and [0004]),, the method comprising:
sending a roaming status reporting notify message to a Steering of Roaming Application Function, SOR-AF (Steering of Roaming Application Function (SOR-AF), 119 of figure 5), wherein the notify message comprises roaming status reporting information including a new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id, an access type of a User Equipment, UE, for accessing the new serving PLMN identified by the PLMN Id, and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN, HPLMN, or not (At block 512, the UDM 118 causes transmission of an Nsoraf SoR_Get request message (correlating to a roaming status reporting notify message) to the SOR-AF 119…For example, the UDM 118 causes transmission to the SOR-AF 119 the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message comprising one or more of an identifier associated with the VPLMN 100A (correlating to new serving Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, Identifier, Id and a roaming indication indicating the new serving PLMN is different from the Home PLMN), a globally unique 5G Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) associated with the UE 102, an access type, an access type parameter, or a PEI associated with at least the UE 102. Further, the identifier associated with the VPLMN 100A and the access type parameters that at least indicate where the UE 102 is registering and the SOR-AF 119 can subscribe to the UDM 118 to be notified about the changes of the roaming status of the UE 102 identified by SUPI, [0100]-[0101] and figure 5 and [0004]);
receiving from the SOR-AF a parameter provision update request message, wherein the update request message comprises the updated steering of roaming information which is generated by SOR-AF based on the roaming status reporting information including at least the access type (Upon receipt of the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message from the UDM 118, then the SOR-AF 119 generates and/or causes transmission of an Nsoraf SoR_Get response message (correlating to a parameter provision update request message) to the UDM 118, see block 514…the Nsoraf SoR_Get request message comprising one or more of …an access type, an access type parameter and the SOR-AF 119 may cause transmission of the SOR information (e.g., one or more of PLMN-AT, the SOR-CMCI, the secured packet, or the like)…via the Nsoraf SoR_Get response message and the SOR-AF 119 can include a different list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations or a different secured packet for each Nsoraf SoR Get request , [0100]-[0101] and figure 5 and [0004] and [0112]); and
transmitting the updated steering of roaming information to the UE via Access and Mobility management Function, AMF (the UDM 118 causes transmission of the response to the Nudm_SDM_Get service operation to the AMF 108, the response comprising the SOR information and At block 522, the AMF 108 causes transmission of a REGISTRATION ACCEPT message to the UE 102. For example, the AMF 108 may transparently cause transmission of the received SOR information to the UE 102 via the REGISTRATION ACCEPT message comprising an SOR transparent container, [0103]-[0104] and figure 5 and [0113]-[0114] and [0120]).
Regarding claim 2, 8, 16, Won discloses wherein the updated steering of roaming information comprises a new list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations (the UDM 118 receives the list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations in the Nsoraf SoR_Get response from the SOR-AF 119 and the SOR-AF 119 can include a different list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations, [0100]-[0101] and [0112])
Regarding claim 4, 9, 18, Won discloses further comprising: subscribing subscriber roaming status event from UDM, for periodical reporting or one-time reporting on event detection; and receiving the roaming status reporting notify message from the UDM, periodically or one time on event detection (the SOR-AF 119 can subscribe to the UDM 118 to be notified about the changes of the roaming status of the UE 102 identified by SUPI and the UE may initiate an initial registration, an emergency registration, or a mobility registration update procedure and the example signal sequence 600 may be initiated based on one or more procedures associated with example signal sequence 500 and/or the detection of a trigger condition (e.g., detection of a higher priority PLMN, a UE policy, a network policy, expiration of a timer, or the like), [0100]-[0101] and [0095] and Figure 5 and [0112]).
Regarding claim 5, 10, 19, Won discloses wherein the roaming status reporting notify message is a Nudm_EventExposureNotify and/or the parameter provision update request message is a Nudm_ParameterProvisionUpdate request (The example signal sequence 600 begins at block 602 when the SOR-AF 119 generates/causes transmission of an Nudm_ParameterProvision Update request message to UDM 118, associated with HPLMN 100B. In some embodiments, the example signal sequence 600 may be initiated based on one or more procedures associated with example signal sequence 500 and/or the detection of a trigger condition (e.g., detection of a higher priority PLMN, a UE policy, a network policy, expiration of a timer, or the like). For example, the Nudm_ParameterProvision Update request message may be sent to the UDM 118 to trigger/cause the update of the UE 102 with a new list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations, [0112]-[0113] and [0117]).
Regarding claim 6, 11, 20, Won discloses wherein the access type of the UE for accessing the new serving PLMN identified by the PLMN Id is 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, access or non-3GPP access (when the access type where the UE 102 is registering indicates 3GPP access, then the UE 102 may be registering over an Next Generation (NG)-RAN access technology, [0100]-[0101] and [0003]-[0004]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 and 17 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sun et al. (US 2023/0068860) disclosing the UDM network element may send an SoR obtaining request to the SoR-AF network element. The request may include one or more information such as a VPLMN ID, identification information of the terminal device (for example, an SUPI of the terminal device), an access type (access type), and a radio access technology type (radio access technology type, RAT type). The SoR-AF network element may respond to an SoR obtaining request of the UDM network element, to provide the UDM network element with the list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations corresponding to the terminal device, or the secured packet corresponding to the terminal device ([0133]).
Kuppelur et al. (US 2022/0312360) disclosing the SOR-AF can include a different list of preferred PLMN/access technology combinations or a different secure packet for each Nsoraf SoR Obtain request even if the same VPLMN ID, the SUPI of the UE, and the access type are provided to the SOR-AF ([0066]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN HOANG NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-8398. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at 571-272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NGUYEN H NGO/Examiner, Art Unit 2473