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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 12-14, 23, 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a2) as being anticipated by Han et al. (Pub. No. 20230171592).
- With respect to claims 1, 12, 23 and 34, Han teaches a radio network control method, comprising: transmitting, by a near real-time radio access network (RAN) intelligent controller (Near-RT RIC), a first message to a network node (e.g. step 905 in Fig. 9 discloses the subscription request and par. 146 discloses “performed by a near-real time RAN intelligent controller (near-RT RIC) in some embodiments. In this example, the process includes, at 905, encoding a message to a next-generation NodeB (gNB) that includes a subscription or request for updated radio access network (RAN) user equipment (UE) identification (ID) information”; Fig. 7-8, blocks 705 and 805 the near-RT RICK transmit subscription request), wherein the first message comprises first related information of K actions corresponding to a target service (e.g. the RIC message discloses in par. 35-58 where the service type disclosed), and the network node is a network node controlled by the Near-RT RIC (e.g. the network show in Fig. 2); and receiving, by the Near-RT RIC, a second message transmitted by the network node (e.g. step 910 in Fig. 9), wherein the second message is control-related information of the K actions, and K is greater than or equal to 1 (e.g. par. 29 discloses the report service style and par. 30, 36 discloses the RIC action).
- With respect to claims 2, 13, Han teaches wherein the target service is an insert service, and the first message is a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) subscription request message used for subscribing to the insert service (e.g. blocks 705, 805 in Fig. 7-8); and the first related information comprises: an action definition and a trigger event of the action, wherein the action definition indicates parameter information of an insert indication message corresponding to the K actions (e.g. table 3-4 par. 30, 36, discloses service RCI action definition).
- With respect to claims 3, 14, Han teaches wherein the action definition comprises at least one of the following information: the quantity of actions indicated by the insert indication message; an identifier of an insert indication action; a list of RAN parameters for the insert indication action; the quantity of RAN parameters for the insert indication action; an identifier of the RAN parameter (see table 3 par. 30 and 4 par. 36 for a RAN parameters and par. 58 discloses list of RAN parameter).
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.
Claims 4-10, 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (Pub. No. 20230171592) in view of Urie et al. (Pub No. 20230110387).
- With respect to claims 4, 6, 15, 17, wherein the second message is the insert indication message; and the insert indication message is used to request the Near-RT RIC to control the K actions of the network node. Urie teaches the RCI control request (see par. 50 and Fig. 7). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to implement the step of request control action in Urie’s invention into Han’s invention for fast controlling user in radio access network.
- With respect to claims 5. 7, 16, 18, Urie teaches wherein the insert indication message comprises: a first information element and a second information element; the first information element comprises: an identifier of a terminal corresponding to the network node and insert style types of the K actions; and the second information element comprises at least one of the following: the quantity of actions indicated by the insert indication message; an identifier of an insert indication action; a list of RAN parameters as requested; the quantity of RAN parameters as requested; an identifier of the RAN parameter; a value type of the RAN parameter (e.g. par. 58-61 discloses RAN parameters).
- With respect to claims 8, 19, Urie teaches wherein the second message is an RIC control acknowledge message corresponding to the control request message; and the RIC control acknowledge message comprises an execution result of each of the K actions by the network node (e.g. par. 50 discloses RIC control acknowledgment to the near-rt RIC; Fig. 7-8).
- With respect to claim 9, Urie teaches wherein the RIC control acknowledge message comprises at least one of the following: the quantity of control action outcomes; an identifier of a control action; a list of RAN parameters; the quantity of RAN parameters; an identifier of the RAN parameter; a value type of the RAN parameter (see par. 58-61 disclose RAN parameters).
- With respect to claim 10, Urie teaches wherein the list of RAN parameters carries a received timestamp of a target action, in a case where the network node accepts to execute the target action (e.g. par. 50 discloses the E2 node star a wait timer which consider as timestamp).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
. Examiner's Note: Examiner has cited particular paragraphs or columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUC H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3172. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 Flex.
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, Sujoy K. Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. 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.
/PHUC H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471