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 .
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed 6/3/26.
Claims 1-11 and 21-26 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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(s) 1-2, 4-6, and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al., US 2023/0055788, (“Jung”), newly cited, in view of Futaki, US 2024/0292467, (“Futaki”).
Independent Claims
Regarding claim 1, Jung teaches “A communication apparatus (Fig. 3, UE 315) comprising: circuitry (Fig. 15) configured to:
acquire a first information related to a network slice group priority for a network slice group that includes one or more network slices (paragraph no. 0239, “the UE may reselect a cell through the cell reselection evaluation process. In operation 1115, the UE may list network slices (or network slice groups) in descending order of the network slice priority (or the network slice group priority) … The network slice priority or the network slice group priority of the UE may be set from the NAS layer device. Alternatively, the network slice priority or the network slice group priority of the UE may be set from the system information or RRCRelease broadcast by the gNB”),
acquire second information including cell reselection priorities for the network slice group, the cell reselection priorities being per frequency (paragraph no. 0241, “In operation 1125, the UE may assign the cell reselection priority received from the gNB to one or more frequencies, with respect to the network slices or the network slice groups selected in operation 1120”),
wherein the second information is information for prioritizing one or more frequencies which support a highest prioritized network slice group, of a plurality of network slice groups, identified by the first information (paragraph no. 0236, “the UE may first perform the cell reselection evaluation process on a frequency of a high cell reselection priority among a plurality of frequencies supporting the network slices or network slice groups of the high priorities. That is, the UE may first perform the frequency of the high cell reselection priority among the plurality of the frequencies supporting the network slices or network slice groups of the high priorities; see also, paragraph no. 0240, “the UE may first select the network slice of the highest priority” and paragraph no. 0246, “the UE may select … the network slice group having the highest priority” and paragraph no. 241, “the UE may assign the cell reselection priority received from the gNB to one or more frequencies, with respect to the network slices or the network slice groups selected in operation 1120”), and
perform a cell reselection using the second information” (paragraph no. 0241, “the UE may assign the cell reselection priority received from the gNB to one or more frequencies, with respect to the network slices or the network slice groups selected in operation 1120” and paragraph no. 0244, “If the highest ranked cell is the suitable cell and supports the network slice or the network slice group selected in operation 1120, the UE may reselect the corresponding cell”).
Jung does not teach but Futaki teaches “from an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF)” (see paragraph nos. 0094, 0095 and in particular, 0095, “The mapping between each slice priority level and one or more network slices may be provided by the core network (e.g., AMF) to the UE1 … via NAS signaling”) as recited in claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this claimed invention to modify Jung by incorporating the teachings of Futaki to enable the core network, via an AMF, to control the allocation of network slice groups to a UE based on priority.
Regarding independent claims 8 and 10, these independent claims are corresponding method and computer product claims of the apparatus claim 1 and recite similar subject matter. As such, the rationale behind the above rejection of claim 1 applies with equal force to these independent claims and as further amplified below to highlight the minor differences between the claims.
Regarding further independent claim 10, see Jung, Fig. 15 for a “non-transistory computer product” (storage unit 1520).
Regarding independent claim 5, Jung teaches “A base station apparatus (Fig. 14) comprising:
circuitry (Fig. 14, control unit 1440) configured to:
provide, to a communication apparatus, a first information related to a network slice group priority for a network slice group that includes one or more network slices (paragraph no. 0239, “the UE may reselect a cell through the cell reselection evaluation process. In operation 1115, the UE may list network slices (or network slice groups) in descending order of the network slice priority (or the network slice group priority) … The network slice priority or the network slice group priority of the UE may be set from the NAS layer device. Alternatively, the network slice priority or the network slice group priority of the UE may be set from the system information or RRCRelease broadcast by the gNB”),
provide, to the communication apparatus, second information including cell reselection priorities for the network slice group, the cell reselection priorities being per frequency (paragraph no. 0241, “In operation 1125, the UE may assign the cell reselection priority received from the gNB to one or more frequencies, with respect to the network slices or the network slice groups selected in operation 1120”),
wherein the second information is information for prioritizing one or more frequencies which support a highest prioritized network slice group, of a plurality of network slice groups, identified by the first information (paragraph no. 0236, “the UE may first perform the cell reselection evaluation process on a frequency of a high cell reselection priority among a plurality of frequencies supporting the network slices or network slice groups of the high priorities. That is, the UE may first perform the frequency of the high cell reselection priority among the plurality of the frequencies supporting the network slices or network slice groups of the high priorities; see also, paragraph no. 0240, “the UE may first select the network slice of the highest priority” and paragraph no. 0246, “the UE may select … the network slice group having the highest priority” and paragraph no. 241, “the UE may assign the cell reselection priority received from the gNB to one or more frequencies, with respect to the network slices or the network slice groups selected in operation 1120”), and
wherein the second information is used by the communication apparatus to perform a cell reselection” (paragraph no. 0241, “the UE may assign the cell reselection priority received from the gNB to one or more frequencies, with respect to the network slices or the network slice groups selected in operation 1120” and paragraph no. 0244, “If the highest ranked cell is the suitable cell and supports the network slice or the network slice group selected in operation 1120, the UE may reselect the corresponding cell”).
Jung does not teach but Futaki teaches “via an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF)” (see paragraph nos. 0094, 0095 and in particular, 0095, “The mapping between each slice priority level and one or more network slices may be provided by the core network (e.g., AMF) to the UE1 … via NAS signaling”) as recited in claim 5.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this claimed invention to modify Jung by incorporating the teachings of Futaki to enable the core network, via an AMF, to control the allocation of network slice groups to a UE based on priority.
Regarding independent claims 9 and 11, these independent claims are corresponding method and computer product claims of the apparatus claim 5 and recite similar subject matter. As such, the rationale behind the above rejection of claim 5 applies with equal force to these independent claims and as further amplified below to highlight the minor differences between the claims.
Regarding further independent claim 11, see Jung, Fig. 14 for a “non-transistory computer product” (storage unit 1430).
Dependent Claims
Regarding claims 2 and 6, Jung teaches “wherein the circuitry is further configured to acquire an allowed network slice selection assistance information (N-SSAI)” (paragraph no. 0134) as recited in claim 2 and similarly recited in claim 6.
Regarding claim 4, Jung teaches “wherein the circuitry is further configured to acquire the second information from a base station” (see paragraph no. 0241).
Claim(s) 3 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung and Futaki as applied to claims 2, 6 above, and further in view of Chen et al., US 2024/0381285, (“Xiaomi”).
Regarding claims 3 and 7, Jung does not teach but Xiaomi teaches “wherein the circuitry is further configured to acquire the allowed N-SSAI from the AMF” (paragraph no. 0081).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this claimed invention to modify Jung and Futaki by incorporating the teachings of Xiaomi to enable the core network, via the AMF, to send the network slice information to the UE, thereby facilitating the use of network slices by the UE in a 5G cellular communication network.
Claim(s) 21-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung and Futaki as applied to claims 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 above, and further in view of Li et al., US 2019/0357122, (“Li”).
Jung appears to implicitly teach “wherein the one or more network slices comprises two or more network slices” (paragraph no. 0239) as recited in each claim.
Li teaches explicitly this limitation (see paragraph no. 0155 which discloses that each network slice group includes 5 network slices).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this claimed invention to modify Jung and Futaki by incorporating the teachings of Li to enable the grouping of two or more network slices into a network slice group.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 5, 8, 8, 10, and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/WON TAE C KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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