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 .
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.
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/715,950 filed on 3 June 2024. The application claims 371 priority to PCT/CN2022/143974 filed on 30 December 2022 and FOR priority to CN202111659097.3 filed on 31 December 2021. The preliminary amendment filed 3 January 2024 amends claims 1, 4, 5, 9, and 10, cancels claims 7 and 8, and adds claims 11-20 is hereby acknowledged. Claims 1-6 and 9-20 are presented for examination.
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 1-4, 9-13, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2021/0176192 A1 to Li et al and in view of CN 105847035 A (retrieved from IDS; hereafter Unicom).
Regarding Claim 1, Li discloses a method for configuring a network element, comprising: configuring the network element for the node according to node capability information of the node (0022-0024 provides for configuring the capacity resource 121 for virtual evolved packet core, vEPC, network). Li doesn’t explicitly disclose acquiring a plurality of network atomic functions of a node within a target area; integrating the plurality of network atomic functions into a plurality of network molecular functions, wherein each of the plurality of network molecular functions comprises at least one network atomic function; and wherein the network element corresponds to a group of network molecular functions, and the group of network molecular functions comprises at least one network molecular function. Unicom, in a similar field of endeavor, discloses acquiring a plurality of network atomic functions of a node within a target area (FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for acquiring network functions corresponding to UE location update); integrating the plurality of network atomic functions into a plurality of network molecular functions (FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for integrating the plurality of network functions into different network function entity sets 3032), wherein each of the plurality of network molecular functions comprises at least one network atomic function (FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for each of the network function entity sets 3032 comprises atomic functions); and wherein the network element corresponds to a group of network molecular functions (FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for a virtualized evolved packet core network corresponds to atomic network function entity sets), and the group of network molecular functions comprises at least one network molecular function (FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for the atomic network function entity sets correspond to atomic network functions). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filed date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Unicom for fine-grained node configuration. The fine-grained configuration of Unicom, when implemented with the resource configuration of the Li system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to configure atomic network functions for vEPC in order to fine-grain the configurations. Therefore, the examiner concludes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to utilize the fine-grained configuration of Unicom with the resource configuration of the Li system for the desirable purpose of configuring node for the virtualization EPC system.
Regarding Claim 2, the Li/Unicom system discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein acquiring the plurality of network atomic functions of the node within the target area comprises: acquiring network function information of the node within the target area within a preset time period (Li, 0060 provides for acquiring information periodically); and segmenting and grouping a network function of the node within the target area into the plurality of network atomic functions according to the network function information (Unicom, FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for a virtualized evolved packet core network corresponds to atomic network function entity sets). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 3, the Li/Unicom system discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein integrating the plurality of network atomic functions into the plurality of network molecular functions comprises: acquiring at least one of a timing relationship, a logical relationship (Unicom, FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for L atomic network function entity sets 3032 based on QoS index) or a geographic relationship among the plurality of network atomic functions; and integrating the plurality of network atomic functions into the plurality of network molecular functions according to the at least one of the timing relationship, the logical relationship (Unicom, FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for L atomic network function entity sets 3032 based on QoS index) or the geographic relationship among the plurality of network atomic functions. Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 4, the Li/Unicom system discloses the method according to claim 1, functions, the method further comprises further comprising: establishing a plurality of network atomic function resource pools (Unicom, FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for L atomic network function entity sets 3032); and injecting the plurality of network atomic functions into corresponding network atomic function resource pools, respectively (Unicom, FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for L atomic network function entity sets 3032); wherein integrating the plurality of network atomic functions into the plurality of network molecular functions comprises: wherein integrating a plurality of network atomic functions in the plurality of network atomic function resource pools into the plurality of network molecular functions (Unicom, FIG. 3 and 0031-0036 provides for the atomic network function entity sets correspond to atomic network functions). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 9, similar rejection where the method of claim 1 teaches the communication device of claim 9.
Regarding Claim 10, similar rejection where the method of claim 1 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10.
Regarding Claim 11, similar rejection where the method of claim 2 teaches the communication device of claim 11.
Regarding Claim 12, similar rejection where the method of claim 3 teaches the communication device of claim 12.
Regarding Claim 13, similar rejection where the method of claim 4 teaches the communication device of claim 13.
Regarding Claim 16, similar rejection where the method of claim 2 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16.
Regarding Claim 17, similar rejection where the method of claim 3 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17.
Regarding Claim 18, similar rejection where the method of claim 4 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18.
Claims 5, 6, 14, 15, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Li/Unicom system as applied to claims 1, 9, and 10 above, and further in view of US PGPUB 2023/0156826 A1 to Palermo et al.
Regarding Claim 5, the Li/Unicom system discloses the method according to claim 1, The Li/Unicom system doesn’t explicitly disclose acquiring a plurality of network elements within the target area; dividing the plurality of network elements into at least one autonomous domain; and constructing intra-domain networking and inter-domain networking according to the at least one autonomous domain, wherein the intra-domain networking is configured to achieve point-to-point communication between network elements within the autonomous domain, and the inter-domain networking is configured to achieve group-to-group communication between autonomous domains. Palermo, in a similar field of endeavor, discloses acquiring a plurality of network elements within the target area (0392 provides for geo-location); dividing the plurality of network elements into at least one autonomous domain (0392 provides for geo-location to separate domains); and constructing intra-domain networking and inter-domain networking according to the at least one autonomous domain, wherein the intra-domain networking is configured to achieve point-to-point communication between network elements within the autonomous domain, and the inter-domain networking is configured to achieve group-to-group communication between autonomous domains (FIG. 35, 0392, and 0398 provides for constructing domains for satellite communications). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filed date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Palermo for grouping resources based on geographical location. The geo-location resources of Palermo, when implemented with the resource configuration of the Li/Unicom system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to configure domains in order to construct a network for satellite communications in an orbital network. Therefore, the examiner concludes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to utilize the geo-location resources of Palermo with the resource configuration of the Li/Unicom system for the desirable purpose of configuring a network for data transmissions between multiple networks around the globe.
Regarding Claim 6, the Li/Unicom/Palermo system discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein dividing the plurality of network elements into the at least one autonomous domain comprises: dividing the plurality of network elements into the at least one autonomous domain according to a clustering algorithm; wherein the clustering algorithm is implemented according to at least one of: time, space, node capability information, network function or communication connection information (Palermo, 0153 and 0311 provides for clustering satellites for coordinated data transfers). Same motivation as claim 5.
Regarding Claim 14, similar rejection where the method of claim 5 teaches the communication device of claim 14.
Regarding Claim 15, similar rejection where the method of claim 6 teaches the communication device of claim 15.
Regarding Claim 19, similar rejection where the method of claim 5 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19.
Regarding Claim 20, similar rejection where the method of claim 6 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPUB 2022/0224605 A1 to Jain et al discloses atomics for fine-grained synchronizations.
US Patent 11,134,402 B1 to Boyapati et al discloses network optimization based on QSAR analysis.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCHQUITA GOODWIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5477. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tonia Dollinger can be reached on (571) 272-4170. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459