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
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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US 2023/0224300).
Regarding claims 1, 5, 9 and 13, Zhang discloses a method performed by a first network entity or a second network entity in a wireless communication system where the first network entity and the second network entity each comprise a transceiver and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver, the method comprising:
receiving, from the second network entity, or transmitting, to the first network entity, first information indicating that a user equipment (UE) is unreachable, during a re-authentication for the UE (paragraph 91: “...At any time, a DN-AAA server or SMF may trigger Secondary Re- authentication procedure for a PDU Session established with Secondary Authentication If DN-AAA initiates re-authorization but UE has moved from 5GC to EPC, such re-authorization is not possible...”, wherein it is implied in 3GPP that information indicating that a UE re-authorization is not possible is received from an AMF which is positioned between UE and SMF); and
transmitting, to a data network authentication authorization and accounting (DN- AAA) server, second information indicating that the UE is not reachable for the re-authentication (paragraph 91: When UE moves from 4GS and 5GS, SMF doesn't trigger re-authentication request to DN-AAA server.; and paragraph 94: “In an embodiment, after UE moves to the first network such as EPC, if the AAA server such as DN-AAA server initiates Secondary Re-authentication procedure, the session management function entity such as PGW-C+SMF shall respond to the AAA server that the re-authentication is pending as it is not applicable for the current system.”).
Regarding claims 2, 6, 10 and 14, Zhang discloses releasing a protocol data unit (PDU) session based on the re- authentication being unsuccessful; and transmitting, to the DN-AAA server, third information indicating that the re-authentication is unsuccessful (paragraph 91: When UE moves from 4GS and 5GS, SMF doesn't trigger re-authentication request to DN-AAA server).
Regarding claims 3, 7 and 11, Zhang discloses marking the re-authentication as pending in case that the UE becomes unreachable; and initiating the re-authentication at a next uplink activity (paragraph 106: “if UE established a PDN connection in EPC, and then moves to 5GC, the PGW-C+SMF may initiate Secondary authentication/authorization procedure based on subscription data or local policy or an indication of pending authentication.”)).
Regarding claims 4, 8, 12 and 15, Zhang discloses that the first network entity is a session management function (SMF) entity, the second network entity is an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity (paragraph 90: “FIG. 5b depicts a schematic system, in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 5b, the schematic system comprises NRF, UDM, PCF, CHF (Charging Function), AMF, gNB, MME, SGW-C, PGW-C+SMF, PGW-U+UPF, DN, eNB, SGW-U, DN-AAA server, etc.”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Huang et al. (US 2022/0060373) discloses an FOTA server transmitting data to a UE while the UE is unreachable.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAM BHATTACHARYA whose telephone number is (571)272-7917. The examiner can normally be reached weekdays, 9-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D. Anderson can be reached at (571) 272-4177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAM BHATTACHARYA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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