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 .
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.
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.
Claims 2, 6-9 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 2 recites the limitation "the registration" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the registration" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7, lines 1-4, recite “wherein the step of transmitting further comprising:
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS)”
which renders the claim indefinite as the “step of transmitting” from claim 6 already recites the exact language of “transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS)”. It is unclear if an additional transmitting of a first message is being claimed or if this was meant to reference the previous first message.
Claim 8, lines 1-4, recite “wherein the step of receiving further comprising:
receiving, from the selected first network function, a second message”
which renders the claim indefinite as the “step of receiving” from claim 6 already recites the exact language of “receiving, from the selected first network function, a second message”. It is unclear if an additional receiving of a second message is being claimed or if this was meant to reference the previous second message.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-9, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed an abstract idea without significantly more. Claims 1, 6, 13 recite obtaining information, selecting a function, transmitting and receiving messages, as recited which is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components.
Claims 1, 6, 13 recite obtaining information, selecting a function, transmitting and receiving messages. Other than reciting general User Equipment, processor, computer readable storage medium, and servers, nothing in the claims precludes the steps from practically being performed in the mind. The additional elements of transmitting and receiving a message are insignificant extra- solution activity.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As aforementioned regarding the failure to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional
elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an exception using generic computer components cannot provide an inventive concept. Therefore, the claims are patent ineligible.
The dependent claims merely set forth additional details of the abstract idea and also fail to recite additional elements sufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amounting to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Therefore, claims 1-9, 13 are not patent eligible.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-8, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qaisrani et al. (Qaisrani) (US 2021/0307018) (submitted by applicant).
As to claim 1, Qaisrani discloses a method performed by a first functional component implementing an enabler function in a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 10, DOF), comprising:
performing a service provisioning, to obtain information regarding one or more first network functions implementing Edge Enabler Servers (EESs) (par. 141: "the device comprises: a cellular network element configured to provide an edge discovery service in a third generation partnership project (3GPP) fifth generation (5G) cellular network."; the EDS is merely a function running on a network device) implementing Edge Enabler Servers (par. 103: "It may be the case that the DOF function can be pre-configured with information indicating an address of the EDS, or that the DOF function may be able to learn this information out of band.");
selecting a first network function from the one or more first network functions (par. 103: "the DOF function of the wireless device may then communicate with the EDS (e.g., via the UPF) to authenticate and register with the EDS.");
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message (par. 112: "In 1004, the DOF function of the UE may provide an edge compute request to the EDS.") including a first parameter ("criteria") enabling the selected first network function to perform Edge Application Server (EAS) selection (par. 112: "The edge compute request may indicate one or more criteria for the edge compute request"; 112: "the EDS may select one or more EASs for the edge compute request."); and
receiving, from the selected first network function , a second message (par. 118: "In 1006, the EDS may provide a response to the edge compute request to the wireless device. The response to the edge compute request may include a (e.g., prioritized) list of the selected EAS(s), e.g., including FQDN/URL/IP address(es) for each EAS indicated.")
As to claim 2, Qaisrani discloses wherein the step of selecting further comprises selecting the first network function which the registration of the first functional component on the first network function is not required. "wherein the registration of the first functional component on the selected first network function (121) is not required". In par. 103 the authentication between the DOF and the EDS is disclosed as optional ("may")).
As to claim 3, Qaisrani discloses wherein the second message includes a second parameter indicating information regarding a second network function (122) implementing EAS ("In 1006, the EDS may provide a response to the edge compute request to the wireless device. The response to the edge compute request may include a (e.g., prioritized) list of the selected EAS(s), e.g., including FQDN/URL/IP address(es) for each EAS indicated." (par. 118)).
As to claim 4, Qaisrani discloses wherein the first parameter indicates whether the EAS selection is delegated to the selected first network function (121); and/or wherein the second parameter indicates the profile of the second network function (122) selected by the selected first network function (121). (“In some instances, the response may (e.g., additionally or alternatively) include (e.g., partial or full) capability and/or performance information for each selected EAS, e.g., which may be used by the DOF function of the wireless device to determine to which of the indicated EASs to attempt to connect. (par. 118)).
As to claim 6, Qaisrani discloses a method performed by a first functional component implementing an enabler function in a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 10, DOF), comprising:
performing a service provisioning, to obtain information regarding one or more first network functions implementing Edge Enabler Servers (EESs) (par. 141: "the device comprises: a cellular network element configured to provide an edge discovery service in a third generation partnership project (3GPP) fifth generation (5G) cellular network."; the EDS is merely a function running on a network device) implementing Edge Enabler Servers (par. 103: "It may be the case that the DOF function can be pre-configured with information indicating an address of the EDS, or that the DOF function may be able to learn this information out of band.");
selecting a first network function from the one or more first network functions (par. 103: "the DOF function of the wireless device may then communicate with the EDS (e.g., via the UPF) to authenticate and register with the EDS."), wherein the registration of the first functional component on the first network function is not required. "wherein the registration of the first functional component on the selected first network function (121) is not required". In par. 103 the authentication between the DOF and the EDS is disclosed as optional ("may")).
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message (par. 112: "In 1004, the DOF function of the UE may provide an edge compute request to the EDS.") for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS) (par. 112: "The edge compute request may indicate one or more criteria for the edge compute request"; 112: "the EDS may select one or more EASs for the edge compute request."); and
receiving, from the selected first network function , a second message (par. 118: "In 1006, the EDS may provide a response to the edge compute request to the wireless device. The response to the edge compute request may include a (e.g., prioritized) list of the selected EAS(s), e.g., including FQDN/URL/IP address(es) for each EAS indicated.")
As to claim 7, Qaisrani discloses wherein the step of transmitting (5503) further comprising:
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS) (par. 112: "In 1004, the DOF function of the UE may provide an edge compute request to the EDS."), wherein the first message includes a first parameter enabling the selected first network function to perform EAS selection (par. 112: "The edge compute request may indicate one or more criteria for the edge compute request"; 112: "the EDS may select one or more EASs for the edge compute request.").
As to claim 8, Qaisrani discloses wherein the step of receiving (5504) further comprising:
receiving, from the selected first network function, a second message including a second parameter indicating information regarding a selected second network function implementing EAS (“In some instances, the response may (e.g., additionally or alternatively) include (e.g., partial or full) capability and/or performance information for each selected EAS, e.g., which may be used by the DOF function of the wireless device to determine to which of the indicated EASs to attempt to connect. (par. 118)).
As to claim 13, Qaisrani discloses a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 3, 106), comprising:
at least one processor (302; paragraph 75, 77); and
a non-transitory computer readable medium (306, 350; paragraph 75, 77) coupled to the at least one processor (see Fig. 3), the non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions executable by the at least one processor (paragraph 75, 77), whereby the at least one processor is configured to perform the method according to claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 1 above).
Claims 1-9, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by
3GPP TS 23.558 v17.2.0 (2021-12), 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Architecture for enabling Edge Applications (Release 17), 163 pages. (hereafter referenced as 3GPP TS 23.558) (submitted by applicant).
As to claim 1, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses a method performed by a first functional component implementing an enabler function in a User Equipment (UE) (EEC, 6.3.3), comprising:
performing a service provisioning, to obtain information regarding one or more first network functions implementing Edge Enabler Servers (EESs) (EEC service provisioning request to ECS; 8.3.3.2.2);
selecting a first network function from the one or more first network functions (EEC receiving identified EES; 8.3.3.2.2);
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message (EAS discovery request from EEC to EES; 8.5.2.2) including a first parameter (EAS discovery filters, locations; 8.5.2.2) enabling the selected first network function to perform Edge Application Server (EAS) selection (identifying EAS(s) matching the EAS filters and location; 8.5.2.2) and
receiving, from the selected first network function, a second message (EAS discovery response including matching EASs; 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 2, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the step of selecting further comprises selecting the first network function which the registration of the first functional component on the first network function is not required (8.2.6, EES profile indicates whether or not the EEC is required to register).
As to claim 3, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the second message includes a second parameter indicating information regarding a second network function implementing EAS (“Depending on the EAS discovery filters received in the EAS discovery request, the response may include additional information regarding matched capabilities, e.g. service permissions levels, KPIs, AC locations(s) that the EASs can support, ACR scenarios supported by the EAS, etc. The EAS discovery response may contain a list of EASs. This list may be based on EAS discovery filters containing a Geographical or Topological Service Area, e.g. a route, included in the EAS discovery request by the EEC”, 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 4, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the first parameter indicates whether the EAS selection is delegated to the selected first network function (); and/or
wherein the second parameter indicates the profile of the second network function selected by the selected first network function (“Depending on the EAS discovery filters received in the EAS discovery request, the response may include additional information regarding matched capabilities, e.g. service permissions levels, KPIs, AC locations(s) that the EASs can support, ACR scenarios supported by the EAS, etc. The EAS discovery response may contain a list of EASs. This list may be based on EAS discovery filters containing a Geographical or Topological Service Area, e.g. a route, included in the EAS discovery request by the EEC”, 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 5, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the second message does not include information regarding a second network function implementing EAS (message triggering EEC to perform ACR to select T-SEE, 8.8.2.2, or message triggering EEC resume and repeat with different T-SEE, 8.8.2.6), the method further comprising:
selecting another first network function from the one or more first network function (selecting T-EES from to replace S-EES; 8.8.2.2);
transmitting, to said another first network function, a third message including the first parameter enabling said another first network function to perform Edge Application Server (EAS) selection (EEC performs EAS discovery for desired T-EASs by querying the T-EES; 8.8.2.2);
receiving, from said another first network function, a fourth message including the second parameter indicating information regarding a second network function implementing EAS (message from T-EES indicating new T-EAS being utilized; 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 6, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses a method performed by a first functional component implementing an enabler function in a User Equipment (UE) (EEC, 6.3.3), comprising:
performing a service provisioning, to obtain information regarding one or more first network functions implementing Edge Enabler Servers (EESs) (EEC service provisioning request to ECS; 8.3.3.2.2);
selecting a first network function from the one or more first network functions (EEC receiving identified EES; 8.3.3.2.2), wherein the registration of the first functional component on the first network function is not required (8.2.6, EES profile indicates whether or not the EEC is required to register);
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message (EAS discovery request from EEC to EES; 8.5.2.2) for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS) (identifying EAS(s) matching the EAS filters and location; 8.5.2.2) and
receiving, from the selected first network function, a second message (EAS discovery response including matching EASs; 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 7, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the step of transmitting (5503) further comprising:
transmitting, to the selected first network function, a first message for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS) (EAS discovery request from EEC to EES; 8.5.2.2), wherein the first message includes a first parameter enabling the selected first network function to perform EAS selection (EAS discovery filters, locations; 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 8, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the step of receiving further comprising:
receiving, from the selected first network function, a second message including a second parameter indicating information regarding a selected second network function implementing EAS (“Depending on the EAS discovery filters received in the EAS discovery request, the response may include additional information regarding matched capabilities, e.g. service permissions levels, KPIs, AC locations(s) that the EASs can support, ACR scenarios supported by the EAS, etc. The EAS discovery response may contain a list of EASs. This list may be based on EAS discovery filters containing a Geographical or Topological Service Area, e.g. a route, included in the EAS discovery request by the EEC”, 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 9, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses wherein the second message does not include information regarding a second network function implementing EAS (message triggering EEC to perform ACR to select T-SEE, 8.8.2.2, or message triggering EEC resume and repeat with different T-SEE, 8.8.2.6), the method further comprising:
selecting another first network function from the one or more first network function (selecting T-EES from to replace S-EES; 8.8.2.2);
transmitting, to said another first network function, a third message for discovering a second network function implementing Edge Application Server (EAS) selection (EEC performs EAS discovery query with T-EES for desired T-EASs; 8.8.2.2);
receiving, from said another first network function, a fourth message including information regarding a second network function implementing EAS (message from T-EES indicating new T-EAS being utilized; 8.5.2.2).
As to claim 13, 3GPP TS 23.558 discloses a User Equipment (UE) (6.2, A.3.2-A.3.3) comprising:
at least one processor (inherent within a smartphone device; 6.2, A.3.2-A.3.3); and
a non-transitory computer readable medium (inherent within a smartphone device running applications; A.3.2-A.3.3) coupled to the at least one processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions executable by the at least one processor (smartphone with applications; 6.2, A.3.2-A.3.3) whereby the at least one processor is configured to perform the method according to claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 1 above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James R Sheleheda whose telephone number is (571)272-7357. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm CST.
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/James R Sheleheda/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424