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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. All claims have priority date of 08/09/2017.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims filed 1/30/2026 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 2, 6, 10 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 5, and 9 recite “a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) security parameter remains unchanged” however there is no support in the original specification for this feature. The specification, for this embodiment claimed, only recites “the NAS-related security information may not be carried.” See US 20240323787 A1 ¶55. Due to the lack of support, there are also clarity issues as the limitation is ambiguous.
Claims 2, 6, 10 and 14 recite “subsequent to the handover command message from the network side device in the source cell, receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message from the network side device in the source cell” however this claim feature is inconsistent with the disclosure in the original specification. For the embodiment of “wherein when the source cell is a New Radio (NR) cell, the target cell is an eLTE cell, and the core network remains unchanged after the cell handover” (see e.g. claim 1) there is no subsequent reconfiguration message disclosed, and only the first handover command message is disclosed in the specification. (See US 20240323787 A1 “second scenario” ¶53-¶56).
The claims thus constitute new matter and must be amended to be consistent with the embodiment as originally disclosed.
Claims 2, 6, 10 and 14 recite “subsequent to the handover command message from the network side device in the source cell, receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message from the network side device in the source cell” however this claim feature is inconsistent with the disclosure in the original specification. For the embodiment of “wherein when the source cell is a New Radio (NR) cell, the target cell is an eLTE cell, and the core network remains unchanged after the cell handover” (see e.g. claim 1) there is no subsequent reconfiguration message disclosed, and only the first handover command message is disclosed in the specification. (See US 20240323787 A1 “second scenario” ¶53-¶56).
The claims thus constitute new matter and must be amended to be consistent with the embodiment as originally disclosed.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Futaki et al (US 2019/0182737 A1).
Claims 1, 5, and 9
Futaki teaches A mobility management method (See Futaki Figs 2A, 12A-13B, [0173]-[0176]), performed by a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 2A 12A UE 1), comprising:
receiving core network information about each cell from a network side device, the core network information being used to indicate a type of a core network (Futaki Par. 17 “a radio terminal… receive a handover-related message from a radio access network (RAN) node of the first network. The handover-related message contains at least one of slice information about a network slice in the second network…”);
receiving a handover command message from the network side device in a source cell, when the UE is in a connected state (See Futaki [0166] In Step 1201, the UE 1 is connected to the NR NB 3 and is in connected state (e.g., RRC Connected)), the handover command message being used to indicate a target cell for handover to the UE (See Futaki Figs. 12A-12B, 13A-13B [0173]-[0175] Step 1205, the source NR NB 3 sends, to the UE 1, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message containing a Handover Command message, Figs 20-22 RRC Reconfiguration Transparent Container contents); and
performing cell handover in accordance with the target cell indicated in the handover command message (See Futaki Figs. 12A-12B, 13A-13B [0173]-[0176] step 1206, in response to receiving the RRC message containing the Handover Command message, the UE 1 moves to a target RAN (i.e., E-UTRAN) and performs a handover according to the transparent container..UE 1 establishes a radio connection with the target LTE eNB 2 associated with the LTE System)
wherein when the source cell is a New Radio (NR) cell, the target cell is an eLTE cell (See Futaki Figs. 12A-12B, 13A-13B [0173]-[0176] source is NR and target is LTE), and the core network remains unchanged after the cell handover ((See Futaki Fig. 1, [0068] an LTE base station (i.e., eNB) 2, a New Radio (NR) base station (i.e., NR NodeB (NR NB)) 3, and a NextGen (NG) Core 5), ¶70 ), a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) security parameter remains unchanged (¶227 “The security-related information may be configured per slice. In other words, the security-related information or the NAS security configuration information (e.g., NAS Security Parameters to NG-UTRAN) may include one or both of a security key and a security algorithm for each slice” where ¶82 “an E-UTRAN including the LTE eNB 2 may be connected to the same network slice as an NG RAN including the NR NB 3.” Thus unchanged).
Further considering Claim 9, the combination teaches A User equipment (UE) comprising: a processor, a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory and executed by the processor, (See Futaki Par. 17 “a radio terminal includes at least one memory and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to, during handover from a first network to which the radio terminal is connected to a second network, receive a handover-related message from a radio access network (RAN) node of the first network..”) and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to: (in the same manner as above See Futaki in combination with Iwamura as cited).
Further considering Claim 5, the combination teaches A mobility management method, performed by a network side device (See combination of Futaki and Iwamura, supra, and rejection of claim 1, supra, incorporated herein, as also teaching steps as performed by network side device).
Further considering Claim 13, the combination teaches A network side device (Futaki Pars 15-16, 18 RAN node or core network node), comprising a processor, a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory and executed by the processor ((Futaki Pars 15-16, 18 components taught), and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to perform the method according to claim 5 (see rejection as cited for claim 1 and 5).
Claims 3, 7, 11 and 15.
Futaki teaches The mobility management method according to claim 1, wherein the NAS security paramter is carried in a Container Information Element (See Futaki [0173]-[0175] “..The Target To Source Transparent Container..”).
Claims 16, 17, 18 and 19
Futaki teaches the NAS security parameter is 'nas-SecurityParamToEUTRA' (Futaki ¶213 “the MobilityFromEUTRACommand message includes nas-SecurityParamFromEUTRA”).
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 2, 6, 14 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futaki et al (US 2019/0182737 A1) in view of Iwamura; Mikio et al. US 20130070680 A1, and further in view of WO 2014109537 A1 LEE, EUNJONG et al.
Claims 2, 6, 14 and 10.
Futaki teaches The mobility management method according to claim 1 (Supra),
wherein
receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message from the network side device in the source cell (See Futaki Figs. 12A-12B, 13A-13B [0173]-[0175] Step 1205, the source NR NB 3 sends, to the UE 1, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message containing a Handover Command message, Figs 20-22 RRC Reconfiguration Transparent Container contents),
RRC reconfiguration message carries the air-interface configuration parameter of the target cell (See Futaki [0173]-[0175] “..HandoverCommand message (e.g., Handover Command To EUTRA) containing an RRCConnectionRecofiguration message and other RRC messages..The Target To Source Transparent Container contains, for example, radio resource configuration information set up by the target LTE eNB 2 (e.g., a radio parameter), an identifier of an AS security algorithm selected by the target LTE eNB 2, and NAS security configuration information.. In Step 1205, the source NR NB 3 sends, to the UE 1, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message containing a Handover Command message including the transparent container..”).
Futaki does not explicitly disclose RRC reconfiguration message, is received subsequent to receiving the handover command message from the network side device in the source cell, and the message does not carry the NAS security parameter. Futaki teaches the handover command message and RRC reconfiguration message are received together. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to receive the RRC reconfiguration message subsequent to the handover command message, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. In re Nenvin v. Erlichmena, 168 USPQ 177, 179.
Further, analogous art Iwamura teaches subsequent to the handover command message from the network side device in the source cell, receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message from the network side device in the source cell (See Iwamura [0009] Then, a radio base station eNB is configured to add “MeasObject#4” for designating the “F4” and link the “MeasId” to the “MeasObject#4” by “RRC Connection Reconfiguration” immediately after “Handover Command” or “Re-establishment”).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio” to a person having ordinary skill in the art, to modify the invention of Futaki to include the teachings of Iwamura, in order to release configuration information (Iwamura [0105]).
The combination does not teach the RRC reconfiguration message does not carry the NAS security parameter.
Lee teaches the RRC reconfiguration message does not carry the NAS security parameter (See Lee at 8 ¶107-113 “Perform connection ion establishment with eNB (without NAS message). . .
Unlike the existing LTE UE, the eAP may transmit a message (RRCConnectionReqeust) requesting RRC connection establishment without NAS ATTACH REQUEST (S930). If you set the "establishment Cause" parameter to "eAP originating Access" Can be defined as a parameter indicating that the connection is established. Alternatively, an ID indicating that the UE-Identity is eAP (eg, reserved ID allocation) is transmitted to the eNB. The eAP may perform a random access procedure (RACH) with the eNB (S940) and receive an RRC connection setup message (eg, an RRCConnectionSetup message) from the eNB (S950). In the connection establishment step, the NAS-related parameters performed by the existing UE may be omitted or set to a meaningless value.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio” to a person having ordinary skill in the art, to modify the combination to include the teachings of Lee , in order to update base station information in a situation of supporting interworking between a plurality of communication systems (Lee at 1 ¶1).
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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/UMAIR AHSAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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