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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/18/2025 and 01/13/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5,8-9, 14-16, 18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajput (US 20230072290 A1), hereinafter Rajput in view of Cakulev (US 11616711 B1), hereinafter Cakulev.
Regarding claim 1,
Rajput teaches A computing apparatus comprising: a computer-readable storage medium; processor-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium; and one or more processors coupled to the computer-readable storage medium and configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to operate a first network function (NF) producer in a NF set within a 5G network, wherein the NF set comprise a plurality of NF producers that provide an instance to a NF consumer within the 5G network, such that the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, direct the computing apparatus, to at least: ([0007] 5G communications networks can occur when a hacker sends overload control information with false overload control information scope to cause peer NFs to stop sending traffic to another NF. Overload control information is transmitted by an NF to a peer NF when the sending NF is overloaded to cause the NF to throttle traffic to the sending NF and allow the sending NF to shed load. The overload control information is communicated in an OCI header ... [0044] When an NF service producer or consumer reaches an implementation-dependent overload threshold, the NF service producer or consumer conveys the OCI to its peer entity (consumer or producer, respectively). Based on the received OCI, )
determine an isolation event, wherein the isolation event isolates the first NF producer from at least one or more NF producers within the NF set;
generate a X-Service-State (XSS) header, wherein:
the XSS header comprises an X-Service (XS) status indicating that the first NF producer is isolated from the at least one or more NF producers within the NF set ([0060] The SBI response includes a 3gpp-Sbi-Oci header that identifies producer NF 302 in its scope component, indicating that producer NF 302 is overloaded..)
Rajput does not explicitly teaches and the XS status comprises a service priority and a first validity period during which the service priority is applicable; and transmit the XSS header to the NF consumer, wherein responsive to receiving the XSS header the NF consumer uses the service priority for NF selection.
Cakulev the XS status comprises a service priority and a first validity period during which the service priority is applicable; and transmit the XSS header to the NF consumer, wherein responsive to receiving the XSS header the NF consumer uses the service priority for NF selection. (fig. 1 ) and ( [column 4, row 30-50]... NRF 120 may provide a discovery response that includes a list of the plurality of NF producers 125 with the priorities and the validity time ... NRF 120 may generate the discovery response, to the discovery request, that includes the list of the plurality of NF producers 125 with the priorities and the validity times.... the NRF 120 may select one or more of the plurality of NF producers 125 to include in the list based on the priorities set for the plurality of NF producers 125... The NRF 120 may provide the discovery response, with the list of the plurality of NF producers 125 with the priorities and the validity times, to the NF consumer 125. The NF consumer 125 may identify, based on the priorities, at least one of the plurality of NF producers 125 to provide a service to the UE 105.))
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Cakulev to the teaching of Rajput. The motivation for such an addition would be to provide an NF discovery service that enables an NF consumer to discover a set of NF producers supporting an NF service or being a target NF type. ([column 1 , row 50-60] Cakulev).
Regarding claim 3,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the computing apparatus of claim 1,
Rajput does not explicitly teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to: determine an expiration of the first validity period for the service priority; determine that the isolation event is on-going; update the XSS header to comprise a second validity period during which the service priority is applicable; and transmit the updated XSS header to the NF consumer.
Cakulev teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
determine an expiration of the first validity period for the service priority;
determine that the isolation event is on-going;
update the XSS header to comprise a second validity period during which the service priority is applicable; and
transmit the updated XSS header to the NF consumer. (fig. 1D and 1F)“ and (column 5, row 25-30) Once the validity time expires, the NF consumer 125 may provide a new discovery request to the NRF 120”)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Cakulev to the teaching of Rajput. The motivation for such an addition would be to provide an NF discovery service that enables an NF consumer to discover a set of NF producers supporting an NF service or being a target NF type. ([column 1 , row 50-60] Cakulev).
Regarding claim 5,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the computing apparatus of claim 1,
Rajput further teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
receive a service request from the NF consumer; and
responsive to the service request, generate the XSS header comprising the XS status indicating the isolation event. (fig. 7 and [0064] receive an SBI request message from a consumer NF for forwarding to a producer NF.) and [0060] The SBI response includes a 3gpp-Sbi-Oci header that identifies producer NF 302 in its scope component, indicating that producer NF 302 is overloaded.)
Claim(s) [8] (method) and [16, 18, and 20] (computer-readable storage medium) is/are rejected under the same reasoning as claim(s) [1, 3, and 5] (apparatus ) , where Rajput teaches both device and method and computer-readable storage medium ([0001] and [0027] )
Regarding claim 9,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the method of claim 8,
Rajput does not explicitly teach wherein: the first NF producer comprises a NF profile comprising a priority parameter assigned to the first NF producer; and transmitting, by the first NF producer, the XSS header to the NF consumer causes the NF consumer to replace the priority parameter with the service priority for NF selection.
Cakulev teaches wherein: the first NF producer comprises a NF profile comprising a priority parameter assigned to the first NF producer; and transmitting, by the first NF producer, the XSS header to the NF consumer causes the NF consumer to replace the priority parameter with the service priority for NF selection. ((column 2, row 25-47 ) In scenarios when the NRF cannot identify any NF producer with an active status, the NRF may return a list of NF producers that are in suspended state, but with a status set to active so that an NF consumer may select a suspended NF produce ... the NRF may return a list of NF producers that are in a suspended state, but with lower priorities. This may ensure that the NF consumer selects other NF producers with higher priorities. )
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Cakulev to the teaching of Rajput. The motivation for such an addition would be to provide an NF discovery service that enables an NF consumer to discover a set of NF producers supporting an NF service or being a target NF type. ([column 1 , row 50-60] Cakulev).
Regarding claim 14,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the method of claim 8,
Rajput further teaches wherein the first NF producer comprises one of a Packet Core Function (PCF), session management function (SMF), or unified data repository (UDR). ([0039] network functions can be consumer NFs producer NFs, or both, ... NFs include a policy control function (PCF) ).
Regarding claim 15,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the method of claim 8,
Rajput further teaches wherein the NF consumer comprises one of: a user equipment; service capability function (SCF); service control point (SCP); session management function (SMF); access and mobility management function (AMF); network exposure function (NEF); service enablement platform provider (SEPP); application function (AF); unified data repository (UDR); or charging function (CHF). ([0040] NFs illustrated in FIG. 1 further include a session management function (SMF)).
Claim(s) 2, 6, 10, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajput and Cakulev and further in view of Yang (US 20240298196 A1) , hereinafter Yang.
Regarding claim 2,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the computing apparatus of claim 1,
Rajput and Cakulev does not explicitly teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to: determine that the isolation event is rectified; update the XS status to indicate a recovery status of the first NF producer, wherein the recovery status comprises a recovery timestamp and a recovered service instance; generate an updated XSS header to comprise the XS status indicating the recovery status of the first NF producer; and transmit the updated XSS header to the NF consumer.
Yang teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
determine that the isolation event is rectified;
update the XS status to indicate a recovery status of the first NF producer, wherein the recovery status comprises a recovery timestamp and a recovered service instance;
generate an updated XSS header to comprise the XS status indicating the recovery status of the first NF producer; and
transmit the updated XSS header to the NF consumer.
([0012]an enhanced communication of recovery information related to restart of a NF producer of NF consumer is introduced. In exemplary embodiments, a recovery timestamp in a restart notification from a NF producer or NF consumer is associated with the NF entity corresponding to the binding level of session contexts served by the NF producer or NF consumer. The NF entity may comprise a NF Service Instance, NF Service Set, NF Instance, or NF Set. The NF entity may be identified by a service name together with NF Instance and/or NF Set. In the case of a failure, the recovery timestamp populated in a recovery notification matches the binding level of session contexts which will be affected by the failed NF entity. The recovery timestamp may be included in indirect signaling via a NRF and in direct signal between NFs. Further the recovery timestamp can be included in the header of a restart notification or in a message body of the restart notification. The restart notification may be a service request/response, notification request/response, or a Subscription request/response).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Yang to the teaching of Rajput and Cakulev. The motivation for such an addition would be to enhance communication of recovery information. ([0012] Yang )
Regarding Claim 6,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the computing apparatus of claim 1,
Rajput and Cakulev does not explicitly teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the XSS header, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to: generate the XS status within the XSS header to further comprise: a timestamp indicating a time at which the XSS header was generated; and a service instance indicating an instance impacted by the isolation event.
Yang teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the XSS header, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
generate the XS status within the XSS header to further comprise: a timestamp indicating a time at which the XSS header was generated; and a service instance indicating an instance impacted by the isolation event. ( [0126] The service response includes a recovery timestamp corresponding to the binding level specified in the 3gpp-binding-indication HTPP header for the created resource)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Yang to the teaching of Rajput and Cakulev. The motivation for such an addition would be to enhance communication of recovery information. ([0012] Yang ).
Claim(s) [10] (method) and [17] (computer-readable storage medium) is/are rejected under the same reasoning as claim(s) [2 and 6] (apparatus ) , where Rajput Teaches both device and method and computer-readable storage medium ([0001] and [0027] ).
Claim(s) 4, 12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajput and Cakulev and further in view of Lu (US 20260040387 A1), hereinafter Lu.
Regarding Claim 4,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the computing apparatus of claim 1,
Rajput and Cakulev do not explicitly teach wherein the service priority indicates that the first NF producer comprises a cluster leader within the NF set, and wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
determine that the isolation event is rectified; and
replicating data associated with requests received during the isolation event to one or more of the NF producers in the NF set based on the first NF producer being the cluster leader.
Lu teaches wherein the service priority indicates that the first NF producer comprises a cluster leader within the NF set, and wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
determine that the isolation event is rectified; and
replicating data associated with requests received during the isolation event to one or more of the NF producers in the NF set based on the first NF producer being the cluster leader.( [0046] To ensure optimized data replication management, the NF producer or the NF consumer may indicate the preferred scope of data replication in the “subscribe”, “request”, “notify”, or “response” message, by using a binding indication.
[0047] The binding indication is information included by a NF service producer to a NF service consumer in responses or notifications to convey the scope within which selection/reselection of target NF/NF services may be performed, or information included by the NF service consumer in requests or subscriptions to convey the scope within which selection/reselection of notification targets or the selection of other service(s) that the NF consumer produces for the same data context may be performed.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Lu to the teaching of Rajput and Cakulev. The motivation for such an addition would be to optimize data replication management ([0046 ] Lu) .
Claim(s) [12] (method) and [19] (computer-readable storage medium) is/are rejected under the same reasoning as claim(s) [4] (apparatus ) , where Rajput Teaches both device and method and computer-readable storage medium ([0001] and [0027] ) .
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajput and Cakulev and further in view of Krishan (US 20220070648 A1) , hereinafter Krishan.
Regarding Claim 7,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the computing apparatus of claim 1,
Rajput and Cakulev do not explicitly teach wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the XSS header, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to: determine that a second NF producer within the NF set comprises a first service priority indicating that the second NF producer is experience a second isolation event; and determine the service priority for the first NF producer as a second service priority based on the first service priority of the second NF producer, wherein the first service priority is different than the second service priority.
Krishan teaches wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the XSS header, when executed by the one or more processors, further direct the computing apparatus to:
determine that a second NF producer within the NF set comprises a first service priority indicating that the second NF producer is experience a second isolation event; and
determine the service priority for the first NF producer as a second service priority based on the first service priority of the second NF producer, wherein the first service priority is different than the second service priority. ([0065] NRF 100 processes the discovery request and adjusts priorities of NF and service profiles in the list that is returned in response to the discovery request based on the custom headers. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the discovery response would indicate that for service X, producer NFs from location 2 would have lower priority (a higher priority indicates a reduced likelihood of selection) than producer NFs in location 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Krishan to the teaching of Rajput and Cakulev. The motivation for such an addition would be to improve processing delay of service request ([0065 ] Krishan) .
Claim(s) 11 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajput and Cakulev and further in view of Engelhart (US 11985517 B1) , hereinafter Engelhart.
Regarding claim 11,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the method of claim 8,
Rajput and Cakulev does not explicitly teaches wherein the method further comprises:
responsive to receiving the XSS header, selecting, by the NF consumer, a second NF producer based on the XS status of the first NF producer.
Engelhart teaches wherein the method further comprises:
responsive to receiving the XSS header, selecting, by the NF consumer, a second NF producer based on the XS status of the first NF producer. ((column 1, row 50-61) The consumer NFs request NF information from the NRFs. The NRFs indicate the NF identities and status to the consumer NFs. The consumer NFs select NF identities based on the NF status.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Engelhart to the teaching of Rajput and Cakulev. The motivation for such an addition would be to effectively helps consumer network functions find optimal producer network functions ( column 3, row 30-35 ;Engelhart)
Regarding claim 13,
Rajput and Cakulev teaches the method of claim 8,
Rajput and Cakulev does not explicitly teaches wherein the service priority causes the first NF producer to be a least preferred NF selection within a respective priority group.
Engelhart teaches wherein the service priority causes the first NF producer to be a least preferred NF selection within a respective priority group. ((5) The consumer NFs request NF information from the NRFs. The NRFs indicate the NF identities and status to the consumer NFs. The consumer NFs select NF identities based on the NF status.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Engelhart to the teaching of Rajput and Cakulev. The motivation for such an addition would be to effectively helps consumer network functions find optimal producer network functions (column 3, row 30-35; Engelhart)
Conclusion
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/VAN TA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/YEE F LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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