IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO DATA ANALYTICS IN A TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK

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 . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 6, 8 and 13 (and corresponding dependent claims 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14 and new claim 15) filed July 24, 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. The new ground of rejection is found in Ortenblad et al. (US 2021/0250785), which was cited on PTO 892 dated April 27, 2026. Applicant’s arguments with respect to the non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection claims 6, 7, 13 and 14 have been considered. The double patenting rejection will be held in abeyance until all other substantive issues in the patent application have been resolved. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 1, 5-8 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dao et al. (US 2020/0228420, IDS Reference) in view of Ortenblad et al. (US 2021/0250785). Regarding claims 1 and 8, Dao et al. disclose a method performed by an analytics data consumer (Paragraph 22, unified data manager function (UDM); Figure 10 and paragraph 449, an architecture 1000 of a computing system that may be used for implementing the devices and methods disclosed herein) in a telecommunication system (Figure 8A), the analytics data consumer comprising and the method comprising: At least one transceiver (Figure 10 and paragraph 449, network communication interface 1010); Memory, comprising one or more storage media, storing instructions (Figure 10 and paragraph 449, Memory 1015 may include instructions executable in processor 1005 for performing operations); and At least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the memory (Figure 10 and paragraph 449, microprocessor 1005 coupled to network interface 1010 and memory 1015), wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the analytics data consumer to: Receive, from a NWDAF of a plurality of NWDAFs (Figure 8A, NWDAF set 310 comprising plurality of NWDAF instances 311, 312; Figure 1, NWDAF set 110 comprising plurality of NWDAF instances 111, 112; Paragraphs 357 and 359, UDM receives analytical results from NWDAFs), a first message associated with first analytics data, the first message including information on a first time period indicated by the first NWDAF (Paragraph 433, when the NWDAF sends analytical results to the UDM, it also sends associated time information, the time information [first time period] being described by a start time and end time). Dao et al. do not disclose the following limitations disclosed by Ortenblad et al.: receiving while a dynamic timer is running (Ortenblad et al., Figure 5 and paragraph 84-93, PCF subscribes to NWDAF analytics information for a requested periodicity at step S301) and updating the dynamic timer based on the first time period (Ortenblad et al., Figure 5 and paragraphs 84-93, NWDAF determines optimal analytics notification period at step S302 and sends period recommendation to PCF, PCF updates the notification periodicity to the new period recommendation received from the NWDAF), wherein the dynamic timer indicates a minimum waiting time for receiving analytics data coming from the plurality of NWDAFs (Ortenblad et al., Figure 5 and paragraphs 84-93, period at which the PCF receives network analytics information from the NWDAF) wherein the analytic data consumer waits to receive further analytics data until the dynamic timer expires (Ortenblad et al., Paragraphs 80 and 91, NWDAF waiting to transmit analytics information according to period and the PCF therefore waiting to receive the analytics information according to that same period). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dao et al. with the cited disclosure from Ortenblad et al. in order to reduce unnecessary signalling between (Ortenblad et al., Paragraphs 17 and 64). Regarding claims 5 and 12, Ortenblad et al. disclose wherein the dynamic timer expires when the dynamic timer equals a value of the updated dynamic timer (Paragraph 89, new period). Regarding claims 6 and 13, Dao et al. disclose a method performed by a NWDAF of a plurality of NWDAFs, in a telecommunication system (Figure 8A, NWDAF set 310 comprising plurality of NWDAF instances 311, 312; Figure 1, NWDAF set 110 comprising plurality of NWDAF instances 111, 112; Figure 10 and paragraph 449, an architecture 1000 of a computing system that may be used for implementing the devices and methods disclosed herein), the NWDAF comprising and the method comprising: At least one transceiver (Figure 10 and paragraph 449, network communication interface 1010); and Memory, comprising one or more storage media, storing instructions (Figure 10 and paragraph 449, Memory 1015 may include instructions executable in processor 1005 for performing operations); and At least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the memory (Figure 10 and paragraph 449, microprocessor 1005 coupled to network interface 1010 and memory 1015), wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the NWDAF to: Receive, from a first network function, data (Figure 1, NWDAF instances received messages containing collected data from NFs); Generate first analytics data based on the received data (Paragraphs 4 and 432, NWDAFs provide traffic/data analytics); and Transmit, to an analytics data consumer, a first message associated with first analytics data, the first message including information on a first time period indicated by the first NWDAF (Paragraph 433, when the NWDAF sends analytical results to the UDM [analytics data consumer], it also sends associated time information, the time information [first time period] being described by a start time and end time). Dao et al. do not disclose the following limitations disclosed by Ortenblad et al.: wherein the first time period is used to update a dynamic timer (Ortenblad et al., Figure 5 and paragraphs 84-93, NWDAF determines optimal analytics notification period at step S302 and sends period recommendation to PCF, PCF updates the notification periodicity to the new period recommendation received from the NWDAF), wherein the dynamic timer indicates a minimum waiting time for receiving analytics data from the plurality of NWDAFs (Ortenblad et al., Figure 5 and paragraphs 84-93, period at which the PCF receives network analytics information from the NWDAF). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dao et al. with the cited disclosure from Ortenblad et al. in order to reduce unnecessary signalling between (Ortenblad et al., Paragraphs 17 and 64). Regarding claims 7 and 14, Dao et al. disclose wherein the first analytics data is generated in the first NWDAF based on a processing of first data of the first network function (Paragraph 4, NWDAF provides analytical information based on information received from NF; Paragraphs 353, 367, 385 data analytic results produced by the NWDAF), and wherein the first message indicates a notification associated with the first analytics data (Paragraph 433, NWDAF sends analytical results to UDM; Paragraph 427, UDM receives notifications for one or more types of analytical data from NWDAF). Regarding claim 15, Ortenblad et al. disclose wherein the analytic data consumer waits to receive further analytics data until a time equals to a value of the updated dynamic timer of until the dynamic timer expires (Ortenblad et al., Paragraphs 80 and 91, NWDAF waiting to transmit analytics information according to period and the PCF therefore waiting to receive the analytics information according to that same period). Claim(s) 4 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dao et al. in view of Ortenblad et al. as applied to claim 1 and 8 above, and further in view of Liao (US 2021/0075631, IDS Reference). Regarding claims 4 and 11, Dao et al. in view of Ortenblad et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as the dynamic timer (See independent claim rejections over Ortenblad et al.) and supported analytics type (Dao et al., Paragraph 26, receiving unified data at the plurality of NDWAF SIs, the data being unified for transmission and storage in accordance with at least a data type identification and a data collection attribute), but do not disclose the following limitations disclosed by Liao: associated with an analytics ID, wherein the analytics ID is used to identify a type of supported analytics that the NWDAF generates (Liao, Paragraph 161, multiple instances of NWDAF, and analytics ID information element is used to identify the type of supported analytics that the NWDAF can generate). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Dao et al. and Ortenblad et al. with the cited disclosure from Liao in order to further implement multiple NWDAFs able to provide different types of analytics (Liao, Paragraph 161). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2, 3, 9 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: regarding claims 2 (with further dependent claim 3) and 9 (with further dependent claim 10), the prior art does not disclose or adequately suggest receiving a second message including a second time period from a second NWDAF, the second time period being used as basis to further update the dynamic timer. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OTIS L THOMPSON, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 6:30am - 7:00pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag G. Shah can be reached at (571)272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 April 16, 2026