CTNF 18/753,155 CTNF 99177 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-6, 8, 13-19, 21-23 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sha et al. ( US 20240373282 A1 ), hereinafter “Sha”, in view of Ma et al. ( US 20160219088 A1 ), hereinafter “Ma” . Per claim 1 and 25 : Regarding claim 25 , Sha teaches ‘ A network node’ ( Sha: [FIG.25]; [0201]: “FIG. 25 is a structural schematic of a communication device”; [0204]: “the communication device is a first communication node”; [0205]: “the communication device is a second communication node” ); ‘comprising: one or more processors’ ( Sha: [FIG.25]: “Processor ”); ‘a non-transitory memory storage’ ( Sha: [FIG.25]: “Memory ”); ‘storing instructions that’ ( Sha: [0202]: “the memory 2520 may be configured to store a software program, a computer-executable program ”); ‘when executed by the one or more processors, cause the network node to perform operations including ’ ( Sha: [0204]: “When the communication device is a first communication node, the device provided above may be configured to execute the parameter configuration method applied to the first communication node provided in any one of the above embodiments, and has corresponding functions and effects ”); ‘ receiving a packet in an internet protocol (IP) flow ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]: “Application Data Unit” -> “IP Packet”; receive a packet in an IP flow; [FIG.3]: S310: “Receive a frame format of a packet data unit (PDU) session sent by a second communication node”, S320: “Determine scheduling priorities or resource allocation weights of different IP packets in a same QoS flow according to the frame format of the PDU session”; [0035]: “identify a correlation between an Internet protocol (IP) packet and an application packet, a correlation between application packets, and different priorities of application packets mapped to a same QoS flow” ); ‘ determining that the packet in the IP flow is a media packet using an enhanced media identification filter ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]: “Application Data Unit”=> I/B/P-frame => “IP packet”; [0039]: “in services such as XR, different PDUs may have different priorities, but there are dependency relationships between the PDUs. For example, a video sequence has a plurality of I-frames, P-frames, and B-frames”; [0091]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream”; application packet type to identify (filter) IP packet as XR media packet such as I/B/P frame ); ‘ obtaining a packet priority mark (PPM) for the media packet, the PPM indicating an importance of the media packet ’ ( Sha: [0090]: “application packets of different priorities are mapped to a same QoS Flow, and application packet identification information or a priority indication is introduced into the frame format of the PDU session … the application packet priority is used by the base station to identify the importance of the PDUs”; [0046]: “The application packet information may also be indicated by means of importance of an application packet. For example, application packets are divided into primary packets and secondary packets according to the importance”; [0054]: “a mark bit of the ADU identification information” ); ‘ obtaining a protocol data unit (PDU) sequence mark (PSM) for the media packet, the PSM indicating a sequence number for a PDU set to which the media packet belongs ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]: “Application Data Unit” -> “IP Packet”: “I 1 ” -> “I 11 … I 1n ” => Sequence number of IP packet indicating packet belong to I-frame “I 1 ” (a PDU set); [FIG.14]: “First Level Application Data Unit Sequence Number”, “Second Level Application Data Unit Sequence Number” ); ‘ processing the media packet in accordance with the PPM, the PSM, and a congestion level ’ ( Sha: [0050]: “the first communication node can determine scheduling priorities or resource allocation weights of different IP packets in the same QoS flow according to the frame format of the PDU session”; [0092]: “Based on the application packet sub-priority or application packet sub-flow information … to determine a scheduling priority, a reliability requirement, or a resource allocation weight of the PDU ”). However, Sha fails to expressly teach a congestion level. Ma in the same field of endeavor teaches network node handles queue management for QoS flows according to network congestion level ( Ma: [Title]: “QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE BASED QUEUE MANAGEMENT FOR ROUTERS FOR REAL-TIME VIDEO APPLICATIONS”; [0113]: “The router may be configured to determine one of more characteristics associated with one or more flows in the router's queues. Characteristics may include a type of traffic, an associated application, a type of QoS, … The router may be configured to determine one of more characteristics associated with one or more flows in the router's queues or characteristics related to the sender and/or receiver in the event of network congestion”; [0114]: “The router may select one or more flow(s) from which to drop one or more packet(s). The router dropping one or more packets may comprise the router marking one or more packets for congestion”; [0263]: “The LC-Codel results shown in Table 1 and Table 2 may focus on high congestion. LC-Codel may be configured to perform active queue management in other congestion regimes. As congestion decreases, DropTail handling of congestion may improve traffic in a wireless network … where the congestion level for Table 3 is higher than Table 4” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching with that of Sha for network node to process the media packet in accordance with the PPM, the PSM, and a congestion level in order to handle QoS flow packet in the event of network congestion (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 1 , claim 1 recites the method implemented by the network node of claim 25 (see rejection of claim 25 above). Regarding claim 2 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ wherein the PDU set is a subset of a quality of service (QoS) flow ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]; [FIG.6]: “QoS Flow Identifier”, “sub-Flow ID”; [FIG.7]: “QoS flow level QoS parameters”, “QoS sub-Flow Item #1” .. “QoS sub-Flow Item #n”; [0048]: “the QoS sub-flow identifier refers to an identifier of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow” ); ‘ wherein the QoS flow includes a second PDU set, each packet of the second PDU set includes a second PSM indicating a second sequence number different from the sequence number ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]: “Application Data Unit” -> “IP Packet”: “B 2 ” -> “B 21 … B 2n ” => Sequence number of IP packet indicating packet belong to B-frame “B 2 ” (another PDU set); [FIG.14]: “First Level Application Data Unit Sequence Number”, “Second Level Application Data Unit Sequence Number” ); ‘ the second PDU set corresponding to a second PPM different from the PPM ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: “sub-Priority”; [FIG.8]: “QoS Sub-priority #1” … “QoS Sub-priority #n”; [0039]: “in services such as XR, different PDUs may have different priorities”; [0048]: “the QoS sub-flow priority refers to a priority of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow. In one embodiment, the QoS sub-flow identifier and the QoS sub-flow priority may be represented by a QoS sub-priority, that is, the QoS sub-priority includes both the QoS sub-flow identifier and the QoS sub-flow priority” ). Regarding claim 3 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 2 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ wherein the QoS flow corresponds to a video stream ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]; [0055]: “the first level of application data unit may be a video stream, and the second level of application data unit may be a video frame ”; [0039]: “in services such as XR, different PDUs may have different priorities, but there are dependency relationships between the PDUs. For example, a video sequence has a plurality of I-frames, P-frames, and B-frames” ); ‘ wherein the PDU set corresponds to a video frame of the video stream ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]: “Application Data Unit” -> “IP Packet”: “I 1 ” -> “I 11 … I 1n ”, I-frame ); ‘ wherein the second PDU set corresponds to a second video frame of the video stream different from the video frame ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]: “Application Data Unit” -> “IP Packet”: “B 2 ” -> “B 21 … B 2n ”, B-frame ). Regarding claim 4 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ determining whether to forward or drop the media packet in accordance with the PPM, the PSM, and the congestion level ’ ( Sha: [0050]: “the first communication node can determine scheduling priorities or resource allocation weights of different IP packets in the same QoS flow according to the frame format of the PDU session”; [0092]: “Based on the application packet sub-priority or application packet sub-flow information … to determine a scheduling priority, a reliability requirement, or a resource allocation weight of the PDU”. Ma: [0113]: “The router may be configured to determine one of more characteristics associated with one or more flows in the router's queues or characteristics related to the sender and/or receiver in the event of network congestion”; [0114]: “The router may select one or more flow(s) from which to drop one or more packet(s)”; [0263]: “The LC-Codel results shown in Table 1 and Table 2 may focus on high congestion. LC-Codel may be configured to perform active queue management in other congestion regimes. As congestion decreases, DropTail handling of congestion may improve traffic in a wireless network … where the congestion level for Table 3 is higher than Table 4” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of congestion level with that of Sha in order to handle QoS flow packet in the event of network congestion (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 5 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ obtaining, by the network node, the PPM using the enhanced media identification filter ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]; [FIG.3]; [FIG.6]: “Application packet Type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0042]-[0048]: “enhance the frame format of the PDU session … the QoS sub-flow identifier refers to an identifier of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow; and the QoS sub-flow priority refers to a priority of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow”, map packet priority from QoS sub-flow identifier (enhanced identification filter) ). Regarding claim 6 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ mapping application meta-data in the media packet to the PPM in accordance with a mapping rule in the enhanced media identification filter , the mapping rule being statically setup in the network node ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: meta-data such as “PDU Type”, “QoS Flow Identifier”, “Application packet Type, Sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”, “QMP”, “PPI”, “RQI”; [0050]: “the frame format of the PDU session includes at least one of the application packet identification information, the ADU identification information, the QoS sub-flow identifier, and the QoS sub-flow priority. As such, the first communication node identifies the association between the IP packet and the application packet, the association between different application packets, and different priorities of application packets mapped to the same QoS flow according to the frame format of the PDU session”; [0054]: “the application packets of different priorities are mapped to the same QoS flow … The ADU identification information implicitly indicates that the higher the application packet in each ADU is, the higher the priority is”, PDU packet priority is mapped from ADU identification implicitly, i.e. statically setup. Ma: [0100]: “The PCC rules may be used to determine how to map an IP packet header marking (e.g., received from the Internet 507) to the GTP-U packet header marking. The GTP-U packet header marking may be in the form of a priority indicator”; [0213]: “drop the first packet of the first real-time video traffic flow according to a preconfigured set of rules”; statically setup rules ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of PCC rules with that of Sha in order to determine how to map an IP packet header marking (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 8 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ wherein the media packet is a real time transport protocol (RTP) packet ’ ( Ma: [0013]: “receive a real-time video traffic flow comprising a plurality of RTP packets … determine a sequence number of a first RTP packet of the real-time video traffic flow ”); ‘ wherein the obtaining the PPM comprises: mapping information in an RTP payload of the RTP packet to the PPM ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: “sub-Priority”; [0039]: “in services such as XR, different PDUs may have different priorities”. Ma: [0090]: “Video frames may be indicated as important via the use of a priority indicator (e.g., a Flow Priority Indicator)”; [0286]: “The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet … The router may be configured to apply loss concentration, for example, if the media type indicates video because it may be likely to be real-time video”; [0234]: “The EHSN may indicate the highest RTP sequence number”; [0235]: “The ECT (0) Counter field … SSRC identifier carried in a RTP header”; [0100]: “The PCC rules may be used to determine how to map an IP packet header marking (e.g., received from the Internet 507) to the GTP-U packet header marking”; packet priority mapped from RTP payload ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of RTP with that of Sha in order to apply loss concentration for real-time video (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 13 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ wherein the media packet is a secure real time transport protocol (SRTP) packet including an unencrypted extended header ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension to 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”. Ma: [0286]: “A router may be configured to use available information which is not encrypted. For example, if encryption is enabled with respect to the media payload such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) profile … A router may determine that the encrypted media is real-time video for example, because, with SRTP, the real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet header is not encrypted. The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet”; [0228]: “an extension field in a variety of packet headers”; [0289]: “RTP packet header extension ”); ‘ wherein the obtaining the PPM comprises: mapping coded media information in the unencrypted extended header to the PPM ’ ( Sha: [0054]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream … to identify an importance of the packet”; [0054]: “a mark bit of the ADU identification information”. Ma: [0090]: “Video frames may be indicated as important via the use of a priority indicator”; [0286]: “The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet””; set packet priority based on payload type ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of SRTP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from unencrypted payload type of RTP header (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 14 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 13 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ setting the PPM to indicate a high importance in response to an I flag in the unencrypted extended header being set to 1 ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension to 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0054]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream … to identify an importance of the packet”; [0054]: “a mark bit of the ADU identification information”. Ma: [0286]: “with SRTP, the real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet header is not encrypted. The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet”; [0103]: “A router may use a bit (e.g., bit b) to determine whether the video encoding adaptation has been performed”; [0228]: “an extension field in a variety of packet headers”; [0289]: “RTP packet header extension ”; set packet priority to a high importance if payload type indicate a video packet. Would extend the payload type to include an I-flag for importance packet such as I-frame ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of SRTP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from unencrypted payload type of RTP header (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 15 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 13 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ setting the PPM in accordance with application meta-data in the unencrypted extended header ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension to 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”, meta-data such as “PDU Type”, “QoS Flow Identifier”, “Application packet Type, Sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”, “QMP”, “PPI”, “RQI”; [0054]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream … to identify an importance of the packet”. Ma: [0286]: “with SRTP, the real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet header is not encrypted. The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet”, payload type (meta-data) ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of SRTP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from unencrypted payload type of RTP header (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 16 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 13 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches “ determining that a D flag in the unencrypted extended header is set to 1; and setting the PPM to indicate a low importance in response to the D flag being set to 1 ” ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension to 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0054]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream … to identify an importance of the packet”; [0054]: “a mark bit of the ADU identification information”. Ma: [0286]: “with SRTP, the real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet header is not encrypted. The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet”; [0103]-[0104]: “A bit b may be set to 0 to indicate the video encoding adaptation has not been performed (e.g., has not been performed recently, or has not been performed after a packet loss). The video encoding adaptation may comprise generation of an IDR frame … An important frame may comprise an IDR frame”; [0228]: “an extension field in a variety of packet headers”; [0289]: “RTP packet header extension ”; Would extend payload type to include a discardable flag for packet with low importance such as not “I-frame” or not “IDR frame” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of SRTP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from unencrypted payload type of RTP header (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 17 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 13 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ mapping at least one of a temporal identifier (TID) ’ ( Ma: [0112]: “the temporal layer 0 of the Hierarchical P video coding structure”, temporal identifier “layer 0” ); ‘ a layer identifier (LID), or a temporal layer zero picture index (TL0PICIDX) value ’ (these are optional); ‘ the unencrypted extended header to the PPM ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension to 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority” ; [0054]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream … to identify an importance of the packet”; [0054]: “a mark bit of the ADU identification information”. Ma: [0286]: “with SRTP, the real- time transport protocol (RTP) packet header is not encrypted. The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of SRTP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from unencrypted payload type of RTP header (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 18 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 17 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ setting the PPM to indicate a low importance in response to the unencrypted extended header including no configuration related to the PPM ’ ( Sha: [FIG.2]: 3GPP GTP-U header => no extension “Application packet type”; [0046]: “The application packet information may also be indicated by means of importance of an application packet”; no Applicant packet type would mean a low importance packet. Ma: [0248]: “The router may utilize LC-Codel to control queuing where there is a mixture of video, such as real-time video, and TCP flows. For example, the router may utilize LC-Codel to drop TCP packets”, a TCP packet would have a low importance”; [0286]: “with SRTP, the real-time transport protocol (RTP) packet header is not encrypted. The payload type (PT) field carried in the same packet may indicate what kind of media is carried by the RTP packet”, payload type does not indicate a video packet => would have low importance; [0113]: “The router may be configured to determine one of more characteristics associated with one or more flows in the router's queues or characteristics related to the sender and/or receiver in the event of network congestion” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of mixture of video and TCP with that of Sha in order to drop TCP packet with a low importance in the event of network congestion (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 19 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ wherein the media packet is one of a secure real time transport protocol (SRTP) packet ’ ( Ma: [0286]: “Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP)” ); ‘ a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) packet ’ (this is optional); ‘ including an encrypted payload, the encrypted payload including a media payload and headers ’ ( Ma: [0287]: “A router may not be able to look into the encrypted RTP packets and determine whether the packet carries real-time video traffic, for example, if encryption is done over the entire RTP packet, such as using transport layer security (TLS) ”); ‘ wherein the obtaining the PPM comprises: mapping information in the media packet to the PPM using a configured rule in the enhanced media identification filter ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]; [FIG.3]; [FIG.6]: “Application packet Type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0042]-[0048]: “enhance the frame format of the PDU session … the QoS sub-flow identifier refers to an identifier of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow; and the QoS sub-flow priority refers to a priority of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow”. Ma: [0154]: “The video importance information may be included in the IP packet header”; [0287]: “A router may analyze the traffic pattern with side information about the protocols being used. For example, if UDP packets carry audio and/or real-time video, a router may be configured to identify the IP packets with the protocol field indicated as UDP and with the payload encrypted … a router may be configured to identify flows that consist of packets approximately 20 milliseconds apart. A router may be configured to deduce that the flows are most likely audio flows. The router may be configured to deduce that the remaining flows are most likely real-time video flows. The router may identify which flows are audio flows and which flows are real-time video flows … Configuring or adapting a router may take into consideration additional parameters reflecting application-specific traffic characteristics”, configure a network node with rules to identify whether a packet has importance information ); ‘ the configured rule obtained from a control plane node ’ ( Sha: [0052]: “the first communication node receives the QoS sub-flow configuration information sent by the second communication node through control plane signaling”, obtain the configured rule from control plane ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of configured rules with that of Sha in order to map packet priority based on side information reflecting application-specific traffic characteristics (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 21 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 19 (discussed above). Sha does not teach, but Ma teaches ‘ mapping at least one of one or more IPv6 flow labels ’ (this is optional); ‘ a differentiated service code point (DSCP) field ’ ( Ma: [0154]: “The video sender may provide video importance information. The video importance information may be included in the IP packet header, for example, so that the video importance information is accessible by the routers. The DSCP field and/or the IP packet extension field may be used ”), ‘ or a sending port field to the PPM using the configured rule ’ (this is option). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from DSCP (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 22 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 19 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ setting the PPM to indicate a low importance in response to at least one IP header field including no configuration related to the PPM using the configured rule ’ ( Sha: [FIG.2]: does not include extension: “Application packet type”; [0046]: “The application packet information may also be indicated by means of importance of an application packet”; [0099]: “the more important the data frame or the PDU is (the higher the scheduling priority is”, no Applicant packet type would mean a low importance packet. Ma: [0154]: “The video sender may provide video importance information. The video importance information may be included in the IP packet header, for example, so that the video importance information is accessible by the routers. The DSCP field and/or the IP packet extension field may be used”; set packet priority to low importance if DSCP does not include importance information ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of DSCP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from DSCP (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 23 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 19 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ setting the PPM to indicate a high importance based on the media packet being in an independent frame as specified in the configured rule ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension of 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0046]: “the application packet type includes: an I frame packet, a B frame packet and a P frame packet. The application packet information may also be indicated by means of importance of an application packet”; determine that Application packet type is I-frame. Ma: [0289]: “A router may analyze the traffic pattern with side information about the protocols being used. For example, if UDP packets carry audio and/or real-time video, a router may be configured to identify the IP packets … … Configuring or adapting a router may take into consideration additional parameters reflecting application-specific traffic characteristics”; [0154]: “The video importance information may be included in the IP packet header”; [0104]: “An important frame may comprise an IDR frame””; configured rule could indicate a I frame or IDR frame (independent frame) ); ‘ setting the PPM to indicate a low importance based on the media packet being in a discardable frame as specified in the configured rule, or setting the PPM based on an application preference for motion or quality as specified in the configured rule ’ (these are optional). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of configured rules with that of Sha in order to map packet priority based on side information reflecting application-specific traffic characteristics (see reference quotes in element above) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 7, 20 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination of Sha and Ma , in view of Dao et al. ( US 20200145876 A1 ), hereinafter “Dao” . Regarding claim 7 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 6 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ wherein the mapping rule is signaled to the network node via an application function (AF) and a session management function (SMF) ’ ( Sha: [0052]: “the first communication node receives the QoS sub-flow configuration information sent by the second communication node through control plane signaling”. Ma: [0100]: “the PCRF 503 may send the PCC rules to the P-GW 505. The PCC rules may be used to determine how to map an IP packet header marking (e.g., received from the Internet 507) to the GTP-U packet header marking ”). However, combination of Sha and Ma fails to expressly teach via an AF and SMF. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of PCC rules with that of Sha in order to determine how to map an IP packet header marking (see reference quotes in element above). Dao in the same field of endeavor teaches packet handling policy via AF and SMF ( Dao: [FIG.8]: step 936: “SMF” -> “UPF”: “N4 Session Establishment/Modification Request”; [0213]: “the PHP parameters may be updated by the PCF and sent to the SMF using the PDU Session Modification procedure. The AF may request the PCF, either directly or indirectly, via the NEF, to indicate the PHP parameters”; [0010]: “a packet handling policy (PHP)”; [0194]: “SMF 310 may also provide the PHP or the PHP parameters in its request to UPF”; [Abstract]: “sending the PHP to other network functions for instructing devices in the user plane of the mobile wireless network how to handle delayed packets ”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Dao’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma in order to instruct devices in the user plane of the mobile wireless network how to handle delayed packets (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 20 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 19 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ wherein the configured rule specifies parameters in at least one of one or more IP headers ’ ( Ma: [0154]: “The video importance information may be included in the IP packet header , for example, so that the video importance information is accessible by the routers. The DSCP field and/or the IP packet extension field may be used”; [0288]: “A router may be configured to read bits in modified or extended packet IP headers” ), ‘one or more transport headers , or one or more payload headers’ (these are optional); ‘for mapping to the PPM ’ ( Sha: [FIG.1]; [FIG.3]; [FIG.6]: “Application packet Type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0042]-[0048]: “enhance the frame format of the PDU session … the QoS sub-flow identifier refers to an identifier of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow; and the QoS sub-flow priority refers to a priority of each QoS sub-flow included in the QoS flow ”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of DSCP with that of Sha in order to map packet priority from DSCP (see reference quotes in element above). Combination of Sha and Ma does not expressly teach ‘ wherein an application function (AF) node configures the configured rule to the control plane node ’. Dao teaches AF indicates packet handling policy to PCF (control plane node) ( Dao: [0213]: “the PHP parameters may be updated by the PCF and sent to the SMF using the PDU Session Modification procedure. The AF may request the PCF, either directly or indirectly, via the NEF, to indicate the PHP parameters”; [0010]: “a packet handling policy (PHP)”; [Abstract]: “sending the PHP to other network functions for instructing devices in the user plane of the mobile wireless network how to handle delayed packets ”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Dao’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma for AF node to configure the configured rule to the control plane node in order to instruct devices in the user plane of the mobile wireless network how to handle delayed packets (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 24 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ determining, by the network node, that there is a match between a data network name (DNN) or a single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and a QoS flow of the PDU set ’ ( Sha: [FIG.7]: “QoS flow level QoS parameters”; [0003]: “a mapping from a packet data unit session (PDU session) to a quality of service flow (QoS flow) level ”). However, combination of Sha and Ma fails to expressly teach a DNN or a S-NSSAI; ‘ setting, by the network node, the PPM in accordance with at least one of a packet type ’ ( Sha: FIG.6]: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0091]: “The application packet type may indicate an application packet type corresponding to the IP packet, for example, indicating an I frame packet, a B frame packet, and a P frame packet in a video stream”; set packet priority based on packet type ); ‘ a service address, a port, a protocol, a frame information field, a payload size, a packet rate, or a packet idle time ’ (these are optional). Dao teaches match between a DNN or S-NSSAI and QoS flow ( Dao: [0121]: “The SMF may create PHP parameters for the QoS Profile in the (R)AN, and/or the QoS Rules in the UE, and/or the Packet Detection Rule (PDR) in UPF”; [0122]: “The SMF may use the information provided by the UE and AMF such as single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), data network name (DNN) Access Type, radio access technology (RAT) Type, PDU Session Type to determine the PHP parameters … the Drop-Delayed-Packet parameter for the DL and/or UL QoS flows for the UPF”; [Abstract]: “sending the PHP to other network functions for instructing devices in the user plane of the mobile wireless network how to handle delayed packets” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Dao’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma in order to instruct devices in the user plane of the mobile wireless network how to handle delayed packets (see reference quotes in element above) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination of Sha and Ma , in view of Stoica et al. ( US 20230199198 A1 ), hereinafter “Stoica” . Regarding claim 9 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ setting the PPM in accordance with at least one of a network adaptation layer (NAL) independent layer or a NAL base layer ’ ( Sha: [0040]: “The frame format of the PDU session is carried in an extension header of a GTP-U PDU (that is, an NR RAN container or a PDU session container) and transmitted on the GTP-U Tunnel”; [0039]: “in services such as XR, different PDUs may have different priorities”; [0046]: “the application packet type includes: an I frame packet, a B frame packet and a P frame packet”, set packet priority based on the application packet type: I/B/P frame ). However, combination of Sha and Ma fails to expressly teach a network adaptation layer (NAL) independent layer or a NAL base layer. Stoica in the same field of endeavor teaches XR media Network Abstraction (Adaptation) Layer ( Stoica: [FIG.5]: “NAL unit 502” : “NAL Header” : {“NAL unit type”, “coding layer ID”} (NAL independent layer), “VCL NAL” (NAL base layer); [0004]: “video coded network abstraction layer (“NAL”) units of a video coded stream”. [0078]: “The NAL units are the main syntax elements of a video codec and these may encapsulate encoded video metadata, e.g., video/sequence/picture parameter set (“VPS”/“SPS”/“PPS”), supplemental enhancement information (“SEI”) messages” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Stoica’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma to set the PPM in accordance with at least one of a network adaptation layer (NAL) independent layer or a NAL base layer in order to encapsulate encoded video metadata and SEI (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 10 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ determining that a configured NAL independent (I) flag is set to 1 , setting the PPM to indicate a high importance in response to the configured network adaptation layer (NAL) I flag being set to 1 ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: extension of 3GPP GTP-U header: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0046]: “the application packet type includes: an I frame packet, a B frame packet and a P frame packet. The application packet information may also be indicated by means of importance of an application packet. For example, application packets are divided into primary packets and secondary packets according to the importance”, determine that Application packet type is I-frame; [0091]: “determine the application packet type corresponding to the PDU, so as to determine a scheduling priority, a reliability requirement level, or a resource allocation weight of the PDU” ). However, combination of Sha and Ma fails to expressly teach ‘ a configured NAL independent (I) flag is set to 1 ’. Stoica teaches XR media Network Abstraction (Adaptation) Layer and flag keyframe indicating I-frame ( Stoica: [FIG.5]: “NAL unit type”, “VCL NAL”; [FIG.7]: block 702: “keyframe”, “I Frame”, flag “Keyframe” to indicate an important “I Frame”; [FIG.8]: “Importance Indicator Processing”; [0078]: “The NAL units are the main syntax elements of a video codec and these may encapsulate encoded video metadata, e.g., video/sequence/picture parameter set (“VPS”/“SPS”/“PPS”), supplemental enhancement information (“SEI”) messages” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Stoica’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma to determine that a configured NAL independent (I) flag is set to 1; and set the PPM to indicate a high importance in response to the configured network adaptation layer (NAL) I flag being set to 1, in order to encapsulate encoded video metadata and SEI (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 11 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Sha teaches ‘ mapping network adaptation layer (NAL) priority field values for enhanced layers to the PPM in accordance with an application preference for motion or quality ’ ( Sha: [FIG.6]: “Application packet type, sub-Flow ID or sub-Priority”; [0046]: “the application packet type includes: an I frame packet, a B frame packet and a P frame packet”, map packet priority based on application packet type such as I/B/P frame ). However, combination of Sha and Ma fails to expressly teach NAL and based on an application preference for motion or quality. Stoica teaches NAL, priority for motion and preference for video quality ( Stoica: [FIG.5]: “NAL Header” : “Temporal video coding layer ID”; [FIG.7]: block 702: “keyframe”, “I Frame”, flag “Keyframe” to indicate an important “I Frame”; [FIG.8]: “Important Indicator Processing”; [FIG.9]: “Main layer (temporal layer 0) importance offset”; [0077]: “video codec performing both spatial and temporal (motion) compression of a video source”; [0147]: “the preferred encoding strategy for high-quality advanced video media”; [0078]: “The NAL units are the main syntax elements of a video codec and these may encapsulate encoded video metadata, e.g., video/sequence/picture parameter set (“VPS”/“SPS”/“PPS”), supplemental enhancement information (“SEI”) messages” ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Stoica’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma to map network adaptation layer (NAL) priority field values for enhanced layers to the PPM in accordance with an application preference for motion or quality in order to encapsulate encoded video metadata and SEI (see reference quotes in element above). Regarding claim 12 , combination of Sha and Ma teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above). Combination of Sha and Ma teaches ‘ determining that no network adaptation layer (NAL) application specific information is configured , setting the PPM to indicate a low importance in in response to no NAL application specific information being configured ’ ( Sha: [FIG.2]: does not include extension: “Application packet type”; [0046]: “The application packet information may also be indicated by means of importance of an application packet”; [0099]: “the more important the data frame or the PDU is (the higher the scheduling priority is”, no Applicant packet type would mean a low importance packet. Ma: [0248]: “The router may utilize LC-Codel to control queuing where there is a mixture of video, such as real-time video, and TCP flows. For example, the router may utilize LC-Codel to drop TCP packets”, a TCP packet would have a low importance; [0113]: “The router may be configured to determine one of more characteristics associated with one or more flows in the router's queues or characteristics related to the sender and/or receiver in the event of network congestion” ). However, combination of Sha and Ma fails to expressly teach NAL. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ma’s teaching of mixture of video and TCP in order to drop TCP packet with a low importance in the event of network congestion (see reference quotes in element above). Stoica teach XR media Network Abstraction (adaptation) Layer ( Stoica: [FIG.5]: “Video coded elementary stream”, “NAL unit”; [0078]: “The NAL units are the main syntax elements of a video codec and these may encapsulate encoded video metadata, e.g., video/sequence/picture parameter set (“VPS”/“SPS”/“PPS”), supplemental enhancement information (“SEI”) messages”; No NAL => not XR media video packet => low importance ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Stoica’s teaching with that of combination of Sha and Ma to determine that no network adaptation layer (NAL) application specific information is configured and set the PPM to indicate a low importance in in response to no NAL application specific information being configured in order to encapsulate encoded video metadata and SEI (see reference quotes in element above) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20190215263 A1 see [FIG.2]-[FIG.4], [0004]-[0010]; US 20200068428 A1 see [FIG.4]-[FIG.5], [FIG.9], [0007], [0078]-[0079]; US 20240414415 A1 see [0047]-[0049], [0064]-[0070]; US 20190089966 A1 see [0030]-[0032]. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUOXING FAN whose telephone number is (703)756-1310. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm ET. 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, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571)272-3927. 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. /G.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2462 /YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 2 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 3 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 4 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 5 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 6 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 7 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 8 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 9 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 10 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 11 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 12 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 13 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 14 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 15 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 16 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 17 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 18 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 19 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 20 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 21 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 22 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 23 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 24 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 25 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 26 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/753,155 Page 27 Art Unit: 2462
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