DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
In response to preliminary amendment filed on 9/9/2024, claims 1- 20 are amended and claims 1- 20 are pending for examinations.
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.
Claim(s) 1- 6, 8- 10, 12- 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Youn et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0239828 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Youn teaches a method implemented by a session management network element (see Fig. 15 wherein #1508- 1520 are performed at /by SMF (i.e. session management network element)) in cooperation with AMF (i.e. access management network element)), wherein the method comprises:
establishing, using a first non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access gateway, a first connection of a user equipment (see Fig. 15, #1502 see [0434] Step S1502: The UE is registered over 3GPP access and untrusted non-3GPP access; further see [0111, 065- 0266]);
receiving a request message requesting to establish a second connection of the user equipment using a second non-3GPP access gateway (see #1510 The UE sends PDU Session Establishment Request; see [0438]);
establishing, using the second non-3GPP access gateway, the second connection (see [0439] Step S1512: The SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access.);
switching, based on the request message, from the first connection to the second connection (see [0439] Step S1512: The SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access. At this point, there may be three user plane tunnels (i.e., 3GPP access, untrusted non-3GPP access, trusted non-3GPP access) in the UE and UPF. When the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access. During the N4 modification procedure, the UPF may provide updated Performance Measurement Function (PMF) address information to the SMF. The UE and UPF stops sending traffic over untrusted non-3GPP access and starts sending traffic over trusted non-3GPP access (i.e. switching in context with #1510).); and
sending, to an access management network element, session management information and access gateway information corresponding to the session management information (see [0439].. the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” (i.e. access gateway information) so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access…; now see #1516The SMF notifies the AMF that the access switching is completed by triggering Nsmf_PDUSession_SMContextStatusNotify service operation (i.e. session management information)).
Regarding claim 2, Youn teaches as per claim 1, wherein the access gateway information is indication information of a non-3GPP radio access type, and wherein the indication information enables the access management network element to obtain an access gateway; see [0439].. the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” (i.e. access gateway information) so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 3, Youn teaches as per claim 1, wherein the request message comprises indication information instructing to switch from the first connection to the second connection, and wherein the method further comprises further switching, based on the indication information, from the first connection to the second connection; [0438] Step S1510: The UE sends PDU Session Establishment Request message to add access over the trusted non-3GPP access using the existing access addition procedure; now refer to [0439]…. The UE and UPF stops sending traffic over untrusted non-3GPP access and starts sending traffic over trusted non-3GPP access (i.e. switching)..
Regarding claim 4, Youn teaches as per claim 1, wherein the request message comprises a second access type of the second connection (see #S1510: The UE sends PDU Session Establishment Request message to add access over the trusted (i.e. type non-3GPP access using the existing access addition procedure.), and wherein the method further comprises further switching, based on a first access type of the first connection and the second access type, from the first connection to the second connection (see [0439] Step S1512: The SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access. At this point, there may be three user plane tunnels (i.e., 3GPP access, untrusted non-3GPP access, trusted non-3GPP access) in the UE and UPF. When the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access. During the N4 modification procedure, the UPF may provide updated Performance Measurement Function (PMF) address information to the SMF. The UE and UPF stops sending traffic over untrusted non-3GPP access and starts sending traffic over trusted non-3GPP access (i.e. switching in context with #1510).).
Regarding claim 5, Youn teaches as per claim 4, wherein the first access type or the second access type is a non-3GPP radio access type; see claim 2 (in context with claim 1).. wherein the first non-3GPP access or the second non-3GPP access is any one of an untrusted non-3GPP access, a trusted non-3GPP access...
Regarding claim 6, Youn teaches as per claim 2, wherein the non-3GPP radio access type comprises an untrusted non-3GPP access type, a trusted non-3GPP access type, an untrusted wireless local area network (WLAN) access type, or a trusted WLAN access type; see claim 2 (in context with claim 1).. wherein the first non-3GPP access or the second non-3GPP access is any one of an untrusted non-3GPP access, a trusted non-3GPP access, or a wireline access.
Regarding claim 8, Youn teaches as per claim 1, wherein the session management information establishes the second connection and the access gateway information is about the second non-3GPP access gateway, or the session management information releases the first connection and the access gateway information about the first non-3GPP access gateway; see [0439].. establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access…; now refer to [0442- 0443] Step S1518: The AMF performs AN release procedure over the untrusted non-3GPP access. As a result of this procedure, user plane resources over untrusted non-3GPP access of MA PDU is completely released. Also, user plane resources of single access PDU session is deactivated; see [0042]; now refer to [0443] Step S1520: The AMF performs skipped (i.e., delayed and/or not performed) UDM registration by triggering Nudm_UECM_Registration service operation. After this point, all signaling and reachability procedures are performed over the trusted non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 9, Youn teaches as per claim 1, further comprising sending, to a user plane network element, first indication information instructing the user plane network element to perform data transmission using the first connection and the second connection; see [0439] Step S1512: The SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access. At this point, there may be three user plane tunnels (i.e., 3GPP access, untrusted non-3GPP access, trusted non-3GPP access) in the UE and UPF. When the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access. During the N4 modification procedure, the UPF may provide updated Performance Measurement Function (PMF) address information to the SMF. The UE and UPF stops sending traffic over untrusted non-3GPP access and starts sending traffic over trusted non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 10, Youn teaches as per claim 1,further comprising sending, to a user plane network element, instructing to switch from the first connection to the second connection; see [0439] Step S1512: The SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access. At this point, there may be three user plane tunnels (i.e., 3GPP access, untrusted non-3GPP access, trusted non-3GPP access) in the UE and UPF. When the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access. During the N4 modification procedure, the UPF may provide updated Performance Measurement Function (PMF) address information to the SMF. The UE and UPF stops sending traffic over untrusted non-3GPP access and starts sending traffic over trusted non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 12, Youn teaches a method implemented by an access management network element, wherein the method comprises (see Fig. 15 wherein #1508- 1520 are performed at /by SMF (i.e. session management network element)) in cooperation with AMF (i.e. access management network element)), wherein the method comprises:
establishing, using a first non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access gateway, a first connection of a user equipment (see Fig. 15, #1502 see [0434] Step S1502: The UE is registered over 3GPP access and untrusted non-3GPP access; further see [0111, 065- 0266]);
receiving a first request message requesting to establish a second connection of the user equipment using a second non-3GPP access gateway (see #1504 The UE registers over trusted non-3GPP access with new registration type “non-3GPP access switching”; further see claim 9.. receiving a registration request message of a second registration procedure from the UE over a second non-3GPP access, wherein the registration request message includes information related to access witching from the first non-3GPP access to the second non-3GPP access..);
allowing to switch, based on the first request message, from the first connection to the second connection ([0437] Step S1508: The AMF performs normal registration procedure but does not perform UDM registration. All Mobile-Terminated (MT) signaling and reachability procedures are performed as if the UE is registered over untrusted non-3GPP access until non-3GPP access switching is completed. The AMF provides Registration Accept message to the UE.); and
sending, to a session management network element, a second request message requesting to establish the second connection using the second non-3GPP access gateway (in context with [0129] pls see [0438] Step S1510: The UE sends PDU Session Establishment Request message to add access over the trusted non-3GPP access using the existing access addition procedure);
receiving session management information and access gateway information corresponding to the session management information (see [0441] Step S1516: The SMF notifies the AMF that the access switching is completed by triggering Nsmf_PDUSession_SMContextStatusNotify service operation.); and
sending, to an access gateway corresponding to the access gateway information, the session management information (see [0439].. the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” (i.e. access gateway information) so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access…; now see #1516The SMF notifies the AMF that the access switching is completed by triggering Nsmf_PDUSession_SMContextStatusNotify service operation (i.e. session management information).
Regarding claim 13, Youn teaches as per claim 12, wherein the access gateway information is indication information of a non-3GPP radio access type, and wherein the indication information enables the access management network element to obtain an access gateway; see [0439].. the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” (i.e. access gateway information) so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access.
Regarding claim 14, Youn teaches as per claim 12, further comprising identifying that the second non-3GPP access gateway supports a first slice; see [0298- 0299]... [0298] In the PDU Session Establishment Request that is sent to request a new MA PDU session, the UE provides also its ATSSS capabilities, which indicate the steering functionalities and the steering modes supported in the UE. [0299] If the UE requests an S-NSSAI, this S-NSSAI is allowed on both accesses. Otherwise, the MA PDU session is not established.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Youn et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0239828 A1) in view of Ly et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0397381 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Youn teaches as per claim 4, but silent about sending, to a policy control network element, the second access type to enable the policy control network element to obtain a steering/switching/splitting policy; however Ly states in [0065] regarding The AMF forwards the message to the SMF and the SMF proceeds with the steps as outlined in TS 23.502 for the appropriate MA PDU session procedure. In addition to evaluating the request for creating an MA PDU session, the SMF may also check with the PCF (not shown in the figure) on whether to allow adaptive traffic steering for this MA PDU session. The SMF may also provide the information provided by the UE in step 1 to the PCF to assist the PCF in making the decision of whether to grant the adaptive traffic steering capability to the UE. If adaptive traffic steering is granted, the SMF may create adaptation rules for the UE to use when adapting data traffic. The SMF may also use the other information the UE provided in step 1 when generating the adaptation rules. The adaptation rules may be integrated into the ATSSS rules that are created for the MA PDU session or the adaptation rules may be separate from the ATSSS rules. Similarly, the adaptation rules may be integrated into the N4 rules created for the UPF or the adaptation rules may be separate. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ly with the teachings of Youn to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein sending, to a policy control network element, the second access type to enable the policy control network element to obtain a steering/switching/splitting policy; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Youn et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0239828 A1) in view of Xu et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0132623 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Youn teaches as per claim 9, but silent about receiving, from the user plane network element, second indication information instructing to release the first connection, wherein the session management information releases the first connection, and wherein the access gateway information is about the first non-3GPP access gateway; however Xu teaches in [0031] about… In some embodiments, the method comprises, for each PFCP session of one or more PFCP sessions affected by release of a PFCP association, receiving from a UPE (i.e. as a user plane ) a PFCP session report request for the PFCP session, the PFCP session report request comprising an indicator that the PFCP session is being removed and one or more usage reports for the PFCP session, and deleting the PFCP session at the CPE. … It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Xu with the teachings of Youn to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein receiving, from the user plane network element, second indication information instructing to release the first connection, wherein the session management information releases the first connection, and wherein the access gateway information is about the first non-3GPP access gateway; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Claim(s) 16- 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Youn et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0239828 A1) in view of Salkintzis et al. (US Pat. No.11589238 B2).
Regarding claim 16, Youn teaches a method implemented by a user equipment (see Fig. 13 and [0356- 0357]), wherein the method comprises:
establishing, using a first non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access gateway, a first connection of the user equipment (see [0434] Step S1502: The UE is registered over 3GPP access and untrusted non-3GPP access and established MA PDU session. During the MA PDU session establishment, the UE may indicate whether it supports non-3GPP access switching in the PDU Session Establishment Request message. The AMF may also indicate whether it supports non-3GPP access switching to the SMF. Considering the received capabilities of the UE, AMF and SMF capability, the SMF may indicate whether non-3GPP access switching is supported to the UE in the PDU Session Establishment Accept message.);
determining whether to switch from the first connection to a second connection of the user equipment (in context with [0363- 0364] please refer to [0326].. while the UE receives service over an untrusted non-3GPP access of the 5GC through a Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) in 3GPP access, and when Wi-Fi becomes available, the UE may receive service over a trusted non-3GPP access using Wi-Fi. In this case, traffic of the MA PDU session may be switched from an untrusted non-3GPP access to a trusted non-3GPP access.);
selecting, based on policy information and in response to determining to switch from the first connection to the second connection, a second non-3GPP access gateway corresponding to the second connection; and
establishing, using the second non-3GPP access gateway, the second connection; see [0438] Step S1510: The UE sends PDU Session Establishment Request message to add access over the trusted non-3GPP access using the existing access addition procedure.
But Youn is silent about selecting, based on policy information and in response to determining to switch from the first connection to the second connection, a second non-3GPP access gateway corresponding to the second connection; however Salkintzis teaches in lines 49- 56 about .. Step 4: The UE 205 selects a non-3GPP access network to connect to, as follows: the UE 205 may rank the available non-3GPP access networks in priority order. In case of WLAN access, the UE 205 may construct this prioritized list by using the WLANSP rules. From the prioritized list of non-3GPP access networks, the UE 205 selects the highest priority non-3GPP access network that supports the selected type of trusted connectivity to the selected PLMN… It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Salkintzis with the teachings of Youn to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein selecting, based on policy information and in response to determining to switch from the first connection to the second connection, a second non-3GPP access gateway corresponding to the second connection; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 17, Youn in view of Salkintzis teaches as per claim 16, wherein selecting the second non-3GPP access gateway comprises selecting, based on a first slice corresponding to the first connection or a priority of a second slice corresponding to the second connection, the second non-3GPP access gateway, and wherein the second slice comprises the first slice; Youn see [0298- 0299]... [0298] In the PDU Session Establishment Request that is sent to request a new MA PDU session, the UE provides also its ATSSS capabilities, which indicate the steering functionalities and the steering modes supported in the UE. [0299] If the UE requests an S-NSSAI, this S-NSSAI is allowed on both accesses. Otherwise, the MA PDU session is not established.
Regarding claim 18, Youn in view of Salkintzis teaches as per claim 16, further comprising sending, to the second non-3GPP access gateway, a request message requesting to establish the second connection using the second non-3GPP access gateway; Youn [0435] Step S1504: The UE registers over trusted non-3GPP access with new registration type “non-3GPP access switching.
Regarding claim 20, Youn in view of Salkintzis teaches as per claim 16, further comprising performing, using the first connection and the second connection, data transmission; Youn see [0439] Step S1512: The SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access. At this point, there may be three user plane tunnels (i.e., 3GPP access, untrusted non-3GPP access, trusted non-3GPP access) in the UE and UPF. When the SMF establishes user plane resources over the trusted non-3GPP access, the SMF indicates the target access type to “trusted non-3GPP access” so that the N2 information is delivered to the trusted non-3GPP access. During the N4 modification procedure, the UPF may provide updated Performance Measurement Function (PMF) address information to the SMF. The UE and UPF stops sending traffic over untrusted non-3GPP access and starts sending traffic over trusted non-3GPP access; further see [0446- 0447, 0458- 0459].
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Youn et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0239828 A1) in view of Salkintzis et al. (US Pat. No.11589238 B2) and further in view of Xu et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0132623 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Youn in view of Salkintzis teaches as per claim 16, but Youn is silent about receiving, from the first non-3GPP access gateway, information to release the first connection; and releasing, based on the information, the first connection; however Xu teaches in [0031] about… In some embodiments, the method comprises, for each PFCP session of one or more PFCP sessions affected by release of a PFCP association, receiving from a UPE (i.e. as a user plane ) a PFCP session report request for the PFCP session, the PFCP session report request comprising an indicator that the PFCP session is being removed and one or more usage reports for the PFCP session, and deleting the PFCP session at the CPE. … It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Xu with the teachings of Youn in view of Salkintzis to make system more effective. Having a mechanism receiving, from the first non-3GPP access gateway, information to release the first connection; and releasing, based on the information, the first connection; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim15 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 form for considered prior arts for record.
Reference Yi et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0078760 A1) teaches about system 1200 including at least one of the registration procedures for providing a multi-access PDU session discussed herein, which can form at least a portion of the system depicted in FIG. 1. The techniques depicted in FIG. 12 can relate to overall non-3GPP access switching procedures see Fig. 12.
Kim et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0359194 A1) about 0066] Among the reference points shown in FIG. 1, S2a and S2b correspond to non-3GPP interfaces. S2a is a reference point which provides reliable non-3GPP access and related control and mobility support between PDN GWs to a user plane. S2b is a reference point which provides related control and mobility support between the ePDG and the PDN GW to the user plane.
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
/PARTH PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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