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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/08/2024 and 12/29/2025 were filed. 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venkataraman (US 2022/0377659 A1) in view of Lee (US 2018/0317163 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Venkataraman discloses: A cell reselection method in a mobile communication system, the cell reselection method comprising: transmitting, by a base station, mapping information between a first slice group and a second slice group, because Venkataraman teaches a 5G cell that broadcasts (i.e., “transmitting, by a base station” as claimed) to the user equipment an indication of the set of network slices supported by the cell as well as the set of network slices supported by its neighbor cells (i.e., “mapping information between a first slice group and a second slice group” as claimed), conveying slice-availability information for both regions (Venkataraman, para [0042] “a 5G NR cell may provide an on-demand SIB that is configured to indicate a set of network slices supported by the cell and/or its neighbor cells.”).
Moreover, Venkataraman discloses: when the second slice group comprises at least some of network slices comprised in the first slice group, the first slice group being available in a region of the base station, and the second slice group being available in a neighboring region adjacent to the region, since Venkataraman teaches a serving cell that broadcasts the set of slices it supports together with the set of slices supported by an adjacent neighbor cell (i.e., “the first slice group being available in a region of the base station, and the second slice group being available in a neighboring region adjacent to the region” as claimed), so the slices available in the serving region and the slices available in the neighboring region are both signaled to the user equipment (Venkataraman, para [0043] “a 5G NR cell may broadcast an indication of a set of network slices supported by a neighbor cell. For example, consider a scenario in which the UE 110 is camped on the gNB 120A. The gNB 120A may broadcast a SIB 4 that includes a s-NSSAI list. The s-NSSAI list may indicate a network slice supported by a neighbor cell of the gNB 120A.”).
Furthermore, Venkataraman discloses: and performing, by a user equipment, slice-specific cell reselection by using the mapping information, in particular because Venkataraman teaches a user equipment that considers the broadcast network slice information when performing reselection from a currently camped cell to a neighbor cell (i.e., “performing, by a user equipment, slice-specific cell reselection by using the mapping information” as claimed), selecting a cell that supports the desired slice (Venkataraman, para [0044] “The UE 110 may consider this information when performing reselection from a currently camped LTE cell to a 5G NR cell.”).
With respect to claim 1, although Venkataraman teaches a serving cell that broadcasts to a user equipment the network slices it supports together with the slices supported by neighbor cells, which the user equipment then uses to perform slice-aware cell reselection toward a neighboring region: (Venkataraman, para. [0042], [0043], [0044], [0047]), Venkataraman does not explicitly disclose association of slice availability with a defined registration area or tracking area, expressly tying the available slices to such a region, for which Lee is relied upon:
Yet, Venkataraman in view of Lee discloses the first slice group being available in a region of the base station, and the second slice group being available in a neighboring region adjacent to the region because an access and mobility management function acquires and manages, for each network slice, the information on the areas in which that slice is available, so the slices available in one area and the slices available in another area are explicitly maintained per region, supplying the region-bounded slice availability that frames the serving and neighboring slice groups (Lee, para [0013], “the areas available for use of a network slice may vary depending on characteristics of the network slice. Accordingly, the AMF has to acquire and manage the information on the areas available for use of the corresponding network slice as well as the information on the network slice available for use by the UE.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to associate the network slice availability that Venkataraman broadcasts to the user equipment with the defined service areas that Lee acquires and manages per slice, because Venkataraman already signals which slices a serving cell and its neighbor cells support and Lee teaches managing the areas in which each slice is available, and combining the two lets the user equipment perform slice-aware reselection between adjacent regions with predictable success and no change in their ordinary operation.
Regarding claim 2, in spite of the fact that Venkataraman teaches a serving cell broadcasting slice availability for itself and its neighbor cells, which the user equipment uses for slice-specific reselection toward a neighboring region: (Venkataraman, para. [0042], [0043], [0044]), Venkataraman does not explicitly disclose designation of the region and neighboring region as a tracking area or registration area and an adjacent tracking area or registration area, for which Lee is relied upon:
Yet, Venkataraman in view of Lee discloses The cell reselection method according to claim 1, wherein the region is a Tracking Area (TA), and the neighboring region is a neighboring TA adjacent to the TA, or the region is a Registration Area (RA), and the neighboring region is a neighboring RA adjacent to the RA because the user equipment moves out of a registration area expressed as a tracking area identity list and enters a new tracking area, so the per-slice service areas are bounded by tracking areas and registration areas and a current region adjoins a neighboring region of the same type (Lee, para [0052], “the UE 101 may move out of a registration area (TAI list) (enter a new tracking area (TA)) or attempt initial access to a PLMN at step S11.”).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to express the regions of the Venkataraman and Lee combination as tracking areas or registration areas as taught by Lee, because Lee already manages slice availability in terms of registration areas and tracking areas through which the user equipment moves, and using these standard area definitions to bound the serving and neighboring slice groups is a predictable application of known area structures.
Regarding claim 3, although Venkataraman teaches a serving cell broadcasting slice availability for itself and its neighbor cells, which the user equipment uses for slice-specific reselection toward a neighboring region: (Venkataraman, para. [0042], [0043], [0044]), Venkataraman does not explicitly disclose inclusion of identification information of the first slice group and identification information of the second slice group within the mapping information, for which Lee is relied upon:
Yet, Venkataraman in view of Lee discloses The cell reselection method according to claim 1, wherein the mapping information comprises identification information of the first slice group and identification information of the second slice group because the slice availability is conveyed using network slice selection assistance information, where each NSSAI value identifies a particular slice, so the mapping information for the serving area slices and the neighboring area slices is carried as identification information of each slice group (Lee, para [0014], “a method by an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system includes transmitting a first message including at least one network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) requested by a terminal to a network slice function (NSSF) and receiving, in response to the first message, a second message including allowed NSSAI for the terminal and information on an area capable of being served by at least one network slice corresponding to the allowed NSSAI from the NSSF.”).
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to carry the slice group mapping information of the Venkataraman and Lee combination as the NSSAI identifiers taught by Lee, because Lee identifies each available slice by its NSSAI and ties that identifier to the served area, so using NSSAI identifiers for both the serving region slices and the neighboring region slices is a straightforward and predictable way to identify the slice groups.
Regarding claim 4, the claim recites: A user equipment comprising: a receiver configured to receive from a base station, mapping information between a first slice group and a second slice group when the second slice group comprises at least some of network slices comprised in the first slice group, the first slice group being available in a region of the base station, and the second slice group being available in a neighboring region adjacent to the region, and a controller configured to perform slice-specific cell reselection by using the mapping information. Claim 4 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHONGSUH (John) PARK whose telephone number is 408-918-7574. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00-5:30 PST
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, Avellino, Joseph can be reached at 571-272-3905 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.
/CHONGSUH PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
Prosecution Insights