DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to applicant's communication filed on 08/23/2024, wherein:
Claim 1-20 are pending.
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 1-10, 13-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 20240064580 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a communication method, applicable to a source access network device (Fig. 16 – item 1620-1: NG-RAN #1), the method comprising:
receiving first information from a source core network device, wherein the first information is configured for the source access network device to determine whether to perform a handover process on a terminal device, and the first information is related to capability information of the terminal device (Fig. 16 - step 5, Fig. 17 - step 5, ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN capability or SNPN list – i.e. first information – to determine whether to perform handover process, the first information is related to the SNPN capability information provided by terminal in step Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3),
wherein the capability information of the terminal device indicates whether the terminal device supports a handover to a different stand-alone non-public network (SNPN) (¶0193 – “Also, as an example, the UE may notify the AMF of UE capability information through the RRC message including the registration request message. In this case, the UE capability information may be information indicating that the UE supports handover to a network having a different SNPN ID as a new system UE (Rel 17 eNPN supported UE)”).
Regarding claim 2, Kim discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the capability information of the terminal device or an SNPN list (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN capability or SNPN list).
Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the SNPN list comprises an identifier of a second SNPN, the second SNPN being an SNPN equivalent to a first SNPN, wherein the first SNPN is an SNPN selected by the terminal device, and the identifier of the second SNPN is different from an identifier of the first SNPN (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN list that UE allowed to handover based on the SNPN ID provided by UE in Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3 which indicated that the SNPN list contain ID that is equivalent to the SNPN ID provided by UE).
Regarding claim 4, Kim discloses the method according to claim 3, further comprising: performing the handover process on the terminal device based on a measurement report of the terminal device and the first information in response to determining, based on the first information, that a first condition is satisfied (¶0195 – “More specifically, the UE 1610 may perform measurement and report the measurement result to NG-RAN #1 1620-1. At this time, NG-RAN #1 1620-1 may determine whether or not to perform handover based on the measurement result reported by the UE 1610. That is, whether to perform handover of the UE 1610 may be determined based on the measurement of the UE 1610. At this time, the candidate target NG-RAN nodes to which the UE 1610 may be handed over include not only the NG-RAN node in the source network 1620 but also NG-RAN node of other SNPN ID based on the above-described allowed SNPN list information”).
Regarding claim 5, Kim disclose the method according to claim 4, wherein the first condition comprises one of following items: the first information contains the SNPN list (¶0195 – “More specifically, the UE 1610 may perform measurement and report the measurement result to NG-RAN #1 1620-1. At this time, NG-RAN #1 1620-1 may determine whether or not to perform handover based on the measurement result reported by the UE 1610. That is, whether to perform handover of the UE 1610 may be determined based on the measurement of the UE 1610. At this time, the candidate target NG-RAN nodes to which the UE 1610 may be handed over include not only the NG-RAN node in the source network 1620 but also NG-RAN node of other SNPN ID based on the above-described allowed SNPN list information”); or the first information contains the SNPN list and the capability information of the terminal device, and the capability information of the terminal device indicates that the terminal device supports the handover to the different SNPN.
Regarding claim 6, Kim discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the first information comprises the SNPN list in a case that the capability information of the terminal device indicates that the terminal device supports the handover to the different SNPN (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, and ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN capability or SNPN list – i.e. first information – to determine whether to perform handover process, the first information is related to the SNPN capability information provided by terminal in step Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3).
Regarding claim 7, Kim discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein performing the handover process on the terminal device based on the measurement report of the terminal device and the first information comprises: determining a target access network device based on the measurement report of the terminal device and the SNPN list in the first information; determining a target SNPN where the target access network device belongs to, wherein the target SNPN is contained in the second SNPN of the SNPN list (¶0195-0196: “More specifically, the UE 1610 may perform measurement and report the measurement result to NG-RAN #1 1620-1. At this time, NG-RAN #1 1620-1 may determine whether or not to perform handover based on the measurement result reported by the UE 1610. That is, whether to perform handover of the UE 1610 may be determined based on the measurement of the UE 1610. At this time, the candidate target NG-RAN nodes to which the UE 1610 may be handed over include not only the NG-RAN node in the source network 1620 but also NG-RAN node of other SNPN ID based on the above-described allowed SNPN list information”); and transmitting a first handover command to the terminal device, wherein the first handover command contains identifier-related information of the target SNPN and an identifier of the target access network device (¶0197 – “At this time, as an example, the handover of the UE 1610 may be performed through an Xn-based handover procedure. That is, the handover of the UE 1610 may be performed based on the Xn interface. At this time, NG-RAN #1 1620-1 may send a handover request message to NG-RAN #2 1640-1. In this case, the handover request message may include a target SNPN ID”).
Regarding claim 8, Kim discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the identifier-related information of the target SNPN comprises one of: a target network identifier (NID) (¶0197 – “In this case, the handover request message may include a target SNPN ID”); or a target NID and an identifier of a target public land mobile network (PLMN).
Regarding claim 9, Kim discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein determining the target access network device based on the measurement report of the terminal device and the SNPN list in the first information comprises: determining one or more candidate access network devices based on the measurement report of the terminal device; and determining the target access network device from the one or more candidate access network devices based on an identifier of an SNPN supported by the one or more candidate access network devices and the identifier of the second SNPN contained in the SNPN list in the first information (¶0195-0196: “More specifically, the UE 1610 may perform measurement and report the measurement result to NG-RAN #1 1620-1. At this time, NG-RAN #1 1620-1 may determine whether or not to perform handover based on the measurement result reported by the UE 1610. That is, whether to perform handover of the UE 1610 may be determined based on the measurement of the UE 1610. At this time, the candidate target NG-RAN nodes to which the UE 1610 may be handed over include not only the NG-RAN node in the source network 1620 but also NG-RAN node of other SNPN ID based on the above-described allowed SNPN list information”).
Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses the method according to claim 2, further comprising: determining one or more candidate access network devices based on a measurement report of the terminal device in response to determining, based on the first information, that a second condition is satisfied; and determining, based on the one or more candidate access network devices, whether to perform the handover process on the terminal device (¶0195 – “In this case, NG-RAN #2 may be the NG-RAN of the target network 1640. More specifically, the UE 1610 may perform measurement and report the measurement result to NG-RAN #1 1620-1. At this time, NG-RAN #1 1620-1 may determine whether or not to perform handover based on the measurement result reported by the UE 1610. That is, whether to perform handover of the UE 1610 may be determined based on the measurement of the UE 1610. At this time, the candidate target NG-RAN nodes to which the UE 1610 may be handed over include not only the NG-RAN node in the source network 1620 but also NG-RAN node of other SNPN ID based on the above-described allowed SNPN list information”, which indicates that the candidate for handover is based on the measurement report and SNPN list – first information – and the condition that the candidate is NG-RAN node of the source network and other SNPN ID in the list).
Regarding claim 13, the scope and content of the claim recites a source access network device for performing the method of claim 1, therefore, being address as in claim 1. Further details component of the source access network device comprising: a processor; and a memory storing at least one computer program for performing the method are well-known component for access network device such as gNB (Fig. 16-17 and ¶0147: NG-RAN including gNB).
Regarding claim 14, the scope and content of the claim recites a source access network device for performing the method of claim 2, therefore, being address as in claim 2.
Regarding claim 15, Kim discloses a source core network device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing at least one computer program, which, when executed by the processor, causes the source core network device to: receive third information from a terminal device, wherein the third information contains capability information of the terminal device, the capability information of the terminal device indicating whether the terminal device supports a handover to a different stand-alone non-public network (SNPN) (Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3 and ¶0193: “Also, as an example, the UE may notify the AMF of UE capability information through the RRC message including the registration request message. In this case, the UE capability information may be information indicating that the UE supports handover to a network having a different SNPN ID as a new system UE (Rel 17 eNPN supported UE). The AMF 1620-2 may recognize that the UE 1610 may be handed over to another SNPN capable of supporting the credentials of the same home service provider based on the corresponding capability information, and that a handover procedure for this is supported”); and
transmit first information to a source access network device, wherein the first information is configured for the source access network device to determine whether to perform a handover process on the terminal device, the first information being related to the capability information of the terminal device (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, and ¶0193-0196 disclose AMF transmitting to NG-RAN#1 initial context including SNPN capability or SNPN list – i.e. first information – to determine whether to perform handover process, the first information is related to the SNPN capability information provided by terminal in step Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3).
Regarding claim 16, Kim discloses the source core network device according to claim 15, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the capability information of the terminal device or an SNPN list (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, and ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN capability or SNPN list).
Regarding claim 17, Kim discloses the source core network device according to claim 16, wherein the first information comprises the SNPN list in a case that the capability information of the terminal device indicates that the terminal device supports the handover to the different SNPN (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, and ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN capability or SNPN list – i.e. first information – to determine whether to perform handover process, the first information is related to the SNPN capability information provided by terminal in step Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3).
Regarding claim 18, Kim discloses the source core network device according to claim 16, wherein the SNPN list comprises an identifier of a second SNPN, the second SNPN being an SNPN equivalent to a first SNPN, wherein the first SNPN is an SNPN selected by the terminal device, and the identifier of the second SNPN is different from an identifier of the first SNPN (Fig. 16 step 5, Fig. 17 step 5, and ¶0193-0196 disclose NG-RAN#1 receiving from AMF initial context including SNPN list that UE allowed to handover based on the SNPN ID provided by UE in Fig. 16-17 step 1-2-3 which indicated that the SNPN list contain ID that is equivalent to the SNPN ID provided by UE).
Regarding claim 20, Kim discloses the source core network device according to claim 15, wherein the source core network device is a source access and mobility management function (AMF) entity (Fig. 16-17 disclose the source network 1620 comprising a source access NG-RAN and AMF).
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 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 20240064580 A1) in view of 3GPP TS 23.501 V15.4.0 (2018-12).
Regarding claim 19, Kim discloses the source core network device according to claim 15, however, silent on further details of claim 19.
3GPP discloses wherein the at least one computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the source core network device to: receive second information from the source access network device, wherein the second information is configured for the source core network device to release a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to the terminal device (section 5.17.2.3.4 page 168 – “If the UE is in CM-CONNECTED state in 5GC, the NG-RAN may perform RRC Connection Release with Redirection to E-UTRAN based on certain criteria (e.g. based on local configuration in NG-RAN, or triggered by the AMF upon receiving Handover Request message from NG-RAN)”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Kim to incorporate connection release from 3GPP because doing so would apply a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (MPEP §2141 -III) to optimize resource usage by releasing unused connection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11-12 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG HONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7928. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, JINSONG HU, can be reached on (571) 272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUNG HONG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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