DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on August 29, 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application.
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 Statements filed on 2/10/2026 and 2/11/2026 have been considered.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1, 3-5, 7-11, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 8, 11, 12, and 15-18 of copending Application No. 18/822,429 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1, 3-5, 7-11, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20 of the present application are anticipated by claims 1, 8, 11, 12, and 15-18 of copending Application No. 18/822,429.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Present application:
1. A method for implementing sensing quality of service (QOS), comprising:
obtaining, by a sensing function instance, sensing QoS information, wherein the sensing Qos information comprises sensing QoS information related to sensing data transmission; and
determining, by the sensing function instance, configuration information of the sensing data transmission based on the sensing QoS information, or sending the sensing QoS information to a first network function instance.
Application No. 18/822,429:
1. A method for sensing quality of service (QOS), comprising:
obtaining, by a first device, sensing QOS information, wherein the sensing QoS information comprises at least one of QoS information related to a sensing service or QoS information related to a sensing measurement quantity; and
determining, by the first device, at least one of the sensing measurement quantity or configuration information of the sensing measurement quantity based on the sensing QoS information; or sending, by the first device, the sensing QoS information to a second device.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing QoS information comprises at least one of the following: a priority of sensing data; a type of sensing data; a transmission resource type of sensing data; a packet delay budget in sensing data transmission; delay jitter in sensing data transmission; a packet error rate in sensing data transmission; burst time of sensing data; or a burst volume of sensing data; wherein the sensing data comprises a measurement result of a sensing measurement quantity.
8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the sensing data transmission QoS parameter comprises at least one of the following: a transmission priority of sensing data; a type of the sensing data; a transmission resource type of the sensing data; a packet delay budget in sensing data transmission; delay variation in sensing data transmission; a packet error rate in sensing data transmission; a burst time of the sensing data; or a burst size of the sensing data, wherein the sensing data comprises a measurement result of the sensing measurement quantity.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing QoS information is indicated by using a sensing quality identifier value, and different values of the sensing quality identifier correspond to different sensing Qos information parameter combinations; or the sensing QoS information is indicated by using service level indication information, and different service level indication information corresponds to different sensing QoS information parameter combinations.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing QoS information is indicated by using a value of a sensing quality identifier, and different values of the sensing quality identifier correspond to different sensing QoS information parameter combinations; or the sensing QoS information is indicated by using service level indication information, and different service level indication information corresponds to different sensing QoS information parameter combinations.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is represented by a value of a lowest requirement; and/or a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is represented by an interval.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is indicated by using a value with a minimum requirement; or a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is indicated in an interval manner.
7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: performing, by the sensing function instance, at least one of the following based on the sensing QoS information: determining a sensing link; determining a sensing manner; or determining a sensing node.
15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: performing, by the first device, at least one of the following operations based on the sensing QoS information: determining a sensing link; determining a sensing manner; determining a sensing signal; determining configuration information of the sensing signal; determining the sensing node; triggering establishment or modification of a sensing data transmission channel; or determining configuration information of sensing data transmission.
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: sending, by the sensing function instance, one or more of information about the determined sensing link and information about the sensing manner to the sensing node; or, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the sensing function instance, an identifier of the sensing node to the first network function instance.
16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: sending, by the first device, one or more of information about the determined sensing link, information about the determined sensing manner, information about the determined sensing signal, the determined configuration information of the sensing signal, and the determined configuration information of sensing data transmission to the sensing node.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining, by a sensing function instance, sensing QoS information comprises: receiving, by the sensing function instance, a sensing request; and obtaining, by the sensing function instance, required sensing QoS information based on sensing QoS information in the sensing request; wherein the obtaining, by the sensing function instance, required sensing QoS information based on sensing QoS information in the sensing request comprises: mapping, by the sensing function instance, the sensing request into one or more groups of sensing QoS information.
17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first device is a sensing function instance; and the obtaining, by a first device, sensing QoS information comprises: receiving, by the sensing function instance, a sensing request; and obtaining, by the sensing function instance, the required sensing QoS information based on sensing QoS information comprised in the sensing request.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first network function instance is a session management function (SMF); or the first network function instance is a target plane network function instance, and the target plane is a protocol function plane used to support at least one of data collection, data distribution, data security, data privacy, data analysis, or data preprocessing; or, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the sensing function instance, a measurement result that is of a sensing measurement quantity and that is sent by a sensing node or the first network function instance; generating, by the sensing function instance, a sensing result based on the measurement result; and sending, by the sensing function instance, a sensing request response, wherein the sensing request response comprises the sensing result.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein after determining, by the first device, at least one of the sensing measurement quantity and configuration information of the sensing measurement quantity based on the sensing QoS information, the method further comprises: receiving, by the sensing function instance, a measurement result of the sensing measurement quantity sent by a sensing node; generating, by the sensing function instance, a sensing result based on the measurement result; and sending, by the sensing function instance, a sensing request response, wherein the sensing request response comprises the sensing result.
Claims 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20 are rejected in view of claims 1, 8, 11, 12, and 15-18 of Application No. 18/822,429 based on similar reasoning as given above.
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.
Claims 1-15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (US 2024/0422236).
Regarding Claim 1, Xu teaches a method for implementing sensing quality of service (QOS), comprising:
obtaining, by a sensing function instance, sensing QoS information, wherein the sensing QoS information comprises sensing QoS information related to sensing data transmission (“S702: A first device sends a request #1 to the SCF. The request #1 may be a sensing service request. For example, the request #1 may be for requesting a sensing service. Alternatively, the request #1 may be for requesting an operation related to a sensing service. Alternatively, the request #1 may be for requesting data (or sensing data) of a sensing service” – See [0267]; “the request #1 in S702 includes at least one of service type information, area information, and service requirement information of the sensing service” – See [0271]; “The service type information may indicate a sensing service type. For example, the sensing service type may include object distribution, a map, driving, violation detection, object track tracking, emergency event detection, object positioning, an object contour size, an object speed, weather prediction, a human posture, human health, uncrewed aerial vehicle sensing, or vehicle sensing” – See [0273]; “The service requirement information may include at least one of the service requirement information: a first sensing distance, a first sensing area, a first sensing speed range, first sensing distance resolution, first sensing angle measurement precision, first sensing speed resolution, a first QoS requirement, a first sensing location point, a first sensing UE identifier, first sensing time information, first sensing object identification accuracy, a first sensing object identification false alarm rate, first sensing data precision, a first sensing data update frequency, a first sensing dimension indication, and a first sensing feedback manner” – See [0274]; The SCF/sensing control function (sensing function instance) obtains a sensing service request including QoS information for the sensing data, wherein the QoS information may include a service type, a type of sensing data, a precision of sensing data, a sensing data feedback manner, etc.); and
determining, by the sensing function instance, configuration information of the sensing data transmission based on the sensing QoS information (“The sensing control information may be determined by the SCF based on the request #1. Specifically, the sensing control information may be determined by the SCF based on the service requirement information of the sensing service in the request #1” – See [0335]; “For example, the sensing control information may include one or more of the following information: a second sensing distance, a second sensing area, a second sensing speed range, second sensing distance resolution, a second sensing angle measurement precision, second sensing speed resolution, a second sensing QoS requirement, a second sensing location point, a second sensing UE identifier, second sensing time information, a second sensing object identification accuracy, a second sensing object identification false alarm rate, a second sensing data precision, a second sensing data update frequency, a second sensing dimension indication, a sensing detection periodicities, and a second sensing feedback manner” – See [0336]-[0337]; “the second sensing feedback manner includes one or more of the following: single feedback, periodic feedback, and event-triggered feedback’ – See [0341]-[0342]; The SCF determines a configuration for the sensing data transmission (e.g., feedback manner, sensing data precision, etc.) based on the sensing QoS information from the sensing service request), or
sending the sensing QoS information to a first network function instance (“After determining the first CF, the SCF may send a sensing computing request to the first CF, to request the first CF to perform sensing computation. The sensing computing request may include service type information of the sensing service” – See [0313]; “The service type information may be determined based on the service type information in the request #1” – See [0315]; The sensing QoS information is sent by the SCF to a first CF/computing function (first network function instance)).
Regarding Claim 2, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that the configuration information of the sensing data transmission comprises at least one of the following: a priority of sensing data; a type of sensing data; a transmission resource type of sensing data; a packet delay budget in sensing data transmission; delay jitter in sensing data transmission; a packet error rate in sensing data transmission; burst time of sensing data; a burst volume of sensing data; a time-domain and/or frequency-domain resource used in sensing data transmission; or a physical layer parameter used in sensing data transmission, comprising at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a precoding indication, a timing advance (TA), or power (“The service type information may indicate a sensing service type. For example, the sensing service type may include object distribution, a map, driving, violation detection, object track tracking, emergency event detection, object positioning, an object contour size, an object speed, weather prediction, a human posture, human health, uncrewed aerial vehicle sensing, or vehicle sensing” – See [0273]; “the second sensing feedback manner includes one or more of the following: [0342] single feedback, periodic feedback, and event-triggered feedback” – See [0341]; “Further, when the second sensing feedback manner is the periodic feedback, the sensing control information further includes a second feedback periodicity” – See [0343]; “the second sensing QoS requirement includes one or more of the following: a second service priority, a second data rate, and second delay” – See [0344]-[0345]; The configuration information determined by the SCF includes a service priority (priority of sensing data), service type (type of sensing data), an indication of periodic feedback and feedback periodicity of the sensing data (transmission resource type of sensing data), a delay for the sensing data, and so on).
Regarding Claim 3, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that the sensing QoS information comprises at least one of the following: a priority of sensing data; a type of sensing data; a transmission resource type of sensing data; a packet delay budget in sensing data transmission; delay jitter in sensing data transmission; a packet error rate in sensing data transmission; burst time of sensing data; or a burst volume of sensing data (“the request #1 in S702 includes at least one of service type information, area information, and service requirement information of the sensing service” – See [0271]; “The service type information may indicate a sensing service type. For example, the sensing service type may include object distribution, a map, driving, violation detection, object track tracking, emergency event detection, object positioning, an object contour size, an object speed, weather prediction, a human posture, human health, uncrewed aerial vehicle sensing, or vehicle sensing” – See [0273]; “The service requirement information may include at least one of the service requirement information: a first sensing distance, a first sensing area, a first sensing speed range, first sensing distance resolution, first sensing angle measurement precision, first sensing speed resolution, a first QoS requirement, a first sensing location point, a first sensing UE identifier, first sensing time information, first sensing object identification accuracy, a first sensing object identification false alarm rate, first sensing data precision, a first sensing data update frequency, a first sensing dimension indication, and a first sensing feedback manner” – See [0274]; “the first sensing feedback manner may be one or more of the following: single feedback, periodic feedback, and event-triggered feedback. When the first sensing feedback manner is the periodic feedback, a service requirement further includes a first feedback periodicity of the first sensing data” – See [0297]-[0298]; “Optionally, the first QoS requirement may include one or more of the following: a first service priority, a first data rate, first delay” – See [0299]-[0300]; The QoS information received in the sensing service request includes a service priority (priority of sensing data), service type (type of sensing data), an indication of periodic feedback and feedback periodicity of the sensing data (transmission resource type of sensing data), a delay for the sensing data, and so on);
wherein the sensing data comprises a measurement result of a sensing measurement quantity (“For example, under control of the service control network element, the UE may sense surrounding information of the UE, obtain sensing data, and report the sensing data to the access network device” – See [0431]; The sensing data includes a measurement report/result of the sensing measurement).
Regarding Claim 4, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is represented by a value of a lowest requirement; and/or a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is represented by an interval (“the first sensing feedback manner may be one or more of the following: single feedback, periodic feedback, and event-triggered feedback. When the first sensing feedback manner is the periodic feedback, a service requirement further includes a first feedback periodicity of the first sensing data” – See [0297]-[0298]; The QoS information includes a periodicity value which represents an interval at which feedback of sensing data is to be performed).
Regarding Claim 5, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that the sensing QoS information is indicated by using a sensing quality identifier value, and different values of the sensing quality identifier correspond to different sensing Qos information parameter combinations; or the sensing QoS information is indicated by using service level indication information, and different service level indication information corresponds to different sensing QoS information parameter combinations (“The service requirement information may include at least one of the service requirement information: a first sensing distance, a first sensing area, a first sensing speed range, first sensing distance resolution, first sensing angle measurement precision, first sensing speed resolution, a first QoS requirement, a first sensing location point, a first sensing UE identifier, first sensing time information, first sensing object identification accuracy, a first sensing object identification false alarm rate, first sensing data precision” – See [0274]; The QoS information includes a sensing object identification accuracy/sensing data precision, which corresponds to a sensing quality identifier value and/or sensing service level, wherein the sensing quality identifiers/service levels correspond to different QoS parameter combinations).
Regarding Claim 6, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches sending, by the sensing function instance, the determined configuration information of the sensing data transmission to the first network function instance and/or a sensing node (“S704-1: After determining the first CF, the SCF may send a sensing computing request to the first CF, to request the first CF to perform sensing computation. The sensing computing request may include service type information of the sensing service” – See [0313]; “In S706, the SCF may send, to the RAN, a sensing control request message that includes the information about the first CF and/or the first identifier” – See [0333]; “the sensing control request message may further include the service type information of the sensing service and/or sensing control information. The sensing control information is used to control the access network device (or a terminal device) to perform a sensing operation indicated by the sensing control information” – See [0334]; The SCF sends the determined configuration information to a CF/computing function (first network function instance) or a RAN (sensing node)).
Regarding Claim 7, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches performing, by the sensing function instance, at least one of the following based on the sensing QoS information: determining a sensing link; determining a sensing manner; or determining a sensing node (“For example, the sensing control information may include one or more of the following information: a second sensing distance, a second sensing area, a second sensing speed range, second sensing distance resolution, a second sensing angle measurement precision, second sensing speed resolution, a second sensing QoS requirement, a second sensing location point, a second sensing UE identifier, second sensing time information, a second sensing object identification accuracy, a second sensing object identification false alarm rate, a second sensing data precision, a second sensing data update frequency, a second sensing dimension indication, a sensing detection periodicities, and a second sensing feedback manner” – See [0336]-[0337]; The SCF determines sensing control information that includes a sensing UE identifier (determining a sensing node) and a sensing area, time, accuracy, precision, etc. (determining a sensing manner)).
Regarding Claim 8, Xu teaches the method of Claim 7. Xu further teaches sending, by the sensing function instance, one or more of information about the determined sensing link and information about the sensing manner to the sensing node; or, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the sensing function instance, an identifier of the sensing node to the first network function instance (“In S706, the SCF may send, to the RAN, a sensing control request message that includes the information about the first CF and/or the first identifier” – See [0333]; “the access network device may be a UE corresponding to the access network device” – See [0430]; “Optionally, the sensing control request message may further include the service type information of the sensing service and/or sensing control information” – See [0334]; “For example, the sensing control information may include one or more of the following information: a second sensing distance, a second sensing area, a second sensing speed range, second sensing distance resolution, a second sensing angle measurement precision, second sensing speed resolution, a second sensing QoS requirement, a second sensing location point, a second sensing UE identifier, second sensing time information, a second sensing object identification accuracy, a second sensing object identification false alarm rate, a second sensing data precision, a second sensing data update frequency, a second sensing dimension indication, a sensing detection periodicities, and a second sensing feedback manner” – See [0336]-[0337]; The sensing control information that includes a sensing area, time, accuracy, precision, etc. (the sensing manner) is transmitted to the RAN/UE (sensing node)).
Regarding Claim 9, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that the obtaining, by a sensing function instance, sensing QoS information comprises:
receiving, by the sensing function instance, a sensing request; and obtaining, by the sensing function instance, required sensing QoS information based on sensing QoS information in the sensing request (As shown above with respect to Claim 1, Xu teaches that the SCF (sensing function instance) receives a sensing service request, wherein the sensing service request includes QoS information that the SCF uses to determine QoS requirements for the sensing);
wherein the obtaining, by the sensing function instance, required sensing QoS information based on sensing QoS information in the sensing request comprises: mapping, by the sensing function instance, the sensing request into one or more groups of sensing QoS information (See [0272]-[0276]; The QoS information in the sensing request is mapped into multiple groups of sensing QoS information (e.g., service type information, service requirement information, area information, etc.), wherein each group includes a plurality of parameters).
Regarding Claim 10, Xu teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that the first network function instance is a session management function (SMF); or the first network function instance is a target plane network function instance, and the target plane is a protocol function plane used to support at least one of data collection, data distribution, data security, data privacy, data analysis, or data preprocessing; or, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the sensing function instance, a measurement result that is of a sensing measurement quantity and that is sent by a sensing node or the first network function instance; generating, by the sensing function instance, a sensing result based on the measurement result; and sending, by the sensing function instance, a sensing request response, wherein the sensing request response comprises the sensing result (“A computing network element (or referred to as a service computing network element or a service data computing network element) configured to implement the service computing function may be configured to process service data collected by an access network device” – See [0260]; “a CF that supports the service type information of the sensing service, so that the first CF supports processing of the data corresponding to the carried service type information of the sensing service” – See [0311]; The CF (first network function instance) is a target plane network function instance that supports sensing data collection from the sensing node and preprocessing of the sensing data before it is sent/distributed to its ultimate destination).
Regarding Claim 11, Xu teaches a method for implementing sensing QoS, comprising:
receiving, by a first network function instance, sensing QoS information, wherein the sensing QoS information comprises sensing QoS information related to sensing data transmission (“S902: A first device sends the request #1 to the SCF. The request #1 may be a sensing service request. For example, the request #1 may be for requesting a sensing service. Alternatively, the request #1 may be for requesting an operation related to a sensing service. Alternatively, the request #1 may be for requesting data (or sensing data) of a sensing service” – See [0453]; “S903: The SCF sends the request #2 to the CCF based on the request #1. In this application, the request #2 may include a sensing computing request” – See [0456]; “It should be understood that the service type information of the sensing service in the request #2 may be obtained based on service type information of the sensing service in the request #1. For example, the two pieces of service type information are the same” – See [0459]; “S902 may be implemented with reference to S702. Details are not described herein again” – See [0454]; “S702: A first device sends a request #1 to the SCF. The request #1 may be a sensing service request. For example, the request #1 may be for requesting a sensing service. Alternatively, the request #1 may be for requesting an operation related to a sensing service. Alternatively, the request #1 may be for requesting data (or sensing data) of a sensing service” – See [0267]; “the request #1 in S702 includes at least one of service type information, area information, and service requirement information of the sensing service” – See [0271]; “The service type information may indicate a sensing service type. For example, the sensing service type may include object distribution, a map, driving, violation detection, object track tracking, emergency event detection, object positioning, an object contour size, an object speed, weather prediction, a human posture, human health, uncrewed aerial vehicle sensing, or vehicle sensing” – See [0273]; “The service requirement information may include at least one of the service requirement information: a first sensing distance, a first sensing area, a first sensing speed range, first sensing distance resolution, first sensing angle measurement precision, first sensing speed resolution, a first QoS requirement, a first sensing location point, a first sensing UE identifier, first sensing time information, first sensing object identification accuracy, a first sensing object identification false alarm rate, first sensing data precision, a first sensing data update frequency, a first sensing dimension indication, and a first sensing feedback manner” – See [0274]; The CCF/computing control function (first network function instance) obtains a sensing service request including QoS information for the sensing data, wherein the QoS information may include a service type, a type of sensing data, a precision of sensing data, a sensing data feedback manner, etc.); and
establishing and/or modifying, by the first network function instance, a sensing data transmission channel based on the sensing QoS information, and/or determining configuration information of the sensing data transmission (“S904: The CCF determines the first CF based on the request #2 and the first information of the at least one CF” – See [0470]; “S908: The SCF sends information about the first CF to a RAN. The information about the first CF is used by the RAN to send the first sensing data to the first CF” – See [0490]; “the access network device may be a UE corresponding to the access network device” – See [0430]; The CCF determines a first CF to which the sensing data should be reported by the RAN/UE. Accordingly, a sensing data transmission channel between the sending device (e.g., RAN/UE) and the CF which receives the sensing data is established).
Claim 12 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 2.
Claim 13 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 3.
Regarding 14, Xu teaches the method of Claim 11. Xu further teaches that a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is represented by a value of a lowest requirement; and/or a value of at least one parameter in the sensing QoS information is represented by an interval; or, wherein the sensing QoS information is indicated by using a sensing quality identifier value, and different values of the sensing quality identifier correspond to different sensing QoS information parameter combinations; or the sensing QoS information is indicated by using service level indication information, and different service level indication information corresponds to different sensing QoS information parameter combinations (“the first sensing feedback manner may be one or more of the following: single feedback, periodic feedback, and event-triggered feedback. When the first sensing feedback manner is the periodic feedback, a service requirement further includes a first feedback periodicity of the first sensing data” – See [0297]-[0298]; The QoS information includes a periodicity value which represents an interval at which feedback of sensing data is to be performed).
Regarding 15, Xu teaches the method of Claim 11. Xu further teaches receiving, by the first network function instance, an identifier of a sensing node that is sent by a sensing function instance; or, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the first network function instance, a measurement result that is of a sensing measurement quantity and that is sent by a sensing node; and sending, by the first network function instance, the measurement result to a sensing function instance (“the request #1 in S702 includes at least one of service type information, area information, and service requirement information of the sensing service” – See [0271]; “The service requirement information may include at least one of the service requirement information: … a first sensing UE identifier” – See [0274]; “S902 may be implemented with reference to S702” – See [0454]; “S903: The SCF sends the request #2 to the CCF based on the request #1. In this application, the request #2 may include a sensing computing request” – See [0456]; “It should be understood that the service type information of the sensing service in the request #2 may be obtained based on service type information of the sensing service in the request #1. For example, the two pieces of service type information are the same” – See [0459]; The CCF (first network function instance) receives a sensing UE identifier (identifier of a sensing node) from the SCF (sensing function instance)).
Regarding Claim 18, Xu teaches the method according to claim 11. Xu further teaches that the establishing and/or modifying, by the first network function instance, a sensing data transmission channel based on the sensing QoS information comprises: mapping, by the first network function instance, the received sensing QoS information to one or more sensing data transmission channels (“S904: The CCF determines the first CF based on the request #2 and the first information of the at least one CF” – See [0470]; “S908: The SCF sends information about the first CF to a RAN. The information about the first CF is used by the RAN to send the first sensing data to the first CF” – See [0490]; “the access network device may be a UE corresponding to the access network device” – See [0430]; The CCF determines, based on the received sensing QoS information, a first CF to which the sensing data should be reported by the RAN/UE. Accordingly, a mapping is created between the sensing QoS information and a sensing data channel between the sending device (e.g., RAN/UE) and the CF which receives the sensing data).
Claim 19 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 20, Xu teaches the method of Claim 11. Xu further teaches a communication device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or an instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or the instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method for implementing sensing QoS according to claim 11 are implemented (“the computing control network element may include a computing control function (computing control NF, CCF) network element” – See [0032]; “the communication apparatus 1200 may be … the computing control network element” – See [0547]; “The processor 1202 executes the application program stored in the memory 1203, to implement the foregoing function, thereby implementing a function of the communication apparatus 1200” – See [0546]).
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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2024/0422236) in view of Liu et al. (US 2024/0406690).
Regarding Claim 16, Xu teaches the method of Claim 11. Xu further teaches that the first network function instance is a session management function (SMF) (“the computing control network element may include a computing control function (computing control NF, CCF) network element” – See [0032]; “computing control network element in this application may alternatively be an SMF network element” – See [0190]; The CCF/computing control function may be an SMF).
Xu does not explicitly teach that the sensing data transmission channel is a user plane PDU session; or the first network function instance is a target plane network function instance, the sensing data transmission channel is a target plane data transmission channel, and the target plane is a protocol function plane used to support at least one of data collection, data distribution, data security, data privacy, data analysis, or data preprocessing.
However, Liu teaches that the sensing data transmission channel is a user plane PDU session (“The connection may be: a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) connection corresponding to a PDU session that is negotiated to establish based on a PDU session establishment. The sensing data and/or the sensing result are delivered over the PDU connection established based on the PDU session” – See [0182]; The sensing data transmission is performed using a user plane PDU session between the UE and the network).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xu such that the sensing data transmission channel is a user plane PDU session. Motivation for doing so would be to provide a connection over which the sensing data/result can be delivered (See Liu, [0178]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 17 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
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/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
