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 5/31/26, 2/14/26, 8/8/24 is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested:
PRIORITY USER PLANE DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND APPARATUS.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 6-8, 11, 12, 14, 17-22, 36, 47, 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ericsson WO 2021/140464.
As to claim 1, Ericsson teaches a data transmission method (Ericsson, Fig 31, a data transmission method), comprising:
receiving, by a user plane function (UPF), user plane data used for transmitting a media unit (Ericsson, [0192] Fig 31, a UPF receives from a TSN AF a frame/packet with assigned traffic classes/priorities. Media by definition is a communication );
detecting or determining, by the UPF, a priority of the media unit (Ericsson, [0192] Fig 31, the UPF extracts the mapping information from the header and maps the frame to the appropriate traffic class port); and
mapping, by the UPF, the user plane data to a corresponding quality of service (QoS) flow according to the priority, and sending the user plane data mapped to the QoS flow to the network device (Ericsson, [0192,0194,0195] Fig 31, at the UPF, a 5QI is assigned for each TC and has a dedicated priority that maps to the traffic priority; Option 1a 1b, a QoS flow binding is assigned/mapped. The traffic is sent to a network device (transmitted) from the bridge);.
As to claim 6, Ericsson teaches wherein an IP packet header of the user plane data comprises the first priority identifier (Ericsson [0108], the communication is Internet Protocol (IP)).
As to claim 7, Ericsson teaches wherein a traffic class field in the IP packet header comprises the first priority identifier (Ericsson, [0192], the priority identifier is a TC field)
As to claim 8, Ericsson teaches wherein detecting or determining, by the UPF, the priority of the media unit comprises: determining, by the UPF, an application layer priority of the media unit according to priority information, the priority information being used for indicating the priority of the media unit (Ericsson, Pg. 57 L15-20, the priority is for application identifiers/protocols).
As to claim 11, Ericsson teaches wherein after detecting or determining, by the UPF, the priority of the media unit, the method further comprises: discarding, by the UPF, the user plane data (Ericsson, Pg. 58 L49-50, based on the identified packet and PCC Rule (threshold) the UPF discards the packet)
As to claim 12, Ericsson teaches a data transmission method (Ericsson, Fig 31, a data transmission method), comprising:
receiving, by a network device, user plane data used for transmitting a media unit, the user plane data comprising a priority identifier, and the priority identifier being used for indicating a priority of the media unit (Ericsson, [0192] Fig 31, a UPF receives from a TSN AF a frame/packet with assigned traffic classes/priorities. Media by definition is a communication );
acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier in the user plane data (Ericsson, [0192] Fig 31, the UPF extracts the mapping information from the header and maps the frame to the appropriate traffic class port); and
performing, by the network device, resource scheduling on transmission of the user plane data according to the priority identifier (Ericsson, [0192,0194,0195] Fig 31, at the UPF, a 5QI is assigned for each TC and has a dedicated priority that maps to the traffic priority; Option 1a 1b, a QoS flow binding is assigned/mapped. The traffic is sent to a network device (transmitted) from the bridge. Resource scheduling on the port).
As to claim 14, Ericsson teaches wherein the user plane data is uplink data (Ericsson, [0192,0194,0195], bridge goes in both directions UL and DL), an IP packet header of the user plane data comprises the priority identifier (Ericsson [0108], the communication is Internet Protocol (IP)); and acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier in the user plane data comprises: acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier from the IP packet header of the user plane data; wherein a a traffic class field in the IP packet header comprises the priority identifier (Ericsson, [0192], the priority identifier is a TC field).
As to claim 17, Ericsson teaches further comprising: discarding, by the network device, the user plane data or delaying, by the network device, the transmission of the user plane data based on that the priority indicated by the priority identifier does not meet set requirements (Ericsson, Pg. 58 L49-50, based on the identified packet and PCC Rule (threshold) the UPF discards the packet)
As to claim 18, Ericsson teaches a data transmission method (Ericsson, Fig 31, a data transmission method), comprising:
setting a priority identifier in to-be-sent user plane data used for transmitting a media unit, the priority identifier being used for indicating a priority of the media unit; and sending the user plane data provided with the priority identifier to a user plane function (UPF) (Ericsson, [0192,0194,0195] Fig 31, at the UPF, a 5QI is assigned for each TC and has a dedicated priority that maps to the traffic priority; Option 1a 1b, a QoS flow binding is assigned/mapped. The traffic is sent to a network device (transmitted) from the bridge).
As to claim 19, Ericsson teaches wherein setting the priority identifier in the to-be-sent user plane data comprises: setting the priority identifier in an IP packet header of the user plane data (Ericsson [0108], the communication is Internet Protocol (IP)).
As to claim 20, Ericsson teaches wherein setting the priority identifier in the IP packet header of the user plane data comprises: setting the priority identifier in a traffic class field in the IP packet header of the user plane data (Ericsson, [0192], the priority identifier is a TC field).
As to claim 21, Ericsson teaches wherein setting the priority identifier in the RTP packet header of the user plane data comprises: setting the priority identifier in a TID field of the RTP packet header of the user plane data (Ericsson, [0192], the priority identifier is a TC field).
As to claim 22, Ericsson teaches further comprising: discarding the user plane data or delaying the transmission of the user plane data if it is determined that the priority of the media unit does not meet set requirements (Ericsson, Pg. 58 L49-50, based on the identified packet and PCC Rule (threshold) the UPF discards the packet).
As to claim 36, Ericsson teaches a data transmission apparatus, wherein the data transmission apparatus, as a UPF, comprises a processor, a memory, and a transceiver; the transceiver receives and sends data under control of the processor; the memory stores computer instructions; and the processor is configured to read the computer instructions to execute the method of claim 1 (Ericsson, Fig 28, a UPF implemented as hardware on an apparatus).
As to claim 47, Ericsson teaches a data transmission apparatus, wherein the data transmission apparatus, as a network device, comprises a processor, a memory, and a transceiver; the transceiver receives and sends data under control of the processor; the memory stores computer instructions; and the processor is configured to read the computer instructions to execute the method of claim 12 (Ericsson, Fig 28, a function implemented as hardware on an apparatus).
As to claim 53, Ericsson teaches a data transmission apparatus, wherein the data transmission apparatus, as a terminal, comprises a processor, a memory, and a transceiver; the transceiver receives and sends data under control of the processor; the memory stores computer instructions; and the processor is configured to read the computer instructions to execute the method of claim 18 (Ericsson, Fig 28, a transmission function implemented as hardware on an apparatus).
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.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ericsson as applied to claims above, and further in view of Ma et al (Pub No: 2021/0204240).
As to claim 2, Ericsson teaches wherein a packet header of the user plane data comprises a first priority identifier, and the first priority identifier is configured for indicating the priority of the media unit; detecting or determining, by the UPF, the priority of the media unit comprises: detecting, by the UPF, the first priority identifier comprised in the packet header of the user plane data (Ericsson, [0192] Fig 31, a UPF receives from a TSN AF a frame/packet with assigned traffic classes/priorities. In a header field); and
Ericsson does not explicitly teach setting, by the UPF, the priority identifier in the user plane data according to the priority comprises: setting, by the UPF, a second priority identifier in the user plane data according to the first priority identifier, the second priority identifier being detected by the network device.
However, Ma teaches setting, by the UPF, the priority identifier in the user plane data according to the priority comprises: setting, by the UPF, a second priority identifier in the user plane data according to the first priority identifier (Ma, [0065], a UPF setting a Flow priority based on the determined priority), the second priority identifier being detected by the network device (Ma, [0065], the flow priority IE for detection by the AN).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “a UPF added priority” as taught by Ma in the system of Ericsson, so that it would help indicate how important the data carried by the packet is (Ma, [0065]).
As to claim 3, the combination of Erisson and Ma teaches wherein setting the second priority identifier in the user plane data comprises: setting the second priority identifier in a GPRS tunnelling protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) packet header of the user plane data (Ma, [0065], setting a GTP-U packet header for the priority).
As to claim 4, the combination of Erisson and Ma teaches wherein the second priority identifier is the same as the first priority identifier (Ma, [0065], the GTP-U Flow priority indicates the same priority as determined).
As to claim 13, Ericsson teaches wherein the user plane data is downlink data (Ericsson, [0192,0194,0195] Fig 31, a bridge for data DL)
Ericsson does not explicitly teach a GPRS tunnelling protocol for a user plane (GTP-U) packet header or an outer IP packet header of the user plane data comprises the priority identifier; and acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier in the user plane data comprises: acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier from the GTP-U packet header or the outer IP packet header of the user plane data.
However, Ma teaches a GPRS tunnelling protocol for a user plane (GTP-U) packet header or an outer IP packet header of the user plane data comprises the priority identifier (Ma, [0065], a UPF setting a Flow priority GTP-U based on the determined priority); and acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier in the user plane data comprises: acquiring, by the network device, the priority identifier from the GTP-U packet header or the outer IP packet header of the user plane data (Ma, [0065], a UPF setting a Flow priority GTP-U based on the determined priority).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “a UPF added priority” as taught by Ma in the system of Ericsson, so that it would help indicate how important the data carried by the packet is (Ma, [0065]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Xin et al (Pub No: 2023/0362708)
Bhattacharjee et al (Pub No: 2017/0054688)
Zhu et al (Patent No: 11,930,393)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM -5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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