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 .
Priority
The Instant Application, filed 08/30/2024, is a national stage entry of PCT/IB2023/ 054574 with an international filing date of 05/02/2023 and claims priority from Provisional Application 63/337935, filed 05/03/2022.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 12-16 and 18-21 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/11/2026.
The Examiner notes that claims 1-11 are drawn to Species 1 and claims 12-16 are drawn to Species 2 in the Restriction Requirement as opposed to claims 1-16 being drawn to Species 1 as stated by Applicant. Therefore claims 1-11 are being examined as per Applicant’s election.
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)(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) 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by "Service Enabler Architecture Layer for Verticals (SEAL); Functional architecture and information flows; (Release 17)", 3GPP STANDARD; TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION; 3GPP TS 23.434; no. V17.5.0 23 March 2022; XP052144755, hereinafter referred to as “3GPP”.
As per claim 1, 3GPP teaches a network entity for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity to: receive a network slice configuration request for a vertical application, wherein the network slice configuration request includes:
an identifier of the vertical application;
an identifier of a network route selection that includes one or more route selection descriptors of a network route for the vertical application [pages 174-176]; and
a group identifier for a group of one or more user devices associated with the vertical application [pages 69-72];
trigger a network slice configuration for each user device of the group of one or more user devices associated with the vertical application [pages 49-51]; and
message a core network entity to adapt the route selection descriptors for the vertical application [pages 172 and 181].
As per claim 2, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least processor is further configured to cause the network entity to: message a policy control function (PCF) node of a wireless communications system to adapt the route selection descriptors for the vertical application [page 119].
As per claim 3, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the message to adapt the route selection descriptors for the vertical application includes a command to update one or more route selection policies for the vertical application when establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session for the vertical application [page 92].
As per claim 4, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration request for the vertical application is received from a vertical application layer (VAL) client contained by one or more user devices associated with the vertical application [page 25].
As per claim 5, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration request for the vertical application is received from a vertical application layer (VAL) server that communicates with VAL clients contained by one or more user devices associated with the vertical application [page 28].
As per claim 6, 3GPP-Sternberg teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration request is part of a constrained application protocol (CoAP) message constructed by an application programming interface (API) uniform resource identifier (URI) that includes: a value identifying the vertical application; and a value identifying a configuration that defines the one or route selection descriptors of the network route for the vertical application and the group identifier for the group of one or more user devices associated with the vertical application [pages 60-61 and 181].
As per claim 7, 3GPP-Sternberg teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration request is part of a constrained application protocol (CoAP) message constructed by an application programming interface (API) uniform resource identifier (URI) includes: a value identifying the vertical application; and a value identifying a slice configuration that defines the one or route selection descriptors of the network route for the vertical application and the group identifier for the group of one or more user devices associated with the vertical application [pages 60-61 and 181].
As per claim 8, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration request is part of a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) message that includes: a request uniform resource identifier (URI) that identifies an entity of the vertical application; a configuration identifier that identifies a configuration identity; a group identify that identifies the group of one or more user devices; a network route selection that includes the one or more route selection descriptors; and a configuration cause that identifies a cause of a configuration represented by the configuration identity [pages 29-30].
As per claim 9, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the network slice configuration request is part of a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) message that includes: a request uniform resource identifier (URI) that identifies an entity of the vertical application; a slice configuration identifier that identifies a configuration identity for a network slice associated with the vertical application; a group identify that identifies the group of one or more user devices; a network route selection that includes the one or more route selection descriptors; and a configuration cause that identifies a cause of a configuration represented by the configuration identity [pages 32-33].
As per claim 10, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the network entity to: transmit a network slice configuration response that includes information confirming the adaptation of the route selection descriptors for the vertical application [page 174].
As per claim 11, 3GPP teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the one or more route selection descriptors of the network route for the vertical application include single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) and data network name (DNN) information [pages 172-173].
There are prior art made of record not relied upon but is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANODHI N SERRAO whose telephone number is (571)272-7967. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
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Ranodhi N. Serrao
/RANODHI SERRAO/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2444