DETAILED ACTION
This communication is response to the application filed 09/24/2024. Claims 39-58 are pending and presented for examination. A preliminary amendment filed 09/24/2024 is acknowledged and entered.
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 09/24/2024 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
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 39-45, 47-52 and 54-58 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2022/005376 to LUNARDI, Luca et al. (hereafter Lunardi), see IDS dated 09/24/2024 in view of US 2023/0199543 to ZHANG et al. (hereafter Zhang),.
Regarding claim 1, Lunardi discloses a method for distributing quality-of-experience (QoE) measurements (see Lunardi, page 18: discloses UE; page 30, line 28, line 8) performed by user equipment (UEs) (see Lunardi, page 16, line 25-page 17, line 8) in a radio access network (RAN) (see Lunardi, Fig 1), the method performed by a first network node or function (NNF) of the RAN (see Lunardi, page 30, line 20) and comprising:
receiving one or more fourth messages (see Lunardi, Fig 11 and Fig 13; pages 7-9: measurement reports) from a second NNF of the RAN (see Lunardi, page 30, line 24), wherein: each fourth message includes one or more RAN-visible QoE (RVQoE) measurement reports (see Lunardi, Fig and Fig 13, pages 7-9: measurement reports),
each RVQoE measurement report includes one or more RVQoE metrics or values (see Lunardi, page 7, lines 10-11; page 9, line 25), and
each RVQoE metric or value is based on QoE measurements performed by a particular UE that is associated with the first NNF (see Lunardi, Fig 11 and Fig 13; pages 7-9: UE-UTRAN association); and
sending, to the second NNF, a first message including a request to stop sending RVQoE measurement reports to the first NNF (see Lunardi, page 18, lines 22-28: stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configuration for one or more services; stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configurations for one or more UEs; or stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configurations for one or more services and stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configurations for one or more UEs).
Lunardi does not explicitly disclose that the QoE measurements are RAN-visible, RVQoE.
However, Zhang discloses the QoE measurements are RAN-visible, RVQoE (see Zhang, ¶ 0121: The gNB-DU decides to activate RAN-visible QoE and generates RAN-visible QoE configuration; ¶ 0228-¶ 0230: the RAN-visible QoE report includes at least one of the following: RAN-visible QoE metrics, which are a subset of QoE metrics directly collected by the UE, e.g., round-trip time, jitter duration, average throughput, device information, codec information, and so on; RAN-visible QoE values, which include a set of values calculated from the RAN-visible QoE metrics).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 40, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 39, further comprising, based on the one or more fourth messages, performing one or more of the following for one or more the UEs that performed QoE measurements associated with the RVQoE measurement reports: scheduling data transmission and/or reception, and selection of a modulation and coding scheme for data transmission and/or reception (see Lunardi, Fig 29 and Fig 30; page 47: Step 2900: The UE sends a scheduling request on the PUCCH; Step 2902: The RAN node responds with a small UL grant on the PDCCH, where the transmission resource allocated by the UL grant is small but large enough to transmit a Buffer Status Report (BSR); Step 2904: The UE utilizes the uplink transmission resources allocated by the UL grant to send a Buffer Status Report in the form of a Short BSR MAC CE, a Short Truncated BSR MAC CE, a Long BSR MAC CE or a Long Truncated BSR MAC CE; Step 2906: The network sends a second UL grant to the UE, where the amount of data in the UE pending uplink transmission is taken into account in the allocated transmission resource size).
Regarding claim 41, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 39, further comprising sending, to the second NNF, a further first message including a request to start sending RVQoE measurement reports to the first NNF, wherein the one or more fourth messages are received in response to the further first message (see Lunardi, page 8, lines 11-15: The qoe-Extensions-rl6 IE may be used to indicate whether the UE supports the release 16 extensions for QoE Measurement Collection, i.e. if the UE supports more than one QoE measurement type at a time and if the UE supports the signaling of withinArea, sessionRecordinglndication, qoe-Reference, temporaryStopQoE and restartQoE; page 8: withinArea: The field indicates at handover, for each application layer measurement, whether the new cell is inside the area for the measurement, i.e. whether the UE is allowed to start new measurements in the cell; restartQoE: Indicates that QoE measurements can be reported again after a temporary stop; page 16, lines 18-22: When the overload situation in RAN is ended the eNB restart the reporting from the UE by send the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message [8] to relevant UEs. The RRCConnectionReconfiguration message is including measConfigAppLayer set to restart application layer measurement reporting in otherConfig).
Also, Zhang discloses sending, to the second NNF, a further first message including a request to start sending RVQoE measurement reports to the first NNF, wherein the one or more fourth messages are received in response to the further first message (see Zhang, ¶ 0029: The OAM sends the QoE measurement configuration to NG-RAN node, which sends the QoE measurement configuration to the AS layer of UE, which then sends the QoE measurement configuration to UE application layer. When a session starts, the application layer in UE checks the criteria (e.g. cell list, service type, etc.), and, if the criteria are met, starts the QoE measurement process and subsequent reporting process; ¶ 0034: The OAM/CN sends the QoE measurement configuration to the gNB-CU, which starts the activation procedure for QoE; ¶ 0053: a measurement duration, which indicates the time duration for RAN-visible QoE measurements in the UE, and may include a start time and an end time of the measurement collection operation or the measurement cycle in the UE; ¶ 0280: Before the RAN node starts the RAN-visible QoE retrieval, it is assumed that at least one QoE measurement exists in the UE AS layer or in the UE application layer).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 42, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 41, Lunardi does not explicitly disclose but Zhang discloses wherein the further first message indicates one or more of the following: one-shot or periodic reporting; when periodic reporting is indicated, a reporting period; when one-shot reporting is indicated, a time interval to which a report pertains or which should be excluded from a report; a total number or amount of RVQoE measurements; a number of RVQoE measurements per fourth message; one or more UE-related triggering events or conditions; one or more RVQoE-related triggering events or conditions; one or more RRC- or radio-related triggering events or conditions: one or more UE application layer triggering events or conditions; and one or more NNF resource-related triggering events or conditions (see Zhang, ¶ 0056: a reporting period, indicating how often measurements are collected/reported; ¶ 0057: a report event trigger, which defines one or more events that trigger a measurement report, e.g., a QOE metric being above or below a predefined threshold; ¶ 0058: a reporting method, which includes periodic reporting, event-triggered reporting, or one-time immediate reporting (wherein RAN QoE measurements are performed immediately based on the RAN-visible QoE configuration, and reported once); ¶ 0239: If the reporting method is configured to be periodic, then the UE sends the RAN-visible QoE reports to NG-RAN node periodically).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 43, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 41, Lunardi does not explicitly disclose wherein the further first message indicates RVQoE measurements from all UEs that are configured for RVQoE measurements and associated with or served by one of the following: the first NNF, or the second NNF.
However, Zhang discloses the further first message indicates RVQoE measurements from all UEs that are configured for RVQoE measurements and associated with or served by one of the following: the first NNF, or the second NNF (see Zhang, Fig 1; ¶ 0026: the downlink transmissions (141, 142, 143) include a configuration for RAN-visible QoE measurements. In response, the UEs transmit (131, 132, 133) QoE measurement reports, results or evaluations to the BS 120).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 44, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 41, Lunardi does not explicitly disclose wherein the further first message indicates RVQoE measurements associated with one or more of the following: network slice, cell, beam, data radio bearer, communication direction between a UE and an NNF, communication path through the RAN, protocol type, protocol addresses and/or port numbers, and a reporting periodicity (see Lunardi, page 18, lines 29-32: performing the one or more actions comprises changing the configuration of one or more or all UEs configured for QoE measurement in a respective cell from autonomous QoE measurement reporting to request-based QoE measurement reporting. In one embodiment, performing the one or more actions comprises instructing one or more UEs to store QoE measurements up to a certain limit, the certain limit defined in terms of size, time, or number of reports; page 26, lines 20-23: in the description herein, reference may be made to the term "cell"; however, particularly with respect to 5G NR concepts, beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, it is important to note that the concepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams; page 46, lines 2-6: only certain resources in a RAN node, rather than the entire RAN node, are overloaded (and among these overloaded resources, the resources for carrying QoE configuration(s)/report(s)). These resources can be, e.g., a backhaul bearer, a Service Radio Bearer (SRB), or a Data Radio Bearer (DRB), where, e.g., a buffer allocated to a DRB carrying the QoE configuration(s)/report(s) is overflowing).
Also, Zhang discloses wherein the further first message indicates RVQoE measurements associated with one or more of the following: network slice, cell, beam, data radio bearer, communication direction between a UE and an NNF, communication path through the RAN, protocol type, protocol addresses and/or port numbers, and a reporting periodicity (see Zhang, ¶ 0029: When a session starts, the application layer in UE checks the criteria (e.g. cell list, service type, etc.), and, if the criteria are met, starts the QoE measurement process and subsequent reporting process; ¶ 0041: a slice ID or a slice scope for QoE-visible QoE, which defines the slice that is recorded for the RAN node; ¶ 0042: RAN-visible QoE metrics, which are measured by the UE and reported to the RAN node. In some embodiments, the reported metrics are visible by RAN and are useful to the RAN node for optimizing QoE; ¶ 0058: a reporting method, which includes periodic reporting, event-triggered reporting, or one-time immediate reporting (wherein RAN QoE measurements are performed immediately based on the RAN-visible QoE configuration, and reported once); ¶ 0239: If the reporting method is configured to be periodic, then the UE sends the RAN-visible QoE reports to NG-RAN node periodically).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 45, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 41, Lunardi does not explicitly disclose wherein the first message and the further first message include same identifiers of one or more of the following: UE, UE group, QoE reference, trace recording session, and application layer measurement configuration.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the first message and the further first message include same identifiers of one or more of the following: UE, UE group, QoE reference, trace recording session, and application layer measurement configuration (see Zhang, ¶ 0036 and ¶ 0037: The NG-RAN node receives the QoE measurement configuration, which includes the service type. When the NG-RAN node decides to activate RAN-visible QoE, it generates the RAN-visible QOE configuration based on the corresponding service type received from the OAM. In some embodiments, the RAN-visible QoE configuration includes at least one of the following: a RAN-visible QoE reference identifier, which enables the RAN-visible QoE measurement to be correlated with a specific QoE measurement; ¶ 0173 and ¶ 0175: The NG-RAN node receives the QoE deactivation indication and decides to deactivate the QoE measurement and the RAN-visible QoE together. The NG-RAN node generates the configuration for deactivation, which includes at least one of the following: a RAN-visible QoE reference identifier, indicating the related QoE reference of a QoE measurement for RAN-visible QoE ).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 47, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 39, wherein: the method further comprises receiving, from the second NNF, a fifth message including assistance information for RVQoE measurement reports provided by or available from the second NNF; and the assistance information includes identifiers of one or more of the following associated with RVQoE measurement reports received in the one or more fourth messages: UE, UE group, QoE reference, trace recording session, application session, PDU session, application layer measurement configuration, network slice, cell, beam, data radio bearer, communication direction, protocol type, protocol addresses, and protocol port numbers (see Lunardi, Fig 9 and Fig 12; page 6 and page 8).
Regarding claim 48, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 39, wherein the first NNF is a gNB-DU, the second NNF is a gNB-CU or a part thereof, and the first message is sent via an FlAP interface between the first and second NNFs (see Lunardi, page 13, lines 5-16).
Also, Zhang discloses the wherein the first NNF is a gNB-DU, the second NNF is a gNB-CU or a part thereof, and the first message is sent via an FlAP interface between the first and second NNFs (see Zhang, ¶ 0088; ¶ 0143).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 49, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1. Applicant is merely claiming the transmission side of the invention.
Regarding claim 50, Lunardi in view of Zhang discloses the method of claim 49, further comprising based on the first message, refraining from sending the first NNF further fourth messages including RVQoE measurement reports (see Lunardi, page 18, lines 22-28: stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configuration for one or more services; stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configurations for one or more UEs; or stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configurations for one or more services and stopping, delaying, or pausing pending QoE measurement configurations for one or more UEs).
Also, Zhang discloses based on the first message, refraining from sending the first NNF further fourth messages including RVQoE measurement reports (see Zhang, ¶ 0214: The gNB-CU sends an F1AP message (e.g., UE Context Modification Request message) to the gNB-DU, which includes a configuration to suspend/resume RAN-visible QoE measurement; ¶ 0227: The gNB-CU sends an indication to suspend/resume RAN-visible QoE to QoE Server. If the indication to suspend a specific RAN-visible QoE measurement is received, the UE temporarily stops the specific RAN-visible QoE; ¶ 0296: Suspension/resumption of RAN-visible QoE triggered by the RAN node, including an indication from the gNB-DU to the gNB-CU, in order to suspend the RAN-visible QoE measurement).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Zhang and incorporate it into the system of Lunardi to provide an improved quality of experience for an increased number of users in the communication system (see Zhang, ¶ 0003).
Regarding claim 51, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 41.
Regarding claim 52, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 43.
Regarding claim 54, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 47.
Regarding claim 55, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 39. Although phrased as an apparatus claim, the claim is nevertheless simple repetitions of the subject matter of claim 39.
Regarding claim 56, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 47. Although phrased as an apparatus claim, the claim is nevertheless simple repetitions of the subject matter of claim 47.
Regarding claim 57, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 49. Although phrased as an apparatus claim, the claim is nevertheless simple repetitions of the subject matter of claim 49.
Regarding claim 58, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 47. Although phrased as an apparatus claim, the claim is nevertheless simple repetitions of the subject matter of claim 47.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 46 and 53 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2024/0414072 to NUGGEHALLI et al. discloses configuring quality-of-experience (QoE) measurements in mobile cellular networks are described. An example method for wireless communication includes generating, by a network node based on a first QoE measurement configuration, a second QoE measurement configuration, and transmitting, to a wireless device, a first radio resource control message comprising the second QoE measurement configuration and an activation configuration, wherein the first QoE measurement configuration configures the wireless device to perform QoE measurements that are not visible to the network node and the second QoE measurement configuration configures the wireless device to perform QoE measurement that are visible to the network node. RAN-visible QoE metrics, which are measured by the UE and reported to the RAN node. In some embodiments, the reported metrics are visible by RAN and are useful to the RAN node for optimizing QoE.
US 2024/0040440 to Hu et al. discloses a user equipment performs QoE measurement and AS measurement on a specified service in the idle state or the inactive state, to obtain a QoE measurement result and an AS measurement result, where there is a correspondence between the QoE measurement result and the AS measurement result; and sends the QoE measurement result and the AS measurement result to an access network device, and the access network device further sends the QoE measurement result and the AS measurement result to a core network, so that a configuration of a RAN is optimized, and user experience is improved.
US 12,598,496 to Eklof et al. discloses a first radio access network node (RNN) in a wireless network, for configuring quality of experience (QoE) measurements by user equipment (UEs). Such methods include sending, to a UE connected to the first RNN, a QoE measurement configuration for one or more services provided by an application layer of the UE; and sending, to the UE, a configuration for access-layer multi-connectivity of the UE with a second RNN in the wireless network. Such methods also include receiving one or more QoE measurement reports, in accordance with the QoE measurement configuration, from at least one of the UE and the second RNN. The QoE measurement reports include measurements made by the UE while in multi-connectivity with the first and second RNNs.
US 2023/0308919 to Barac et al. discloses Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement reporting in a cellular communications system having a split, or distributed, Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture. In one embodiment, a method performed in a RAN having a distributed RAN architecture comprises, at a control plane part of a central unit (CU-CP) of a base station of the RAN, sending one or more first messages to a user plane part of the central unit (CU-UP) to setup or modify one or more bearers and sending one or more second message to a distributed unit (DU) of the base station to setup or modify the one or more bearers.
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/RASHEED GIDADO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
