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 .
Response to the Preliminary Amendment
Applicant’s preliminary amendment to the specification and claims dated 09/25/2024 has been fully considered and is entered. Claims 28-47 are examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 32-33, 35, 37, and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
As to claims 32 and 33, it is unclear what “EC” is.
As to claim 35, transmitting the message related to the PDU session towards an AMF is contradictory to claim 28 from which claim 35 depends where claim 28 states that the message related to the PDU session is transmitted towards a UE.
As to claims 37 and 44, there is a lack of proper antecedent basis for “the re-connection”.
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 28-47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mladin et al. (US 2023/0034349 A1).
As to claim 28, Mladin teaches a method comprising:
receiving a triggering message [PDU session establishment request from the UE that is received by the AMF, the AMF sending Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the selected SMF] (Figs. 5A and 5B, par. [0192]-[0194]); and
based at least on receiving the triggering message, transmitting towards a user equipment (UE) a message related to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session [SMF sends Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response to AMF] (par. [0195]), wherein the message related to the PDU session indicates any one or more of:
i) that a particular functionality is applied to a part of traffic or all traffic in the PDU session [response may include the FQDN of the EDNCS or may provide a DNS server address for the EDNCS to be updated at the UE] (par. [0195]);
ii) that 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access is needed for using a particular application or all applications mapped into the PDU session;
iii) that a reconnection to 5G System (5GS) is needed for using a particular application or all applications mapped into the PDU session; or
iv) that non-3GPP access is allowed for using a particular application or all applications mapped into the PDU session only if one or more conditions are satisfied.
As to claim 29, Mladin teaches that the triggering message is transmitted by either an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a Policy Control Function (PCF) [the AMF sending Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the selected SMF] (Figs. 5A and 5B, par. [0194]).
As to claim 30, Mladin teaches that the triggering message comprises any one or more of the followings:
i) a UE identifier identifying the UE,
ii) an IP address associated with the UE, or
(iii) a traffic descriptor associated with the UE (par. [0192]).
As to claim 31, Mladin teaches that the triggering message is any one of the following messages:
i) a Nsmf_PDU_Session_CreateSMContext Request [the AMF sending Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the selected SMF] (Figs. 5A and 5B, par. [0194]);
ii) a Npcf_SMPolicyControl_UpdateNotify message;
iii) a Neasdf_DNSContext_Notify Request; or
iv) a Nsmf_PDU_Session_UpdateSMContext Request.
As to claim 32, Mladin teaches analyzing the triggering message; and
based on analyzing the triggering message, determining that traffic in the PDU session is related to EC [determining if the Edge Configuration request indicator is included] (par. [0193]), wherein the transmission of the message related to the PDU session is based on the determination that traffic in the PDU session is related to EC (par. [0193]).
As to claim 33, Mladin teaches analyzing the triggering message;
based on analyzing the triggering message, determining that traffic in the PDU session is related to EC [determining if the Edge Configuration request indicator is included] (par. [0193]); and as a result of determining that the traffic in the PDU session is related to EC, selecting an edge User Plan Function (UPF) for a given traffic (par. [0195]).
As to claim 34, Mladin teaches that the message related to the PDU session comprises Extended Protocol Configuration Options (par. [0183], [0195]).
As to claim 35, Mladin teaches that the message related to the PDU session is transmitted towards an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (par. [0195]).
As to claim 36, Mladin teaches that the message related to the PDU session is any one of the following messages:
i) a Nsmf_PDUScssion_CrcateSMContext1 Response [SMF sends Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response to AMF] (par. [0195]);
ii) a Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Response; or
iii) a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer1 Request.
As to claim 37, Mladin teaches that the message related to the PDU session includes tunnel information needed for the re-connection (par. [0195]).
As to claim 38, Mladin teaches that the particular functionality comprises providing edge connectivity [response may include the FQDN of the EDNCS or may provide a DNS server address for the EDNCS to be updated at the UE] (par. [0195]).
As to claim 39, Mladin teaches an apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory (par. [0092], [0098]), wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the method of claim 28.
As to claim 40, Mladin teaches a method comprising:
receiving a message related to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session [receiving Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response from AMF] (par. [0195]);
analyzing the message related to the PDU session (par. [0195]-[0196]); and
retrieving from the message related to the PDU session an indication which indicates any one or more of:
i) that a particular functionality is applied to a part of traffic or all traffic in the PDU session [response may include the FQDN of the EDNCS or may provide a DNS server address for the EDNCS to be updated at the UE] (par. [0195]);
ii) that a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access is needed for using a particular application or all applications mapped into the PDU session;
iii) that a reconnection to 5G System (5GS) is needed for using a particular application or all applications mapped into the PDU session; or
iv) that a particular non-3GPP access or all non-3GPP accesses are allowed for using a particular application or all applications mapped into the PDU session only if one or more conditions are satisfied.
As to claim 41, Mladin teaches that the method is performed by a user equipment, UE (par. [0192], Figs. 5A and 5B).
As to claim 42, Mladin teaches that transmission of the message related to the PDU session is triggered by a Session Management Function (par. [0195]).
As to claims 43-44 and 46, Mladin teaches all the elements, as discussed per corresponding claims 34 and 37-38 above.
As to claim 45, Mladin teaches performing any one or more of the following actions:
(i) notifying any applications mapped into the PDU session that Edge Computing (EC) related functionality is applied to a part of the traffic, or all traffic mapped into the PDU session [first uplink data] (par. [0197]-[0199], Fig. 5B);
(ii) prohibiting usage of a particular non-3GPP access or any non-3GPP access for a particular application;
(iii) prohibiting usage of a particular non-3GPP access or any non-3GPP access for a given PDU session;
(iv) whenever a non-3GPP access becomes active, setting up a tunnel to a User Plane Function, UPF, and directing application/PDU session traffic through the tunnel; or
(v) monitoring performance of a first non-3GPP access and allowing a specific traffic to go through the first non-3GPP access only if one or more conditions related to the first non-3GPP access are satisfied.
As to claim 47, Mladin teaches an apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory (par. [0092], [0098]), wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the method of claim 40.
Related Prior Art
Jun et al. (US 2019/0373505 A1) is directed to a method for access traffic steering, switching, and splitting (ATSSS) in a network and a network entity for performing the method (abstract). In particular, Jun teaches the particulars of the ATSSS method in connection with figure 6 that show request and response messages indicating the functionality substantially similar to the pending claims (par. [0090], [0096]). Therefore, teachings of Jun are directly applicable to the pending claims and could be used in the rejection.
Conclusion
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/OLEG SURVILLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457