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 .
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(s) 6-9 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2024/0357623) in view of Ling (US 2025/0184172).
Li discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 6, a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system (see radio access network device in Fig. 3, shared RAN #x in Fig. 10A, or “base station” recited in paragraph [0003] or [0381]), the method comprising:
receiving, from an AMF, an N2 message request based on a MBS session generation request of a MB-SMF (see step 705 in Fig. 10A, wherein the shared RAN #x receives an N2 message from PLMN #b AMF #b, based on the session start request message 704 sent from PLMN #b MB-SMF #b), wherein the N2 message request comprising a first TMGI for a broadcast service (see “the N2 request message carries the list of the broadcast service identifiers of the broadcast service #3 in all the PLMN networks. For example, the identifier in the PLMN #a is the TMGI #m, and the identifier in the PLMN #b is the TMGI #n” recited in paragraph [0384]) and at least one of an ID of the broadcast service or a second TMGI list for an identical broadcast service as the first TMGI ((see “the N2 request message carries the list of the broadcast service identifiers of the broadcast service #3 in all the PLMN networks. For example, the identifier in the PLMN #a is the TMGI #m, and the identifier in the PLMN #b is the TMGI #n” recited in paragraph [0384] and “The N2 request message may further carry one or more of the following information: for example, the identifier TMGI #n of the broadcast service #3 in the PLMN #b, the broadcast area information (for example, the cell list information or the tracking area list (TA list)), and the QoS information of the broadcast session” recited in paragraph [0384]);
selecting a primary TMGI to be used to provide the broadcast service, based on the first TMGI and at least one of the ID of the broadcast service or the second TMGI list (see step 706 in Fig. 10A, wherein the shared RAN #x allocates resource based on the N2 request message, wherein paragraph [0391] shows that “the identifier TMGI #n of the broadcast service #3 in the PLMN #b” being selected amongst the TMGI #m and TMGI #n being received in step 705);
transmitting, to the AMF, an N2 message response comprising the primary TMGI (see step 707 in Fig. 10A, wherein the shared RAN #x sends an N2 response message to the PLMN #b AMF #b).
Regarding claim 7, wherein the base station is a RAN sharing NG-RAN or MOCN NG-RAN (see shared RAN #x in Fig. 10A; and see “MOCN” recited in paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claim 15, a base station in a wireless communication system (see radio access network device in Fig. 3, shared RAN #x in Fig. 10A, or “base station” recited in paragraph [0003] or [0381]), the base station comprising:
a transceiver (see transceiver 210 in Fig. 13); and
at least one processor (see processor 220 in Fig. 13),
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
receive, from an AMF, an N2 message request based on a MBS session generation request of a MB-SMF (see step 705 in Fig. 10A, wherein the shared RAN #x receives an N2 message from PLMN #b AMF #b, based on the session start request message 704 sent from PLMN #b MB-SMF #b), wherein the N2 message request comprising a first TMGI for a broadcast service (see “the N2 request message carries the list of the broadcast service identifiers of the broadcast service #3 in all the PLMN networks. For example, the identifier in the PLMN #a is the TMGI #m, and the identifier in the PLMN #b is the TMGI #n” recited in paragraph [0384]) and at least one of an ID of the broadcast service or a second TMGI list for an identical broadcast service as the first TMGI ((see “the N2 request message carries the list of the broadcast service identifiers of the broadcast service #3 in all the PLMN networks. For example, the identifier in the PLMN #a is the TMGI #m, and the identifier in the PLMN #b is the TMGI #n” recited in paragraph [0384] and “The N2 request message may further carry one or more of the following information: for example, the identifier TMGI #n of the broadcast service #3 in the PLMN #b, the broadcast area information (for example, the cell list information or the tracking area list (TA list)), and the QoS information of the broadcast session” recited in paragraph [0384]);
select a primary TMGI to be used to provide the broadcast service, based on the first TMGI and at least one of the ID of the broadcast service or the second TMGI list (see step 706 in Fig. 10A, wherein the shared RAN #x allocates resource based on the N2 request message, wherein paragraph [0391] shows that “the identifier TMGI #n of the broadcast service #3 in the PLMN #b” being selected amongst the TMGI #m and TMGI #n being received in step 705);
transmit, to the AMF, an N2 message response comprising the primary TMGI (see step 707 in Fig. 10A, wherein the shared RAN #x sends an N2 response message to the PLMN #b AMF #b).
Li does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 6 and 15, transmitting, to the AMF, an N2 message response comprising the primary TMGI (Li discloses the N2 message response, but does not specify that the N2 message response includes the primary TMGI); and receiving data corresponding to the broadcast service, based on the primary TMGI; regarding claim 8, wherein the N2 message response comprises information regarding a tunnel between the base station and an MB-UPF for receiving data corresponding to the broadcast service to the base station, and wherein data is not received from the MB-UPF through a TMGI not selected as the primary TMGI; regarding claim 9, transmitting, to at least one terminal, an MBS service announcement, wherein the MBS service announcement comprising at least one of the ID of the broadcast service, the primary TMGI, or location information of the base station.
Ling discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 6 and 15, transmitting, to the AMF, an N2 message response comprising the primary TMGI (see Fig. 12, step 12.6, wherein the N2 message includes TMGI to be used for the MBS session, which corresponds to TMGI #n selected in step 706 of Li); and receiving data corresponding to the broadcast service, based on the primary TMGI (see step 12.11 in Fig. 12, wherein the NG-RAN receives the media stream based on the tunnel established in step 12.6-12.8 that corresponds to the TMGI and Tunnel information included in the N2 message response in step 12.6).
Regarding claim 8, wherein the N2 message response comprises information regarding a tunnel between the base station and an MB-UPF for receiving data corresponding to the broadcast service to the base station (see N2 message response 12.6 in Fig. 12 that includes the N3mb DL Tunnel info for forming the tunnel in step 12.1 between the NG-RAN and the MB-UPF), and wherein data is not received from the MB-UPF through a TMGI not selected as the primary TMGI (see Fig. 12, wherein data is received from the MB-UPF for the tunnel set up based on the N2 message response in step 12.6, which corresponds with TMGI #n of PLMN #b based on Li’s teaching in Fig. 10A and not from the TMGI #m of PLMN #a until further session in Fig. 10B).
Regarding claim 9, transmitting, to at least one terminal, an MBS service announcement, wherein the MBS service announcement comprising at least one of the ID of the broadcast service, the primary TMGI (see step 12.9 in Fig. 12 and paragraph [0208], wherein “NG-RAN advertises the TMGI representing the MBS service over radio interface”), or location information of the base station.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Li using features, as taught by Ling, in order to deliver MBS traffic to the UE (see paragraphs [0018]-[0021] of Ling).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 11-14 are allowed.
Claim 10 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: no reasonable combination of prior art references is found to disclose all of the claimed features as required in the currently allowed claims.
Closest found references include the above cited references, Mori (US 2024/0155734) and Ling’029 (US 2025/0098029).
The above cited references and Mori (Figs. 3-8) each disclose MBS session procedures similar to that of the current Application. However, each of these references fail to disclose all of the claimed communication between the AF, MB-SMF, AMF and base station in the same chronological order as presented in independent claims 1 and 11.
Ling’029 discloses in Fig. 1K and its corresponding text in the specification that captures most of the claimed features of the currently presented claims. However, although Ling’029 has a earlier foreign priority date than that of the current Application, the relevant portions were not present in the document (PCT/CN2022/074564) of which Ling’029 that claims foreign priority to and pre-dates the foreign priority date of the current application (03/28/2022). Ling’029 also points to the 3GPP TR 23.700-47 V0.2.0. for disclosing Fig. 1K. However, 3GPP TR 23.700-47 V0.2.0. is published in April 2022 and therefore also does not qualify as prior arts for the current Application.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUTAI KAO whose telephone number is (571)272-9719. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00 EST.
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/JUTAI KAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
