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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in reply communication filed on 09/30/2024.
Claims 1-10, 12, 14-15, 18, 48-49, 52 and 64-66 are pending.
Claims 11, 13, 16-17, 19-47, 50-51, 53-63 are cancelled.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-6, 8-10, 14-15, 49, and 52 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2-6 recited, “The method according to claim 1” in line 1. For clarity, it is suggested to change to “The information processing method according to claim 1”.
Claims 8-10 recited, “The method according to claim 7” in line 1. For clarity, it is suggested to change to “The information processing method according to claim 7”.
Claims 14-15 recited, “The method according to claim 7” in line 1. For clarity, it is suggested to change to “The information processing method according to claim 7”.
Claims 49 and 52 recited, “The method according to claim 48” in line 1. For clarity, it is suggested to change to “The information processing method according to claim 48”.
Claims 9-10 recited, “the first location information” in line 4. For clarity, it is suggested to change to “a first location information”.
All other dependent claims are also objected since they are depended on objected claims 1 and 12.
Appropriate corrections are required.
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 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 1-5, 7-10, 12, 14-15, 18, 48-49, 52, and 64-66 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by YAO et al. (US 2022/0078047.
Regarding claim 1, YAO discloses an information processing method [see Fig. 5A, 5B, ¶¶ 87-172; a virtual network communication method], comprising:
receiving, by a first network device, first information sent by a second network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 98; S503, receives, by GSMF network element/first network device, message 1/(first information) from the SMF1 network element/second network device];
wherein the first information at least includes a first service area [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 98; wherein the message 1/(first information) at least includes a identifier of the SMF1 network element//first service area], and
the first information further includes at least one of the following:
terminal information of a 5G virtual network group [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 98; wherein the message 1/(first information) further includes the identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 1 belongs].
Regarding claim 2, YAO discloses the method according to claim 1.
YAO further discloses wherein the method further includes:
receiving, by the first network device, second information sent by a third network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 119; S506, receives, by the GSMF network element/first network device, the message 2/(second information) from the SMF2 network element/(third network device)], wherein the second information is used to obtain first data [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 124; wherein the message 2/(second information) is used to obtain first data (used to determine the identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 2 belongs)];
sending, by the first network device, third information to the third network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 123; S509, sending, by the GSMF network element/first network device, message 4/(third information) to the SMF2 network element/(third network device)], wherein the third information includes the first data [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 141; wherein the message 4/(third information) includes the identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 2 belongs/(first data)], and the first data includes at least one of the following: data network name, first service area and slice information [see ¶ 93; the identifier of the 5GVN group/(first data) may be a special domain name (for example, a data network name (data network name, DNN))].
Regarding claim 3, YAO discloses the method according to claim 1.
YAO further discloses wherein the method further includes:
receiving, by the first network device, fourth information sent by a fourth network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 119; S506, receives, by the GSMF network element/first network device, the message 2/(fourth information) from the SMF2 network element/(fourth network device)], wherein the fourth information is used to obtain second data [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 124; wherein the message 2/(fourth information) is used to obtain second data (used to determine the identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 2 belongs)];
sending, by the first network device, fifth information to the fourth network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 123; S509, sending, by the GSMF network element/first network device, message 4/(fifth information) to the SMF2 network element/(fourth network device)], wherein the fifth information includes the second data [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 141; wherein the message 4/(fifth information) includes the identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 2 belongs/(second data)], and the second data includes at least one of the following: data network name [see ¶ 93; the identifier of the 5GVN group/(second data) may be a special domain name (for example, a data network name (data network name, DNN))].
Regarding claim 4, YAO discloses the method according to claim 1.
YAO further discloses wherein the first service area includes at least one of the following: a service area of a local area data network and a service area of a 5G virtual network group [see ¶ 104; wherein the first service area includes at least one of the following: a service area of a local area data network and a service area of a 5G virtual network group].
Regarding claim 5, YAO discloses the method according to claim 1.
YAO further discloses wherein the data network name includes at least one of the following: a data network name (DNN) of a local area data network (LADN), and a data network name of a 5G virtual network group [see ¶¶ 93, 104; wherein the data network name includes at least one of the following: a data network name (DNN) of a local area data network (LADN), and a data network name of a 5G virtual network group].
Regarding claim 7, YAO discloses an information processing method [see Fig. 5A, 5B, ¶¶ 87-172; a virtual network communication method], comprising:
obtaining, by a fourth network device, second data from a first network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 98; S503, obtaining, by GSMF network element/ fourth network device, message 1/(second data) from the SMF1 network element/(first network device)] and
establishing or not establishing a session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services, based on the second data [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 104; establishing or not establishing a session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services, based on the message 1/(second data)];
wherein the second data includes at least one the following: data network name, slice information, first service area, indication to use a local area data network (LADN) mechanism, and indication to use a session management function (SMF) control mechanism [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 104; wherein the message 1/(second data) at least includes a identifier of the SMF1 network element//first service area]].
Regarding claim 8, YAO discloses the method according to claim 7.
YAO further discloses wherein the method further includes:
receiving, by the fourth network device, sixth information [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 119; S506, receives, by the GSMF network element/(fourth network device), the message 2/(sixth information) from the SMF2 network element/(third network device)], wherein the sixth information includes at least one of the following: data network name, slice information [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 119; wherein the message 2/(sixth information) includes identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 2 belongs, which may be a special domain name (for example, a data network name (data network name, DNN))].
Regarding claim 9, YAO discloses the method according to claim 7.
YAO further discloses wherein the establishing a session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services, based on the second data, includes: in case that the first location information of the first terminal is in the first service area, establishing, by the fourth network device, the session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services, based on the second data [see ¶¶ 103-104; the GSMF network element may determine, based on the identifier of the terminal device 1 in the message 1 and a mapping relationship between an identifier of a terminal device and an identifier of a 5GVN group to which the terminal device belongs pre-stored in the GSMF network element, the identifier of the first 5GVN group to which the terminal device 1 belong].
Regarding claim 10, YAO discloses the method according to claim 7.
YAO further discloses wherein the not establishing a session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services, based on the second data, includes: in case that the first location information of the first terminal is not in the first service area, terminating or refusing to establish the session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services, or not establishing the session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services [see ¶ 109; assuming that the terminal device 1 is not the first terminal device that reports topology information of the first 5GVN group to the GSMF network element, the topology information that is of the first 5GVN group and that is updated by the GSMF network element may be that shown in Table 2 or Table 3].
Regarding claim 12, YAO discloses the method according to claim 8.
YAO further discloses wherein the method further includes: in case that the number of the fourth network devices is multiple, exchanging context of the 5G virtual network group through ninth information [see ¶ 35; the tunnel information of the user plane network element is directly exchanged between the first session management network element and the second session management network element, so that a tunnel establishment procedure and a forwarding rule establishment procedure can be simplified].
Regarding claim 14, YAO discloses the method according to claim 7.
YAO further discloses wherein the first service area includes at least one of the following: a service area of a local area data network and a service area of a 5G virtual network group [see ¶ 104; wherein the first service area includes at least one of the following: a service area of a local area data network and a service area of a 5G virtual network group].
.
Regarding claim 15, YAO discloses the method according to claim 7.
YAO further discloses wherein the data network name includes at least one of the following: a data network name (DNN) of a local area data network (LADN), and a data network name of a 5G virtual network group [see ¶¶ 93, 104; wherein the data network name includes at least one of the following: a data network name (DNN) of a local area data network (LADN), and a data network name of a 5G virtual network group].
Regarding claim 48, YAO discloses an information processing method [see Fig. 5A, 5B, ¶¶ 87-172; a virtual network communication method], comprising:
in case that a first terminal is in a third service area, sending, by the first terminal, twelfth information to a third network device [see Fig. 5A, ¶ 88; S501, terminal device 1 sends a session establishment request 1 to an SMF1 network element], wherein the twelfth information is used to request establish a session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services [see Fig. 5A, ¶¶ 89, 92-94; wherein the session establishment request 1 is used to request establish a session for transmitting 5G virtual network group data or services].
Regarding claim 49, YAO discloses the method according to claim 48.
YAO further discloses wherein the receiving, by the first terminal, sixteenth information sent by a fourth network device, includes: receiving, by the first terminal, through the third network device or an access network device, the sixteenth information sent by the fourth network device [see ¶ 94; S502, SMF1 network element selects a UPF1 network element to serve the terminal device 1, establishes an N3 tunnel between the UPF1 network element and an access device 1, and establishes or configures the following forwarding rule on the UPF1 network element: sending a data packet whose destination address is an address of the terminal device 1 to the access device 1 on the corresponding N3 tunnel];
Regarding claim 52, YAO discloses the method according to claim 48.
YAO further discloses wherein the method further includes: based on the fourteenth information indicating that the first terminal is in the service area of the 5G virtual network group or indicating the first terminal to initiate a session establishment request [see ¶¶ 97, 102; if the identifier of the terminal device 1 in the session establishment request 1 in step S501 is the permanent identifier of the terminal device 1], sending, by the first terminal, a session establishment request which is sent to the third network device through an access network device [see ¶ 101; the SMF1 network element may send a request message to the GSMF network element].
Regarding claim 64, the claim recites communication equipment, comprising: a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor [see Fig. 7, ¶ 190; a group session management network element 70 includes a processing module 701 and a transceiver module 702. The transceiver module 702]; wherein the program, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the information processing method recited as in claim 1; therefore, claim 64 is rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claim 1.
Regarding claim 65, the claim recites communication equipment, comprising: a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor [see Fig. 7, ¶ 190; a group session management network element 70 includes a processing module 701 and a transceiver module 702. The transceiver module 702]; wherein the program, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the information processing method recited as in claim 7; therefore, claim 65 is rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claim 7.
. Regarding claim 66, the claim recites communication equipment, comprising: a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor [see Fig. 7, ¶ 190; a group session management network element 70 includes a processing module 701 and a transceiver module 702. The transceiver module 702]; wherein the program, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the information processing method recited as in claim 48; therefore, claim 66 is rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claim 48.
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 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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 unpatentable over YAO et al. (US 2022/0078047 in view of Zhu et al. (US 2022/0060416).
Regarding claim 6, YAO discloses the method according to claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the method further includes: pre-configuring the first network device with nineteenth information, wherein the nineteenth information indicates the LADN mechanism or indicates the SMF control mechanism.
However, Zhu discloses wherein the method further includes: pre-configuring the first network device with nineteenth information, wherein the nineteenth information indicates the LADN mechanism or indicates the SMF control mechanism [see ¶ 201; group policy information/(nineteenth information) may be preconfigured on the SMF network element by an operation, administration and maintenance (OAM) network element].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein the multi-link management unit controls construction of a data frame with an adjusted number of pieces of transmission data for at least one of the links used for transmission of the data” as taught by Zhu in the system of YAO, so that it would provide to reduce signaling overheads between the SMF network element and the UPF network element when the routing rule is configured [see Zhu; ¶ 5].
Conclusion
In additional to references cited that are used for rejection as set forth above, Han et al. (US 2022/0330355) is also considered as relevant prior arts for rejection of in claims 1, 7, 48, 64-66 (See Han; Figs. 10; ¶¶ 55-65).
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/PHONG LA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 246
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