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 Amendment
This is in response to an amendment/response/communication filed 10/09/2024.
Claims 13-15, 27-29 have been cancelled.
No claims have been added.
Claims(s) 1-12, 16-26 is/are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 10/30/2024 is/are in
compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is
being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 10/09/2024. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informality: the line “The user equipment of, wherein” should be “The user equipment of claim 1, wherein”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-12, 16-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tiwari et al. (US 20240284377 A1) in view of Ianev et al. (US 20250071653 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tiwari et al. teaches a user equipment comprising: at least one processor: and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform operations (Paragraph 23, 272, teaches a UE having a controller comprising one or more processors that executes software stored in memory to control the UE and perform its disclosed communication operations), the operations comprising: … an indication that the UE is to initiate registration (Paragraph 133-134, 139-141, expressly teaches that a network-provided configuration indication determines whether the UE is to initiate registration and, when the indication permits registration, the UE initiates the registration procedure and sends a Registration Request) to the communication network (Paragraph 52, 79, 106, 140, 156, 167, expressly teaches the UE initiating registration to a PLMN/5GC communication network by transmitting a Registration Request to the network) to request at least one connectivity parameter (Paragraph 44, 52, 66-67, 106, 206-207, teaches initiating registration with a Registration Request that requests network connectivity-related parameters, particularly a Requested NSSAI/S-NSSAI identifying the network slice connectivity sought by the UE, as well as other expressly requested communication parameters) for the communication network (Paragraph 58, 87, 173, 208-209, teaches network connectivity parameters supplied in response to registration, including Allowed/Configured NSSAI defining network-slice connectivity and multiple negotiated communication parameters governing the UE's network access and operation); and initiating registration to the communication network to request the at least one connectivity parameter for the communication network based on the indication (Paragraph 66-67, 106, 112-114, 122, 134, 140-141, 206-207, teaches the UE acting according to received policy/configuration information to initiate registration by sending a Registration Request that requests connectivity parameters including an S-NSSAI through the Requested NSSAI).
Tiwari et al. does not explicitly teach the URSP for the UE comprising…receiving a UE route selection policy (URSP) for the UE by from a core network of a communication network.
However, Ianev et al. teaches the URSP for the UE comprising (Paragraph 252, 260, 263, 269-271, repeatedly discloses a URSP rule/ UE policy associated with the UE and corresponding USRP information maintained and reported by the UE)… receiving a UE route selection policy (URSP) for the UE by from a core network of a communication network (Paragraph 315, 324-325, 339, 352, 360-361, The passage teaches the core network PCF providing updated URSP rules to the UE through a UE Policy Update procedure, satisfying receipt of a URSP from the communication network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the URSP for the UE comprising… receiving a UE route selection policy (URSP) for the UE by from a core network of a communication network as taught by Ianev et al. in the system of Tiwari et al., so that it would enable the UE to receive network-provided route selection policies directly from the core network before initiating registration, thereby ensuring that registration and subsequent requests for connectivity parameters are performed in accordance with the latest network-defined routing and access policies while improving centralized policy management and consistent network operation.
Regarding claim 2, Tiwari et al. teaches connectivity parameter comprises an identifier of a network slice (Paragraph 43, 46, 52, 56, 58, 67, 106, 156, 167, 170, 172-173, 206-209, 228-229, teaches connectivity/registration parameters containing S-NSSAI/NSSAI information, with S-NSSAI expressly used as information indicating a requested network slice).
Regarding claim 3, Tiwari et al. teaches sending a message to the core network of the communication network, wherein the message comprises at least a feature support indication for the UE, a feature support indication indicating that the UE is capable of initiating registration based on the at least one indication (Paragraph 139-141, 205-207, 232 teaches the UE sending a Registration Request to the core-network AMF containing UE capability/support indications and separately teaches configuration information indicating whether the UE is capable/allowed to initiate registration based on specified conditions).
Regarding claim 4, Tiwari et al. teaches the URSP comprises one or more URSP rules comprising the at least one indication for the UE (Paragraph 52, 58, 65-67, 149, teaches UE policy/rule information that governs selection of S-NSSAIs, including application-to-S-NSSAI mapping and network-provided indications/policies for the UE).
Regarding claim 5, Tiwari et al. teaches initiating the registration comprises sending, by the UE to the core network, a request for the at least one connectivity parameter for the communication network (Paragraph 52, 79, 106, 112-114, 122, 130, 134, 138, 140-141, 144, 149, 156, 167, 169-170, 205-207, teaches initiating registration by the UE sending a Registration Request directly toward the core-network AMF containing Requested NSSAI/S-NSSAI and other expressly “requested” network parameters, with the network subsequently obtaining and returning corresponding information).
Regarding claim 6, Tiwari et al. teaches initiating the registration to the communication network comprises initiating protocol data (PDU) session establishment to establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session (Paragraph 134, 137, 140, 175, teaches initiating registration over an access and, once registration provides an allowed NSSAI, initiating PDU session establishment associated with that registered/allowed NSSAI).
Regarding claim 7, Tiwari et al. teaches initiating the registration comprises initiating the registration in response to receipt of the URSP comprising the at least one indication (Paragraph 103-106, 128, 139-141, teaches receiving network-provided NSSRG information/configuration parameters containing indications controlling whether registration is permitted and subsequently initiating registration based on those received indications).
Regarding claim 8, Tiwari et al. teaches the initiating the registration to the communication network comprises initiating the registration to the communication network upon detecting a request to establish a PDU session for an application associated with the UE (Paragraph 101, 105-106, 111-113, 121-122, 134, 137, 140, 149, teaches that the UE detects an upper-layer request associated with an application-mapped S-NSSAI and, responsive to that request, initiates network registration for that S-NSSAI, while separately teaching that PDU-session establishment is performed for the S-NSSAI after registration).
Regarding claim 9, Tiwari et al. teaches the operations further comprise: in response to a failure related to the initiating the registration to the communication network, initiating another registration to the communication network using a route selection descriptor (RSD) of a matching URSP rule of the URSP for the UE (Paragraph 52, 61, 147-149, teaches that, in response to failure/rejection of an initiated registration, the UE initiates another registration using revised policy-compatible S-NSSAI information selected according to UE-side network-slice rules and application mappings).
Regarding claim 10, Tiwari et al. teaches in response to a failure related to the initiating the registration to the communication network, initiating another registration to the communication network using another route selection descriptor (RSD) of URSP for the UE (Paragraph 61, 147-149, teaches that upon failure/rejection of an initiated registration the UE initiates another registration using changed compatible S-NSSAI/access-selection information, including application-to-S-NSSAI mappings and priorities).
Regarding claim 11, Tiwari et al. teaches in response to a failure related to the initiating the registration to the communication network, initiating another registration to the communication network using an identifier of another network slice included in the at least one connectivity parameter (Paragraph 110, 112, 147-148, teaches that when an initiated registration using one S-NSSAI fails because that slice is incompatible, the UE responds to the Registration Reject by initiating another registration using a different compatible S-NSSAI identified through its previously provided NSSAI/NSSRG slice configuration information).
Regarding claim 12, Tiwari et al. teaches initiating another registration to the communication network based on priority values assigned to route selection descriptors (RSDs) of a URSP rule of the URSP (Paragraph 130, 133-134, 148-149, teaches initiating or re-initiating another network registration based on relative priority between access types or S-NSSAIs, including priority derived from application-to-S-NSSAI mappings).
Regarding claim 16, Tiwari et al. teaches an apparatus for a core network of a communication network, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform operations (Paragraph 189, 192, 266, 272, teaches a core-network AMF apparatus having a processor-based controller that executes software stored in memory to perform the AMF's network operations), the operations comprising: … an indication that indicates the UE to initiate registration to the communication network (Paragraph 133-134, 139-141, teaches an AMF-sent indication/configuration parameter that controls whether the UE is permitted to initiate a registration procedure and expressly causes the UE to initiate registration when the indicated condition is satisfied) to request at least one connectivity parameter for the communication network (Paragraph 52, 67, 106, 134, 140-141, 167, 171, 173, 206-207, teaches initiating registration to request network connectivity-related parameters including requested network slices/NSSAI and other requested communication parameters, with the network subsequently assigning corresponding allowed NSSAI).
Tiwari et al. does not explicitly teach the URSP for the UE comprising… sending, to a user equipment (UE), a UE route selection policy (URSP) for the UE.
However, Ianev et al. teaches the URSP for the UE comprising (Paragraph 252, 260, 263, 269-271, repeatedly discloses a URSP rule/ UE policy associated with the UE and corresponding USRP information maintained and reported by the UE)… sending, to a user equipment (UE), a UE route selection policy (URSP) for the UE (Paragraph 315, 324-325, 352, 360-361, teaches a core-network PCF updating and sending URSP rules (UE policy) to the UE through a UE policy update procedure).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the URSP for the UE comprising… sending, to a user equipment (UE), a UE route selection policy (URSP) for the UE as taught by Ianev et al. in the system of Tiwari et al., so that it would enable the core network to provision the UE with standardized URSP rules that direct the UE to initiate registration and request appropriate connectivity parameters in accordance with operator-defined policies, thereby improving policy enforcement, ensuring consistent route selection behavior, and facilitating efficient establishment of network connectivity and service selection.
Regarding claim 17, Tiwari et al. teaches configuring the indication as a route selection descriptor (RSD) indication in one or more RSDs of a URSP rule of the URSP (Paragraph 52, 149, 193, teaches policy-based selection of S-NSSAIs, including application-to-S-NSSAI mapping and network/UE-configured priority).
Regarding claim 18, Tiwari et al. teaches configuring the at least one indication as a route selection descriptor (RSD) indication in a URSP rule of the URSP (Paragraph 52, 149, 193, teaches network/UE policy-based selection of an S-NSSAI, including application-to-S-NSSAI mapping and priority).
Regarding claim 19, Tiwari et al. teaches at least one connectivity parameter comprises an identifier of a network slice (Paragraph 43, 46, 52, 56, 58, 67, 106, 156, 167, 170, 172-173, 206-209, 228-229, teaches connectivity/registration parameters containing S-NSSAI/NSSAI information, with S-NSSAI expressly used as information indicating a requested network slice).
Regarding claim 20, Tiwari et al. teaches sending a policy command message to the UE, wherein the policy command message comprises at least the URSP for the UE comprising the at least one indication (Paragraph 63, 133, 139, 228, teaches sending a policy/configuration command from the network to the UE containing indications governing network-slice/access behavior).
Regarding claim 21, Tiwari et al. teaches the URSP included in the policy command message comprises one or more URSP rules comprising the indication (Paragraph 52, 133, 139, 228-229, teaches policy/rule-based UE behavior and an indication/configuration parameter conveyed to the UE in a Configuration Update Command message).
Regarding claim 22, Tiwari et al. teaches configuring the URSP with the at least one indication in response to receipt of a message from the UE (Paragraph 107, 145-146, 156, 159, 167, 169-171, 205-209, teaches that, in response to receiving a UE Registration Request containing the UE's requested slice indication(s), the network/AMF evaluates those indications using NSSRG policy and correspondingly configures the UE's network-selection/slice-routing information through Allowed/Configured NSSAI and configuration-update information).
Regarding claim 23, Tiwari et al. teaches receiving a manage UE policy complete message from the UE, wherein the manage UE policy complete message comprises an indication of success or failure related to the registration of the UE to the communication network (Paragraph 58, 61, 65, 88, 90-91, 147, 173-174, 208-211, teaches the AMF receiving a Registration Complete message from the UE after the network confirms successful UE registration and separately teaches success/failure registration results through Registration Accept/Reject messages).
Regarding claim 24, Tiwari et al. teaches encoding the indication into the URSP for the UE (Paragraph 44, 58, 63, 133, 139, teaches generating/configuring an indication or policy for a UE and embedding that information into NAS configuration/registration signaling delivered to the UE).
Regarding claim 25, Tiwari et al. teaches encoding the indication into a route selection descriptor (RSD) of a URSP rule of the URSP for the UE (Paragraph 52, 58, 65-66, 149, teaches providing an NSSRG indication/policy to the UE, storing and applying that indication to network-slice selection, including application-to-S-NSSAI mapping and rule-based construction of a Requested NSSAI).
Regarding claim 26, Tiwari et al. teaches receiving a UE state indication message from the UE, wherein the UE state indication message comprises at least a feature support indication for the UE, the feature support indication indicating whether the UE is capable of initiating registration based on the indication; and configuring the URSP to include the indication in response to receipt of the UE state indication message (Paragraph 63, 133, 139-141, 205-207, teaches the network receiving a UE-originated Registration Request containing UE capability/status indications and separately configuring the UE with an indication that expressly determines whether the UE may initiate registration, including through configuration-update signaling).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
So (US 20200260401 A1) teaches a 5G UE registration procedure in which the UE sends a registration request containing UE capabilities and policy-related information, the AMF establishes a policy association with the PCF, and the AMF then sends a Registration Accept including a URSP indication that informs the UE of an upcoming configuration update containing new URSP rules, which the UE waits to receive before initiating a new PDU session.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW SHAJI KURIAN whose telephone number is (703)756-1878. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Ngo can be reached at (571) 272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.S.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/MICHAEL K PHILLIPS/Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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