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 § 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-9 and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study of Enablers for Network Automation for 5G (Release 16)", 3GPP STANDARD; TECHNICAL REPORT; 3GPP TR 23.791, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE ; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES ; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS CEDEX ; FRANCE, vol. SA WG2, no. V16.2.0, 11 June 2019 (2019-06-11), pages 1-124, XP051753968, [retrieved on 2019-06-11] (hereafter 3GPP).
Regarding claim 1, 3GPP discloses an information processing device, comprising:
one or more network interfaces (par. 4.2 and fig. 4.2.1 where the information processing device is disclosed by the NWDAF); and circuitry configured to:
acquire, using the one or more network interfaces, first information regarding a terminal device from a core network via a service based interface (SBI) (cf. and fig. 4.2.1 and par. 4.2. "Depending on network deployments and on AF(s), the AF may exchange information with the NWDAF via the NEF, or use the service based interfaces to access the NWDAF directly. NWOAF accesses network data from data repositories (e.g. UDR). For 5GC NFs, the NWOAF utilizes the service based interfaces to communicate to get network data and dedicated analytics. Based on the aforementioned data collection, the NWOAF performs data analysis and provides the analytical result to the AF, the 5GC NFs and the OAM'),
acquires, using the one or more network interfaces, second information including terminal-related information acquired from the terminal device directly or via the SBI, the terminal-related information being application layer information of the terminal device (par. 5.1.0 cit. "The input data of the NWDAF may come from multiple sources, and the resulting actions undertaken by the consuming NF or AF may concern several domains (e.g. Mobility management, Session Management, QoS management, Application layer, Security management, NF life cycle management);
specify the terminal device from the second information or by associating the first information and the second information with each other (par. 6.6.1 .4 in the table 6.6.1 .4-1 disclosing the collected parameters and the passages cit. "The CDIs can be either aggregated or explicitly listed. On only one single wild carded level and one single parameter within a subscription, it should be possible to specify that the CDI is explicitly listed. When level aggregation is chosen, the cumulative or mean value of the measurement shall be provided, depending on the type of CDI. for instance, if the CDI "registration counter" is requested aggregated on all cells, only one aggregated counter is provided which totalizes all cells. Aggregation rules should be specified per ADI type" where the aggregation is the association operation), and
notify a client device of the first information and the second information in association with the specified terminal device (par. 5.2.5.2 cit. "The NWOAF shall be able to provide analytic information helping a client NF).
Regarding claim 2, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal-related information is behavior information of the terminal device that originates from the application layer of the terminal device (par. 6.21. "In the key issue 8, it is mentioned that the lOT devices may be misused or hijacked, and hence brings security issues to the 3GPP system or application services. This solution proposes that, first, the NWDAF analysis is relied to detect the misbehaviors of lOT UE(s) and evaluate the risk brought by the misbehavior UE(s)";).
Regarding claim 3, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal-related information includes at least one of schedule in- formation regarding a registration schedule, power information regarding power consumption of the terminal device, or location in- formation regarding a location of the terminal device. (par. 6.6.1.4 and related Table 6.6.1.4-1 with e.g. position information or registration status, or par. 6.5.1.1 for the UE in IDLE/CONNECTED/ INACTIVE (i.e. different power consumption states).
Regarding claim 6, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the first information includes registration information regarding registration of the terminal device, and the terminal device is accessed by the client device based on the power information and the registration information (par. 6.6.1 .4 and related Table 6.6.1.4-1 registration status and par. 6.5.1.1 describing the paging also related to the power status IDLE CONNECTED INACTIVE (i.e. different power consumption states)).
Regarding claim 7, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the first information includes registration information regarding registration of the terminal device, and the terminal device is accessed by the client device based on the location information and the registration information. ( par. 6.6.1 .4 and related Table 6.6.1.4-1 registration status and par. 6.5.1.1 describing the paging also related to the power status IDLE/CONNECTED/INACTIVE (i.e. different power consumption states)).
Regarding claim 8, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to notify the client device of group information including at least one piece of information regarding the terminal device that satisfies a condition designated by the client device (par. 6.6.1 .4 and related Table 6.6.1.4-1 registration status and par. 6.5.1.1 describing the paging also related to the power status IDLE/CONNECTED/INACTIVE (i.e. different power consumption states, For example, the NWDAF derives the conclusion that a UE or a group UEs statistically have a higher paging failure possibility at gNB 1 on weekday between 9-10am. If the RAN paging failure possibility exceeds a certain limit, the NWDAF notifies the network. The gNB 1 considers this information when it decides whether to send UE 1 or the group UEs into RRC inactive state.)).
Regarding claim 9, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 8, wherein the condition includes at least one of a registration condition that designates a registration status of the terminal device, a power condition that designates a power consumption status of the terminal device, or a location condition that designates a location of the terminal device. (par. 6.6.1 .4 and related Table 6.6.1.4-1 registration status and par. 6.5.1.1 describing the paging also related to the power status IDLE/CONNECTED/INACTIVE (i.e. different power consumption states).
Regarding claim 11, 3GPP further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the first information includes registration information regarding registration of the terminal device, and the measurement information includes information regarding a transition interval of registration of the terminal device calculated based on the registration information ( par. 6.6.1 .4 and related Table 6.6.1.4-1 registration status and par. 6.5.1.1 describing the paging also related to the power status IDLE/CONNECTED/INACTIVE (i.e. different power consumption states)).
Regarding claim 15, 3GPP discloses a terminal device (see, Fig 4.2-1, OAM), comprising: circuitry configured to
notify a core network of first information via a service based interface (SBI) (fig. 4.2.1 and par. 4.2, "Depending on network deployments and on AF(s), the AF may exchange information with the NWDAF via the NEF, or use the service based interfaces to access the NWDAF directly. NWOAF accesses network data from data repositories (e.g. UDR). For 5GC NFs, the NWOAF utilizes the service based interfaces to communicate to get network data and dedicated analytics. Based on the aforementioned data collection, the NWOAF performs data analysis and provides the analytical result to the AF, the 5GC NFs and the ‘OAM'), and
notify an information processing device of second information including terminal-related information directly or via the SBI, the terminal-related information being application layer information of the terminal device. (see, 5.1.0 "The input data of the NWDAF may come from multiple sources, and the resulting actions undertaken by the consuming NF or AF may concern several domains (e.g. Mobility management, Session Management, QoS management, Application layer, Security management, NF life cycle management)).
Regarding claim 16, 3GPP discloses a system, comprising:
a first information processing device(cf. par. 4.2 and fig. 4.2.1 where the information processing device is disclosed by the NWDAF); a second information processing device that functions as a network function of a core network (cf. par. 4.2 and fig. 4.2.1 where the information processing device is disclosed by the NWDAF); and
a terminal device, wherein the first information processing device includes one or more network interfaces and circuitry (see, Fig. 4.2-1, exchange information between OAM and NWDAF) configured to
acquire, using the one or more network interfaces, first information regarding a terminal device from a core network via a service based interface (SBI) (cf. and fig. 4.2.1 and par. 4.2 cit. "Depending on network deployments and on AF(s), the AF may exchange information with the NWDAF via the NEF, or use the service based interfaces to access the NWDAF directly. NWOAF accesses network data from data repositories (e.g. UDR). For 5GC NFs, the NWOAF utilizes the service based interfaces to communicate to get network data and dedicated analytics. Based on the aforementioned data collection, the NWOAF performs data analysis and provides the analytical result to the AF, the 5GC NFs and the OAM'),
acquires, using the one or more network interfaces, second information including terminal-related information acquired from the terminal device directly or via the SBI, the terminal-related information being application layer information of the terminal device (cf. par. 5.1.0 cit. "The input data of the NWOAF may come from multiple sources, and the resulting actions undertaken by the consuming NF or AF may concern several domains (e.g. Mobility management, Session Management, QoS management, Application layer, Security management, NF life cycle management)."),
specify the terminal device from the second information or by associating the first information and the second information with each other (cf. e.g. par. 6.6.1 .4 in the table 6.6.1 .4-1 disclosing the collected parameters and the passages cit. "The CDIs can be either aggregated or explicitly listed. On only one single wild carded level and one single parameter within a subscription, it should be possible to specify that the CDI is explicitly listed. When level aggregation is chosen, the cumulative or mean value of the measurement shall be provided, depending on the type of CDI. for instance, if the CDI "registration counter" is requested aggregated on all cells, only one aggregated counter is provided which totalizes all cells. Aggregation rules should be specified per ADI type" where the aggregation is the association operation), and
notify a client device of the first information and the second information in association with the specified terminal device (cf. par. 5.2.5.2 cit. "The NWOAF shall be able to provide analytic information helping a client NF).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 non-obviousness.
9. Claim(s) 4, 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP in view of MOTOROLA MOBILITY ET AL: "On UE driven analytic data", 3GPP DRAFT; S2-1812032_FS_ENA_UE_ANALYTICS_V2, 3RDGENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE ; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES ; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS CEDEX ; FRANCE vol. SA WG2, no. West Palm Beach, USA; 20181126 – 20181130 20 November 2018 (2018-11-20), XP051498774 (hereafter Motorola).
Regarding claim 4, 3GPP does not disclose the information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the location information is measured using equipment mounted on the terminal device. however, in same field of endeavor, Motorola teaches par. 2. "A UE can track its location irrespective of its state hence any related mobility of the UE when in IDLE mode can be collected at the UE and reported to the NWOAF using the procedure defined for UE Driven Analytics.". Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Motorola with the 3GPP, as a whole, so as to measure location information using terminal device, the motivation is to effectively determining positioning of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings further disclose the information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the location information includes at least one of current location in- formation, past location information, or future location information (Motorola, 6.X.1.2, 6.X.1.2 UE sending IDLE related location information directly to the NWDAF Examples of usage data provided by the UE can be the following: - Report duration: 10:35am - 11:35pm - Visited cells: (Cell-1, entry time, exit time), (Cell-2, entry time, exit time), - Location: (X1, Y1, Z1 @ 10:36am), (X2, Y2, Z2 @ 11:14am) The UE does not send usage data in real-time. Rather, such data is internally collected in the UE and is sent to the NWDAF in batches (e.g. every X hour). It is up to the UE implementation how often the UE provides such usage data).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings further disclose the information processing device, wherein the location condition includes a condition that designates at least one of a current location, a past location, or a future location of the terminal device (see, Motorola, 6.X.1.2, 6.X.1.2 UE sending IDLE related location information directly to the NWDAF Examples of usage data provided by the UE can be the following: - Report duration: 10:35am - 11:35pm - Visited cells: (Cell-1, entry time, exit time), (Cell-2, entry time, exit time), - Location: (X1, Y1, Z1 @ 10:36am), (X2, Y2, Z2 @ 11:14am) The UE does not send usage data in real-time. Rather, such data is internally collected in the UE and is sent to the NWDAF in batches (e.g. every X hour). It is up to the UE implementation how often the UE provides such usage data).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 13 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chun (US 2019/0230585) discloses METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ACCESS TO NETWORK IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR SAME.
Park et al. (US 2019/0357129) discloses METHOD FOR SELECTING NETWORK NODE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND DEVICE THEREFOR.
Ryu (US 2019/0364541) discloses METHOD FOR SELECTING RESOURCE OPERATION PREFERRED BY USER IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR SAME.
Park et al. (US 2020/0137675) discloses METHOD FOR REGISTERING TERMINAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.
Youn et al. (US 2020/0053803) discloses METHOD FOR SELECTING SESSION AND SERVICE CONTINUITY MODE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND DEVICE THEREFOR.
Kim et al. (US 2020/0178048) discloses V2X COMMUNICATION SUPPORT METHOD IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DHAVAL V PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-1818. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday (8:00am-4:30pm).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah Wang can be reached at 571-272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DHAVAL V PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
Prosecution Insights