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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was filed on October 31, 2024 (10/31/2024). The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was filed on September 11, 2025 (9/11/2025). The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4 and 11 recites the limitation "for each RA" in "information on rejected S-NSSAIs for each RA". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 4 and 11 are dependent on Claims 1 and 8 respectively. Neither claim 1 nor 8, however, mentions the use of more than one registration area (RA) and instead focuses on at least two tracking areas within a single registration area. It is unclear whether the claim is meant for registration areas (RA) or tracking areas (TA). For the sake of compact prosecution, the prior art of record used in the rejections of claims 4 and 11 will cover both options.
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)(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.
(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 1, 4, 8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (EP 4472304)
Regarding Claim 1, Wang teaches a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: (Par. [0006] “Embodiments of this application provide a wireless communication method, a terminal device, and a core network device, to better meet a requirement that the terminal device performs communication by using a network slice”),
transmitting, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), a first registration request message including at least one single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); (Par. [0222] “Step 601: A terminal device in a first tracking area TA sends a first registration request message to an AMF, where the first registration request message carries a requested slice”),
receiving, from the AMF, a registration accept message including information of allowed S-NSSAIs and information of rejected S-NSSAIs for a tracking area (TA); (Par. [0225] “Step 602: The AMF determines an allowed slice and a rejected slice” and Par. [0227] “Step 604: The AMF sends the registration accept message to the terminal device, where the registration accept message includes information about the allowed slice, information about the rejected slice, information about the first RA, and the first indication information” and Par. [0167] “On this basis, the AMF may determine a set including a remaining slice in the requested slice as the rejected slice. For example, a slice that is not supported by a current TA (that is, the first TA) in the requested slice may be determined as the rejected slice”),
and in case where a location of the terminal moves from a first TA within a registration area (RA) to a second TA within the RA, transmitting a second registration request message including at least some S-NSSAI of the rejected S-NSSAIs to the AMF (Par. [0230] “Step 606: When the terminal device moves from the first TA to a second TA, the terminal device sends a second registration request message to the AMF based on the first indication information, where the second registration request message includes information (for example, an identifier) about a first slice”).
Regarding Claim 4, Wang teaches the invention of Claim 1, further teaching the registration accept message further includes information on rejected S-NSSAIs for each RA (Pg. 24, Table 3, See “Rejected slice”, “First RA”, and “Second RA” and Par. [0304] “Specifically, when the first capability indication information indicates that the terminal device has the capability of receiving the first indication information, the AMF may allocate the first RA to the terminal device according to the method in step 503, step 603, or step 703, where at least one TA in the first RA can support at least one slice in the rejected slice. When the first capability indication information indicates that the terminal device has no capability of receiving the first indication information, in this case, the AMF allocates the second RA to the terminal device, and any TA in the second RA may not support the rejected slice”).
Regarding Claim 8, Wang teaches a terminal operating in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: (Par. [0006] “Embodiments of this application provide a wireless communication method, a terminal device, and a core network device, to better meet a requirement that the terminal device performs communication by using a network slice”),
a transceiver; and a controller configured to: (Par. [0091] “The communication apparatus may be a terminal device or a chip disposed in the terminal device. The communication apparatus includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver”),
transmit, to an access and mobility management function (AMF), a first registration request message including at least one single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), (Par. [0222] “Step 601: A terminal device in a first tracking area TA sends a first registration request message to an AMF, where the first registration request message carries a requested slice”),
receive, from the AMF, a registration accept message including information of allowed S-NSSAIs and information of rejected S-NSSAIs for a tracking area (TA), (Par. [0225] “Step 602: The AMF determines an allowed slice and a rejected slice” and Par. [0227] “Step 604: The AMF sends the registration accept message to the terminal device, where the registration accept message includes information about the allowed slice, information about the rejected slice, information about the first RA, and the first indication information” and Par. [0167] “On this basis, the AMF may determine a set including a remaining slice in the requested slice as the rejected slice. For example, a slice that is not supported by a current TA (that is, the first TA) in the requested slice may be determined as the rejected slice”),
and in case where a location of the terminal moves from a first TA within a registration area (RA) to a second TA within the RA, transmit a second registration request message including at least some S-NSSAI of the rejected S-NSSAIs to the AMF (Par. [0230] “Step 606: When the terminal device moves from the first TA to a second TA, the terminal device sends a second registration request message to the AMF based on the first indication information, where the second registration request message includes information (for example, an identifier) about a first slice”).
Regarding Claim 11, Wang teaches the invention of Claim 8, further teaching the registration accept message further includes information on rejected S-NSSAIs for each RA (Pg. 24, Table 3, See “Rejected slice”, “First RA”, and “Second RA” and Par. [0304] “Specifically, when the first capability indication information indicates that the terminal device has the capability of receiving the first indication information, the AMF may allocate the first RA to the terminal device according to the method in step 503, step 603, or step 703, where at least one TA in the first RA can support at least one slice in the rejected slice. When the first capability indication information indicates that the terminal device has no capability of receiving the first indication information, in this case, the AMF allocates the second RA to the terminal device, and any TA in the second RA may not support the rejected slice”).
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.
Claims 2, 5-7, and 9, 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (EP 4472304) in view of Starsinic et al. (WO 2021/183870).
Regarding Claim 2, Wang teaches the invention of Claim 1, but does not explicitly teach
receiving information on a network slice supported by the second TA from a base station belonging to the second TA; and including an S-NSSAI for the network slice supported by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs in the second registration request message.
In the same field of endeavor, Starsinic teaches receiving information on a network slice supported by the second TA from a base station belonging to the second TA; (Par. [00162] “In FIG. 2. At step 211, UE 201 receives an RRCRelease message that includes information to steer” the UE 201 towards cells that support specific S-NSSAIs. At step 212, the UE 201 releases the RRC connection and begins searching for a suitable cell to camp on in accordance with the information provided in the RRCRelease message. At step 213a- step 213c, the UE 201 performs measurements of neighbor cells 203, ranks the cells that fulfill the S criteria, or reads the SI of one or more neighbor cells 203 to determine the suitability of the neighbor cell(s) 203”),
and including an S-NSSAI for the network slice supported by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs in the second registration request message (Par. [00162] “At step 214, UE 201 selects a suitable cell to camp on in accordance with the slice-based cell (re -election subject matter described herein” and Par. [00163] “The RRCRelease message may be used to “steer” the UE 201 towards cells that support specific S-NSSAIs or to “offload” the UE 201 to specific cells or frequency layers and may indicate to the UE 201 that the RRCRelease Message was sent because the UE 201 is not permitted to access the resources of a certain slice at the current time”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Starsinic’s RAN node with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to improve the efficiency of slice based barring (Starsinic Par. [0036]).
Regarding Claim 5, Wang teaches a method performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: (Par. [0223] “Correspondingly, in step 601, the AMF receives the first registration request message from the terminal device”)
receiving, from a terminal located in a first tracking area (TA), a registration request message of the terminal including at least one single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); (Par. [0222] “Step 601: A terminal device in a first tracking area TA sends a first registration request message to an AMF, where the first registration request message carries a requested slice” Par. [0223] “Correspondingly, in step 601, the AMF receives the first registration request message from the terminal device”)
transmitting, to the terminal, a registration accept message including information of allowed S-NSSAIs and information of rejected S-NSSAIs for a tracking area (TA);
(Par. [0167] “On this basis, the AMF may determine a set including a remaining slice in the requested slice as the rejected slice. For example, a slice that is not supported by a current TA (that is, the first TA) in the requested slice may be determined as the rejected slice” and Par. [0225] “Step 602: The AMF determines an allowed slice and a rejected slice” and Par. [0227] “Step 604: The AMF sends the registration accept message to the terminal device, where the registration accept message includes information about the allowed slice, information about the rejected slice, information about the first RA, and the first indication information”),
and transmitting, to the terminal, a configuration update message including the S- NSSAIs supportable by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs as allowed S-NSSAI information (Par. [0227] “Step 604: The AMF sends the registration accept message to the terminal device, where the registration accept message includes information about the allowed slice, information about the rejected slice, information about the first RA, and the first indication information” and Par. [0233] “Specifically, in this embodiment, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is allowed to initiate, in the second TA, a connection request for any slice in the rejected slice, the second TA belongs to the first RA and supports at least one slice in the rejected slice, and the rejected slice includes the first slice”).
Wang, however, does not explicitly teach receiving, from a base station included in a second TA to which the terminal moves from the first TA, location information of the terminal and information on S-NSSAIs supportable by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs.
In the same field of endeavor, Starsinic teaches teach receiving, from a base station included in a second TA to which the terminal moves from the first TA, location information of the terminal and information on S-NSSAIs supportable by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs (Par. [00174] “At step 241, the UE 201 reselects a cell 209 in RNAi. At step 242, the UE 201 performs an RNA update procedure to inform the network that it has moved to RNAi. At step 243, the RAN node, e.g., gNB in RNAi, sends an N2 Message to inform the AMF 207 that the UE 201 has moved to a location that supports a different set of RAN slices”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Starsinic’s RAN node with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to improve the efficiency of slice based barring (Starsinic Par. [0036]).
Regarding Claim 6, Wang in view of Starsinic teaches the invention of Claim 5, where Wang further teaches transmitting a subscription information request message of the terminal to a User Data Management (UDM); (Par. [0135] “The initial AMF sends a request to a UDM to obtain subscription information of the UE, where the subscription information includes information such as subscription NSSAI of the UE”),
and receiving subscription information of the terminal from the UDM, (Par. [0135] “The initial AMF sends a request to a UDM to obtain subscription information of the UE, where the subscription information includes information such as subscription NSSAI of the UE”),
wherein the information of allowed S-NSSAIs included in the accept message is determined based on the registration request message and the subscription information of the terminal (Par. [0166] “After receiving the first registration request message, the AMF performs slice selection (slice selection) for the terminal device. The AMF performs comprehensive determining based on information such as subscription data of the terminal device, the requested slice, a roaming agreement, and a local configuration, to select the allowed slice and the rejected slice for the terminal device”).
Regarding Claim 7, Wang in view of Starsinic teaches the invention of Claim 5, where Starsinic further teaches the configuration update message includes an indicator requesting to transmit whether the configuration update message has been received (Par. [00176] “At step 251, the UE 201 receives a UE Configuration Update Command to inform the UE 201 that it can transmit data for PDU sessions associated with S-NSSAIy. Alternatively, the PDU Session Modification procedure may be triggered and used to inform the UE 201 that it may now transmit data for the PDU Sessions. A cause code associated with the procedure maybe used to indicate to the UE 201 that the PDU Session is suspended because of the UE 201 ’s current location. At step 252, the UE 201 transmits a UE Configuration Update Complete to confirm reception of the UE Configuration Update message”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Starsinic’s configuration update complete message with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to improve the efficiency of slice based barring (Starsinic Par. [0036]).
Regarding Claim 9, Wang teaches the invention of Claim 8, but does not explicitly teach receive information on a network slice supported by the second TA from a base station belonging to the second TA, and include an S-NSSAI for the network slice supported by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs in the second registration request message.
In the same field of endeavor, Starsinic teaches receive information on a network slice supported by the second TA from a base station belonging to the second TA, (Par. [00129] “An additional offset, e.g. Qoffset.sub.NSSAh that is based on which S-NSSAIs in the CRS-NSSAI are supported by a cell may be used when determining the S criteria” and Par. [00162] “In FIG. 2. At step 211, UE 201 receives an RRCRelease message that includes information to steer” the UE 201 towards cells that support specific S-NSSAIs. At step 212, the UE 201 releases the RRC connection and begins searching for a suitable cell to camp on in accordance with the information provided in the RRCRelease message. At step 213a- step 213c, the UE 201 performs measurements of neighbor cells 203, ranks the cells that fulfill the S criteria, or reads the SI of one or more neighbor cells 203 to determine the suitability of the neighbor cell(s) 203”),
and include an S-NSSAI for the network slice supported by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs in the second registration request message (Par. [00162] “At step 214, UE 201 selects a suitable cell to camp on in accordance with the slice-based cell (re -election subject matter described herein” and Par. [00163] “The RRCRelease message may be used to “steer” the UE 201 towards cells that support specific S-NSSAIs or to “offload” the UE 201 to specific cells or frequency layers and may indicate to the UE 201 that the RRCRelease Message was sent because the UE 201 is not permitted to access the resources of a certain slice at the current time”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Starsinic’s RAN node with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to improve the efficiency of slice based barring (Starsinic Par. [0036]).
Regarding Claim 12, Wang teaches an access and mobility management function (AMF) operating in a wireless communication system, the AMF comprising: a transceiver; and a controller configured to: (Par. [0095] “The communication apparatus may be a core network device or a chip disposed in the core network device. The communication apparatus includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver” and Par. [0159] “An example in which a core network device in the embodiments is an AMF is used for description”),
receive, from a terminal located in a first tracking area (TA), a registration request message of the terminal including at least one single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), (Par. [0222] “Step 601: A terminal device in a first tracking area TA sends a first registration request message to an AMF, where the first registration request message carries a requested slice” Par. [0223] “Correspondingly, in step 601, the AMF receives the first registration request message from the terminal device”)
transmit, to the terminal, a registration accept message including information of allowed S-NSSAIs and information of rejected S-NSSAIs for a tracking area (TA), (Par. [0167] “On this basis, the AMF may determine a set including a remaining slice in the requested slice as the rejected slice. For example, a slice that is not supported by a current TA (that is, the first TA) in the requested slice may be determined as the rejected slice” and Par. [0225] “Step 602: The AMF determines an allowed slice and a rejected slice” and Par. [0227] “Step 604: The AMF sends the registration accept message to the terminal device, where the registration accept message includes information about the allowed slice, information about the rejected slice, information about the first RA, and the first indication information”),
and transmit, to the terminal, a configuration update message including the S- NSSAIs supportable by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs as allowed S-NSSAI information (Par. [0227] “Step 604: The AMF sends the registration accept message to the terminal device, where the registration accept message includes information about the allowed slice, information about the rejected slice, information about the first RA, and the first indication information” and Par. [0233] “Specifically, in this embodiment, the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is allowed to initiate, in the second TA, a connection request for any slice in the rejected slice, the second TA belongs to the first RA and supports at least one slice in the rejected slice, and the rejected slice includes the first slice”).
Wang, however, does not teach receive, from a base station included in a second TA to which the terminal moves from the first TA, location information of the terminal and information on S-NSSAIs supportable by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs.
In the same field of endeavor, Starsinic teaches receive, from a base station included in a second TA to which the terminal moves from the first TA, location information of the terminal and information on S-NSSAIs supportable by the second TA among the rejected S-NSSAIs (Par. [00174] “At step 241, the UE 201 reselects a cell 209 in RNAi. At step 242, the UE 201 performs an RNA update procedure to inform the network that it has moved to RNAi. At step 243, the RAN node, e.g., gNB in RNAi, sends an N2 Message to inform the AMF 207 that the UE 201 has moved to a location that supports a different set of RAN slices”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Starsinic’s RAN node with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to improve the efficiency of slice based barring (Starsinic Par. [0036]).
Regarding Claim 13, Wang in view of Starsinic teaches the invention of Claim 12, where Wang further teaches transmit a subscription information request message of the terminal to a User Data Management (UDM), (Par. [0135] “ The initial AMF sends a request to a UDM to obtain subscription information of the UE, where the subscription information includes information such as subscription NSSAI of the UE”),
and receive subscription information of the terminal from the UDM (Par. [0135] “The initial AMF sends a request to a UDM to obtain subscription information of the UE, where the subscription information includes information such as subscription NSSAI of the UE”),
wherein the information of allowed S-NSSAIs included in the accept message is determined based on the registration request message and the subscription information of the terminal (Par. [0166] “After receiving the first registration request message, the AMF performs slice selection (slice selection) for the terminal device. The AMF performs comprehensive determining based on information such as subscription data of the terminal device, the requested slice, a roaming agreement, and a local configuration, to select the allowed slice and the rejected slice for the terminal device”).
Regarding Claim 14, Wang in view of Starsinic teaches the invention of Claim 12, where Starsinic further teaches the configuration update message includes an indicator requesting to transmit whether the configuration update message has been received (Par. [00176] “At step 251, the UE 201 receives a UE Configuration Update Command to inform the UE 201 that it can transmit data for PDU sessions associated with S-NSSAIy. Alternatively, the PDU Session Modification procedure may be triggered and used to inform the UE 201 that it may now transmit data for the PDU Sessions. A cause code associated with the procedure maybe used to indicate to the UE 201 that the PDU Session is suspended because of the UE 201 ’s current location. At step 252, the UE 201 transmits a UE Configuration Update Complete to confirm reception of the UE Configuration Update message”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Starsinic’s configuration update complete message with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to improve the efficiency of slice based barring (Starsinic Par. [0036]).
Claims 3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (EP 4472304) in view of ZTE et al. (ZTE, "KI#6 New Sol#X: Support registration for incompatible network slice(s) in UEs current serving RA or different one," S2-2004837, 3GPP TSG-SA WG2 Meeting #140e, 2020, 7 pages.)
Regarding Claim 3, Wang teaches the invention of Claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein the second registration request message includes an indicator requesting not to reject again the S-NSSAI included in the second registration request message.
In the same field of endeavor, ZTE teaches the second registration request message includes an indicator requesting not to reject again the S-NSSAI included in the second registration request message (Pg. 6-7, Par. 6.X.4 Impacts on existing entities and interfaces “UE: If the UE intends to request an S-NSSAI in the Rejected S-NSSAI with new cause value indicating is supported by the current Tracking Area but is incompatible with the Allowed NSSAI, the UE perform registration with the rejected S-NSSAI within the current Registration Area”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine ZTE’s new value indicating a previously rejected slice is supported within a tracking area with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to better support network slice incompatibility in different scenarios (ZTE Pg. 1, 1. Background).
Regarding Claim 10, Wang teaches the invention of Claim 8, but does not explicitly teach the second registration request message includes an indicator requesting not to reject again the S-NSSAI included in the second registration request message.
In the same field of endeavor, ZTE teaches the second registration request message includes an indicator requesting not to reject again the S-NSSAI included in the second registration request message (Pg. 6-7, Par. 6.X.4 Impacts on existing entities and interfaces “UE: If the UE intends to request an S-NSSAI in the Rejected S-NSSAI with new cause value indicating is supported by the current Tracking Area but is incompatible with the Allowed NSSAI, the UE perform registration with the rejected S-NSSAI within the current Registration Area”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine ZTE’s new value indicating a previously rejected slice is supported within a tracking area with Wang’s AMF and terminal device to better support network slice incompatibility in different scenarios (ZTE Pg. 1, 1. Background).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Foti et al. (US 2025/0261148) explicitly teaches a network node (AMF) informing a UE about tracking areas inside a registration area that can support certain S-NSSAIs.
Kiss et al. (US 2023/0319752) teaches a UE moving to a different TA within the same RA and including rejected S-NSSAIs in the registration request.
Velev et al. (US 2025/0220616) teaches a UE receiving information from a RAN node about TAs that support a previously rejected NSSAI and request registration once entering one of those TAs.
Youn et al. (US 2025/0159638) teaches a UE receiving a rejected S-NSSAI along with tracking area information where the S-NSSAI is supported, where the UE then moves into one of the tracking areas and triggers a registration request.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH NGHIA DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-7982. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. 7:30AM-5PM.
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/J.N.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2641
/JINSONG HU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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