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
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8 November 2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The preliminary amendment fled on 8 November 2024 concurrent with the filing of the application has been entered and is of record.
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)(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 1-5 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0244432 by Li et al.
As to claim 1, Li discloses a processor of an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) configured to perform operations comprising:
determining to trigger an authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”); and
transmitting, to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a request for the authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 2, Li further discloses wherein determining to trigger the authentication procedure comprises:
in accordance with a determination that there is a need for refresh of a key for the AUSF, or UE Parameter Update (UPU) or Steering of Roaming (SoR) count wrap around occurs, determining to trigger the authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 3, Li discloses a processor of a home network entity configured to perform operations comprising:
determining to trigger an authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”); and
transmitting, towards an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a request for the authentication procedure via an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 4, Li further discloses wherein determining to trigger the authentication procedure comprises:
in accordance with a determination that there is a need for refresh of a key for the AUSF, or UE Parameter Update (UPU) or Steering of Roaming (SoR) count wrap around occurs, determining to trigger the authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 5, Li further discloses wherein the home network entity comprises at least one of: a Unified Data Management (UDM) function, an Authentication Credential Repository and Processing Function (ARPF), or a Subscription Identifier De- concealing Function (SIDF) (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 9, Li discloses a processor of user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a message comprising an indication to initiate an authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”); and
initiating the authentication procedure (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 10, Li further discloses wherein the indication indicates that the authentication procedure is triggered by at least one of: an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a Unified Data Management (UDM) function, an Authentication Credential Repository and Processing Function (ARPF), or a Subscription Identifier De-concealing Function (SIDF) (Li: Page 8, Sec 125: “It may be understood that the second AUSF has executed an authentication procedure on the terminal device. Therefore, the second AUSF stores a security context of the terminal device, for example, the SUPI of the terminal device and a corresponding K.sub.AUSF and SoR Counter. When the SoR Counter is about to wrap around, the second AUSF determines to trigger the primary authentication procedure on the terminal device. As described above, the second AUSF may directly send the first authentication request message to the AMF, or first send a message to the UDM, and the UDM forwards the first authentication request message or sends the second authentication request message to the AMF”).
As to claim 11, Li further discloses wherein the message is a non- access stratum (NAS) message (Li: Page 4, Sec 64; “To ensure communication security, an AKA procedure is executed between the terminal device and the network. In an implementation, the AMF determines whether to trigger the AKA procedure. In a triggering method, the terminal device sends an initial NAS message, for example, a registration request message, and the AMF may determine, based on the initial NAS message, whether to trigger authentication”).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0103540 by Prasad et al. discloses authencation in 5G systems using an AUSF and AMF
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0224704 by Atarius et al. discloses AUSF initiated authentication
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0262457 by Baskaran et al. discloses 5G authentication
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)270-1599. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey L Nickerson can be reached at (469)295-9235. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MICHAEL S. MCNALLY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2432
/Michael S McNally/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2432
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