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 Objections
Claims 4 and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 recites several "wherein" clauses that are not drawn to acts performed by the first UE to which the claim is directed. Specifically, the claim recites "wherein a registration request ... is transmitted from second UE to the AMF," "wherein whether to allow an access for the second UE is determined ...," "wherein a registration rejection message is transmitted from the AMF to the second UE ...," and "wherein the access from the second UE is blocked." Each of these clauses recites an act performed by the AMF or by the second UE. The only acts positively recited as performed by the first UE are receiving the paging message and transmitting the response message. Applicant may wish to consider whether the subject matter of these clauses is more appropriately claimed in a form directed to the wireless communication system as a whole, in which the AMF, the first UE, and the second UE are each recited as system components performing their respective acts.
Claim 7 recites several "wherein" clauses that are not drawn to acts performed by the second UE to which the claim is directed. Specifically, the claim recites "wherein a paging message ... is transmitted from the AMF to first UE," "wherein a response message for the paging message is transmitted from the first UE to the AMF," and "wherein whether to allow an access for the second UE is determined based on the response message.” Each of these clauses recites an act performed by the AMF or by the second UE. The only acts positively recited as performed by the first UE are receiving the paging message and transmitting the response message. Applicant may wish to consider whether the subject matter of these clauses is more appropriately claimed in a form directed to the wireless communication system as a whole, in which the AMF, the first UE, and the second UE are each recited as system components performing their respective acts.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 7, 10, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0078696 A1 herein Saxena in view of US 2007/0270127 A1 herein Santoro.
Claim 1, Saxena discloses a method performed by an access management function (AMF) in a wireless communication system (Title, Method), the method comprising:
receiving, from second UE, a registration request including a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) (0058, the UE transmits a registration request to the E-AMF; 0050, the SUPI is obtained from the requesting UE's SIM card);
determining whether to allow an access for the second UE (0050, the E-AMF determines whether the requesting UE's PEI matches the PEI mapped to the SUPI, and on a mismatch the SIM card is being used with an unauthorized UE and should be denied access);
transmitting, to the second UE, a registration rejection message based on the determination (0059, the UE registration request can be rejected); and
blocking the second UE from the access (0059, the changed PEI is checked against a per-slice denylist of prohibited devices).
Saxena may not explicitly disclose: transmitting, to first UE, a paging message related to the SUPI, the first UE being UE having the SUPI; and receiving, from the first UE, a response message in response to the paging message.
Santoro discloses transmitting, to first UE, a paging message related to the SUPI, the first UE being UE having the SUPI (0068; 0069, the HLR asks the MSCNLR in which an IMSI identical to the caller's IMSI was found for current location information, and the MSCNLR issues a paging request to that user equipment); and receiving, from the first UE, a response message in response to the paging message (0069, the user equipment answers the paging request). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena to include paging the user equipment already registered with the same subscriber identity and acting on its paging response, as taught by Santoro, so as to determine whether a legitimate and an illegitimate Subscriber Identity Module are used at the same time (0012).
Claim 4, Saxena discloses a method performed by first UE in a wireless communication system, the method (Title, Method) comprising:
wherein a registration request including the SUPI is transmitted from second UE to the AMF (0058; 0050, the UE transmits a registration request to the E-AMF and the SUPI is obtained from its SIM card);
wherein a registration rejection message is transmitted from the AMF to the second UE based on the determination (0059, the UE registration request can be rejected); and
wherein the access from the second UE is blocked (0059, the changed PEI is checked against a per-slice denylist of prohibited devices).
Saxena may not explicitly disclose: receiving a paging message from an access management function (AMF), the first UE being UE with a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI); transmitting, to the AMF, a response message in response to the paging message; and wherein whether to allow an access for the second UE is determined based on the response message.
Santoro discloses receiving a paging message from an access management function (AMF), the first UE being UE with a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) (0069, the MSC/VLR issues a paging requestto the user equipment corresponding to the identical IMSI); transmitting, to the AMF, a response message in response to the paging message (0069, the user equipment answers the paging request); and wherein whether to allow an access for the second UE is determined based on the response message (0069; 0071, where the user equipment answers, the MSC/VLR returns the Current Location Retrieved parameter, and the HLR checks whether a current location has been returned, in which case the location update of the other user equipment is rejected). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena to include paging the user equipment already registered with the same subscriber identity and acting on its paging response, as taught by Santoro, so as to determine whether a legitimate and an illegitimate Subscriber Identity Module are used at the same time (0012).
Claim 7, Saxena discloses a method performed by second UE in a wireless communication system (Title, Method), the method comprising:
transmitting, to an access management function (AMF), a network registration request including a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) (0058; 0050, the UE transmits a registration request to the E-AMF and the SUPI is obtained from its SIM card);
receiving, from the AMF, a registration rejection message (0059, the UE registration request can be rejected); and
wherein the access from the second UE is blocked based on the registration rejection message (0059, the changed PEI is checked against a per-slice denylist of prohibited devices).
Saxena may not explicitly disclose: wherein a paging message related to the SUPI is transmitted from the AMF to first UE, the first UE being UE with the SUPI; wherein a response message for the paging message is transmitted from the first UE to the AMF; and wherein whether to allow an access for the second UE is determined based on the response message.
Santoro discloses wherein a paging message related to the SUPI is transmitted from the AMF to first UE, the first UE being UE with the SUPI (0068; 0069, the HLR asks the MSCNLR in which an identical IMSI was found for current location information, and the MSCNLR issues a paging request to that user equipment); wherein a response message for the paging message is transmitted from the first UE to the AMF (0069, the user equipment answers the paging request); and wherein whether to allow an access for the second UE is determined based on the response message (0069; 0071, the HLR checks whether a current location has been returned, in which case the location update of the other user equipment is rejected). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena to include paging the user equipment already registered with the same subscriber identity and acting on its paging response, as taught by Santoro, so as to determine whether a legitimate and an illegitimate Subscriber Identity Module are used at the same time (0012).
Claim 10, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Saxena discloses an access management function (AMF) (0015, AMF), and comprising: a transceiver configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving at least one signal (0015, receiving messages from UE and forwarding messages to other network elements as well as the UE); a controller coupled to the transceiver (0063, a hardware processor fetches, decodes and executes instructions stored in a machine-readable storage medium to control the recited operations).
Claim 12, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 4. Saxena discloses a first UE (0014, UE), and comprising: a transceiver configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving at least one signal (0001, send and receive data); a controller coupled to the transceiver (0070, one or more hardware processors coupled to a bus process information and implement the functionality of the illustrated elements).
Claim 14, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 7. Saxena discloses a second UE (0014, UE), and comprising: a transceiver configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving at least one signal (0001, send and receive data); a controller coupled to the transceiver (0070, one or more hardware processors coupled to a bus process information and implement the functionality of the illustrated elements).
Claims 2, 5, 8, 11, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saxena in view of Santoro and further in view of US 2023/0056442 A1 herein Quang.
Claim 2, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the method according to claim 1. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause.
Quang discloses wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause (0142, the UE receives a page and retrieves the Paging Cause associated with the page). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include a paging cause associated with the page, as taught by Quang, so as to indicate a service that is of interest to the user of the UE (0142).
Claim 5, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the method according to claim 4. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause.
Quang discloses wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause (0142, the UE receives a page and retrieves the Paging Cause associated with the page). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include a paging cause associated with the page, as taught by Quang, so as to indicate a service that is of interest to the user of the UE (0142).
Claim 8, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the method according to claim 7. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause.
Quang discloses wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause (0142, the UE receives a page and retrieves the Paging Cause associated with the page). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include a paging cause associated with the page, as taught by Quang, so as to indicate a service that is of interest to the user of the UE (0142).
Claim 11, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the AMF according to claim 10. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause.
Quang discloses wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause (0142, the UE receives a page and retrieves the Paging Cause associated with the page). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include a paging cause associated with the page, as taught by Quang, so as to indicate a service that is of interest to the user of the UE (0142).
Claim 13, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the first UE according to claim 12. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause. Quang discloses wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause (0142, the UE receives a page and retrieves the Paging Cause associated with the page). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include a paging cause associated with the page, as taught by Quang, so as to indicate a service that is of interest to the user of the UE (0142).
Claim 15, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the second UE according to claim 14. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause.
Quang discloses wherein: the paging message includes information on a paging cause (0142, the UE receives a page and retrieves the Paging Cause associated with the page). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include a paging cause associated with the page, as taught by Quang, so as to indicate a service that is of interest to the user of the UE (0142).
Claims 3, 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saxena in view of Santoro and further in view of US 2022/0201534 A1 herein Wang.
Claim 3, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the method according to claim 1. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose: determining whether to allow abnormal access for the second UE based on information obtained through a network function (NF) by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) and receiving the determination from a policy and control function (PCF).
Wang discloses determining whether to allow abnormal access for the second UE based on information obtained through a network function (NF) by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) (0009; 0156; 0158, the NWDAF obtains mobility information of the UE from the AMF and provides the AMF with the abnormal behavior analytics), and receiving the determination from a policy and control function (PCF) (0160; 0164, the AMF indicates the need for policy control to the PCF when establishing the mobility management policy association, and the NWDAF provides the PCF with the analytics; therefore the determination reaches the AMF through the PCF). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include obtaining abnormal behavior analytics from the NWDAF through the PCF, as taught by Wang, so as to determine the moment at which the abnormal behavior analytics and the policy control are performed for the UE (0084).
Claim 6, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the method according to claim 4. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose: wherein whether to allow abnormal access for the second UE is determined by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) based on information obtained through a network function (NF), and wherein the determination is transmitted from the NWDAF to the AMF through a policy and control function (PCF).
Wang discloses wherein whether to allow abnormal access for the second UE is determined by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) based on information obtained through a network function (NF) (0009; 0156; 0158, the NWDAF obtains mobility information of the UE from the AMF and provides the abnormal behavior analytics), and wherein the determination is transmitted from the NWDAF to the AMF through a policy and control function (PCF) (0160; 0164, the AMF indicates the need for policy control to the PCF when establishing the mobility management policy association, and the NWDAF provides the PCF with the analytics; therefore the determination reaches the AMF through the PCF). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include obtaining abnormal behavior analytics from the NWDAF through the PCF, as taught by Wang, so as to determine the moment at which the abnormal behavior analytics and the policy control are performed for the UE (0084).
Claim 9, Saxena in view of Santoro discloses the method according to claim 7. Saxena in view of Santoro may not explicitly disclose: wherein whether to allow abnormal access for the second UE is determined by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) on information obtained through a network function (NF), and wherein the determination is transmitted from the NWDAF to the AMF through a policy and control function (PCF).
Wang discloses wherein whether to allow abnormal access for the second UE is determined by a network data analytics function (NWDAF) on information obtained through a network function (NF) (0009; 0156; 0158, the NWDAF obtains mobility information of the UE from the AMF and provides the abnormal behavior analytics), and wherein the determination is transmitted from the NWDAF to the AMF through a policy and control function (PCF) (0160; 0164, the AMF indicates the need for policy control to the PCF when establishing the mobility management policy association, and the NWDAF provides the PCF with the analytics; therefore the determination reaches the AMF through the PCF). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Saxena in view of Santoro to include obtaining abnormal behavior analytics from the NWDAF through the PCF, as taught by Wang, so as to determine the moment at which the abnormal behavior analytics and the policy control are performed for the UE (0084).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20230156460 A1 – A wireless communication system serves wireless user devices based on wireless user device Identifiers (IDs). The wireless communication system detects a loss of synchronization between data repositories, and in response, identifies the wireless user device IDs that were allocated to the data repositories during the loss of synchronization. The wireless communication system reallocates the identified wireless user device IDs to the data repositories. The wireless communication system synchronizes the reallocated wireless user device IDs across the data repositories. The wireless communication system serves wireless data communications to the wireless user devices based on the reallocated and synchronized wireless user device IDs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm.
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/Mehmood B. Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
MEHMOOD B. KHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
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