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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in The Republic of India on 07/28/2022. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/20/2024 has been fully considered by examiner and made of record.
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 99-102 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 99 recites “a first priority related to a Network Slice Access Stratum Group (NSAG)” and subsequently recites “determining whether to perform a cell reselection based on the first priority for the SNPN.” It is unclear whether the phrase “for the SNPN” modifies “the first priority” or “cell reselection.” Thus, it is unclear whether the first priority is required to be a priority for the SNPN, or whether the cell reselection is performed for the SNPN based on the first priority related to the NSAG.
Claim 100 similarly recites “a second priority related to the NSAG” and subsequently recites determining whether to perform cell reselection “based on the first priority for the SNPN and the second priority for the SNPN.” It is likewise unclear whether “for the SNPN” modifies the respective first and second priorities or the cell reselection, and therefore the scope of the claimed relationship among the SNPN, the NSAG priorities, and the cell reselection cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
Claims 101 and 102 recite corresponding limitations and are indefinite for the same reasons.
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 99-102 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jung (US 2024/0015625).
Regarding Claim 99, Jung teaches a method (Fig. 5) performed by a user equipment (UE) ([0060], FIG. 5 illustrates a process in which a UE receives configuration of slice groups and slice group priorities through an AMF in a next-generation mobile communication system) supporting a Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) ([0087-0088], TABLE 2 suitable cell: For UE not operating in SNPN Access Mode, a cell is considered as suitable if the following conditions are fulfilled: The cell is part of either the selected PLMN or the registered PLMN or PLMN of the Equivalent PLMN list, and for that PLMN either: The PLMN-ID of that PLMN is broadcast by the cell with no associated CAG- IDs and CAG-only indication in the UE for that PLMN (TS 23.501) is absent or false; Allowed CAG list in the UE for that PLMN (TS 23.501) includes a CAG-ID broadcast by the cell for that PLMN; For UE operating in SNPN Access Mode, a cell is considered as suitable if the following conditions are fulfilled: The cell is part of either the selected SNPN or the registered SNPN of the UE), the method comprising:
sending, to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) supporting the SNPN ([0087-0088]), a Registration Request message ([0067] In step 5-30, the UE 5-01 may contain an NAS message (DedicatedNAS-Message) in the RRC connection setup complete message (RRCSetupComplete) and transmit the same to the NR base station 5-02. For example, the NAS message may refer to a registration request message and may include information indicating that the UE 5-01 supports an NSAG or information indicating whether the UE 5-01 supports the NSAG. [0068] In step 5-35, the NR base station 5-02 may forward the registration request message to the AMF 5-03); and
receiving, from the AMF, a Registration Accept message comprising a first priority related to a Network Slice Access Stratum Group (NSAG) ([0070] In step 5-45, the AMF 5-03 may contain at least one of NSAG information for one or a plurality of N-SSAIs and priority information for each NSAG in a registration accept message and transmits the same to the NR base station. The NSAG information may include at least one of a TA or TAI, and mapping information indicating which NSAG one or more slices belong to and an identifier for each NSAG (NSAG-Id), [0071] The NSAG information and NSAG priority information may also be provided in a UE configuration command message. In step 5-45, the registration accept message may contain allowed NSSAI and non-supportable NSSAI (Target NSSAI) among the NSSAIs requested by the UE 5-01 and transmit them to the NR base station. The message may also contain an Index to RAT/Frequency Slice Selection Priority (hereinafter, RFSP index) for each frequency/RAT), and
determining whether to perform a cell reselection based on the first priority for the SNPN ([0096] In step 6-40, the UE 6-01 in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode may derive a reselection priority for slice-based cell reselection. When the cellReselectionPriorities are configured in the RRC connection release message, reselection priorities may be derived by applying the cellReselectionPriorities as described above. For example, the UE 6-01 may disregard the reselection priority broadcast in the system information. However, when the cellReselectionPriorities of the RRC connection release message are not applied as described above, the UE 6-01 may derive the reselection priority by applying the reselection priority information broadcast in the system information).
Regarding Claim 100, Jung teaches the method according to claim 99, wherein the method further comprises receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) 16 ([0126] In step 7-20, the UE may camp on an NR suitable cell to obtain system information containing cell reselection information. The system information may refer to MIB, SIB1, SIB2, SIB3, SIB4, SIB5, and SIB16)
comprising a second priority related to the NSAG, and the determining comprises determining whether to perform the cell reselection based on the first priority for the SNPN and the second priority for the SNPN ([0127] In step 7-25, the UE may derive a reselection priority according to the above-described embodiment in FIG. 6 for slice-based cell reselection. As an example, the UE may derive the reselection priority according to the following predetermined rule. [0128] Frequencies that support at least one prioritized NSAG received from NAS have higher re-selection priority than frequencies that support none of the NSAG(s) received from NAS. [0129] Frequencies that support at least one NSAG provided by NAS are prioritized in the order of the NAS-provided priority for the NSAG with highest priority supported on the frequency. [0130] Among the frequencies (one or multiple) that support the highest prioritized NSAG(s) with the same NAS-provided priorities, the frequencies are prioritized in the order of their highest nsag-CellReselectionPriority or nsag-CellReselectionSubPriority or sum of their highest nsag-CellReselectionPriority and nsag-CellReselectionSubPriority given for these NSAGs).
Regarding Claim 101, Jung teaches a user equipment (UE) supporting a Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) ([0087-0088], TABLE 2 suitable cell: For UE not operating in SNPN Access Mode, a cell is considered as suitable if the following conditions are fulfilled: The cell is part of either the selected PLMN or the registered PLMN or PLMN of the Equivalent PLMN list, and for that PLMN either: The PLMN-ID of that PLMN is broadcast by the cell with no associated CAG- IDs and CAG-only indication in the UE for that PLMN (TS 23.501) is absent or false; Allowed CAG list in the UE for that PLMN (TS 23.501) includes a CAG-ID broadcast by the cell for that PLMN; For UE operating in SNPN Access Mode, a cell is considered as suitable if the following conditions are fulfilled: The cell is part of either the selected SNPN or the registered SNPN of the UE), the UE comprising: one or more memories storing instructions; and one or more processors configured to process the instructions (Fig. 10, [0186-0192]) to control the UE ([0060], FIG. 5 illustrates a process in which a UE receives configuration of slice groups and slice group priorities through an AMF in a next-generation mobile communication system) to:
send, to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) supporting the SNPN ([0087-0088]), a Registration Request message ([0067] In step 5-30, the UE 5-01 may contain an NAS message (DedicatedNAS-Message) in the RRC connection setup complete message (RRCSetupComplete) and transmit the same to the NR base station 5-02. For example, the NAS message may refer to a registration request message and may include information indicating that the UE 5-01 supports an NSAG or information indicating whether the UE 5-01 supports the NSAG. [0068] In step 5-35, the NR base station 5-02 may forward the registration request message to the AMF 5-03); and
receive, from the AMF, a Registration Accept message comprising a first priority related to a Network Slice Access Stratum Group (NSAG) ([0070] In step 5-45, the AMF 5-03 may contain at least one of NSAG information for one or a plurality of N-SSAIs and priority information for each NSAG in a registration accept message and transmits the same to the NR base station. The NSAG information may include at least one of a TA or TAI, and mapping information indicating which NSAG one or more slices belong to and an identifier for each NSAG (NSAG-Id), [0071] The NSAG information and NSAG priority information may also be provided in a UE configuration command message. In step 5-45, the registration accept message may contain allowed NSSAI and non-supportable NSSAI (Target NSSAI) among the NSSAIs requested by the UE 5-01 and transmit them to the NR base station. The message may also contain an Index to RAT/Frequency Slice Selection Priority (hereinafter, RFSP index) for each frequency/RAT), and
determine whether to perform a cell reselection based on the first priority for the SNPN ([0096] In step 6-40, the UE 6-01 in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode may derive a reselection priority for slice-based cell reselection. When the cellReselectionPriorities are configured in the RRC connection release message, reselection priorities may be derived by applying the cellReselectionPriorities as described above. For example, the UE 6-01 may disregard the reselection priority broadcast in the system information. However, when the cellReselectionPriorities of the RRC connection release message are not applied as described above, the UE 6-01 may derive the reselection priority by applying the reselection priority information broadcast in the system information).
Regarding Claim 102, Jung teaches the UE according to claim 101, wherein the one or more processors are configured to process the instructions to control the UE to: receive, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) 16 ([0126] In step 7-20, the UE may camp on an NR suitable cell to obtain system information containing cell reselection information. The system information may refer to MIB, SIB1, SIB2, SIB3, SIB4, SIB5, and SIB16) comprising a second priority related to the NSAG, and determine whether to perform the cell reselection based on the first priority for the SNPN and the second priority for the SNPN ([0127] In step 7-25, the UE may derive a reselection priority according to the above-described embodiment in FIG. 6 for slice-based cell reselection. As an example, the UE may derive the reselection priority according to the following predetermined rule. [0128] Frequencies that support at least one prioritized NSAG received from NAS have higher re-selection priority than frequencies that support none of the NSAG(s) received from NAS. [0129] Frequencies that support at least one NSAG provided by NAS are prioritized in the order of the NAS-provided priority for the NSAG with highest priority supported on the frequency. [0130] Among the frequencies (one or multiple) that support the highest prioritized NSAG(s) with the same NAS-provided priorities, the frequencies are prioritized in the order of their highest nsag-CellReselectionPriority or nsag-CellReselectionSubPriority or sum of their highest nsag-CellReselectionPriority and nsag-CellReselectionSubPriority given for these NSAGs).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Kanneath Abraham (US 2025/0386271) teaches [0043] Further, when the UE performs a slice-specific cell reselection, the priority used for the cell reselection is a combination of both network slice priority/NSAG priority received from the NAS and frequency priority received from the RRC messages (e.g., RRC release message). There are two ways by which the slice information (e.g., FreqPriorityNRSlicing) could be received by the UE. One by the broadcast signalling (SIB16) and the other by the dedicated signalling in the RRC messages like the RRC release message. The RRC release message may include one or more cell reselection priorities (cellReselectionPriorities) as depicted in Table-4, Table-5, Table-6, and Table-7.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARGARET G WEBB whose telephone number is (571)270-7803. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Appiah can be reached at (571) 272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARGARET G WEBB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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