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 .
Claims 1 – 20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 102 rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the amendments. See the updated 35 USC 103 rejections of claims 1-12 and 14-20 below.
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.
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) 1-12, 14-17 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0414067 issued to Yao (hereinafter referred to as Yao) in view of US 2024/0305693 A1 issued to Liu et al (hereinafter Liu).
As to claim 1, Yao discloses a device, comprising:
a processing system (one or more processors, see Yao: Para. 0147 – 0149); and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations (memory comprising instructions, see Yao: Para. 0147 – 0149) that include:
receiving, via an application programming interface (API) and from each element of a plurality of elements, particular information relating to that element, wherein the plurality of elements comprises a plurality of network functions (service API gateway and use of API for network communication between hardware components, see Yao: Para. 0160 and 0179, and receiving performance parameters, configuration parameters, KPIs, SLAs, etc. for the RANs, AFs and NFs as well as user device elements (UEs), see Yao: Para. 0192 – 0194, see also 0157 – 0168 for similar disclosure for UEs, RANs, etc. sharing performance and fault data for compute task/workload management within the network, see also collecting and storing of capabilities for Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) and UE registration/authentication, see Yao: Para. 0116-0118 and 0127);
storing the particular information in a registration database, resulting in stored information (storing the performance metrics, configuration parameters, KPIs, etc. in the data repository for the machine learning function (MLF), see Yao: Para. 0192 – 0194, see also UE registration storage including performance and configuration data, see Yao: Para. 0116-0118 and 0127, see also registry for system services provided in the user plane for services provided by the endpoints behind the gateways, including configuration data, performance data, access rules, traffic routing, load balancing, performance monitoring data, etc., see Yao: Para. 0160-0165);
after the storing, receiving, via the API and from a first element of the plurality of elements, a query requesting data regarding a second element of the plurality of elements (querying the Network Repository Function (NRF) to determine an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for the requesting UE to connect and be served by, see Yao: Para. 0115-0116, 0122, 0128, see also service requests from UEs to determine and configure the service resource chains for performing the network functions and determining whether a computing task should be run on the UE, RAN, AF, NF and/or another element of the 6G CN, see Yao: Para. 0163 – 0165 and 0168, see also discover and request data from the data repository of the MLF for data of other MLF repositories, external sources and the system devices and using the models of the MLF for analyzing and returning data for requests, see Yao: Para. 0193 – 0194 and 0196 – 0198);
responsive to the query, retrieving the stored information for the second element and at least one other element of the plurality of elements, resulting in retrieved information (receiving analytics from the NWDAFs that provide the requested analytics, see Yao: Para. 0115, see also returning analytics data based on the models of the MLF for the data in the repositories from network devices (UEs, RANs, AFs, NFs, etc.), see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0168 and 0192 – 0198); and
providing, via the API, the retrieved information to the first element, thereby facilitating interactions between the first element and one or more other elements (using workload processing and traffic routing policies for establishing connection chains between the requesting UE and network elements (NFs, AFs, RANs) for providing the services to the UE, see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0165, see also 0111 – 0112, see also coupling a UE and AN for facilitating requests from UE, see Yao: Para. 0135 – 0146).
However, Yao does not explicitly disclose aggregating the retrieved information, resulting in aggregating information; and providing, via the API, the aggregated information to the first element, thereby facilitating interactions between the first element and one or more other elements of the plurality of elements.
Lie teaches aggregating the retrieved information, resulting in aggregating information (aggregating joint relocation information for the edge nodes to determine if edge nodes are capable of relation of applications, see Liu: Para. 0174 - 0183); and
providing, via the API, the aggregated information to the first element, thereby facilitating interactions between the first element and one or more other elements of the plurality of elements (sending the aggregated messages to the client edges and different UEs to establish connections with edge nodes for relocations, see Liu: Para. 0174 - 0183).
Liu and Yao are analogous due to their disclosure of managing traffic based on performance within networks.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Yao’s use of analytics for managing network traffic between elements and functions with Liu’s use of aggregating relocation information for edge nodes to determine if edge nodes are able to perform the functions of the applications in order to enhance edge application relocation.
As to claim 2, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the particular information includes fault data, configuration data, accounting data, performance data, security data, or a combination thereof (configuration data, fault data, performance data, security capabilities, etc., see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0165, 0169, 0183, 0193 – 0195).
As to claim 3, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the particular information includes data relating to key performance indicators (KPIs), key capacity indicators (KCIs), transaction per second (TPS) metrics, network latency, packet loss, throughput, error rate, subscriber capacity, or a combination thereof (capacity information for network functions, see Yao: Para. 0124, KPI for UE and network elements, see Yao: Para. 0193, see also resources include throughput, see Para. 0247).
As to claim 4, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network functions are implemented in a mobile core network (mobile network including core network, 6G core, etc., see Yao: Para. 0159, 0170, 0230).
As to claim 5, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of networks functions comprise a plurality of user plane functions, control plane functions, access management functions, mobility management functions, policy functions, charging functions, or a combination thereof (user plane function, control plane function, service and charging policy enforcement, etc., see Yao: Para. 0135, 0160 – 0161, see also 0120).
As to claim 6, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the providing the aggregated information enables the first element to evaluate characteristics associated with, or a current state of, the one or more other elements (using workload processing and traffic routing policies for establishing connection chains between the requesting UE and network elements for providing the services to the UE, see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0165, see also 0111 – 0112, see also coupling a UE and AN for facilitating requests from UE, see Yao: Para. 0135 – 0146).
As to claim 7, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the operations further include:
assigning a unique instance identifier (ID) to each of the plurality of elements (network function IDs, supported services names, network addresses, endpoint addresses of supported services, see Yao: Para. 0124); and
associating the unique instance ID with the stored information of each of the plurality of elements (UE IP address allocation and management, see Yao: Para. 0120, and UE identity, see Yao: Para. 0124).
As to claim 8, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 7, wherein the query identifies the unique instance ID of the second element (service requests from UEs to determine and configure the service resource chains for performing the network functions and determining whether a computing task should be run on the UE, RAN and/or an element of the 6G CN, see Yao: Para. 0163 – 0165 and 0168, and network function IDs, supported services names, network addresses, endpoint addresses of supported services, see Yao: Para. 0124).
As to claim 9, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 8, wherein the retrieving involves a lookup operation using the unique instance ID (service requests from UEs to determine and configure the service resource chains for performing the network functions and determining whether a computing task should be run on the UE, RAN and/or an element of the 6G CN, see Yao: Para. 0163 – 0165 and 0168, and network function IDs, supported services names, network addresses, endpoint addresses of supported services, see Yao: Para. 0124).
As to claim 10, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the one or more operations further include:
polling, via the API, one or more of the plurality of elements to provide updated information (collecting the configuration and performance parameters of the RANs, NFs, RLMs to update the ML model, see Yao: Para 0193, 0196 – 0197); and
based upon receiving the updated information, storing the updated information in the registration database (storing the collected configuration and performance parameters and updating the ML model, see Yao: Para. 0193, 0196 – 0197).
As to claim 11, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the operations further include:
receiving, via the API and from the first element, a request to subscribe to an entry in the registration database for the second element (subscribing to notifications for data collection and analytics of application functions (AFs) by network functions (NFs) and UE subscription data, and UE subscribing with notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE, see Yao: Para. 0118, 0127, 0130 – 0131);
detecting an update to the stored information relating to the second element (detecting mobility events related to the UE, and detecting data collection and analytics to be notified to subscribing NFs and UEs, see Yao: Para. 0118, 0127, 0130 – 0131); and
based on the detecting, causing, via the API, updated information relating to the second element to be provided to the first element (notifications to the subscribed UE or NF based on the mobility event or collected data/analytics, see Yao: Para. 0118, 0127, 0130 – 0131).
As to claim 12, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of elements are deployed instances of a particular function (multiple network functions (NFs), RANs and application functions (AFs), see Yao: Para. 0118, 0130-0131, 0160-0168, 0193-0198).
As to claim 14, Yao modified by Liu discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the one or more operations further include:
receiving, via the API, a de-registration request from a certain element of the plurality of elements, wherein the de-registration request is based on a change to the certain element that is effected via cloud orchestration (deleting/unsubscribing from notifications of relevant data changes and configuration data, see Yao: Para. 0127, 0130, 0160, 0183, and data network including cloud application software for the radio access network (RAN), see Yao: Para. 0097 and 0133); and
responsive to the de-registration request, deleting or archiving the stored information relating to the certain element (delete stored data, see Yao: Para. 0127, 0130, 0160 and 0183).
As to claim 15, Yao discloses a method, comprising:
determining, by a processing system of a first element that includes a processor, that an action is to be performed relating to a second element, wherein the first element and the second element comprise functions deployed over a network (one or more processors, see Yao: Para. 0147 – 0149, see also service requests from UEs to determine and configure the service resource chains for performing the network functions and determining whether a computing task should be run on the UE, RAN, AF, NF and/or another element of the 6G CN, see Yao: Para. 0163 – 0165 and 0168, see also discover and request data from the data repository of the MLF for data of other MLF repositories, external sources and the system devices and using the models of the MLF for analyzing and returning data for requests, see Yao: Para. 0193 – 0194 and 0196 – 0198, user equipment (UE), Radio Access Network Node (RAN), Application Function (AF), Network Function (NF));
responsive to the determining, submitting, by the processing system, a query to a capability registration server for information regarding the second element, wherein the second element has previously registered the information with the capability registration server, and wherein the information comprises data regarding capabilities, performance, characteristics, or a combination thereof of the second element (querying the Network Repository Function (NRF) to determine an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for the requesting UE to connect and be served by, see Yao: Para. 0115-0116, 0122, 0128, see also service requests from UEs to determine and configure the service resource chains for performing the network functions and determining whether a computing task should be run on the UE, RAN, AF, NF and/or another element of the 6G CN, see Yao: Para. 0163 – 0165 and 0168, see also discover and request data from the data repository of the MLF for data of other MLF repositories, external sources and the system devices and using the models of the MLF for analyzing and returning data for requests, see Yao: Para. 0193 – 0194 and 0196 – 0198);
based on the submitting, obtaining, by the processing system, the information from the capability registration server (receiving analytics from the NWDAFs that provide the requested analytics, see Yao: Para. 0115, see also returning analytics data based on the models of the MLF for the data in the repositories from network devices (UEs, RANs, AFs, NFs, etc.), see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0168 and 0192 – 0198, and using workload processing and traffic routing policies for establishing connection chains between the requesting UE and network elements (NFs, AFs, RANs) for providing the services to the UE, see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0165, see also 0111 – 0112, see also coupling a UE and AN for facilitating requests from UE, see Yao: Para. 0135 – 0146); and
utilizing, by the processing system, the information to facilitate performing of the action (using workload processing and traffic routing policies for establishing connection chains between the requesting UE and network elements (NFs, AFs, RANs) for providing the services to the UE, see Yao: Para. 0160 – 0165, see also 0111 – 0112, see also coupling a UE and AN for facilitating requests from UE, see Yao: Para. 0135 – 0146).
However, Yao does not explicitly disclose wherein the query causes the capability registration server to aggregate the information with other information obtained from a plurality of the other elements, resulting in aggregated information; based on the submitting, obtaining, by the processing system, the aggregated information from the capability registration server; and utilizing, by the processing system, the aggregated information to facilitate performing of the action.
Liu teaches wherein the query causes the capability registration server to aggregate the information with other information obtained from a plurality of the other elements, resulting in aggregated information (aggregating joint relocation information for the edge nodes to determine if edge nodes are capable of relation of applications, sending the aggregated messages to the client edges and different UEs to establish connections with edge nodes for relocations, see Liu: Para. 0174 - 0183).
Liu and Yao are analogous due to their disclosure of managing traffic based on performance within networks.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Yao’s use of analytics for managing network traffic between elements and functions with Liu’s use of aggregating relocation information for edge nodes to determine if edge nodes are able to perform the functions of the applications in order to enhance edge application relocation.
As to claim 16, Yao modified by Liu discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the action comprises sending traffic from the first element to the second element (adapt load/traffic pattern, see Yao: Para. 0029, see also traffic routing between devices on network, see Yao: Para. 0120, 0121, 0129, 0131, 0165).
As to claim 17, Yao modified by Liu discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the submitting comprises submitting the query to an application programming interface (API) endpoint of the capability registration server (service API gateway and use of API for network communication between hardware components, see Yao: Para. 0160 and 0179, and querying the Network Repository Function (NRF) to determine an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for the requesting UE to connect and be served by, see Yao: Para. 0115-0116, 0122, 0128, see also service requests from UEs to determine and configure the service resource chains for performing the network functions and determining whether a computing task should be run on the UE, RAN, AF, NF and/or another element of the 6G CN, see Yao: Para. 0163 – 0165 and 0168, see also discover and request data from the data repository of the MLF for data of other MLF repositories, external sources and the system devices and using the models of the MLF for analyzing and returning data for requests, see Yao: Para. 0193 – 0194 and 0196 – 0198).
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected using similar rational to the rejection of claims 1 and 3 above.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao modified by Lie, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0282936 issued to Chekhanovskiy.
As to claim 18, Yao modified by Liu discloses the method of claim 17, further comprising:
obtaining, by the processing system, an Internet Protocol (IP) address is allocated for the first element (IP addresses for network devices, including user equipment (UE), see Yao: Para. 0120).
However, Yao and Liu does not explicitly disclose obtaining, by the processing system, and as part of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) process in which an Internet Protocol (IP) address is allocated for the first element, a uniform resource locator (URL) that is associated with the API endpoint of the capability registration server, wherein the submitting is based on the obtaining the URL.
Chekhanovskiy teaches obtaining, by the processing system, and as part of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) process in which an Internet Protocol (IP) address is allocated for the first element, a uniform resource locator (URL) that is associated with the API endpoint of the capability registration server, wherein the submitting is based on the obtaining the URL (smart network host DHCP module, through the API, uses URL for managing service connections, and using URL for messaging, see Chekhanovskiy: Para. 0052 - 0058 ).
Yao, Liu and Chekhanovskiy are analogous due to their disclosure of managing traffic based on performance of mobile networks.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the use of Yao and Liu’s use of analytics for managing network traffic between elements and functions with Chekhanovskiy’s use of smart network host DHCP to acquire IP addresses and URLs for messaging between network components in order to enable the user of a home network to automatically configure and provision services by one or more client devices on the network (Chekhanovskiy: Para. 0007).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK E HERSHLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7774. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9am-6pm.
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/MARK E HERSHLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2164
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