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 .
This action is response to the application filed on 09/26/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending and herein considered.
Oath/Declaration
The receipt of oath/declaration is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 09/26/2024. These drawings are reviewed and accepted by the Examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 09/30/2024, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CRR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim(s) 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,132,616 (Application no. 17/660,116). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims of the instant application merely broaden the scope of the claims of U.S. Patent No. 12,132,616 (Application no. 17/660,116) by eliminating the elements and their functions of the claims. It has been held that the omission an element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same function as before. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184 (CCPA). Also note Ex parte Rainu, 168 USPQ 375 (Bd.App.1969); omission of a reference element whose function is not needed would be obvious to one skilled in the art and where the patent and the application are directed to identify a distributed ledger that is accessible to a Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing ("MEC") device operator system that provides a plurality of MEC devices; identify a particular record of the distributed ledger that indicates that a particular MEC device, of the plurality of MEC devices, has been configured with a particular set of Quality of Service ("QoS") parameters; receive a request to access a particular service that is associated with the particular set of QoS parameters; select the particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, to provide the service, wherein selecting the particular MEC device is based on identifying the particular record that indicates that the particular MEC device has been configured with the particular set of QoS parameters with which the particular service is associated; and output, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,132,616 (Application no. 17/660,116) to teach the invention of the claims 1-20 of the current application.
Instant Application 18/897,403
U.S. Patent No. 12,132,616
For claim 1:
1. A device, comprising: one or more processors configured to: identify a distributed ledger that is accessible to a Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing ("MEC") device operator system that provides a plurality of MEC devices; identify a particular record of the distributed ledger that indicates that a particular MEC device, of the plurality of MEC devices, has been configured with a particular set of Quality of Service ("QoS") parameters; receive a request to access a particular service that is associated with the particular set of QoS parameters; select the particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, to provide the service, wherein selecting the particular MEC device is based on identifying the particular record that indicates that the particular MEC device has been configured with the particular set of QoS parameters with which the particular service is associated; and output, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 2:
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the particular set of QoS parameters includes a threshold maximum latency.
For claim 3:
3. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of MEC devices are each associated with a respective service region in which the plurality of MEC devices have been configured to provide the particular service in accordance with the particular set of QoS parameters.
For claim 4:
4. The device of claim 3, wherein the request is associated with a particular User Equipment ("UE"), wherein selecting the particular MEC device from the plurality of MEC devices further includes selecting the particular MEC device based on a location of the UE and the respective service regions associated with the plurality of MEC devices.
For claim 5:
5. The device of claim 1, wherein the indication of the selected particular MEC device includes an identifier of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 6:
6. The device of claim 1, wherein the MEC device operator system is a first MEC device operator system, wherein the plurality of MEC devices are a first plurality of MEC devices, wherein the particular set of QoS parameters is a first set of QoS parameters, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: record, to the distributed ledger, information associating the particular service with a second set of QoS parameters, wherein a second MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular service with the second set of QoS parameters.
For claim 7:
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the particular MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify information associating the particular service with the particular set of QoS parameters.
For claim 8:
8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing a plurality of processor-executable instructions to: identify a distributed ledger that is accessible to a Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing ("MEC") device operator system that provides a plurality of MEC devices; identify a particular record of the distributed ledger that indicates that a particular MEC device, of the plurality of MEC devices, has been configured with a particular set of Quality of Service ("QoS") parameters; receive a request to access a particular service that is associated with the particular set of QoS parameters; select the particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, to provide the service, wherein selecting the particular MEC device is based on identifying the particular record that indicates that the particular MEC device has been configured with the particular set of QoS parameters with which the particular service is associated; and output, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 9:
9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular set of QoS parameters includes a threshold maximum latency.
For claim 10:
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the plurality of MEC devices are each associated with a respective service region in which the plurality of MEC devices have been configured to provide the particular service in accordance with the particular set of QoS parameters.
For claim 11:
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the request is associated with a particular User Equipment ("UE"), wherein selecting the particular MEC device from the plurality of MEC devices further includes selecting the particular MEC device based on a location of the UE and the respective service regions associated with the plurality of MEC devices.
For claim 12:
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the indication of the selected particular MEC device includes an identifier of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 13:
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the MEC device operator system is a first MEC device operator system, wherein the plurality of MEC devices are a first plurality of MEC devices, wherein the particular set of QoS parameters is a first set of QoS parameters, wherein the plurality of processor-executable instructions further include processor-executable instructions to: record, to the distributed ledger, information associating the particular service with a second set of QoS parameters, wherein a second MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular service with the second set of QoS parameters.
For claim 14:
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify information associating the particular service with the particular set of QoS parameters.
For claim 15:
15. A method, comprising: identifying a distributed ledger that is accessible to a Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing ("MEC") device operator system that provides a plurality of MEC devices; identifying a particular record of the distributed ledger that indicates that a particular MEC device, of the plurality of MEC devices, has been configured with a particular set of Quality of Service ("QoS") parameters; receiving a request to access a particular service that is associated with the particular set of QoS parameters; selecting the particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, to provide the service, wherein selecting the particular MEC device is based on identifying the particular record that indicates that the particular MEC device has been configured with the particular set of QoS parameters with which the particular service is associated; and outputting, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 16:
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular set of QoS parameters includes a threshold maximum latency.
For claim 17:
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of MEC devices are each associated with a respective service region in which the plurality of MEC devices have been configured to provide the particular service in accordance with the particular set of QoS parameters, wherein the request is associated with a particular User Equipment ("UE"), and wherein selecting the particular MEC device from the plurality of MEC devices further includes selecting the particular MEC device based on a location of the UE and the respective service regions associated with the plurality of MEC devices.
For claim 18:
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the indication of the selected particular MEC device includes an identifier of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 19:
19. The method of claim 15, wherein the MEC device operator system is a first MEC device operator system, wherein the plurality of MEC devices are a first plurality of MEC devices, wherein the particular set of QoS parameters is a first set of QoS parameters, the method further comprising: recording, to the distributed ledger, information associating the particular service with a second set of QoS parameters, wherein a second MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular service with the second set of QoS parameters.
For claim 20:
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify information associating the particular service with the particular set of QoS parameters.
For claim 1:
1. A device, comprising: one or more processors configured to: record, to a distributed ledger, information associating a particular application with a particular set of Quality of Service (“QoS”) information, wherein a particular Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing (“MEC”) device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the particular set of QoS information; read, from the distributed ledger, MEC configuration information indicating that the MEC device operator system has configured one or more MEC devices, of a plurality of MEC devices associated with the MEC device operator system, to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information; receive a request to access the particular application; select a particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, based on the request and further based on the MEC configuration information; and output, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 2:
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the particular set of QoS information includes a threshold maximum latency.
For claim 3:
3. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more MEC devices are each associated with a respective service region in which the one or more MEC devices have been configured to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information, wherein the MEC configuration information includes respective service region associated with each of the one or more MEC devices.
For claim 4:
4. The device of claim 3, wherein the request is associated with a particular User Equipment (“UE”), wherein selecting the particular MEC device from the plurality of MEC devices further includes selecting the particular MEC device based on a location of the UE and the respective service regions associated with the one or more MEC devices.
For claim 5:
5. The device of claim 1, wherein the MEC configuration information includes one or more identifiers of the one or more MEC devices that have been configured to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information, wherein the indication of the selected particular MEC device includes an identifier of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 6:
6. The device of claim 1, wherein the particular MEC device operator system is a first MEC device operator system, wherein the plurality of set of MEC devices are a first plurality of MEC devices, wherein the particular set of QoS information is a first set of QoS information, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: record, to the distributed ledger, information associating the particular application with a second set of QoS information, wherein a second MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the second set of QoS information, and wherein the distributed ledger system is associated with one or more permissions whereby the information associating the particular application with the second set of QoS information is inaccessible to the first MEC device operator.
For claim 7:
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the particular MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the particular set of QoS information via a node that maintains the distributed ledger and is authorized to write to the distributed ledger, and wherein the particular MEC device operator system provides, via the node, the MEC configuration information to the distributed ledger.
For claim 8:
8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing a plurality of processor-executable instructions to: record, to a distributed ledger, information associating a particular application with a particular set of Quality of Service (“QoS”) information, wherein a particular Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing (“MEC”) device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the particular set of QoS information; read, from the distributed ledger, MEC configuration information indicating that the MEC device operator system has configured one or more MEC devices, of a plurality of MEC devices associated with the MEC device operator system, to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information; receive a request to access the particular application; select a particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, based on the request and further based on the MEC configuration information; and output, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 9:
9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular set of QoS information includes a threshold maximum latency.
For claim 10:
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more MEC devices are each associated with a respective service region in which the one or more MEC devices have been configured to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information, wherein the MEC configuration information includes respective service region associated with each of the one or more MEC devices.
For claim 11:
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the request is associated with a particular User Equipment (“UE”), wherein selecting the particular MEC device from the plurality of MEC devices further includes selecting the particular MEC device based on a location of the UE and the respective service regions associated with the one or more MEC devices.
For claim 12:
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the MEC configuration information includes one or more identifiers of the one or more MEC devices that have been configured to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information, wherein the indication of the selected particular MEC device includes an identifier of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 13:
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular MEC device operator system is a first MEC device operator system, wherein the plurality of set of MEC devices are a first plurality of MEC devices, wherein the particular set of QoS information is a first set of QoS information, wherein the plurality of processor-executable instructions further include processor-executable instructions to: record, to the distributed ledger, information associating the particular application with a second set of QoS information, wherein a second MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the second set of QoS information, and wherein the distributed ledger system is associated with one or more permissions whereby the information associating the particular application with the second set of QoS information is inaccessible to the first MEC device operator.
For claim 14:
14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the particular MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the particular set of QoS information via a node that maintains the distributed ledger and is authorized to write to the distributed ledger, and wherein the particular MEC device operator system provides, via the node, the MEC configuration information to the distributed ledger.
For claim 15:
15. A method, comprising: recording, to a distributed ledger, information associating a particular application with a particular set of Quality of Service (“QoS”) information, wherein a particular Multi-Access/Mobile Edge Computing (“MEC”) device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the particular set of QoS information; reading, from the distributed ledger, MEC configuration information indicating that the MEC device operator system has configured one or more MEC devices, of a plurality of MEC devices associated with the MEC device operator system, to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information; receiving a request to access the particular application; selecting a particular MEC device, from the plurality of MEC devices, based on the request and further based on the MEC configuration information; and outputting, based on the request, an indication of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 16:
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular set of QoS information includes a threshold maximum latency.
For claim 17:
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more MEC devices are each associated with a respective service region in which the one or more MEC devices have been configured to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information, wherein the MEC configuration information includes respective service region associated with each of the one or more MEC devices, wherein the request is associated with a particular User Equipment (“UE”), and wherein selecting the particular MEC device from the plurality of MEC devices further includes selecting the particular MEC device based on a location of the UE and the respective service regions associated with the one or more MEC devices.
For claim 18:
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the MEC configuration information includes one or more identifiers of the one or more MEC devices that have been configured to provide the particular application in accordance with the particular set of QoS information, wherein the indication of the selected particular MEC device includes an identifier of the selected particular MEC device.
For claim 19:
19. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular MEC device operator system is a first MEC device operator system, wherein the plurality of set of MEC devices are a first plurality of MEC devices, wherein the particular set of QoS information is a first set of QoS information, the method further comprising: recording, to the distributed ledger, information associating the particular application with a second set of QoS information, wherein a second MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the second set of QoS information, and wherein the distributed ledger system is associated with one or more permissions whereby the information associating the particular application with the second set of QoS information is inaccessible to the first MEC device operator.
For claim 20:
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular MEC device operator system accesses the distributed ledger to identify the information associating the particular application with the particular set of QoS information via a node that maintains the distributed ledger and is authorized to write to the distributed ledger, and wherein the particular MEC device operator system provides, via the node, the MEC configuration information to the distributed ledger.
Conclusion
The prior arts made or record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosures. Parker et al. (U.S 2020/0195495), discloses techniques for implementing a multi-access edge computing (MEC) based system to realize network slicing with distributed ledger (e.g., blockchain) traceability for an informed supply chain where Edge computing use cases in mobile network settings have been developed for integration with multi-access edge computing (MEC) approaches, also known as “mobile edge computing.” MEC approaches are designed to allow application developers and content providers to access computing capabilities and an information technology (IT) service environment in dynamic mobile network settings at the edge of the network.
Gupta et al. (U.S 11,711,759), discloses the network slice allocation service may move the network function workloads to edge locations, such as cell sites or customer aggregation sites, to improve latency or other quality-of-service measures and request may specify one or more quality-of-service requirements, such as latency, bandwidth, reliability, jitter, or other requirements. The requirements may be expressed as a maximum, minimum, median, average, or other threshold measure.
Smith et al. (U.S 2021/0014132), discloses techniques discussed herein use reinforcement learning and distributed ledger records (e.g., blockchain records) for selecting edge nodes and scheduling execution of edge service instances on the selected edge nodes to perform state transitions associated with a workload execution plan. A network management entity (e.g., a network orchestration system such as an edge orchestrator or a meta-orchestrator) is configured to generate an execution plan for a workload based on an SLA.
Filippou et al. (U.S 2023/0074288), discloses techniques for implementing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications in Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) systems and networks and the MEC system supports and/or provides various services to endpoint devices (e.g some services may have priority or Quality of Service (QoS) constraints (e.g., traffic data for autonomous vUEs 101 may have a higher priority than infotainment data), reliability and resiliency (e.g., traffic data may require mission-critical reliability, while infotainment data may be allowed some error variance), as well as power, cooling, and form-factor constraints. A variety of interfaces are used by a UE application (app) to request the MEC system to run an app (e.g., MEC app) in the MEC system, or to move an app in or out of the MEC system).
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/LAN-HUONG TRUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
07/25/2026
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