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 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ying et al. (hereinafter Ying) US 2023/0189309 A1 in view of Pang et al. (hereinafter Pang) US 2019/0174360 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Ying teaches a data transmission method, performed by an access network element (Fig. 7), the method comprising:
obtaining a first latency variation distribution characteristic of a service data packet indicating a transmission latency range of the service data packet (Fig. 7 & S701-S702; the radio access network device determines a deterministic transmission delay of the first switching node based on one or more of a residence time (residence time) of the terminal, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between the radio access network device and the terminal, a bandwidth (band) allocated to a quality of service flow of the terminal, and a priority of the quality of service flow of the terminal…);
receiving one or more latency variation conditions of the service data packet determined by a core network element (Fig. 7-S705; first network element receives the deterministic service transmission request from the second network element. For example, the second network element may be the AF shown in FIG. 5. A function of the CUC may be added to the AF, and the first network element is a CNC. The CNC may receive a deterministic service transmission request from the CUC, where the deterministic service transmission request may include: a service start/end time, a service cycle, a service delay requirement, a service delay variation requirement, an allowable service failure retransmission quantity, and the like. In an embodiment, the second network element may be alternatively a network element independently deployed in a 5G system, for example, a first CUC);
and configuring a scheduling and transmission policy of the access network element based on the first latency variation distribution characteristic and the one or more latency variation conditions (Fig. 7-S706-S708; first network element generates the first scheduling policy and the second scheduling policy based on the deterministic transmission capability information of the first switching node, the deterministic transmission capability information of the second switching node, and the deterministic service transmission request.. the first scheduling policy and/or the second scheduling policy may include transmission class related information, gate control information, and the like…Operation S707: The first network element sends the first scheduling policy to the radio access network device…Operation S708: The first network element sends the second scheduling policy to the UPF).
Ying does not expressly teach “…indicating a transmission latency range…”
Pang teaches “…indicating a transmission latency range…” (¶0121 & ¶0143; quality of service takes range of the target service in consideration based on a real time service feature of the target data flow).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Pang into the system of Ying in order to enable the target service to determine a quality of service parameter range of the target service based on the service feature information list, and subsequently determine the quality of service parameter of the target service data flow based on a real-time service feature of the target service data flow (¶0121).
Regarding claim 2, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 1, further comprising:
detecting whether service data transmitted between an application server (AS) and the access network element satisfies the one or more latency variation conditions during a first transmission (obvious from ¶0263-¶0266 & ¶0353-¶0359; the terminal is similar to AS. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163);
reconfiguring the scheduling and transmission policy based on the service data transmitted between the application server and the access network element not satisfying the one or more latency variation conditions during the first transmission (obvious from Fig. 7-S706. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163);
and performing a second data transmission based on the reconfigured scheduling and transmission policy (Fig. 7-S706).
Regarding claim 3, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining the first latency variation distribution characteristic comprises:
receiving the first latency variation distribution characteristic transmitted by the core network element, and wherein the first latency variation distribution characteristic is forwarded by the core network element based on a second latency variation distribution characteristic transmitted by an application object (AO) entity, or the first latency variation distribution characteristic is transmitted by the core network element to the access network element based on adjusting the second latency variation distribution characteristic (Fig. 7 & S701-S702; the radio access network device determines a deterministic transmission delay of the first switching node based on one or more of a residence time (residence time) of the terminal, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between the radio access network device and the terminal, a bandwidth (band) allocated to a quality of service flow of the terminal, and a priority of the quality of service flow of the terminal…).
Regarding claim 4, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the configuring the scheduling and transmission policy comprises: adjusting the first latency variation distribution characteristic based on the one or more latency variation conditions, to obtain an adjusted latency variation distribution characteristic (obvious from Fig. 7 & ¶0070-¶0075 & ¶0358. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163); and configuring the scheduling and transmission policy based on the adjusted first latency variation distribution characteristic (Fig. 7-S706-S708; first network element generates the first scheduling policy and the second scheduling policy based on the deterministic transmission capability information of the first switching node, the deterministic transmission capability information of the second switching node, and the deterministic service transmission request.. the first scheduling policy and/or the second scheduling policy may include transmission class related information, gate control information, and the like…Operation S707: The first network element sends the first scheduling policy to the radio access network device…Operation S708: The first network element sends the second scheduling policy to the UPF).
Regarding claim 5, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving the one or more latency variation conditions comprises: receiving the one or more latency variation conditions from an AO entity forwarded by a policy control object (PCO) entity, and wherein the one or more latency variation conditions are generated by the AO entity based on service attribute information corresponding to the service data packet (¶0065, ¶0264-¶0265 & Fig. 7. Also see Fig. 4 for different AO and policy control objects. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163).
Regarding claim 6, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 5, wherein the service attribute information includes at least one of: a tolerance of the service data packet for a latency variation, a size of a playback buffer corresponding to the service data packet, a playable duration of the playback buffer corresponding to the service data packet, a service characteristic corresponding to the service data packet (¶0264-¶0265; see periodic characteristic of packet), transmitting end capability information of the service data packet, receiving end capability information of the service data packet, or an encoding/decoding algorithm corresponding to the service data packet. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163).
Regarding claim 7, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 4, wherein the scheduling and transmission policy is configured based on periodicity information of the service data packet and the adjusted latency variation distribution characteristic, wherein the core network element obtains the periodicity information, and wherein the core network element transmits the periodicity information to the access network element (¶0264-¶0265; see periodic characteristic).
Regarding claim 8, Ying teaches the data transmission method according to claim 3, further comprising: detecting whether service data transmitted between an application server (AS) and the access network element satisfies the one or more latency variation conditions during a first transmission (obvious from Fig. 7 & ¶0264-¶0265. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163);
triggering the core network element to readjust the first latency variation distribution characteristic based on the one or more latency variation conditions of the service data packet based on the service data transmitted between the AS and the access network element not satisfying the one or more latency variation conditions during the first transmission (Fig. 7. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163);
receiving a readjusted latency variation distribution characteristic transmitted by the core network element (Fig. 7. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163);
and reconfiguring the scheduling and transmission policy of the access network element based on the readjusted latency variation distribution characteristic (Fig. 7. Also see Pang in ¶0104-¶0163).
Claims 9-20 are substantially similar to claims above, thus the same rationale applies.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHRAN ABU ROUMI whose telephone number is (469)295-9170. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Emmanuel Moise can be reached at 571-272-3865. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
MAHRAN ABU ROUMI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2455
/MAHRAN Y ABU ROUMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
Prosecution Insights