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
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (hereinafter Huang) US 2024/0107595 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Huang teaches a method for detecting resource allocation mismatch among different nodes in a radio access network (RAN) (Figs. 9-10 & ¶0072), comprising:
obtaining, by a radio intelligent controller (RIC), network information (Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075; RIC 1001 and 1003 receive performance information or other type of information like band information including receiving this information from AMF like AMF 201. ¶0020 & Fig. 4A provides examples of band information regarding the network via AMF. Note that AMF provides the information to the RAN management system 203 which includes the RIC) related to at least one of i) allocated RAN resources associated with a user equipment (UE) (¶0020 & Fig. 4A; RF allocation. Also see Fig. 10 & ¶0075-¶0078; RIC 1001 and/or 1003 may instruct O-DU 1011 and/or 10-CU-UP 1009 to prioritize, queue, etc. traffic associated with a given UE 105 in accordance with particular QoS parameters selected based on band information provided by or otherwise associated with UE 105), ii) a user equipment (UE) context for a UE (¶0075; Non-Real Time MC 1001 and/or Near-Real Time MC 1003 may receive band information (e.g., from AMF 201 and/or some other suitable source), and may configure parameters of one or more other elements of O-RAN environment 1000 based on the received band information. For example, as discussed above, Non-Real Time RIC 1001 and/or Near-Real Time RIC 1003 may instruct O-RU 1013 to modify physical parameters of one or more antennas or radios (e.g., azimuth angle, beam width, beam transmit power, etc.) based on band information. Additionally, or alternatively, Non-Real Time RIC 1001 and/or Near-Real Time RIC 1003 may instruct O-DU 1011 and/or 10-CU-UP 1009 to prioritize, queue, etc. traffic associated with a given UE 105 in accordance with particular QoS parameters selected based on band information provided by or otherwise associated with UE 105),
and iii) the number of UEs connected at a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) and the number of UEs connected at a distributed unit (DU);
Huang does not expressly teach that “RIC” determines at least one of stale RAN resource allocation and stale UE context exists, based on the obtained network information in the limitation “and determining, by the RIC, whether at least one of stale RAN resource allocation and stale UE context exists, based on the obtained network information.”
However, Huang teaches “and determining…stale RAN resource allocation…” (UDM 301 determines stale and old resources based on the network, see ¶0032 & ¶0036-¶0037).
The limitation would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to modify Huang’s teachings and enable the RIC to determine stale or old resource allocation based on the network information because Near-Real-Time RIC directly monitors live element states on fast timescale by tracking timestamped updates from the E2 interfaces where one be motivated to do so to immediately flags data that misses expected arrival windows. See Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075. The UDM 301 and RIC use, at least, one technique like using timestamp to determine the stale data. Moreover, to support the above obviousness statement, see also ¶0019, ¶0040 & ¶0050, ¶0055.
Regarding claim 2, Huang further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the obtaining of the network information comprises: polling, by the RIC, the different nodes of the RAN including the CU-CP, centralized unit user plane (CU-UP), and the DU to obtain information about allocated RAN resources associated with the UE, wherein the allocated RAN resources include at least one of UE context, protocol data unit (PDU) session, data radio bearer (DRB), and quality of service (QOS) flow (obvious from Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075 since RIC receives the data via E2 interface from the different sources. Also see QoS flow and rules in ¶0019, ¶0021, ¶0040 & ¶0050, ¶0055);
and receiving, by the RIC from each of the CU-CP, CU-UP and DU, information regarding the allocated RAN resources associated with the UE (obvious from Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075 since RIC receives the data via E2 interface from the different sources).
Regarding claim 3, Huang further teaches the method of claim 2, wherein: the determining of whether stale RAN resource allocation exists comprises: correlating, by the RIC, the received information regarding the allocated RAN resources associated with the UE to determine whether the CU-CP, CU-UP and DU are in sync with respect to the allocated RAN resources associated with the UE, wherein a discrepancy in the allocated RAN resources among the CU-CP, CU-UP and DU indicates stale RAN resource allocation by at least one of the CU-CP, CU-UP and DU (obvious from ¶0032, ¶0036-¶0037, Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075 because the UDM 301 and RIC use, at least, one technique like using timestamp to determine the stale data. Moreover, to support the above obviousness statement, see also ¶0019, ¶0040 & ¶0050, ¶0055. Note that UEs 105-1 and 105-2 may provide (at 402 and 404) band information in a synchronized manner, such as at the same periodicity. In some embodiments, UEs 105 may include band information when outputting connection requests to connect or attach to base station 101. See ¶0027)
Regarding claim 4, Huang further teaches the method of claim 3, further comprising: sending, by the RIC, a trigger to at least one of the CU-CP, CU-UP and DU to delete the stale RAN resource allocation (RIC updates/overwrite information which is similar to delete, see ¶0021, ¶0028 & ¶0074-¶0075).
Regarding claim 5, Huang further teaches the method of claim 4, wherein: the allocated RAN resources are UE contexts (Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075); and the RIC is a non-real time RIC (Non-RT RIC) (Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075).
Claims 6-8 require the limitation “UE context for a UE exists” in claim 1 which was not selected; thus, the art does not have to teach any of claims 6-8.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein: the obtaining of the network information comprises: monitoring, by the RIC, network trace data for network signaling messages to determine whether a UE context for a UE exists (this limitation was not selected in claim 1, thus the art does not need to teach it); and in the case the UE context exists, monitoring, by the RIC, at least one of signaling activity and user plane activity of the UE (this limitation was not selected in claim 1, thus the art does not need to teach it).
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the monitoring of the network trace data by the RIC comprises monitoring the different nodes of the RAN including the CU-CP, centralized unit user plane (CU-UP), and the DU (this limitation was not selected in claim 1, thus the art does not need to teach it).
8. The method of claim 7, wherein: the determining of whether a stale UE context exists comprises: categorizing, by the RIC, the UE as having a stale UE context in the case the at least one of signaling activity and user plane activity of the UE is not observed for a predefined time period (This limitation was not selected in claim 1).
Regarding claim 9, Huang further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the obtaining of the network information comprises: receiving, by the RIC, performance measurement (PM) measurement counts indicating at least the number of UEs connected at the CU-CP and the number of UEs connected at the DU (Fig. 10 & ¶0074-¶0075; Non-Real Time RIC 1001 and Near-Real Time RIC 1003 may receive performance information (and/or other types of information) [PM] from one or more sources, and may configure other elements of O-RAN environment 1000 based on such performance or other information. For example, Near-Real Time RIC 1003 may receive performance information, via one or more E2 interfaces, from O-eNB 1005, O-CU-CP 1007, and/or O-CU-UP 1009, and may modify parameters associated with O-eNB 1005, O-CU-CP 1007, and/or O-CU-UP 1009 based on such performance information. Similarly, Non-Real Time RIC 1001 may receive performance information associated with O-eNB 1005, O-CU-CP 1007, O-CU-UP 1009, and/or one or more other elements of O-RAN environment 1000 and may utilize machine learning and/or other higher level computing or processing to determine modifications to the configuration of O-eNB 1005, O-CU-CP 1007, O-CU-UP 1009, and/or other elements of O-RAN environment 1000. In some embodiments, Non-Real Time RIC 1001 may generate machine learning models based on performance information associated with O-RAN environment 1000 or other sources, and may provide such models to Near-Real Time RIC 1003 for implementation).
Regarding claim 10, Huang further teaches the method of claim 8, wherein: the determining of whether stale RAN resource allocation exists comprises: determining, by the RIC, an existence of stale RAN resource allocation in the case the number of UEs connected at the CU-CP differs from the number of UEs connected at the DU (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because the band information that RIC receives include the number of UEs connected to each RAN system and environment).
Regarding claim 11, Huang further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the determining of whether stale RAN resource allocation exists comprises: determining, by the RIC, an existence of stale RAN resource allocation based on at least one of UE context allocation information and UE context release information received from at least one of the CU-CP, a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP), and the DU (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because the band information that RIC receives include the number of UEs connected to each RAN system and environment).
Regarding claim 12, Huang further teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of: a) sending, by the CU-CP, a RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message to the DU to configure the DU to report information regarding UEs connected at the DU (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because both type of RIC are controlling DU for reporting); and b) sending, by the CU-CP, a RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message to the centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) to configure the CU-UP to report information regarding the number of bearer contexts.
Regarding claim 13, Huang further teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising at least one of: a) sending, by the DU, a RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE to the CU-CP indicating the capability to report the requested information regarding UEs connected at the DU (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because both type of RIC are controlling DU for reporting); and b) sending, by the CU-UP, a RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE to the CU-CP indicating the capability to report the requested information regarding the number of bearer contexts.
Regarding claim 14, Huang further teaches the method of claim 13, further comprising at least one of: a) sending, by the DU, a RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE to the CU-CP including the number of connected UEs per cell (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because both type of RIC are controlling DU for reporting); and b) sending, by the CU-UP, a RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE to the CU-CP including the number of bearer contexts.
Regarding claim 15, Huang further teaches the method of claim 14, wherein at least one of: a) DU sends the RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE to the CU-CP based on a predefined event including at least the number of connected UEs exceeding a predefined threshold percentage of maximum number of users supported by the cell (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because RIC and RAN management system mages the number of users supported); and b) CU-UP sends the RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE to the CU-CP based on a predefined event including at least the number of data radio bearers (DRBs) exceeding a predefined threshold percentage of maximum number of DRBs supported by the CU-UP.
Regarding claim 16, Huang further teaches the method of claim 14, further comprising at least one of: a) in the case the number of connected UEs per cell reported by the DU differs by a predefined threshold from the information stored at the CU-CP regarding the number of connected UEs per cell, the CU-CP configures CONNECTED UE REPORT PERIODIC measurement object for the DU, whereby information available at the DU about every connected UE will be reported by the DU (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because RIC and RAN management system mages the number of users supported); and b) in the case the number of bearer contexts reported by the CU-UP differs by a predefined threshold from the information stored at the CU-CP regarding the number of bearer contexts, the CU-CP configures BEARER CONTEXT REPORT PERIODIC measurement object for the CU-UP, whereby information available at the CU-UP about every connected UE will be reported by the CU-UP.
Regarding claim 17, Huang further teaches the method of claim 16, further comprising: comparing, by the CU-CP, the information received from the DU and the CU-UP about every connected UE with information stored at the CU-CP regarding UE contexts (obvious from Figs. 9-10 & ¶0070-¶0076 because RIC and RAN management system mages the number of users supported according to different QoS rules and policies).
Claim 18 requires the limitation “UE context for a UE exists” in claim 1 which was not selected; thus, the art does not have to teach claim 18.
18. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in the case a stale UE context exists (this limitation was not selected in claim 1, thus the art does not need to teach it), performing a cleanup of the stale UE context by: i) sending, by the DU, a UE Context Release Request to the CU-CP; ii) in the case a UE Context Release Command from the CU-CP is received at the DU within a specified time period after the sending of the UE Context Release Request, sending, by the DU, a UE Context Release Complete message to the CU-CP; iii) in the case the UE Context Release Command from the CU-CP is not received at the DU within the specified time period after the sending of the UE Context Release Request, repeating step i); iv) repeating step iii) up to a specified number of retries; and v) in the case the UE Context Release Command from the CU-CP is not received at the DU after the specified number of retries, cleaning up the stale UE context by the DU (this limitation was not selected in claim 1, thus the art does not need to teach it).
Conclusion
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MAHRAN ABU ROUMI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2455
/MAHRAN Y ABU ROUMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
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