DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
This action is responsive to the Remark filed on 2/27/26.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-8, and 10-15 have been amended, and new claim 16 has been added. Claims 5 and 9 have been canceled
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-8, and 10- 16 is/are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 3, 8, 12 & 15 is/are objected to because of the following informalities: and/or. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 10 & 13 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “sending, by the first network element, address information of the at least one EES to the terminal or the second network element”? The Examiner is not entirely sure what is the claimed invention? What is it the Applicant trying to accomplished? To retrieve the location and service of the terminal? Why would the system trying to allocate the EES? How is the EES connect to the EDN? Please clarify
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 10 & 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2021/0136177 A1 in view of Yoon, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2021/0243264 A1.
As to claim 1, Hall teaches a method for determining an edge enabler server (EES), comprising:
determining, by the first network element, at least one EES in the first at least one EDN based on the information about the first at least one EDN (Hall, page 1, paragraph 16; page 5, paragraph 58; i.e., [0016] receiving geographic location of the UE; selecting edge application servers in the edge data network by matching parameters of the edge application servers and the key performance indicators and wherein the selected edge application servers are less than a configurable distance from the geographic location of the UE; [0058] Edge data network 120 may include one or more edge application servers 210 and edge enabler server 220); and
sending, by the first network element, address information of the at least one EES to a terminal (Hall, page 6, paragraph 62-63; page 7, paragraph 68; i.e., [0062Edge enabler client 240 may also provide the parameters, e.g. URL or IP address to application client 230 to establish a connection with the edge application server 210; [0063] The configuration information may also include information, e.g. a URL or IP address for establishing a connection with edge enabler server 220 of edge data network; [0068] URL or IP address associated with edge application server(s) 210 with which application clients 230 may establish a connection);
wherein the obtaining, by the first network element, information about the first at least one EDN from the second network element comprises:
sending, by the first network element, wherein the third message comprises service information of the terminal (Hall, page 1, paragraph 16; page 5, paragraph 55; i.e., [0016] selecting edge application servers in the edge data network by matching parameters of the edge application servers and the key performance indicators; [0055] Further, because the edge data network 120 may allocate resources based on the geographic proximity, the edge data network 120 may allocate different resources to UE 115 based on the location of the UE 115. Accordingly, UEs 115 that are located in different locations (or the same UE 115 when in different geographic locations));
receiving, by the first network element, the information about the first at least one EDN from the second network element, wherein the first at least one EDN is the at least one EDN identified in response to the third message and determined based on service information of the terminal and a correspondence between service information and information about an EDN (Hall, page 1, paragraph 16; page 5, paragraph 55; i.e., [0016] receiving geographic location of the UE; selecting edge application servers in the edge data network by matching parameters of the edge application servers and the key performance indicators and wherein the selected edge application servers are less than a configurable distance from the geographic location of the UE; [0055] Further, because the edge data network 120 may allocate resources based on the geographic proximity, the edge data network 120 may allocate different resources to UE 115 based on the location of the UE 115).
But Hall failed to teach the claim limitation wherein obtaining, by a first network element, information about a first at least one edge data network (EDN) from a second network element, wherein the second network element is a network exposure function (NEF) network element.
However, Yoon teaches the limitation wherein obtaining, by a first network element, information about a first at least one edge data network (EDN) from a second network element, wherein the second network element is a network exposure function (NEF) network element (Yoon,page 5, paragraph 66-67; 72-74; page 9, paragraph 124-128; page 12, paragraph 195-198; i.e., [0066] The NEF 225 may be an NF for exposing capabilities and services of the NFs of the 3GPP network 200.
The NEF 225 may be connected to an external server (e.g., the edge data network 300) to transmit information about an event occurring in an NF of the 3GPP network 200, to the external server, or transmit information about an event requested by the external server; [0072] the edge data network 300 may include an edge enabler server 320. the edge enabler server 320 may be called a mobile edge computing platform (MEC platform), a mobile edge platform (ME platform or MEP), a platform,).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hall to substitute MEC from Yoon for resources from Hall to provide edge computing services to satisfy latency requirements of services and efficiently operate resources of a MEC system (Yoon, page 1, paragraph 5).
As to claim 10, Hall teaches a communication apparatus, comprising:
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and
a processor connected to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the processor to:
obtain information about a first at least one edge data network (EDN) from a second network element, wherein the second network element is a network exposure function (NEF) network element;
determine at least one EES in the first at least one EDN based on the information about the first at least one EDN (Hall, page 1, paragraph 16; page 5, paragraph 58; i.e., [0016] receiving geographic location of the UE; selecting edge application servers in the edge data network by matching parameters of the edge application servers and the key performance indicators and wherein the selected edge application servers are less than a configurable distance from the geographic location of the UE; [0058] Edge data network 120 may include one or more edge application servers 210 and edge enabler server 220); and
send address information of the at least one EES to a terminal (Hall, page 6, paragraph 62-63; page 7, paragraph 68; i.e., [0062Edge enabler client 240 may also provide the parameters, e.g. URL or IP address to application client 230 to establish a connection with the edge application server 210; [0063] The configuration information may also include information, e.g. a URL or IP address for establishing a connection with edge enabler server 220 of edge data network; [0068] URL or IP address associated with edge application server(s) 210 with which application clients 230 may establish a connection);
wherein the obtaining information about the first at least one EDN from the second network element comprises:
send a third message to the second network element, wherein the third message comprises service information of the terminal (Hall, page 1, paragraph 16; page 5, paragraph 55; i.e., [0016] selecting edge application servers in the edge data network by matching parameters of the edge application servers and the key performance indicators and wherein the selected edge application servers are less than a configurable distance from the geographic location of the UE; [0055] The edge data network 120 may be processed using lower latency and higher bandwidth. Further, because the edge data network 120 may allocate resources based on the geographic proximity, the edge data network 120 may allocate different resources to UE 115 based on the location of the UE 115);
receive the information about the first at least one EDN from the second network element, wherein the first at least one EDN is the at least one EDN identified in response to the third message and determined based on the service information of the terminal and a correspondence between service information and information about an EDN (Hall, page 1, paragraph 16; page 5, paragraph 55; i.e., [0016] selecting edge application servers in the edge data network by matching parameters of the edge application servers and the key performance indicators and wherein the selected edge application servers are less than a configurable distance from the geographic location of the UE; [0055] Further, because the edge data network 120 may allocate resources based on the geographic proximity, the edge data network 120 may allocate different resources to UE 115 based on the location of the UE 115).
Claim(s) 6 is/are directed to an apparatus claim and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 1. Therefore, claim(s) 6 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 1.
Claim(s) 13 is/are directed to an apparatus claim and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 10. Therefore, claim(s) 13 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 10.
Claim(s) 2-3, 5, 7-9, 11-12 & 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2021/0136177 A1 in view of Yoon, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2021/0243264 A1, and further in view of Young, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20220183108 A1.
As to claim 2, Hall-Yoon teaches the method as recited in claim 1. But Hall failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the information about the first at least one EDN comprises a data network application identifier (DNAI) of the first at least one EDN.
However, Young teaches the limitation wherein the information about the first at least one EDN comprises a data network application identifier (DNAI) of the first at least one EDN (Young, page 2, paragraph 15; i.e., [0015] (e.g., network exposure function (NEF), a policy control function (PCF), SMF), and other AFs in the MEC network of the multi-MEC sites during a migration procedure, as described herein. For example, a central AF or a distributed AF may register with an NEF for AF influence (e.g., session mobility) using a data network access identifier (DNAI)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hall to substitute MEC from Young for resources from Hall to provide services faster than other cloud based
services or a local end device processor (Young, page 1, paragraph 2).
As to claim 3, Hall-Young teaches the method as recited in claim 2. But Hall failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the DNAI of the first at least one EDN comprises a DNAI of one or more of: an EES in the first at least one EDN or a multi-access edge computing (MEC) application instance in the first at least one EDN.
However, Young teaches the limitation wherein the DNAI of the first at least one EDN comprises a DNAI of one or more of: an EES in the first at least one EDN or a multi-access edge computing (MEC) application instance in the first at least one EDN (Young, page 2, paragraph 15; i.e., [0015] (e.g., network exposure function (NEF), a policy control function (PCF), SMF), and other AFs in the MEC network of the multi-MEC sites during a migration procedure, as described herein. For example, a central AF or a distributed AF may register with an NEF for AF influence (e.g., session mobility) using a data network access identifier (DNAI)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hall to substitute MEC from Young for resources from Hall to provide services faster than other cloud based
services or a local end device processor (Young, page 1, paragraph 2).
Claim(s) 7-8, 11-12 & 14-15 is/are directed to an apparatus claim and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 2-3. Therefore, claim(s) 7-8, 11-12 & 14-15 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 2-3.
Claim(s) 4 & 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2021/0136177 A1 in view of Yoon, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2021/0243264 A1, and further in view of Nardini, US 20230254943A1.
As to claim 4, Hall-Yoon teaches the method as recited in claim 1. But Hall failed to teach the claim limitation wherein sending, by the first network element, priority information of the at least one EES to the terminal or the second network element.
However, Nardini teaches the limitation wherein sending, by the first network element, priority information of the at least one EES to the terminal or the second network element (Nardini, page 6, paragraph 123; i.e., [0123] communicating short data messages between edge device 110 and a centralized host computing system such as the core server 150. The voice traffic in such systems is prioritized and requires latencies typically less than 500 ms).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hall to substitute backhaul network from Nardini for data network from Hall to benefit in managing and planning operations at the remotely located farm (Nardini, page 1, paragraph 2).
Claim(s) 16 is/are directed to an apparatus claim and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 4. Therefore, claim(s) 16 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 4.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-4, 6-8, 10-16 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Listing of Relevant Arts
Cowan, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 12192274 B1 discloses edge platform nodes which operable for prioritizing processes.
Purkayastha, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. MEC utilize the NEF and edge platform.
Contact Information
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
THUONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-6:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THUONG NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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