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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 8, 10, 15, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Feng (Pub. No.: US 2021/0320896; hereinafter Feng).
Regarding claim 1, Feng discloses an information processing system comprising a first network function (NF) configured to: receive a first request from a terminal, the first request being a request to establish a session with a user plane in relation to a first service (see para. 0045 – 0046, at step 301: The UE sends a PDU session establishment request message, where the PDU session establishment request message carries a data network name DNN of a to-be-accessed data network…the session establishment request message carries a data network name DNN of the local data network, and a session connection is established with the local data network); and determine whether to establish the session with the user plane for the first request based on a first condition to permit or reject establishment of the session in relation to the first service (see para. 0054 - 0055, at step 303: The SMF selects a proper UPF. The SMF determines the UPF based on the data network to be accessed by the UE, a geographical location of the UE…; para. 0057 – 0058, 0061 – 0062, at step 306: The SMF sends the PDU session establishment acceptance response message to the UE. It indicates that a PDU session between the UE and the local data network to be accessed by the UE has been established).
Regarding claim 2, Feng discloses wherein the first condition includes a condition on a location of the terminal (see para. 0055, a geographical location of the UE).
Regarding claim 8, Feng discloses wherein the first NF is a session management function (SMF) (see Fig. 3, para. 0054 – 0055, SMF).
Regarding claim 10, Feng discloses an information processing apparatus comprising a controller (see Fig. 8, an SMF includes a processor 81) configured to: receive a first request from a terminal, the first request being a request to establish a session with a user plane in relation to a first service (see para. 0045 – 0046, at step 301: The UE sends a PDU session establishment request message, where the PDU session establishment request message carries a data network name DNN of a to-be-accessed data network…the session establishment request message carries a data network name DNN of the local data network, and a session connection is established with the local data network); and determine whether to establish the session with the user plane for the first request based on a first condition to permit or reject establishment of the session in relation to the first service (see para. 0054 - 0055, at step 303: The SMF selects a proper UPF. The SMF determines the UPF based on the data network to be accessed by the UE, a geographical location of the UE…; para. 0057 – 0058, 0061 – 0062, at step 306: The SMF sends the PDU session establishment acceptance response message to the UE. It indicates that a PDU session between the UE and the local data network to be accessed by the UE has been established).
Regarding claim 15, Feng discloses wherein the information processing apparatus is an apparatus that operates as a session management function (SMF) (see Fig. 7, Fig. 8, a DNS server allocation apparatus (an SMF)).
Regarding claim 16, Feng discloses an information processing method comprising: by a computer (see Fig. 8, para. 0092, an SMF includes a CPU), receiving a first request from a terminal, the first request being a request to establish a session with a user plane in relation to a first service (see para. 0045 – 0046, at step 301: The UE sends a PDU session establishment request message, where the PDU session establishment request message carries a data network name DNN of a to-be-accessed data network…the session establishment request message carries a data network name DNN of the local data network, and a session connection is established with the local data network); and determining whether to establish the session with the user plane for the first request based on a first condition to permit or reject establishment of the session in relation to the first service (see para. 0054 - 0055, at step 303: The SMF selects a proper UPF. The SMF determines the UPF based on the data network to be accessed by the UE, a geographical location of the UE…; para. 0057 – 0058, 0061 – 0062, at step 306: The SMF sends the PDU session establishment acceptance response message to the UE. It indicates that a PDU session between the UE and the local data network to be accessed by the UE has been established).
Regarding claim 20, Feng discloses wherein the computer is an apparatus configured to operate as a session management function (SMF) (see Fig. 7, Fig. 8, a DNS server allocation apparatus (an SMF) includes a processor 81 or CPU).
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.
Claims 6, 7, 13, 14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng (Pub. No.: US 2021/0320896; hereinafter Feng) in view of Prabhakar et al. (Pub. No.: US 2021/0368395; hereinafter Prabhakar).
Feng does not disclose the claimed features as recited in claims 6, 7, 13, 14 and 19.
Regarding claim 6, Prabhakar discloses wherein the first NF is configured to transmit a reject response to the terminal when the first NF determines to reject establishment of the session based on the first condition (see para. 0062, Since AMF/SMF 820 has been notified of the limit being reached (ex: condition), AMF/SMF 820 sends a PDU Session Establishment Reject 870 to UE 810…).
Regarding claim 7, Prabhakar discloses wherein the first NF is configured to transmit that a cause of rejection is designated by the first service together with the reject response (see para. 0062, …AMF/SMF 820 sends a PDU Session Establishment Reject 870 to UE 810 with an appropriate cause code).
Regarding claim 13, Prabhakar discloses wherein the controller is configured to: determine to reject establishment of the session when the first condition is satisfied; and transmit a reject response to the terminal (see para. 0062, Since AMF/SMF 820 has been notified of the limit being reached (ex: condition), AMF/SMF 820 sends a PDU Session Establishment Reject 870 to UE 810…).
Regarding claim 14, Prabhakar discloses wherein the controller is configured to transmit that a cause of rejection is designated by the first service together with the reject response (see para. 0062, …AMF/SMF 820 sends a PDU Session Establishment Reject 870 to UE 810 with an appropriate cause code).
Regarding claim 19, Prabhakar discloses further comprising: by the computer, determining to reject establishment of the session when the first condition is satisfied; and transmitting a reject response to the terminal (see para. 0062, Since AMF/SMF 820 has been notified of the limit being reached (ex: condition), AMF/SMF 820 sends a PDU Session Establishment Reject 870 to UE 810…).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Feng, and have the features, as taught by Prabhakar, in order to reduce the excessive signaling over control plane, and leverage the data plane for efficient QoS modification, as discussed by Prabhakar (para. 0061).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng (Pub. No.: US 2021/0320896; hereinafter Feng) in view of So (Pub. No.: US 2024/0373291; hereinafter So).
Feng does not disclose the claimed features as recited in claim 9.
Regarding claim 9, So discloses further comprising a second NF configured to receive designation of the first condition from an application configured to provide the first service (see para. 0024, …specifies service procedures to enable the application function (AF) entity of a 5G New Radio (NR) network to negotiate a viable time window for the planned application data transfer associated with quality-of-service (QOS) requirements and operational conditions via the support of the network exposure function (NEF) entity).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Feng, and have the features, as taught by So, in order to automate and deliver network optimization, cost efficiency, and resource management to meet service-level agreement (SLA) and QoS requirements, as discussed by So (para. 0048).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 – 5, 11, 12, 17 and 18 are 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Anh Ngoc M Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 270 - 5139 and email is anh.nguyen@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Bin Yao can be reached on ((571) 272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANH NGOC M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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